review of The Abbott and Costello Show, volume 5

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Editorial review of "The Abbott and Costello Show, volume 5" courtesy of Amazon.com

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are one of the funniest comedy teams of all time. And this disc, featuring four episodes of The Abbot and Costello Show from the 1952-53 season is certainly proof of that. Most of the episodes begin with Bud and Lou onstage in front of an audience, providing an introduction to each story. The episodes themselves are stand-alone classics, but the plot lines frame famous Abbot and Costello sketches. The disc is formatted with menus so that you can play each episode or skip to the routines.

Contains 4 complete shows from the classic TV comedy series (1952-53), transferred from the original 35mm film masters.

The Abbott and Costello TV Show is timeless American humor, as fresh today as it was 40 years ago. All the classic routines which "the boys" performed on film, radio, and stage were captured in 1952-53 for the new medium of television and delivered at the peak of their powers. The regular cast of characters, including Mr. Fields, Mike the Cop, Stinky, Bacciagalupe, and Hillary, had worked with Bud and Lou on film and stage and each contributed memorably. These shows stand today as perhaps the finest surviving representation of the art of burlesque comedy.

• Charity Bazaar: The boys help out with a charity bazaar. They perform the burlesque routine "buzzin' the bee" with the help of a line of bathing beauties. Lou spends most of his time at the kissing booth when he finds a devious way to keep his costs down. Bud hustles Lou and Mr. Fields in the classic "find the lemon" routine.
• Well Oiled: An old flame is suing Mr. Fields for breach of promise and he might have to sell the boarding house to pay her off. Attempting to help him out in exchange for free rent, the boys hatch a scheme to get her off Mr. Fields' back. Lou impersonates a Texas millionaire and in a hilarious case of mistaken identity, he successfully woos the fiancée of Mike the Cop instead of Mr. Fields' ex-flame.
• Police Academy: The boys plan to enroll in the police academy, so they invite Mike the Cop over for dinner to find out what's in store. While Bingo's taking a bath, the boys do their famous "mustard" routine at the dinner table. When they finally end up as rookies at the police academy, they create havoc and are thrown out when Lou sets off a live hand grenade.
• Killer's Wife: Killer King, a jealous heavyweight fighter, moves in across the hall from the boys. Before long, Killer thinks Lou is messing around with Dixie, his blonde bombshell of a wife, and he's ready to murder Lou if he can find him. Bud finds out that Killer needs a sparring partner and it's worth $200 to anyone who'll step in the ring. He cons Lou into doing it without telling him the whole story.

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