The Bush administration today released four pages of the now-declassified National Intelligence Estimate. Here's a link to a PDF file of what has been released. It's pretty sad stuff, essentially asserting that the Iraq War is emboldening insurgents and fueling a new generation of jihadists.
If this is the part the White House felt might help them, one wonders what's in the rest of it.
Some weeks ago here, we griped about companies that bring out DVDs of great old TV shows on a season-by-season basis...and then, after fans of the show have bought each volume, out comes the "complete collection." And of course, the new set is cheaper and contains bonuses that weren't in any of the individual releases, thereby forcing the die-hard buff to buy the whole thing again. We do not like when they do this.
So we're pleased as punch, however pleased that may be, to report that the folks releasing Get Smart on DVD seem to be reversing the process. In November, they will release all five seasons of that show in one set. Later on, they'll be putting out DVDs of individual seasons for those who wish to get their Maxwell Smart that way but you can order the whole thing right now. I'm hearing that the video quality on this set is quite good and that the special features are especially good. Paul Brownstein's company is doing them and when I ran into Paul recently, he told me they'd just obtained permission to include some video from the memorial service for Don Adams, which I hear was quite wonderful.
Now, here are the catches. All five seasons (138 episodes on 25 discs) will run you two hundred bucks. They're saying the season-by-season releases, whenever they get around to putting them out, will be $40 each. If that's true, then $200 for the lot is no great bargain and you may think it's a lot of money to shell out at one time. You also can't go bargain-hunting for this if you crave it now because the set is available only from Time-Life Video until late next year, they say. (There's an option to pay in installments if that makes a difference to you.) Also, we can't guarantee that the individual releases won't contain some bonus material that isn't on the complete set, though that seems unlikely.
So you wanna buy a complete set of Get Smart: The Complete Collection? Then click on that name and start filling in your particulars. That's a commissioned link so this website gets a tiny payment which I think I deserve for posting an entire item about that show without employing one of its 8,022 catch phrases.
By the way: Get Smart was produced (and brilliantly so) by Leonard Stern, who had previously given us the one-season wonder, I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. I don't know if that show — which starred John Astin and Marty Ingels as two hapless constriction workers — was ever syndicated. Until recently, I don't think I'd seen an episode since they originally aired on ABC for the 1962-1963 season but I've always remembered it as a very clever, funny show. But a week or two ago, I saw one and I was delighted to see my memories validated...an experience you may soon be able to experience for yourself. Two different sources are telling me that a complete set of all 31 episodes is currently being prepped for DVD release early next year.
Here's one of those "goose pimple" moments from the stage, and this may take a bit of explanation. But bear with me. It's worth it.
As we all know, My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956 with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. It was only the biggest hit in the history of musical comedy, chock full of delights. One that was often singled out as the most thrilling was the number, "The Rain in Spain" — in particular, the instant when Liza (Andrews) finally masters the language exercise and speaks that phrase properly. Librettist-lyricist Alan Jay Lerner cited it as the greatest "tingle" he ever wrote, meaning a moment when the audience just went crazy with emotion and excitement. And he was right: It is a wonderful moment. In every production.
Now, flash forward to Carnegie Hall in the year 2000. A special is being taped for PBS. It's called My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs and it consists of star after star singing great show tunes with a romantic bent. Julie Andrews is the host, and it breaks the heart of the audience that she cannot be among the singers. Ms. Andrews, they all know, suffered a severe injury to her vocal cords in 1995 as a result of some botched routine surgery. It was said she would never be able to sing again...so she can only function as emcee for the proceedings.
It's the final number. Michael Crawford comes out and sings "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face"...and he's almost too good a singer for that song, the one that Henry Higgins warbles at the end of My Fair Lady. In the musical, Liza enters near the end and performs a few bars of "The Rain in Spain" to remind Higgins of how he taught her and who she was when she first came to him. On the stage that night at Carnegie Hall, Julie Andrews stepped back into the role of Liza and re-created that moment and...
Well, watch the video. You'll see an audience that's about as thrilled at what happens as any audience has ever been over anything. (You'll also see PBS harm the mood somewhat by inserting an announcement and rolling credits at an inopportune point. But what comes just before it is so good, nothing can ruin it.)
September 27, 2006
