Keith Paynter
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Mar 16, 1999
- Messages
- 1,837
Gallagher: The Smashing Watermelon Collection
Anchor Bay Entertainment
SRP $29.98US, $36.98CDN
"Ladie-e-e-e-s and gentlemen..."
"I did not come here tonight to make you laugh, I came here to sell you something!
I want you to pay particular attention because The Amazing MasterTool Corporation,
a subsidiary of Fly By Night Industries, has entrusted who - me, to show you
the handiest and the dandiest kitchen tool you have ever seen,
and don't you want to know how it works?!?"
If you watched HBO in the early '80's or were lucky enough to buy several of prop comic Gallagher's VHS tapes or laserdiscs from Paramount Home Video, (or most recently from Gallagher's own website), you know about Sledge-O-Matic, the show closer guaranteed to make a mess of your evening wear if you weren't wearing a raincoat or barricading yourself with Saran Wrap at one of his live shows.
"Gallagher: The Smashing Watermelon Collection" features the six HBO specials originally released by Paramount Home Video in the early 80's, along with 5 additional shows.
The 11 shows are spread out over 3 discs, each with artwork like cutaway watermelon, and wrapped in a cardboard watermelon case. The design of the box leaves a lot to be desired, as each disc rests in its own cardboard pull-out sleeve, and trying to put the set back together takes a lot of patience - easily the worst box I've seen since the Beatles Capitol Records box. Full points for style here, 0 for practicality.
The discs feature the following specials:
Disc 1:
Gallagher: Mad As Hell; Gallagher: Two Real; Gallagher: Stuck in the '60s; Gallagher: The Maddest
Disc 2:
Gallagher:Melon Crazy; Gallagher:Over Your Head; Gallagher:The Bookkeeper; Gallagher:Overboard
Disc 3:
Gallagher:We Need A Hero; Gallagher:Messin' Up Texas; Gallagher:An Uncensored Evening
Where the heck did this come from? Anchor Bay certainly didn't go out of their way to promote this release, Gord doesn't mention it on TvShowsOnDVD.com and it wasn't in the Upcoming Cover Art at The Digital Bits! I loved the HBO specials, and taped or bought them all over many years.
Visually and audibly, there isn't any real improvement from the original master tapes, so don't expect them to look or sound any better than when they were first available. Don't expect reference quality here - in fact, the tapes possibly show some degree of decay over time - they certainly aren't impressive on a 16:9 HDTV.
The first disc is also sold as 2 "best-of" videos featuring 2 episodes per disc, so if you're really looking to get out the last dab of toothpaste with your Sledge-O-Matic, pick up the box set (and watch out for the Crap Monster behind the couch).