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Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show - Season 1 [DVD] [1955]

Phil Silvers    Parental Guidance   DVD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
Price: £12.14 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show - Season 1 [DVD] [1955] + Sgt. Bilko [DVD] + The Tony Hancock BBC Collection (8 Disc Box Set) [DVD] [1956]
Price For All Three: £37.45

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Product details

  • Actors: Phil Silvers
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 5
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 6 Sep 2010
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B003N18OB0
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,865 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

"Goldbricker." Now there's a term you don't hear much any more. But that's what Ed Sullivan called Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko back in the 1950s, and it's as apt a term as any for Phil Silvers' immortal comic creation. Hustler, gambler, scam artist, and con man also apply, but anyway you slice it, Bilko is inarguably one of the greatest characters to emerge in television's so-called Golden Age. Created by Nat Hiken and originally called "You'll Never Get Rich," The Phil Silvers Show is classic situation comedy. There's no character arc, no lessons learned, no sentimental denouement; just laughs, and plenty of 'em. The typical episode finds Bilko on the make--usually, though not exclusively, for money--and generally ends with him holding the short end of his own shtick. (They don't all follow the formula; a hilarious exception is "The Court Martial," in which Bilko is ordered to defend a chimpanzee that the Army has somehow managed to enlist and is now trying to expel.) Silvers, a master at both verbal and physical comedy, is the focal point, of course. But the ensemble work, featuring Bilko's usual stooges from the Fort Baxter motor pool (Barbella, Doberman, Paparelli), his favourite victims (cf. Col. Hall), and occasional guest stars, is uniformly brilliant, the acting is seemingly effortless, and the pleasure they take in their work is palpable. Bottom line: these shows may have been produced 50 years ago, but the jillions of TV comedies that followed have never improved on them. --Sam Graham

Product Description

The complete first season of the 1950s comedy series following the exploits of military con artist Sgt. Ernie Bilko (Phil Silvers). Bilko works at a US Army Camp in Kansas where he schemes in any way he possibly can to make money, while trying to avoid the watchful eye of Colonel Hall (Paul Ford). Episodes comrpise: 'New Recruits', 'The Empty Store', 'The WAC', 'The Horse', 'A.W.O.L.', 'The Boxer', 'The Hoodlum', 'Mardi Gras', 'The Eating Contest', 'The Centennial', 'Bivouac', 'The Singing Contest', 'The Twitch', 'The Reunion', 'Rich Kid', 'Hollywood', 'The Investigation', 'Kids in the Trailer', 'The Revolutionary War', 'Bilko's Transfer', 'Bilko's Rest Cure', 'Dinner at Sowici's', 'Army Memoirs', 'Miss America', 'The Court Martial', 'Furlough in New York', 'The Big Uranium Strike', 'Bilko and the Beast', 'The Physical Check-Up', 'The Recruiting Sergeant', 'Bilko's Hair', 'The Con Men', 'War Games' and 'Bilko On Wall Street'.


Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
135 of 139 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Ten-Hut! Episode Guide Series One. 14 Aug 2010
By Armchair Pundit VINE™ VOICE
The ten episodes marked with an * are also on the 50th anniversary edition. Not as many extras as that release but when It's Sgt Bilko who needs extras. Although for those of us who got the 50th anniversary edition there are ten stories we've already got, but twenty four we haven't. Bargain!
Disc 1:
New Recruits (commentary by Allan Melvin) *
The Empty Store
The WAC *
The Horse *
AWOL
The Boxer
Special Feature: The Lost Audition Show - (Rarely seen, live audition show that was never broadcast.)

Disc 2
The Hoodlum
Mardi Gras
The Eating Contest *
The Centennial
Bivouac *
The Singing Contest
The Twitch *
Special Feature: Original Opening & Cast commercials (Camel cigerettes and Pontiac car commercial.)

Disc 3
The Reunion
The Rich Kid
Hollywood
The Investigation *
Kids in the Trailer
The Revolutionary War *
The Transfer

Disc 4
The Rest Cure
Dinner at Sowici's
Army Memoirs
Miss America
The Court Martial (commentary by George Kennedy) * (The one featuring the chimp.)
Furlough in New York
The Big Uranium Strike

Disc 5
Bilko and the Beast
Physical Check-up
Recruiting Sergeant
Hair
The Con Men *
War Games
Bilko on Wall Street
Special Feature: "Lucy and the Efficiency Expert" (An episode from Lucille Ball's "The Lucy Show", which features Phil Silvers as the Efficiency Expert.)

Trivia:- There were four seasons of Bilko, 1955-59, 143 episodes in total, after season three they moved from Fort Baxter, Kansas to Camp Fremont, California.
Creator Nat Hiken left when they moved the production from New York, two years later he created "Car 54 where are you?".
In the 1980's a British tourist was nearly arrested when a Chinese soldier thought the man depicted on her Sgt. Bilko T-shirt was the Dalai Lama.
I think Bilko would have liked that.
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50 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars At last! 17 July 2010
By Ricky
I suspect that most people who read these reviews will have already seen most of these shows, and won't need any persuading to buy, but if you are oblivious to this almost forgotten gem, then this is possibly a chance to see what - in my mind - is the 'daddy' of all sit coms.
I first saw 'Bilko' in the 1970's on the BBC, when it was screened after 'Parkinson' on a Saturday night, and have been a fan ever since, despite not seeing anything appear on DVD for a long long time. I'm certain that I've seen every episode many times, but never tire of Phil Silvers' comic genius, and will order every series they bring out without hesitation.
I simply cannot recommend this DVD highly enough! This is classic comedy at its very best - the fact that it was first aired over 50 years ago is irrelevant.
Perhaps Phil Silvers regretted never having as much success with his later work, but if that was the case, he needn't have worried, as that was an merely an illustration of how he 'was' Bilko, and there was no shame in that, as he created, then played the part to perfection. When can we expect the other series?
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48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes! yes! Finally! At last! 10 stars out of 5 1 Sep 2010
Amazon Verified Purchase
This Season 1 Boxset went on the pre-order list so fast it broke the sound barrier. Although I'm far too young (my parents were still young children!) to remember this the 1st or even nth time round, I grew up watching Bilko via my dad, who in the 80s and 90s (before VCR, DVD) used to stay up till 12.35am or get up at 6am for the quirky times it was shown on the BBC, which was wonderful, because there were no adverts (sadly now about only a handful of things the BBC has going for it).
A lot of "comedy" wears with time or is only funny for the first 30 seconds of the first airing, and when you come back to it a few years later, you find yourself sitting there thinking: what *was* I thinking? There a few very rare exceptions, such as Dad's Army, Hancock's Half Hour, Porridge, Blackadder, Hi-de-Hi, Only Fools & Horses; The Phil Silvers Show fights for top billing - I can't remember a single bad episode amongst the 120-episode run, and even those that were less than stupendous are still largely unmatched by anything we have today.
The number of brilliant scenes and perfect episodes is lengthy - even more so when you consider the show was filmed live and any "fluffs" had to be covered over by the actors hastily improvising - my personal favourite was the one with the chimp, where the animal began to deviate from the script, and Phil Silvers adlibs to the chimp's actions, making the scene even funnier than it already was. I'm sure everyone has their favourite moments, and characters; Doberman, Zimmerman, Rocco, "Hench" Henshaw, Colonel Hall, etc.
The Phil Silvers show is also excellent for being way ahead of its time in terms of its portrayal of women and ethnic minorities, although I despite Political Correctness and having to use that phrase. Few knew that Fischal Silvers was a Russian Jew who with his parents fled the Tzar's pogroms pre-World War I - another young boy who arrived at the same time possibly on the same ship in the USA was Isaac Asimov, the famous scientist and sci-fi/mystery author. Silvers insisted on having black American actors portray members of his platoon, despite racist executives complaining they were 'too obvious on screen', and the women/love interests are always intelligent as well as beautiful - Silvers had five daughters and no sons, which may have been where he learned to respect the female of the species - and he was a committed anti-racist and anti-sexist individual, which was why so many of his platoon 'characters' were of an ethnic background - Italian-American, Polish/Russian/Slavic-American, etc. At the time nobody realised American-as-apple-pie good ole Phil Silvers was a Jew and a 'Ruskie' as the idiotic racists and McCarthy hysterics labelled them.
It you want guaranteed humour that you can laugh at over and over and over again every time you watch it, without any so-called 'edgy' foul language or cringing crudeness, this is the show for you. The only thing is, now someone has finally got their act together and brought out Season 1, please can we have Seasons 2-5 (120 episodes divide by 24 = 5 boxsets) at regular, frequent intervals, please!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars All time classic
What do you say other than laugh for hours. I grew up in the heady days of Bilko and it all came flooding back....................excellent
Published 21 days ago by Rockman45
5.0 out of 5 stars The King
Phil Silvers was a genius and Bilko is one of the finest comedy shows ever. Looks like poor sales have prevented Season 2 and 3 releases which is a damn shame!!
Published 29 days ago by JW
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent item!
A really excellent item competitively priced and with reasonable postal charges. It was also quickly posted - top marks!

If only they would bring out more series of it!
Published 1 month ago by David W. Bishop
5.0 out of 5 stars phil silvers legend.
great comedy show used to watch it at me nans years ago glad is on dvd now found it by accident.
Published 1 month ago by ROOSTER69
5.0 out of 5 stars Sgt Bilko: Phil Silvers
This is a must buy if you are a Sgt Bilko fan - although filmed in the 1950s he is still a timeless comedic character in a classic seried. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. A. J. Dandy
5.0 out of 5 stars Better now than 60 years ago!
I used to watch this programme as a teenager with my Mum and Dad and friends in the 50's and it was always a "must see". Read more
Published 2 months ago by bluesboy al
5.0 out of 5 stars The First Season
I you already have the 50th Anniversary set of Bilko that was released a few years ago, then you will find about ten of the episodes are duplicated on this first season set, but... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Eddie Teddy
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Cat
The series that spawned Top Cat, Officer Dibble and Benny. Here in stunning black and white. Fantastic. Phil Silvers is a master comedian. What more can you say. Terrific Value.
Published 3 months ago by J. M. Scales
5.0 out of 5 stars DVD
a very good fast and efficient service which i can highly
recommend to any would be customers,and i will use this
company again with no hesitation
Published 3 months ago by CHRIS HANDS
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Just what I expected. Funny ,funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny.
Published 4 months ago by Mr. John P. Clarke
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