About 15 hours ago, I posted an item about a new 8-disc Abbott and Costello DVD set for under $25. Brent Seguine informs me that the Amazon listing is wrong; that it's eight movies crammed into two double-sided discs. That's still a bargain but it's not as grand.
The current plan, which presumes this release will sell well enough to warrant more, is for there to be four Abbott and Costello DVD sets which will release 27 of their 28 Universal movies, plus the 1965 compilation film, The World of Abbott and Costello. The last volume would be either be one double-sided disc or it might include some of the other Abbott and Costello features, some of which could be licensed from other companies, some of which are reportedly public domain.
The one Universal film which they presently intend to omit is It Ain't Hay, which apparently has rights problems because it's based on a Damon Runyon story. The Universal folks apparently feel they don't have it cleared to issue on VHS or DVD, though somehow they did license an outside company to put out a cheap VHS version. It's not one of the better A-and-C efforts and I'm told the picture quality of the currently VHS release isn't great but here's an Amazon link to it, anyway. Just in case there's a Bud-and-Lou completist reading this.
I used to like Abbott and Costello a lot and I guess I still do, though more for their radio appearances and the TV series they did than their movies. And of course, I still think Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic, if only to see Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi engage in self-parody. Perhaps my patience is atrophying as I get older but I otherwise find it hard to sit through the portions of Abbott and Costello movies that don't involve Abbott and Costello. I'm going to get the DVD set but I may keep one finger on the Fast Forward button as I watch some of those films.