IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

The team at the 3-D film Archive, in cooperation with the Library of Congress, have given classic comedy fans the greatest Christmas gift imaginable. The same team that produced last year’s exceptional 4K restoration of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s 1949 feature, Africa Screams (1949), have performed their magic on the first season (26 episodes) of the team’s 52-episode television series. Working from the original 35mm camera negatives, the resulting 3-Disc Blu-ray set, The Abbott and Costello Show – Season 1, from the ClassicFlix video label, is undoubtedly the best looking and sounding presentation of a 1950s television series ever released on home video. The series itself represents Abbott & Costello’s best work in the 1950s and arguably the purest, undiluted presentation of their art. In short, this Blu-ray set is an absolute delight for the eyes, ears, and soul. I’ve already named it my favorite home video release of 2021, but I thought the set also deserved a thorough review, which you will find below.

As a kid, I was a huge fan of Abbott & Costello’s feature films, which ran regularly on local television, but I was less familiar with their self-titled TV series, which ran from the fall of 1952 to spring of 1954. The series began at a time when the best of the team’s movie work was already behind them. It came about because the team decided to start a regular gig in the new medium of television in 1951 as one of the rotating hosts on the live variety show, The Colgate Comedy Hour. Working in front of a live audience recalled their days on the burlesque stage and brought fresh energy to their classic burlesque cross-talk routines. Based on their success on the Colgate show, Bud & Lou decided to produce a show of their own.

The Abbott and Costello Show was conceived as a way of preserving all of the team’s time-tested, classic comedy material in a form that they could control. No longer would the boys have to slow down the momentum of the comedy with romantic subplots or musical numbers. The show would be shot on 35mm film on a soundstage at the Hal Roach Studios, with the highest quality sound recording available. The cast and crew would be populated with old pros that Bud & Lou could trust. For the director, they hired Jean Yarbrough, who had previously directed them in the movies In Society (1944), Here Come the Co-eds (1945), and The Naughty Nineties (1945). Eddie Forman, the head writer on the team’s 1940s radio show, was brought in to flesh out the format of the TV series and write the first five episodes. Finally, the supporting cast was peppered with vaudevillians and burlesque comics, including Sid Fields, Joe Besser, Milt Bronson, and Murray Leonard, along with Lou’s brother-in-law Joe Kirk and his personal stooge, Bobby Barber. All in all, Bud & Lou were in their comfort zone.

The resulting show is virtual encyclopedia of burlesque routines and one-liners. It’s also perhaps the strangest series seen on television prior to Twin Peaks. Bud & Lou basically play less-successful versions of themselves, as unemployed actors living in a rooming house. After introducing the premise of each episode in front of a curtain, like a stage performance, the episodes open up on the Hal Roach street sets or in the boy’s apartment, where any type of surreal weirdness might ensue. Bud & Lou perform all of their famous cross-talk routines, while adopting a Chimpanzee as their son and fighting with Stinky, the mean little kid (played by a 45-year-old Joe Besser in a Little Lord Fauntleroy costume). They also fight with the landlord (burlesque comic and writer Sid Fields), flirt with refined neighbor Hillary Brooke, encounter over-the-top Italian stereotype Mr. Bacciagalupe (Joe Kirk), have Hellzapoppin-like encounters with strangers on the street, and get arrested by Mike the Cop (Gordon Jones), who may be the only man dumber than Costello. There’s no continuity from one episode to another. For example, Mr. Bacciagalupe’s profession changes to fit the needs of each episode, and Sid Fields plays multiple roles, wearing a variety of exaggerated hair pieces, disguises, and costumes. Anything goes, as long as its funny.

My only minor criticisms of the show are that I wish the series had a bit more of Joe Besser and (surprisingly) Bud Abbott. I always laugh hardest at Joe Besser’s bizarre antics as Stinky, the neighborhood brat. Unfortunately, he only appears in 11 of the 26 episodes. Of course, Bud appears in all of the episodes, but sometimes his participation is minimal. The series was produced independently for syndication (rather than network airings) by Lou’s production company, and Bud opted to work on straight salary. This might be why a few episodes feel like “The Lou Costello Show, with a special appearance by Bud Abbott.” The episodes are Costello-heavy, as Lou appears in almost every scene, but Bud will walk away (sometimes for half of the episode), as Costello interacts with other series regulars. Lou even performs some of the classic cross-talk routines with other actors, rather than with Abbott.

Still, any reservations I may have about the series are negligible. Many of the episodes are as funny as the best of Abbott & Costello’s movies, and they present the boy’s comedy in its purest, most highly-concentrated form. There was no home video release in 2021 that I enjoyed watching more than The Abbott and Costello Show – Season 1 Blu-ray set. If you love classic comedy or high weirdness, you will find this series to be pure bliss.

USA/B&W-676m./Dir: Jean Yarbrough/Wr: Sid Fields (22 episodes), Eddie Forman (4 episodes)/Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Sid Fields, Hillary Brooke, Joe Besser, Gordon Jones, Joe Kirk, Bobby Barber, Joan Shawlee, Veda Ann Borg, Elvia Allman, Milt Bronson, Murray Leonard, and Virginia Christine

For Fans of: If you like Abbott and Costello’s classic feature films, such as Hold That Ghost (1941), Who Done It? (1942), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein , you will probably love Season 1 of The Abbott and Costello Show. It is A&C’s brand of comedy in its purest form.

Video: Season 1 of The Abbott and Costello Show has been released on VHS and DVD many times, but all of the previous releases were taken from standard definition masters created 40 years ago. The new 3-disc Blu-ray set, The Abbott and Costello Show – Season 1, from ClassicFlix has been newly restored from original 35mm master elements by the 3-D Film Archive, in cooperation with the Library of Congress. The team scanned 120,000 feet of the 70 year-old original master 35mm negatives (nearly 175 reels of film), and the resulting image quality is startling. The TV Show now looks as good or better than the best preserved copies of Abbott & Costello’s classic films, with pinpoint sharpness, perfect (not overpowering) grain structure, and excellent contrast. Scratches and debris are virtually non-existent.

The recording quality of the show was more advanced than other shows of the same vintage, so the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono sounds robust. As an added treat, two complete episodes and six partial episodes contain an alternative audio track presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. These additional tracks contain the original recorded audio prior to the addition of the laugh track (which was recorded live for each show, by screening the completed episode for a small studio audience). These laugh-free audio tracks have never previously been available to the public.

In addition to the bonus audio tracks, special features include audio commentaries for 10 of the episodes, a featurette on the hunt for the original negatives, and a handful of trailers. The complete package adds up to my absolute favorite Blu-ray release of 2021. Producers Bob Furmanek and Jack Theakson and everyone involved in this release should be congratulated for their exceptional work.

Below is a breakdown of the contents of each Blu-ray disc, with brief descriptions and comments on each episode of the show:

Disc 1:

Episode 1: Drug Store – Mr. Fields sends the boys, who are eight weeks behind on their rent, to work in his brother’s drug store with disastrous results.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! The thing I find funniest about The Abbott and Costello Show is Joe Besser’s performance as the semi-recurring character Oswald “Stinky” Davis, the mean little kid. Consequently, the “Stinky” episodes are the closest to my heart. This one is a Stinky! Additionally, this episode must have been filmed a little earlier than the others, because the landlord Sidney Fields is called “Joe,” and Hillary Brooke is just referred to as “Lady.”
• Classic Routines: “Jonah and the Whale”

Episode 2: Dentist – After a dentist fails to cure Lou’s toothache, Bud schemes to get his partner arrested so he can receive free treatment in jail.

• Show Notes: This episode features the first appearance of Italian caricature, Mr. Bacciagalupe (played by Lou’s brother-in-law, Joe Kirk). Virginia Christine (Mrs. Olson in the Folger’s Coffee commercials) also has a small part towards the end of the episode.
• Classic Routines: “You’re 40, She’s 10″

Episode 3: Jail – Mrs. Crumbcake sues Lou for 79¢, but Bud and their attorney won’t let Lou settle with her. Costello lands in jail with a cellmate who becomes enraged at the mention of “Niagara Falls.”

• Show Notes: Sloooooooooowly I turned… Step by step…
• Classic Routines: “Niagara Falls”

Episode 4: Vacation – Bud and Lou prepare for a vacation at the Biltmore Hotel near Phoenix, but Bud worries that Fields will rent their apartment while they’re away. Audio Commentary by Gerry Orlando.

• Show Notes: The tall man that accosts Lou regarding photos of Tessie Tinfoil is played by Glenn Strange, the actor who played the Frankenstein Monster in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
• Classic Routines: “Hertz U-Drive” and “Pack/Unpack”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Gerry Orlando

Episode 5: Lou’s Birthday Party – After nearly poisoning the guests at his birthday party, Lou consoles himself by ordering a giant cake at Bacciagalupe’s bakery.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! Otherwise, this is one of my least favorite episodes, due to the over-reliance on pathos.
• Classic Routines: “Dough”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Lou Sabini

Episode 6: Alaska – The boys plan to join Lou’s uncle, who has struck gold in Alaska, but are delayed by a bank robbery and then are literally stuck when Lou makes Bud a foot bath using quick-drying cement.

• Show Notes: Look for an uncredited walk-on role by a 19 year-old Rita Moreno, and keep an eye out for Bud’s disappearing/reappearing mustache.
• Classic Routines: “Gold Ore”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Ray Faiola

Episode 7: Vacuum Cleaner Salesman – Bud and Lou visit the employment agency run by Mr. Fields’ brother, and Lou lands a job selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! Joe Besser reprises his “I need water!” bit from Africa Screams (1949), and most of the vacuum salesman schtick is recycled from Little Giant (1946)
• Classic Routines: “Loan Me 50 Cents”

Episode 8: Army – The boys join the National Guard and undergo physicals, shoot dice in the barracks, and go through drill practice.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! The boys go back to some of their Buck Privates material for this military-themed episode.
• Classic Routines: “7 x 13 = 28,” “Dice Game,” and “Drill Routine”

Episode 9: Pots and Pans – To demonstrate the quality of the cookware he sells door-to-door, Lou attempts to make a duck dinner for the gang. What could go wrong?

• Show Notes: Three Stooges-style hijinks ensue when Costello tries to cook dinner for the series regulars.
• Classic Routines: “Down is Up”

Disc 2:

Episode 10: Charity Bazaar – The boys help out at Hillary’s charity bazaar, where Costello spends his cash at the kissing booth and Abbott raises money with the old shell game.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! However, the highlight of the episode is watching Bud and Lou crack each other up while performing a variation of the “Initiation” bit from In the Navy (1941).
• Classic Routines: “Initiation,” “Shell Game,” “Two Tens for a Five”

Episode 11: The Western – Bud and Lou trek to Arizona to visit Hillary at her uncle’s ranch and tangle with cattle rustler Black Bart.

• Show Notes: The boys dust off some material from Ride ‘Em Cowboy (1942) for this Western-themed episode. I think this short Western burlesque comes off better than the original film.
• Classic Routines: “Heard of Cows/Udder What?”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Toby Roan

Episode 12: Haunted House – Abbott and Costello accompany Hillary to her deceased uncle’s haunted castle, which she will inherit if she spends the night there.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! Stinky Davis forces Lou into a street football game before the boys spend the night in a haunted house. The image is so sharp on the new Blu-ray that you can see the wires on the levitating candle.
• Classic Routines: “Moving Candle”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Paul Castiglia

Episode 13: Peace and Quiet – Suffering from insomnia, Lou sees a psychiatrist who prescribes a sleep-inducing record. When that fails, Bud checks him into a sanitarium.

• Show Notes: The cast card held by Marguerite Campbell includes the name of Joseph Besser, but Stinky never makes an appearance. What a dirty trick. The role of Nurse Jones is played by Marjorie Reynolds, who was the female lead in The Time of Their Lives (1946). It’s such a minor part that I wonder if she took the role just to visit with the boys for the day.
• Classic Routines: “Crazy House”

Episode 14: Hungry – Bacciagalupe’s meatballs, twin waitresses, and an exceptionally fresh oyster stew frustrate Costello’s quest for hearty meal.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! Also, Lou goes crazy at the mention of meatballs in this episode, but he doesn’t react in the same way when meatballs come up in future shows.
• Classic Routines: “Alexander 4444,” “Go Ahead and Order Something,” and “Oyster”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Ron Palumbo.

Episode 15: Music Lover – Hillary’s father wants her to marry a man with musical talent, so Lou takes singing lessons with Professor Melonhead and Bud concocts a way to make Costello look like a piano virtuoso.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! Besser has a single scene with Lou, which is unrelated to the rest of the plot. Otherwise, this episode has a more cohesive story than most episodes.
• Classic Routines: “All Right”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Stu Fink.

Episode 16: Politician – Abbott schemes to photograph Fields assaulting Costello so the boys can sue the landlord. When the plan fails, Bud decides that Lou should run for public office.

• Show Notes: Bingo the Chimp makes his first appearance, despite the fact that Bud & Lou don’t officially adopt him until three episodes later. The broadcast order probably differs from the order the episodes were written and filmed.
• Classic Routines: None. However, the bit where Bud talks Lou into taunting Mr. Fields into beating him up is classic in terms of the team dynamics.
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track.

Episode 17: Wrestling – Mike the Cop arranges for Lou and Stinky to settle their differences in a wrestling match, but when Stinky falls ill, Lou is forced to wrestle his kid brother, Ivan the Terrible.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! For a change, Stinky is integral to the plot, rather than a pleasant diversion.
• Classic Routines: None. This episode relies more on physical comedy.
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track.

Episode 18: Getting a Job – Bud has a new job loafing in a bakery and insists that Lou get a job, too. After Costello runs into trouble delivering hats to the Susquehanna Hat Company, the boys use an unorthodox strategy at Fields’ Employment Agency.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky! In fact, Stinky tries to kill Lou in this episode. If I was going to show a newcomer a single episode of the series, I would probably pick this one, as it features a couple of classic burlesque routines, Stinky, Bingo, and a nice showcase for Sid Fields.
• Classic Routines: “Loafing” and “The Susquehanna Hat Company”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre; Choice of episode audio between with or without audience laugh track.

Disc 3:

Episode 19: Chimpanzee – Working in a pet shop, the boys bring home a chimp, Bingo, but learn that the animal must have a license and that Mr. Fields prohibits pets.

• Show Notes: I sometimes get a tad uneasy watching the interactions between Bingo and the boys, as the chimp gets a bit aggressive at times. In truth, she (Bingo was a she) bit both Sid Fields and Lou during her brief time as a regular on the show.
• Classic Routines: “Pike Peke” and “Three Bananas”
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track.

Episode 20: Hillary’s Birthday – Mr. Fields posts new house rules, but Lou, at Bud’s insistence, infuriates the landlord by playing loud music during Hillary’s birthday party.

• Show Notes: I love the way that Bud and Lou pronounce Phyllis as “Feel-us.”
• Classic Routines: “Handkerchief Gag”
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track, and a longer, alternative version of the middle curtain scene.

Episode 21: Television Show – Bud and Lou appear on the TV game show “Hold That Cuckoo” and Costello wins a pack a bubblegum. A drunken neighbor slips on the gum outside the rooming house and takes Mr. Fields to court for negligence.

• Show Notes: Keep an eye out for Barbara “Mrs. Cleaver” Billingsley in a brief appearance as a receptionist.
• Classic Routines: None. However, the crazy courtroom scene at the end of the episode is pure burlesque.
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Jim Mulholland; Choice of episode audio between with or without audience laugh track.

Episode 22: Las Vegas– The boys win a trip to Las Vegas and invite Hillary to come along. After they buy a used car to get there, Lou loses all his money without placing a bet.

• Show Notes: Bud starts the classic “Mudder/Fodder” routine with Lou, but then Lou moves to a pool game with Lucien Littlefield. When Lou reprises the routine with Littlefield, it provides an excellent illustration of Bud’s importance to the team. Without Bud’s whip-crack timing, the bit loses much of its bite.
• Classic Routines: “Mudder/Fodder”
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track.

Episode 23: Little Old Lady – The boys play games at an amusement park to win enough money to help a little old lady who has been dispossessed. (Mel Blanc voiced the parrot.)

• Show Notes: With the premise of Lou trying to raise money to help a little old lady, this episode could have gotten pretty maudlin. Thankfully, it is anything but.
• Classic Routines: “Pick a Number”

Episode 24: Actor’s Home – A philanthropist gives the boys two $500 bills, but Bud assumes they are fake and tears them up. When he learns the money was real, Bud loses his mind and is taken to the Retired Actor’s Home.

• Show Notes: It’s a Stinky, and he’s armed with Limburger cheese this time! Also, during the “Who’s of First” routine, notice how subtly Bud prompts Lou to rephrase one line to “What time tomorrow you gonna tell me who’s pitching?” to keep the bit moving.
• Classic Routines: “Who’s on First?”
• Bonus Features: Audio commentary by Lou Antonicello, Shane Fleming, Bob Greenberg, Jack Theakston and Michael Townsend Wright.

Episode 25: Police Rookie – The boys enroll in the police academy, where Professor Melonhead tries to whip them into shape and Lou terrorizes everyone at the firing range. (Martial arts expert John Halloran makes a cameo appearance.)

• Show Notes: While “Who’s on First?” is the most famous Abbott & Costello routine, I think “Mustard” is my favorite. Bud Abbott’s character is either a psychopath making bizarre leaps in logic, or he’s a sociopath torturing Lou for the fun of it. Either way, Bud’s questioning and Lou’s reactions are hilarious.
• Classic Routines: “Mustard”

Episode 26: Safari – When Bingo becomes ill, Lou figures that the chimp misses his family, so the entire gang heads to the Belgian Congo to find Bingo’s father.

• Show Notes: Bud & Lou often have to borrow 40 cents. Yet, they travel to the Congo at the drop of a hat. What’s more, Hillary, Mr. Fields, Mike, and Bacciagalupe join them on the trip. Makes perfect sense.
• Classic Routines: None, unless you count Lou’s “laughing to crying” schtick.
• Bonus Features: Choice of episode audio between full or partial audience laugh track.

Additional Bonus Features:

• Saving the Negatives – A featurette about the search for the lost elements of the series, hosted by Bob Furmanek, the man who conducted the search.
• ClassicFlix Trailers – Label-produced trailers for their releases of Africa Screams, A Night in Casablanca, The Little Rascals Vol. 1, The Little Rascals Vol. 2, The Noose Hangs High, and Zenobia

Streaming: These episodes are available on multiple streaming platforms, such as Amazon and Vudu. However, they are only available in standard definition from the 40 year-old, unrestored masters. You can only see these new restorations via the new discs from ClassicFlix.

More to Explore: The 3-D Film Archive plans to complete a similar restoration on Season 2 of The Abbott and Costello Show, which is due to be released by ClassicFlix in 2022. In the meantime, most of Bud & Lou’s motion pictures have already received HD releases on Blu-ray. I have linked the available Blu-ray and DVD releases below.

Trivia: During the filming of Season 1 of The Abbott and Costello Show, Bud was asked to grow a mustache for his role of Mr. Dinklepuss in the 1952 feature Jack and the Beanstalk (which the 3-D Film Archive is also restoring for a 2022 release). The mustache first appears in the middle of Episode 6, “Alaska,” and disappears and reappears through the rest of the episode. This is because the mustache was grown between the initial filming and re-shoots for the episode.

For More Info: The out-of-print reference Abbott and Costello in Hollywood by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo is the best guide to Bud and Lou’s film work currently available. The Annotated Abbott and Costello by Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria is due out in 2022.