THE RED SKELTON SHOW: The Early Years, 1951-1955
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:19 am
I'd like to put in a good word for Red Skelton. That would've been a silly thing to say just a couple of generations ago, when he was still one of America's best-loved comedians. But in the years since his show went off the air in 1971, his fame has slowly and quietly diminished--- not because his stuff is no longer funny, but because it's no longer easy to find.
Yes, he made some movies for M-G-M, and they turn up on TCM now and then. But Skelton's specialty was sketch comedy (preferably for live audiences), and the perfect medium for him was television. His show lasted twenty seasons, placing in Nielsen's Top Ten for nine of them. As late as 1969-70, it was still seventh in the ratings.
But Skelton's show was either aired live or shot on tape. Unlike I love Lucy or The Honeymooners' "Classic 39," it wasn't shot on film, which made it relatively unattractive for syndication. Skelton owned the rights to his shows, and he seems not to have been interested in syndication anyway.
In the years since his death, his estate has allowed a broad sampling of The Red Skelton Show to be released on video. Timeless Media/Shout Factory has issued several DVD collections, all of which are still in print. They're not bad, but they're a hodgepodge: the shows are edited (sometimes heavily), they're seldom in chronological order, you aren't given the broadcast dates, and there's often a giant "bug" in the lower right corner of the screen, to deter piracy.
Don't get me wrong. It's still good stuff. It's just not presented very well.
But now Timeless/Shout has released a brand new set, and this time they really did it right. The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years, 1951-1955 presents 92 episodes (plus an unaired dress rehearsal for one of them), mastered from rare kinescopes from the comedian's personal collection. While kinescopes can vary in image quality, the episodes I've watched so far all look great. You get the broadcast dates for each one (the earliest is from 10/21/51 and the latest is from 3/8/55). I don't believe any of these are available elsewhere.
The episodes are also complete, or very nearly so. It was a thirty-minute show during this period, and the episodes I've watched so far run 26-27 minutes. A plug for Tide detergent is embedded in the opening titles, and sometimes another plug is incorporated into a comedy sketch. There should also be a couple of regular commercials too, but evidently someone decided to edit them out of the DVD masters. Only obsessive history buffs (like me) will really miss them, though!
In the tradition of its earlier incarnation on radio, the televised Red Skelton Show was very lean in terms of guest stars... at first. But by the 1953-54 season, guest stars were popping up all over the place, and in this collection you'll find everyone from Jackie Gleason to John Wayne to Bela Lugosi to Peter Lorre to Martin & Lewis.
That leaves just one question, the one that really matters. Is this stuff funny, or just a relic? Well, it took me a long time to give Red a fair shake. I guessed that his material was basically the loud, broad, wacky kind of thing that Jerry Lewis did, and I'm not much of a Jerry Lewis fan. But then I put those expectations aside and began watching some Skelton shows, and I found them really enjoyable. There's slapstick, sure (and it works), but there's also some standup comedy and pantomime pieces. There's physical comedy and situation comedy, character-driven material and a dash of topical humor. What I enjoy most of all are his ad-libs, which are less cerebral than Fred Allen's but just as funny, and executed perfectly. Any time a supporting player steps on his line, or a prop misbehaves, you can bet Red will put things right with one fast wisecrack, and that it'll be both good-natured and hilarious. The man obviously loved his work, and he's a delight to watch.
So yes, The Red Skelton Show is a hell of a good program, and I recommend this collection. The others are good too, but this one's my favorite.
Yes, he made some movies for M-G-M, and they turn up on TCM now and then. But Skelton's specialty was sketch comedy (preferably for live audiences), and the perfect medium for him was television. His show lasted twenty seasons, placing in Nielsen's Top Ten for nine of them. As late as 1969-70, it was still seventh in the ratings.
But Skelton's show was either aired live or shot on tape. Unlike I love Lucy or The Honeymooners' "Classic 39," it wasn't shot on film, which made it relatively unattractive for syndication. Skelton owned the rights to his shows, and he seems not to have been interested in syndication anyway.
In the years since his death, his estate has allowed a broad sampling of The Red Skelton Show to be released on video. Timeless Media/Shout Factory has issued several DVD collections, all of which are still in print. They're not bad, but they're a hodgepodge: the shows are edited (sometimes heavily), they're seldom in chronological order, you aren't given the broadcast dates, and there's often a giant "bug" in the lower right corner of the screen, to deter piracy.
Don't get me wrong. It's still good stuff. It's just not presented very well.
But now Timeless/Shout has released a brand new set, and this time they really did it right. The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years, 1951-1955 presents 92 episodes (plus an unaired dress rehearsal for one of them), mastered from rare kinescopes from the comedian's personal collection. While kinescopes can vary in image quality, the episodes I've watched so far all look great. You get the broadcast dates for each one (the earliest is from 10/21/51 and the latest is from 3/8/55). I don't believe any of these are available elsewhere.
The episodes are also complete, or very nearly so. It was a thirty-minute show during this period, and the episodes I've watched so far run 26-27 minutes. A plug for Tide detergent is embedded in the opening titles, and sometimes another plug is incorporated into a comedy sketch. There should also be a couple of regular commercials too, but evidently someone decided to edit them out of the DVD masters. Only obsessive history buffs (like me) will really miss them, though!
In the tradition of its earlier incarnation on radio, the televised Red Skelton Show was very lean in terms of guest stars... at first. But by the 1953-54 season, guest stars were popping up all over the place, and in this collection you'll find everyone from Jackie Gleason to John Wayne to Bela Lugosi to Peter Lorre to Martin & Lewis.
That leaves just one question, the one that really matters. Is this stuff funny, or just a relic? Well, it took me a long time to give Red a fair shake. I guessed that his material was basically the loud, broad, wacky kind of thing that Jerry Lewis did, and I'm not much of a Jerry Lewis fan. But then I put those expectations aside and began watching some Skelton shows, and I found them really enjoyable. There's slapstick, sure (and it works), but there's also some standup comedy and pantomime pieces. There's physical comedy and situation comedy, character-driven material and a dash of topical humor. What I enjoy most of all are his ad-libs, which are less cerebral than Fred Allen's but just as funny, and executed perfectly. Any time a supporting player steps on his line, or a prop misbehaves, you can bet Red will put things right with one fast wisecrack, and that it'll be both good-natured and hilarious. The man obviously loved his work, and he's a delight to watch.
So yes, The Red Skelton Show is a hell of a good program, and I recommend this collection. The others are good too, but this one's my favorite.