This 2-Disc set of DVDs features a healthy total of 14 episodes of Groucho Marx' very funny game show "You Bet Your Life" (seven programs on each disc).Picture quality is not bad at all. Pretty darn good in fact. (And this material has probably not had any sort of official "restoration" or "remastering" either. So, I can't kick.)
Each of these shows features the exact same opening and closing credits sequences. They've taken one opening and closing and pasted them into each of these fourteen episodes. This trickery might tick some purists off...but not me. It doesn't really matter here. The body of the show is what's important. (Although, I will say: they could have chosen an ending sequence that wasn't garbled-sounding in places. But, that's still a very minor issue.)
I have several different "YBYL" videos and DVDs, and was expecting many "repeats" to pop up on this two-disc set. But, to my surprise and delight, there are very few repeats from what I've seen already put onto disc and VHS. And even the few repeats I do have are still slightly different versions here, with bits and pieces I haven't seen before (due to previous editing for other video releases) being presented here.
Several of these episodes I had never seen before, period. Including an episode with a contestant who turns out to be actor Tony Curtis' mother. :)
"You Bet Your Life" is always fun to watch. Groucho's bantering and joking with his contestants has become legendary. And it pleased a lot of people at the time too evidently, based on the fact that this very simple Game/Talk Show had an 11-year run on NBC (from 1950-1961), with very little change in overall format during its entire run.
For this bargain-basement price, this 2-discer should be snapped up by every Groucho fan with a DVD Player!
