The Comic Strip Presents: The Complete Collection

I think The Comic Strip is the finest television comedy ever made. I've owned the British Region 2 dvds since they were released, and I know and love them. These new Region 1 dvds have SIGNIFIGANTLY different edits of several episodes. Fans: you will want to own both sets.First of all, "Supergrass" is MUTILATED. It's in "widescreen" which is just a stretched-out picture so everything is flattened! This excellent full-length movie now looks like crap. I can't bring myself to watch it, though it is probably the US VHS version, which I know is different from the R2 dvd release. What a horrible crying shame.Other than that, the shows on discs 1-5 are exactly the same for Regions 1 and 2, except that some of the R1 episodes include the "bumpers" (stills that say "end of part one" and then "part two"). Some bumpers have cute graphics, others are just words. The bumpers for "Funseekers" are moving shots with dialogue, very short, not included on the R2 dvds.Disc 6 is where the big changes are. Some are very different than the R2 dvds. The affected shows are: "South Atlantic Raiders" (parts 1 and 2), "GLC", and "Oxford". ("Spaghetti Hoops" looks unchanged to me).Peter Richardson has been quoted about "tinkering" with editing some episodes to "get more laughs". This is more than "tinkering". There is some extra footage and dialogue, also some scenes are cut, and others are moved around to actually change the narrative. Big differences.For example: The R1 "SAR" episodes are longer and better than the R2, with more exposition and back story about the main characters; unfortunately, much of the funny footage of the General in his camp has been cut. (Lemmy has nearly disappeared from the R1 version.) A lame voice-over has been added to Part 2, recapping Part 1. Many small additions and subtractions throughout.On disc 7, most of the episodes appear to have minor additions and subtractions. In "Red Nose", an entire scene is cut. In "Les Dogs", just a few tiny additions."Four Men In A Car" has one considerably longer scene, between Jennifer Saunders and Peter Richardson. This always felt chopped up before, so this restoration is a treat.So really, if you love this stuff as much as I do and want to see it ALL, you need to own both sets.NOTE this set is not complete! Three subsequent episodes ("Sex Actually", "The Hunt for Tony Blair", and "Five Go Mad in Rehab") have been made, and are available on R2 dvd ("The Best of The Comic Strip"). That set also boasts even more edits, to episodes such as "More Bad News" and "Four Men In a Car". So if you want it all, you've gotta buy that too. And a separate dvd of "Eat The Rich". And a NEW feature film is in production this year....

I've been waiting and waiting for this set to be available for my region, and now it is. Yes, it was well worth the wait. This outstanding set is bursting with the brilliant work known as The Comic Strip Presents. Talk about a veritable who's who from the British comedy scene: Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson....wow. There's not a dud on the set. But my favorite episodes are Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door, Consuela (that Dawn French is something else), Dirty Movie, Five Go Mad in Dorset, and Beat Generation. But for me, Bad News Tour and More Bad News are the real gems. Edmondson, Richardson, Planer and Mayall are a horrible band looking to make it big and failing miserably, and a documentary crew is along for the ride to capture it all on film. I particularly love Saunders' work as Sally Friedman, England's number one "chick" rock journalist.The "sequel" to Bad News Tour is, of course, More Bad News and that's just what you'll get. More Bad News finds the band broken up and doing their own thing before they're invited to reunite for a "one-off gig at the Flying Horse of all places." The acrimony and silly antics that broke the band up in the first place come back into play again. And I love it.This is worth every penny.

If you got mTV between 1980-1984, you caught these as BBC reruns in the States. They were awesome because SNL was in such a suck hole of humorless, lazy, coked out oblivion for a few seasons before Myers or Murphy bailed their asses out.Plus, it was a Brit offering that picked up the ball from the 1970s Monty Python legacy. This ensemble had a completely different structure, context, and vision than Monty Python -- and a much better "batting average" with the ratio of sketch comedy hit-or-miss.French and Saunders kick ass, and all the guys involved knock it out of the park consistently too -- especially in the Beatnik episode.For an extremely rare collection available NO WHERE else really, not even the torrent world, or the deep net, or the dark net, the 20-40 bucks is well worth it.

Classic British humor from "The Comic Strip." The boys from "The Young Ones" and the ladies of "French and Saunders" are here, with the great Robbie Coltrane.I am very fond of the sketch about Celts, especially.

Faulty. Won't play properly.

Ages ago, MTV used to air The Comic Strip Presents (along with The Young Ones) on weekend nights. I was hooked the moment I tuned in. Seems, though, that I had missed out on quite a bit. I can only recall ever seeing what is covered on just the first two discs of this nine disc collection. I'm glad to be able to finally catch up on it all!

All the episodes I remembered, and a few I had forgotten. Great fun and a great video transfer. I can now actually show friends the shows they think I made up. Seeing the start of so many careers is amazing. I remember when it was new and so were the cast.

I'm obsessed with Britcom and mosts things English, and I am *so* happy with this purchase. 9 DVDs total, and almost everything is hysterically funny or (at the very least) amusingly quirky. It's so cool to watch this group of young people bond over a passion for comedy and then grow together!

Quick delivery UK to Spain and all reasonably priced. This classic cult DVD collection is quite difficult to find anywhere at a sensible price - so the seller and Amazon solved the problem with no hassle!Thankyou.

Great DVD set full of nostalgia and memories from the 80s when I had hair. Every happy moment of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmundson with their talented team of maniacs. Especially my all time faves of Bad News, Slags and A Fistful Of Travelers Cheques. Classic, and gloriously NOT politically correct.

Amazon dice que tiene subtítulos en inglés pero no es así. Sólo contiene el audio original en inglés. La serie es buena e ideal para aficionados del humor de Rik Mayall y Ade Edmondson. La calidad de la imagen de los primeros episodios es floja pues parece que son, simplemente, la versión VHS de estos. Aún así, las historias son divertidas y muy recomendable. Lo único malo es la ausencia de subtítulos a pesar de venir anunciados.

"The Comic Strip" war eine britische Gruppe von Stand-Up-Comedians,die sich ab 1980 aus Auftritten des "Comedy Store" in London zusammensetzte und mit "The Comic Strip" ihre eigene Gruppe gründete und die damalige humoristische Szene auf den Kopf stellte. Das aus den Komikern Rik Mayall,Adrian Edmundson,Nigel Planer,Alexei Sayle,Peter Richardson,Jennifer Saunders,Dawn French und anderen bestehende Ensemble spielte live auf der Bühne eines Nightclubs in Soho ihren anarchistischen Stand-Up-Humor,bis 1982 das Fernsehen auf sie aufmerksam wurde. Bereits 1981 hatte Julien Temple einen halbstündigen Film über die Bühnenauftritte des Ensembles in Szene gesetzt und diese in einen Filmplot eingebettet. Der Gründer des "Comic Strip" Peter Richardson wollte diesen Weg weiter gehen,unterzeichnete ohne das Wissen seiner Mitstreiter einen Deal mit der neu gegründeten Channel Four und schrieb zusammen mit seinem Partner Pete Richens zuerst sechs halbstündige Filmchen,die eher Schauspieltalent als Stand-Up-Qualitäten verlangte. Bis auf einen Mitstreiter sagten alle Mitglieder des "Comic Strip" zu,auch Richardson selbst spielte fast immer mit. Zu den bestehenden Schauspielern gesellten sich Gaststars wie Robbie Coltrane(Für alle Fälle Fitz,Harry Potter)oder Miranda Richardson,die auch öfter auftraten. Die Filme begannen als Trashcomedy. Der erste Film z.B. ist eine Parodie auf Enid Blytons Jugendbuchreihe "Fünf Freunde". Aus den noch unbeholfenen Scripts wurden später aber richtige Perlen,die sowohl von der schauspielerischen Leistung wie auch von der Umsetzung her fast schon an Hollywoodfilme heranreichte und auch auf oft 50 Minuten Laufzeit ausgeweitet wurden. Der Clou der Reihe war,dass kaum eine Folge wie eine andere aussah. Ausnahmen dabei waren die 5-Freunde-Parodien oder die gefaketen Dokumentarfilme der ausgedachten Metal-Band "Bad News",die bierenst sämtliche Metal-Klischees durch den Kakao zogen und ein halbes Jahr vor ihren ungleich erfolgreicheren Kollegen von "Spinal Tap" starteten. Zwar sind nicht alle 39 Folgen superwitzig,es sind auch manchmal drögere Folgen dabei,aber es macht Spaß,das Stammpublikum in immer neuen Verkleidungen mit teilweisem Mut zur Häßlichkeit agieren zu sehen,und schauspielerisch sind die Akteure sowieso über jede Kritik erhaben.Diese DVD-Box mit 9 DVDs läuft unglaubliche 26 Stunden lang und bietet neben den 39 präsentierten Minifilmen (nur der neueste Film von 2005 fehlt noch) drei Dokumentationen mit Interviews aller Akteure aus heutiger Sicht sowie den Film von Temple aus dem Jahr 1981. Allein diese Bonus-DVD bietet über 2 Stunden Spaß und Infos.Nachteile hat die Box nur wenige. So ist leider kein Booklet vorhanden,und Untertitel gibt es auch keine. Gute Englischkentnisse sind deshalb vonnöten. Fast alle Mitwirkenden wurden durch die TV-Reihe zu Superstars mit eigenen Sitcoms oder Theaterauftritten,aber das würde hier zu weit gehen. Jedenfalls ist die Box eine klare Empfehlung!

I don't know about everyone else, but I found The Comic Strip early stuff most relevant to me as a young teenager, and, nostalgically viewing the whole lot over the last fortnight or so, it's remained the funniest.So to see episodes such as War, A Fistful of Travelers' Cheques, The Beat Generation, Dirty Movie etc was a real treat.I can't be sure about whether two seconds of this, that or the other has been slightly cut bothers me that much. I mean - I've still got the original VHS in the attic, but if I'm not inclined to get up a rickety ladder to watch them again and check (and btw I do still have a plugged in VHS, with special technology to upgrade the picture, which I turn off because it actually makes it worse).As for the later stuff, I think they were out of their depth (with the exception of Mr Jolly LND) so I'm not going to be that bothered. The best thing about Supergrass is the scene with Alexi Sayle as a police motorcyclist (harking back to the original Comic Strip) and the worst is seeing how dreadful Peter Richardson is as an actor. His ego virtually explodes in a spectacular lack of talent.(Thank God he wasn't in The Young Ones, as originally mooted - even though Chris Ryan would never have won an Oscar, Peter Richardson's interference would almost certainly have made sure it never made Series Two, IMHO)But going back to the C4 early days - that should be worth £15 of anyone's money on its own. Plus the extras, which you might or might not like. But they are in no means a waste of time.I'd recommend it thoroughly, simply as a bargain and an opportunity to see what "alternative comedy" was really about when it was allowed to rank up against the TV mainstream in the 80s.