On October 5th there will be a DVD re-release focusing on Benny Hill. The DVD, previously released in October 2007, will contain 18 disc's and focus on Hill's 20 year career with Thames Television, 1969-1989. I'm very familiar with the comedy and programs of Benny Hill...I don't exactly have a count of how many DVD's and VHS videos of his that I have but I've got quite a few. Several years ago Hill's earliest programs for Thames began to get re-issued in various collections from A&E. I bought a couple of those collections but this "mega set" as it's being called combines all of those DVD releases into one big set. The mega set includes the following individual DVD collections housed in one "mega set":
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Naughty Early Years Set One, 1969-1971
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Naughty Early Years Set Two, 1972-1974
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Naughty Early Years Set Three, 1975-1977
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Hills Angels Years Set Four, 1978-1981
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Hills Angels Years Set Five, 1982-1985
Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated: The Hills Angels Years Set Six, 1986-1989
Hill's later work is just as funny as his earlier comedy but because reality comes calling a few of his co-stars had passed away or left the program as time went by...leaving some to feel that without certain co-stars the sketches didn't "feel the same". Some like to say his program started to go downhill by the mid 1980's but in all honesty, from doing research, a small percentage of public opinion about his program is what went downhill during this point in time...escalating this problem even more were fresh-faced television critics and up and coming comedians heaping negative criticism toward Hill's program to impressionable, younger audiences.
This facet of Hill's career will obviously be discussed in the bonus features that the megaset includes. One of the bonus features is titled Benny Hill: The World's Favorite Clown. It also includes the A&E Biography episode titled Benny Hill: Laughter and Controversy. A&E is the company responsible for this DVD megaset and several other DVD packages of Hill in recent years. In each of the documentary bonus features the rise of Hill is examined...the unexpected success of his programs in America...also examined, of course, is the so-called backlash of his style of humor by the "new generation". The re-release next month features new packaging...and a link to the DVD is below...
Benny Hill: The Complete Megaset
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