DVD Tuesday: The Pat Paulsen Half A Comedy Hour

After last week’s impressive array of releases, this week has very little to offer fans of classic television. There is one rather obscure show available, however, from MPI Video: Pat Paulsen’s Half a Comedy Hour. The half-hour series premiered on Thursday, January 22nd, 1970 as a mid-season replacement for ABC and ran for thirteen weeks; the final episode aired on April 16th. Guest stars included Debbie Reynolds, Don Adams, Mike Connors, Daffy Duck and Don Rickles, among others. Also, Universal Home Video is rereleasing all three seasons of Land of the Lost, originally issued by Rhino between 2004 and 2005.


Related Posts

Become a Patron Today

Are you a fan of obscure television? Please support Television Obscurities on Patreon by becoming a patron today.

One Reply to “DVD Tuesday: The Pat Paulsen Half A Comedy Hour”

  1. I certainly remember Pat’s “HALF A COMEDY HOUR”- it aired on Thursdays at 7:30pm(et), and produced by the same people behind “THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR”. Why ABC thought Paulsen would be a success as a comedy/variety show host on his own is still a mystery: he worked best as a “supporting player” (and contributing writer) on the Smothers’ series. I remember one sketch he did where he parodied a local newscast [“Dinnertime News”]- interesting, but it had no “ending”, it went on and on…I’m happy that the original videotapes were preserved, though. Still, what appeal this forgotten variety show will have on “modern audiences” is uncertain, but MPI knows what it’s doing…

    “LAND OF THE LOST” certainly has its fans (the kids who watched it over 30 years ago still have great affection for it), but, unfortunately, I’m not one of them. If I had been an executive, I would have vetoed the idea of Will Ferrell’s feature film “burlesque” of the show BEFORE it was filmed. I KNEW what the results would be! Just because something appeals to “baby-boomers” doesn’t necessarily mean those same people will flock to a movie that has very little to do with the original TV series. Hollywood executives NEVER seem to learn that ironic little lesson…..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.