Search - Classic Television on DVD

Rare episodes make "Classic Television" a winner!

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 12/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Classic Television" is one of the more unique classic TV compilations available on the market today. The releasing company for this 2-DVD set, the Timeless Media Group, has made a praiseworthy attempt to include a wide variety of shows that were broadcast throughout the 1950s and have grouped them together on the days of the week that they were, in many cases, originally shown. However, what I especially like about this collection is the inclusion of some shows that you either rarely or never see on DVD, including "Riverboat," "Name That Tune," "Mama," "Bold Journey," and "Suspense," among a few others. The visual quality of the episodes included in this set is variable but, on the whole, is more than acceptable given the rarity of some of the shows included. There is an onscreen host, Dale Reed, who provides some background information on each of the shows included. Reed's short intros were helpful for me, particularly for those shows where I had little or no familiarity. Here's the line-up:

Sunday
*Riverboat
*Letter To Loretta

Monday
*Studio One
*The Danny Thomas Show

Tuesday
*Texaco Star Theater
*Name That Tune

Wednesday
*This Is Your Life
*Mama
*Twenty-One

Thursday
*George Burns & Gracie Allen Show
*Topper
*You Bet Your Life

Friday
*The Jack Benny Show
*I Married Joan
*Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet

Saturday
*Bold Journey
*Suspense
*The Deputy

"Classic Television" is really an easy recommendation for those interested in television's golden age . . . the variety (and rarity of some) of the shows, the comparatively good audio/visual quality, and low price make this a no-brainer for anyone interested in revisiting or discovering television from the 1950s. This set most closely resembles "1950s TV's Greatest Shows" from the Falcon Picture Group which Amazon also carries, and which I can also recommend.
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Could use better labeling

cajun | Houma, LA United States | 10/02/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The episodes and the introductions to the episodes were great. However, it would have been nice if they had listed the title of the individual episode. That way, I could check to see when it aired and add it to my database of classic television. Most DVD collections list the name of that particular episode of the show."

Content - OK ::::::: Presentation - Awful

Spins N. Needles | Punta Gorda, FL United States | 10/03/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The reviews written by others are pretty accurate. This is a half-decent 2-DVD set of a sampling of some old TV shows. It is the presentation of these shows that is so annoying. The "intro" to each show, mostly by Dale Reed, is watchable ONCE but one has to agonize through them every time one watches any of these shows again ... and they are not able to be skipped except by tedious fast-forwarding thru them. Very, very annoying."

Horrible quality, wish I didn't buy

S. Buley | 02/24/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I had much higher hopes for this Classic Television collection. I didn't expect the old shows to have perfect quality, but was surprised at how bad the quality really was. And the 'modern day' onscreen host was awful. The quality of video and audio when he was speaking was deplorable and that's new! If there isn't decent quality in that, how can anyone hope that the old shows would be decent quality? I would strongly advise against buying this and I've learned my lesson when buying classic television: make sure to check if things have been remastered because it really does matter."