Benny Hill: Complete & Unadulterated: Set 1 (1969-1971) [3 Discs]

"The Thames Television logo in black-and-white on the opening installment is an indicator of precisely how far back the material on this three-disc set goes -- two of the 11 programs are, themselves, preserved only in black-and-white. Although the packaging would lead one to believe that the material here had never been seen in the United States, the fact is that many of the black-outs and sketches were re-edited and shown in the USA; indeed, it seems as though most of the material that was deleted wasn't so much overly raunchy for American television as it was uniquely British in its humor and reference points. The material itself is identical to that which made up his mid-1970's show, though perhaps a little less leering, and the pop-music references are decidedly more 1960's oriented, such as the Ladybirds doing a very dignified version of ""River Deep, Mountain High"", Kiki Dee's rendition of ""You've Made Me So Very Happy"" (almost worth the price of the set, even if this particular show is in black-and-white), and Trisha Noble doing ""Leaving On A Jet Plane"". The main bonus feature, on Disc Three, consists of the documentary ""Benny Hill: The World's Favorite Clown, which includes celebrity commentary -- by everyone from Burt Reynolds to author John Mortimer -- and an account of the comic's popularity; these sequences are intercut with clips of Hill addressing the camera, segments from his television show, and accounts of his early life. Each episode is presented in full-screen (1.33-to-1), as originally aired, and all are accompanied by audio remastered in English Dolby Digital Stereo -- additionally, each episode comes with an on-screen menu that outlines the major comedy sketches and musical numbers seen in the particular program."