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(More customer reviews)Saw it last night. I remember this stuff well, being a seventies child for whom Flip Wilson was a Thursday night ritual.
Those of us of that era may have fond memories of Variety shows on TV, but watching them on DVD 30 years later forces one to seperate nostalgia from real entertainment value. This actually holds up quite well. Richard Pryor (who occasionally wrote for Flip) does some interesting, and apparently improvised, skits with Flip. Ray Charles' appearance is excellent, and Flip's clowing with Ray gives everything an added dimension. The Committee does some skits that are more interesting than funny, that presage the kind of humor to be found on Saturday Night Live a few years later.
As the Flip profile points out on Disc 3, some African-Americans at the time cirticized Flip for pandering to stereotypes (especially with Geraldine and the crooked Rev. Leroy). The first episode of this disc (from 1972) shows where Flip's heart was and should quiet such critics. He has some contestants for Miss Black America appear and a couple of them do some really positive afrocentric skits for that era. George Carlin does a few Vietnam gags and his famous "Hair" routine, and Flip closes the show by proudly standing alone in the center of the stage with a very serious expression giving the peace sign before it was a cliche.
This is a Flip with GUTS for that time. The fact that he could do such things during a polarized era and be loved by such a wide variety of people says a lot for his memory.
The real stunners in this piece are the "Clerow Wilson" (Flip's given name) cartoons that are known mostly to us 70s children who remember them. Based on episodes from Flip's own childhood, these cartoons are the darker twins of Fat Albert, very mauldin situations. "Clerow Wilson's Great Escape" is about Flip running away from an evil foster family "where they put water in the milk and milk in the water." "The Miracle of PS 14" is about a school so bad that the statue of Liberty turns its back on it. An animated Geraldine appears here ("she was nine, going on 26."). Rather grim (in spite of the attempts to wring humor from the situations, as evidenced by the above lines), but realistic cartoons about ghetto life. Way ahead of their time, but worth seeing and the price of admission.
People today tend to recall Flip as a sort of also-ran comic of his era compared to the likes of Cosby and Pryor. This set proves that he deserves a bigger place in history.
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The Flip Wilson Show was an instant smash when it premiered on NBC in September 1970, becoming the highest-rated variety program on television. In a bold departure from the standard fare of thetime, The Flip Wilson Show did without large production numbers, houseband, regular cast, or elaborate sets. From a round stage in front of astudio audience, gifted comedian Flip Wilson entertained the country withnothing but his hilarious monologues, a stellar array of guest stars, andgreat sketch comedy. This first-ever collection of full-length episodes from The Flip WilsonShow features guest performances by Ray Charles, Richard Pryor, GeorgeCarlin, Albert Brooks, Redd Foxx, Joe Namath, Johnny Cash, Joan Rivers,Phyllis Diller, and many more. Flip's signature characters are here, too,from Rev. Leroy of the "Church Of What's Happenin' Now" to that sexy, sassyforce of nature-the legendary Geraldine Jones.These treasured shows will have you laughing from beginning to end, but itwon't be the Devil who made you do it. It'll be Flip Wilson.
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