Cheap Do Not Adjust Your Set (DVD) (Adrian Cooper (II), Daphne Shadwell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Do Not Adjust Your Set

Adjust Your Expectations
I will assume most Americans are seeing these shows for the first time, and the few who even knew it existed probably always heard that DNAYS was a kind of prototypical version of Monty Python. It's written by and features three of the Python members, but it really is more of a broad and silly show aimed at children. (The later episodes on the set begin to show more fully-developed sketch ideas - so perhaps the second season of DNAYS, which featured Terry Gilliam's animations - and which are NOT presented here - better represent the show). <
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>Still, DNAYS is fascinating - like discovering a hidden gem from someone else's past. The best bits throughout this volume are probably the crazy songs by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (good enough to make you want to look up one of their CD hit collections). It's also nice to finally see David Jason (a legend in the U.K., but a virtual unknown in the States) - who is quite good at physical comedy, and Denise Coffey - a likeable actress with a great comic presence. Their `Captain Fantastic' vignettes are probably the most memorable part of the show. <
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>The future-Pythons (Idle, Jones, and Palin) are predictably good, especially Idle - who shows a gift for musical comedy with great pop lead vocals on the song that ends Episode 7. <
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>Don't expect Monty Python - but do expect to be fascinated. <
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A pre-Monty Python TV Series!
"At Last the 1948 Show " + "Do Not Adjust Your Set" = "Monty Python's Flying Circus". Really. <
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>There are skits on these DVD sets that are as funny as those by Monty Python. <
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>I have read since the 1970s that British viewers of Monty Python recognized the cast from earlier TV series such as these. Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman (along with Marty Feldman!) starred in "At Last the 1948 Show" (with a few small parts by Eric Idle). Pythons Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin starred in "Do Not Adjust Your Set". <
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>"At Last the 1948 Show" was, as seen on these DVDs, very much an on-stage skit program with lots of dialog. In contrast "Do Not Adjust Your Set" had a lot more outdoor location scenes and special effects for more of a visual gag-type program. <
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>"Monty Python's Flying Circus" was the next step in a growing community of comedians in the U. K. Surely this is what British viewers must have thought, at least some. Here in the U. S. the initial exposure of Monty Python came with no advance warning. It was a delightful shock. In fact most of everything Monty Python had released by the mid-1970s (TV series, movies, books, records, live stage show) was dumped on the American market at about the same time. It was pretty amazing. We just didn't get to work-up to Monty Python by first viewing TV series such as "At Last the 1948 Show" and "Do Not Adjust Your Set". <
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>After the years of reading about the numerous pre-Python TV series it is nice to finally see some. <
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>It might be worth noting that the picture and sound quality of the shows (particularly in the case of "At Last the 1948 Show") were probably a bit clearer than seen on these DVDs. I am very sure that what are seen here are cinescopes of the original programs. Cinescopes were made by placing a film camera directly at a TV monitor and filming live or video tape TV programs directly off of a TV screen. Once made the films were permanent. The original video tapes of these programs very likely no longer exist as British TV and radio producers were notorious for reusing video and audio tape through the 1970s leaving no archive copy of many TV and radio programs unless they happened to be cinescoped, often for broadcast in other countries like Australia, for instance. Many fondly remembered British TV shows originally recorded on video tape are long gone. When shows like these finally turn up in any form, fans can be thankful, as I am.

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Cute and funny, if not hilarious, offering from Idle, Jones, & Palin
In 1968, one year before "Monty Python's Flying Circus," Eric Idle & Terry Jones were approached by producer Humphrey Barclay (who knew Idle from Cambridge revues & Jones from Oxford revues) to do a kid's TV show which would also feature the abrsurdist Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band (featuring Neil Innes of future "Rutles" fame). Desperate to gain exposure as performers as well as writers (having previously written for, among other shows, "The Frost Report"), they hastily agreed. Jones automatically brought in his writing partner, Michael Palin (another Oxford revue alum), and, at Barclay's suggestion, the cast was rounded out with two non-University performers, Denise Coffey and David Jason (who would go on to the classic series "Only Fools & Horses). The writers of the show (Idle, Jones, & Palin) agreed not to specifically write for children but to simply write what they found funny. And, thus, "Do Not Adjust Your Set" was born and quickly developed a following among adults as well as kids. At the end of it's first series (there would be two in all), an American animator/writer, Terry Gilliam, would join the fold. Among the show's many admirers were two writer/performers of "At Last the 1948 Show," Graham Chapman & John Cleese, who knew the Idle, Jones, & Palin as fellow "Frost" writers. The following year, the two camps got together and "Python" was created. <
> Unfortunately, as was the standard practice at the time, after being broadcast, the video for the programmes were erased and the show was lost to time. Or so was the belief until recently, when a handful of the shows were rediscovered and, now, released on DVD. So, now that the history of the show is out of the way, the question remains, "Is it funny?" <
> The answer for me is, "Yes," but it's not as funny as Python or Chapman & Cleese's "'48 Show" (which has also rediscovered and released on DVD concurrently with this title). Being for kids, many of the items are more cute than side-splitting and certainly a lot less harder edged than Python would be. Noticeably missing is the darkness and savagery of Python, which was clearly brought to the table by Chapman & Cleese (and is visible in the "'48 Show"). The pieces tend to be on the juvenile and zany side with quick blackouts abounding. All in all, it's very much like "Laugh In" but with a more English sensibility. <
> All of the performers are very good and mesh well together. The Bonzos especially stand out with their oddball musical numbers. There are 9 episodes here and they are all of a consistent quality. I very much enjoyed them but can't say that I was doubled over in laughter. And, much to my disappointment, there are no Gilliam cartoons on this release, despite him being listed in the credits of one episode. <
> The main problem is that all of the performers are rather diminutive and cuddly and, thus, there are no real authority figures for them to play off of. Idle is the most authoritarian of the bunch but no one is near as upright, straight, or fearsome as Chapman & Cleese could be. This X factor gave Python much of its strength, where, for example, putting an irritating Palin together with an exasperated Cleese could produce a "Dead Parrot" sketch. "At Last the 1948 Show" does not suffer from this problem as Chapman & Cleese's co-stars, Tim Brooke-Taylor & Marty Feldman, were smaller in stature and played a different range of characters from Graham & John. <
> David Jason & Denise Coffey have a running serial, "Captain Fantastic" that is reminiscent of silent films that is amusing but overdone. From a historical viewpoint, of course, the show is fascinating... you can see Idle, Jones, & Palin developing the characterizations and ideas that they would later polish to perfection in "Python." Don't get me wrong, every once in a while, there will be a great scene and the tone for the whole show is light and fun. It's just not as hysterical as "'48 Show" or "Python."