Michael Osadciw
Screenwriter
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- Jun 24, 2003
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- Michael Osadciw
BEST OF THE MUPPET SHOW
Diana Ross/Brooke Shields/Rudolph Nureyev
Studio: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Show Airing: 1976
U.S. Rating: Not Rated
Canadian Rating: G
Film Length: 80 minutes
Genre: Family
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital mono
Subtitles: None
Closed Captioned: Yes
Release Date: April 06, 2004
Bringing more TV to DVD, Columbia TriStar releases the seventh Best of the Muppets series. The three shows collected for this release feature celebrity guests Diana Ross, 15-year-old Brook Shields, and Russian ballet performer Rudolph Nureyev.
A tough act to beat, Ross steals the show by performing her two songs Love Hangover and Reach Out and Touch. The audience loves this and insists on seeing nothing else but Diana giving both Kermit and Fozzie a hard time. Brooke Shields plays “Alice” in a Muppet re-enactment of Alice in Wonderland. She grows up a little too fast and almost looses her head at a mad tea party. Nureyev puts on an unforgettable Swine Lake dance, and Miss Piggy gets to join him for the duet. He also puts on his top hat and tails from a big Broadway-style finale. These are fun uncut episodes with outrageous skits and musical hits. You’ll also get a chance to see several added scenes that were cut from the episodes and are put in their place in the show. These never before available scenes give a completeness to each of these sensational, inspirational, celebrational, and Muppetational shows! So don’t forget to join Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the rest of the Muppet gang on April 6th on this release of Best of the Muppets: Diana Ross.
Each episode features a one-minute introduction with Brian Henson.
VIDEO QUALITY :star: :star: 1/2 / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Taken from the composite video source, the video of all three shows is variable. Dot crawl is present as well as other video noise. But the image is satisfactory exhibiting a smooth look overall because of the softer source. Detail is wanting and black levels aren’t that deep. Colour fidelity can be luscious looking to murky looking depending on the moment in the episode. For a 1970s tape source I’m not sure how much better the quality will be.
AUDIO QUALITY :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Dolby Digital 2.0 mono is what is presented on this disc. The audio is clear, dialogue is clear, the music of Ross’s performance is limited in frequency range and doesn’t have great ‘space’ that a mono recording is still capable of. Again, because it was a TV show, don’t expect to rock your system with Ross’s music.
SPECIAL FEATURES :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
The features are slim. There is a Muppetisms spot about a minute long featuring Kermit. It’s a quick advertisement that reminds me of a “Telus” commercial, for those of you who know what I mean. Also included is a movie mania spot as well as a couple pictures From the Archives: Photo Gallery. A chapter access insert is also included.
THOUGHTS…
While the picture is about as good as it gets, this is a must see for those of you who are fans of Ross, Shields, or Nureyev. If you are a Muppets collector, this release will fit nicely into your collection.
Michael Osadciw
04.04.02