The Mill Creek Entertainment September 26, 2017 DVD release of "Watch Around the Clock" black-and-white is a great companion to the (Unreal TV reviewed) Creek "Watch" color release on the same day. Both four-disc sets awesomely provide a full day of time-slot appropriate small-screen gems (complete with vintage commercials) on what can be considered independent station WMCE.
The following YouTube clip of a Mill promo. for the B&W set is a perfect "As Seen on TV" style ad that provides a good sense of the variety of "Golden Age" programming literally for all ages.
Both "Watch" sets additionally include a different bonus volume of holiday episodes of of TV Land classics. The holiday set in the B&W collection includes offerings from "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Sherlock Holmes," and "Racket Squad."
Like the color offering, the B&W "Watch" set begins at 6:00 a.m. and goes through to the same time the following broadcast day. Watching the set straight through would be sofa spud heaven.
"Kid's Clubhouse runs from 6:00 a.m. to noon and transitions from cartoons, to kids shows, to kid-oriented action-adventure fare.
"Betty Boop" starts things off with the titular flapper getting her own Cinderella story and then telling a bratty tot a fable; we then get "Felix" the cat in adventures that include a research expedition to Africa.
The cartoons wrap up with the animated sitcom "Calvin and the Colonel" in which a schemer and his sidekick hit numerous roadblocks in an effort to conceal misuse of a car that is borrowed without permission.
Silly live-action fare includes the classic "Howdy Doody" and the Soupy Sales clone "Pinky Lee." Fun regarding "Doody" from a 2017 perspective is that creepy looking resident clown Clarabelle gives Pennywise a run for his money.
The greatly beloved "Lassie" and the George Reeves "Superman" series bring us to the end of the "Clubhouse" portion of our programming day.
"People Are Funny" with Art Linkletter kicks off "Daytime Variety." This very early reality show has Linkletter good-naturedly tormenting willing saps for our fun and their profit. Aspiring actor Roger Dollarhide (who has four IMDb credits) literally goes around the world pursuing an acting contract. We also get a 15 year-old girl tasked with getting a random person to stay on the telephone for three minutes. The profession of her figurative partner-in-crime greatly contributes to the hilarity of this segment.
Linkletter shows up again in "Art Linkletter and the Kids" in the 12:30 slot on WMCE. This variation of "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" has Linkletter interviewing a quartet of tots. He goes on to have two of them participate in a challenge in which 7 year-old aspiring actor Norman Phillips is a live dressmaking dummy for a six year-old girl who aspires to marry at 16 because she thinks that 17 would make her an old maid.
Classic game shows that follow include "The Price is Right," "Queen for A Day," and the infamous "Twenty-One" that is at the center of the "Quiz Show" scandal.
Afternoon drama comes in the form of "G.E. Theatre" with host Ronald Reagan and guest-star Cloris Leachman and a "Four Star Playhouse" dramatic production starring David Niven and Carolyn Jones.
The "Prime-Time Favorites" that start at 6:00 p.m. begin with the westerns "Annie Oakley" and "Roy Rogers." This leads to "Dragnet," which leads to a large block of hilarious episodes of classic sitcoms.
"Make Room for Daddy" finds Danny Thomas struggling to be more tolerant of his kids, and "Ozzie and Harriet" finds younger brother/teen idol Ricky juggling two girls who are knitting sweaters to prove their love to him.
Mill especially shines regarding well-known episodes of heavily syndicated sitcoms. "Dick Van Dyke" has the hilarious outing in which the titular comedy writer must bring a duck to a vet; an animal also is the center of an "Andy Griffith" episode in which a goat eats dynamite. "The Beverly Hillbillies" has Dodgers manager Leo Durocher recruit Jethro as a pitcher following a LOL series of wacky misunderstandings during a golf game.
We then get future "Green Acres" Eva Gabor on the highly improvised "Johnny Carson" variety program. "Milton Berle" has sadly overlooked Gertrude Berg in character as the equally tragically forgotten malapropism-prone Molly Goldberg.
The six-hour "Midnight Movie Marathon" starts with its own under-rated classic. The very Dickensian "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" has Barbara Stanwyck as the titular woman whose role in the death of her wealthy evil aunt while Martha is in her teens ties her fate to classmate/future husband Walter (Kirk Douglas).
Martha and Walter live largely tolerable lives until bad boy Sam (Van Heflin) returns roughly 20 years after effectively fleeing the scene of the crime. This arrival prompts several concerns about the past returning to haunt both Martha and Walter. It also proves that none of us forget our first delinquent.
WMCE then has Jose Ferrer bringing his Tony-winning portrayal of "Cyrano De Bergerac" to the silver screen; The Frank Sinatra classic "The Man With the Golden Arm" rounds out both the "Marathon" and the WMCE broadcast day.
The large number of lengthy books on the subjects of the shows and the films in the B&W (and Color) "Watch" sets precludes giving them their due here. The absolute best thing that can be said echos Carol Burnett regarding a recent 50th Anniversary DVD release of several episodes of her variety series; Burnett essentially says that funny never stops being funny.
Regarding the films from the Golden Age of Hollywood that Mill awesomely includes, these movies are strong reminders of an era in which art and commerce were compatible. Stanwyck et al. were Hollywood royalty because of their talent, not just because of their good looks and definitely not for having outrageous personas.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding either "Watch" set is strongly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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