Milton Berle's Mad Word Of Comedy; More Miton Berle's Mad World Of Comedy

Uncle Miltie hosts this on-again, off-again retrospective of American comedy, culled from his short-lived 1974 television series. The format for both volumes is the same: Berle, sitting at a table at The Masquers club in Hollywood, reminiscences with other comedians about the golden days of comedy. In the first volume, Berle talks with Albert Brooks, Don Adams, Flip Wilson, and Hal Kanter. In the second volume, his guests are Dick Martin, Pat Buttram, Mort Sahl, and silent comedy star Eddie Quillan. There is a generous sampling of clips spread throughout the two volumes, some of them legendary (Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First?" routine, W.C. Fields' "The Dentist," etc.); others quite forgettable (Don Adams' spoof of "Wuthering Heights," Berle and Jackie Gleason doing a long skit on a ventriloquist and his dummy). The segments don't seem to be arranged according to any principle, and viewers therefore have no way of picking out the good parts, other than by watching the entire programs. Not a necessary purchase. (Available from most distributors.)