Amazon.com: One of the major breakout stars to come out of the first years of Saturday Night Live was not one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, but was instead born from a bit of clay and the creative mind of Walter Williams.
The 18 shorts that comprise The Best of Saturday Night Live: The Mr. Bill Collection exemplify the humor and outrageousness that we have come to expect from Mr. Bill, Spot, Mr. Hands, and of course, Sluggo. The plots, and budget, may have been simple and at some times poorly executed, but they remain a catalyst of laughter and bring back memories of staying up late just to see what troubles would cause Bill to utter his famous phrase: 'Ohh, nooo!!!' We are treated to classic Mr. Bill exploits, such as 'Mr. Bill's Christmas Special,' 'Mr. Bill Goes to New York,' and the inappropriately named 'Mr. Bill Strikes Back,' as well as a bonus 'Public Service Announcement' relating to highway education.
Although the quality of the film is not always the best, the humor remains intact. In 50 minutes, The Best of Saturday Night Live: The Mr. Bill Collection illustrates how he was one of the show's brightest stars, all the while keeping his unkempt, independent charm. --Zachary Lively
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Average Rating:
Rating: - "Definitive Collection" Is a MUCH Better Value
All the material on this disk plus more is contained in the three-disk Definitive Collection which at the time of this writing is in print, available on Amazon, and very inexpensive (especially through 3rd-party sellers). What the D.C. lacks is any printed material that might be included with this Anchor Bay release.
Mr. Bill, BTW, seemed a lot funnier to me during his SNL run (this seems to be the general consensus), but even with hindsight, I'd probably still purchase the D.C., if only for an inexpensive trip down Memory Lane. Rating reflects the material, which I have seen, and not this particular release, which I haven't.
Rating: - Put This on My Guilty Pleasure List
When they started out, the Mr. Bill shorts were a clever satire of bad childrens animation (that is, until they started taking themselves too seriously and became bad animation. See: "Mr. Bill Does Vegas.") More to the point, those two minute segments of poor, play-dough Mr. Bill getting slaughtered by Mr. Hands and Sluggo were pretty dang funny. The DVD image is fairly grainy and at some points can be quite poor. However, they still looks substantially better than the early TV broadcasts, and much better than the previous "Best of SNL: Mr. Bill" video. Among the numerous extras (games, Mr. Bill intro, Storyboards, Booklet, New Shorts, G-Rated Versions) the best is the commentary by Mr. Bill and Mr. Hands. As in the commentary on the "This is Spinal Tap" disc, it's a funny satire of the normal, boring commentary track.
Rating: - so what
can't rewind a one minute film? Who cares? You DVD nerds are the worst. The menu is cute.
Rating: - Classic hilarity, abominable DVD
The "Mr. Bill" short films are as bizarrely endearing as ever, but the DVD is a disaster. (Note that all the earlier reviews are for the VHS tape.)
Here's the rub: ***ALL*** scanning and skipping functions are disabled throughout the entire disc! Want to go to the next film? Don't press the skip button; it won't work. You have to go back to the tedious menu and arrow your way slowly to the episode you want. Want to back up or fast forward a little in the film you're watching? Sorry, but there's no way AT ALL to do that.
This disc is a cruel joke and should be withdrawn. It cannot be recommended at all as issued, though I found it impossible to give poor Mr. Bill only one star....
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- "Definitive Collection" Is a MUCH Better Value
- so what
- Classic hilarity, abominable DVD
