Car 54, Where Are You? The Complete First Season

This short-lived but much-loved show—starring former baggy-pants comedian Joe E. Ross and talented stage actor Fred Gwynne as the Mutt and Jeff of New York police officers—has been called one of the funniest sitcoms of all time by a number of TV historians, including Leonard Maltin. Created and written mainly by Nat Hiken (whose hugely successful The Phil Silvers Show, aka Sgt. Bilko, also featured Ross), Car 54, Where Are You? follows the tried-and-true formula of introducing little events that snowball out of control with lunatic momentum and mad logic. Ross is Gunther Toody, a grinning goofball (and henpecked husband of Lucille, played by Beatrice Pons), while Gwynne is his stand-up partner, confirmed bachelor Francis Muldoon, loyal to a fault as he tries to save Toody from his well-meaning impulses—almost always with equally flawed plans. This is vintage material in the I Love Lucy mode, with big, broad performances, emphatic writing, and energetic ensemble work (Al Lewis, Hank Garrett, Charlotte Rae, and Nipsey Russell are among the supporting cast). Particularly notable—given the dawn of the ‘60s time period—is the fact that this Big Apple band of Keystone Kops may be television's first racially integrated police squad (although the black officers have relatively small roles). Compiling all 30 black-and-white episodes from the 1961–62 first season, DVD extras include a roundtable conversation with costars Rae and Garrett, conducted by comedian Robert Klein. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)