Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show - First Season Review

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(More customer reviews)The Phil Silvers show was one of the funniest comedies ever on TV and deserves a season-by-season release. The show originally ran from 1955-59, only four years, but had a whopping 143 episodes! A few years ago, Paramount released a 50th Anniversary Edition of the show (sometimes titled "Bilko" and sometimes "The Phil Silvers Show," though Wikipedia states the original title was "You'll Never Get Rich"). That earlier dvd collection only included 18 episodes selected from all 4 seasons, with most from the first season.
Most fans have wanted a season-by-season collection, and this release of Season One is a good step in that direction. (It would have been nice, as others have noted, if the manufacturer had included a "play all" viewing choice, but the picture quality is crisp.)
Please note: Ten episodes from this Season One set do overlap with the Sgt. Bilko - 50th Anniversary Edition (The Phil Silvers Show) earlier set, including the episodes New Recruits, The WAC, The Horse, The Eating Contest, Bivouac, the Twitch, the Investigation, The Revolutionary War, The Court Martial, and The Con Men. However, you're still getting 24 other episodes NOT on that earlier set, including the very funny The Empty Store, and others. It's worth buying the new set, though the Anniversary edition has more special features.
Here is a per disc list of contents:
Disc 1:
New Recruits (commentary by Allan Melvin)
The Empty Store
The WAC
The Horse
AWOL
The Boxer
Special Feature: The Lost Audition Show - never aired
Disc 2
The Hoodlum
Mardi Gras
The Eating Contest
The Centennial
Bivouac
The Singing Contest
The Twitch
Special Feature: Original Opening & Cast commercials
Disc 3
The Reunion
The Rich Kid
Hollywood
The Investigation
Kids in the Trailer
The Revolutionary War
The Transfer
Disc 4
The Rest Cure
Dinner at Sowici's
Army Memoirs
Miss America
The Court Martial (commentary by George Kennedy)
Furlough in New York
The Big Uranium Strike
Disc 5
Bilko and the Beast
Physical Check-up
Recruiting Sergeant
Hair
The Con Men
War Games
Bilko on Wall Street
Special Feature: "Lucy and the Efficiency Expert"
This Phil Silvers show was well written and well acted, with some very funny improvised moments. (The series creator Nat Hiken should be given a lot of credit for creating a quality show that just wasn't the same after he left.)
In this first season you have the episode titled "The Court Martial." Normally, that would sound like a serious subject. Not for Bilko. It seems the army wants to improve their timing and efficiency in processing new recruits. Unfortunately, one of the new recruits is a monkey. This is an episode that can't be described, but must be seen. And if you can get through it without laughing uncontrollably, then you need to see a doctor to see if your sense of humor was removed without your consent.
What is great about the Phil Silvers show is that even when the situations get insane, the humor never talks down to the audience. And Bilko, despite all his schemes, can never finally let his men down. (Except perhaps in the fourth season, done without Hiken, which is not the best.) This is also a show that had an integrated cast--a rarity then--and early TV appearances of Dick Van Dyke and others. The show started the career of actor George Kennedy.
Buy this set and encourage the manufacturer to put out the other 3 seasons on dvd. This show is unbelievably funny, with humor that isn't dated, and deserves to be enjoyed for generations. Silvers was a comedy genius.


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Studio: Paramount Home VideoRelease Date: 07/27/2010Run time: 882 minutes

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