Love, American Style – Season One, Volume One (CBS DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: B-
When
anthology series were more common on TV, you could expect all kinds of subjects
to be covered, but the only comedy satire anthology in TV history happened to
be a big hit. Love, American Style debuted in 1969 and immediately became an
across the board hit with square audiences who loved the comedy and
counterculture kids who loved its look and wacky attitude. Later comedy films like Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane!
owe a debt to the series, which itself has some of the wackiness Laugh-In and The Beatles exhibited.
This is
only the first half of the first season, but the episodes are out of order for
some odd reason and the back of the case (in microprint) warns some shows may
be edited differently from their original broadcast. That is not good, but another highlight of
each show was all the known actors, character or lead, plus new actors the
various segments featured. They were
often cast for maximum humor and chemistry, making the shows always different
and distinct. Gail Fisher, Flip Wilson,
Jane Wyatt, Arte Johnson, Robert Clary, Larry Storch, Barbara Rhodes, Dwayne
Hickman, Barry Nelson, Sud Caesar, Bob Crane, Pat Crawley, Allan Melvin,
Richard Deacon, Phyllis Diller, Vito Scotti, Tina Louise, Aldo Ray, Avery
Schreiber, Carolyn Jones, Red Buttons, Judy Carne, Diane McBain, Dennis Day,
Norman Fell, Frank Campanella, Jessica Walter, David Hedison, Ann Southern,
Cliff Norton, Scatman Crothers, Peter Marshall, Jack Carter, Ruta Lee and Andy
Prine are among those in just these 12 shows you have to see to believe.
The 1.33
X 1 image is pretty good in capturing the heightened color of the time, though
the transfers can be soft here and there, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
just too soft and low in volume to be enjoyed as much as it could be, even for
audio of the time. This is especially
apparent when the classic theme song plays.
There are no extras, but maybe next time. They have five seasons of shows to issue.
- Nicholas Sheffo
