A week ago if you'd asked me, "What's the best TV show that isn't available in a complete DVD set?", I'd have had an easy answer: "The one that went under the titles, You'll Never Get Rich, The Phil Silvers Show and — most commonly — Sgt. Bilko. Phil Silvers was brilliant as Master Sergeant (and Master Conman) Ernie Bilko. Add in a great supporting cast and the superb writing and producing of Nat Hiken and you had one of the best TV programs ever done. And unlike some shows of its day, it still holds up. It's real funny.
Okay, so it's Good News/Bad News time. The Good News is it's finally coming out in a boxed set of 20 discs. The Bad News? It's being released in Great Britain and those 20 discs are Region 2, not playable on most U.S. players.
I have heard nada about a U.S. release. Back in 2006, Paramount brought out a 3-disc sampler with eighteen episodes and a lot of special features. Then in 2010, they brought out a 5-disc set collecting Season 1. Four years later, there is no trace of Seasons 2-4, leading one to suspect that Season 1 didn't sell well.
And you have to wonder — I do, anyway — if some of that could be because folks who love that show saw Season 1 on sale and thought, "Great! But I'll wait until four seasons are out and they're in one boxed set I can buy." As we've noted here many times, it is not uncommon for the collectors of old TV shows to feel burned. They buy individual seasons and then the boxed set comes out with special features or episodes that are only available in the complete set…so they have to buy that, meaning that they buy episodes they already have. We wrote about this here recently with regard to The Bob Newhart Show.
Heck, I love Bilko and I didn't buy Season 1 for that reason. I'll bet I'm not alone. Here's a link if you can play Region 2 DVDs and want to order this new set…
Sgt. Bilko – The Phil Silvers Show – Complete Collection (20 disc set) [DVD]
I'll let you know if I hear anything about it coming out in this country as a Region 1 release. Or if you hear anything first, you let me know.