Comments about Joe McDoakes (63 SHORTS) (6 DVD Set):

Bought plenty of DVDs from this site over the last few years, but this one (which I've had for at least three years) is the one that has had the most mileage. I am not sure why these ten-minute black and white shorts give me such an instant perma-grin. To some viewers, they are more belly-laugh than laugh out of your seat funny… although I am tempted on occasion to do the latter. If you are feeling depressed, they do help quite a bit.

Maybe it is that period Warner charm, being a product of the Humphrey Bogart-Doris Day-James Dean era when they were shown along side the Technicolor travelogues and Bugs Bunny cartoons, with those slushy-but-playful William Lava music scores to match. Maybe it is the star George O'Hanlon (a.k.a. George Jetson in the later TV cartoon series), who makes the perfect Every Man whom most can sympathize with, especially when subject to so much humility. In some ways, they resemble shorter versions of your typical TV sitcom, although many titles date from the forties before TV was firmly established. Many gags and situations echo bits and pieces of Jack Benny, the Looney Tunes, Hal Roach comedies from over a decade earlier, I Love Lucy and even Woody Allen on certain levels, giving them a rather timeless appeal.

Under Richard Bare's enthusiastic direction, the additional cast members are all first rate, including "Oooooo" Frank Nelson (famous on Jack Benny), Arthur Q. Bryan (a.k.a. Elmer Fudd), ex-Our Gang-er Clifton Young, "tut tut tut" Ted Stanhope, zany mad-physician Fritz Feld and be-speckled bro-buddy Rodney Bell. Of the three Alice McDoakes, I am partial to Phyllis Coates in particular. The Joe-Alice relationship is an engaging one that is also interesting on a social commentary level: quite often Alice is the one taking control and the bedroom setup in a few fifties titles were over a decade before BEWITCHED brought an end to twin beds separated by a night stand on the small screen. As we all know, many marital problems get settled you-know-where and these two look like they aren't suffering in that department, as indicated in "So You Want To Hold Your Wife".

It is hard to select a "best of the best" title, since a great many hold up well against other classic comedy shorts. A few favorites of mine: So You Want To Be In Pictures (with its Hollywood celebrity cameos), So You Want To Be A Detective (trashing Philip Marlowe), So You Want To Throw A Party (sexy games of post office), So You're Going To Have An Operation (Frank Nelson playing tic-tac-toe on Joe's tummy), So You Want To Be A Paperhanger (see Rodney disappear and a "bulge" appear in the glued wallpaper), So You Want To Get It Wholesale (Nelson does multiple Ooooos here), So You Love Your Dog (in which the collie brings bums home from the bar), So You Want To Be An Heir (the funniest of all spook house comedies with O'Hanlon multi-cast), So You Want To Be Your Own Boss (beware of cafe cockroaches stealing the Italian bread) and So Your Wife Wants to Work (and she earns more than he does, blowing his ego).

Although the earliest titles from 1942 show a bit of their age in their Pete Smith influenced humor, they are still fun to watch. From "So You Think You're Allergic" (1945) through the 1956 titles, all maintain a very high level of entertainment. From a technical standpoint, they all look pretty good for their age, if maybe not as "pristine" as, let's say, Sony's spruced-up "Chronological Three Stooges" series. Ideally, some could look better, but all is as viewable as anything else in black and white from that period.

Comments about Joe McDoakes (63 SHORTS) (6 DVD Set):

Lost and Found!

Comments about Joe McDoakes (63 SHORTS) (6 DVD Set):

These shorts are true classics. Original stories by and staring the late great, George OHanlon who would one day recreate the role in the form of, George Jetson the Joe McDoakes of the far future. These films feature some of the finest character acting talent in the business at the time to include the great and not yet late, Phyllis Coats as(THE best Lois Lane ever!) Alice Doakes long suffering bride. I intend to watch all of these then pass them on to my father in law. Maybe :-)

Comments about Joe McDoakes (63 SHORTS) (6 DVD Set):

This series rivals the Three Stooges and the Little Rascals for all-time best comedy short series. O'Hanlon (who eventually provides stories for writer/director Richard Bare) is a wonderful comic figure, a frustrated everyman who breaks the fourth wall with abandon. Watch for Phyllis Coates of SUPERMAN TV fame as the best of Joe's several Alices, Willard Waterman (THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE) as Joe's boss (among other things), Billy Gray (FATHER KNOWS BEST) as the ultimate brat, Del Moore (THE NUTTY PROFESSOR), and some stunning starlets including Joi Lansing and a mind-boggling Cleo Moore. This is the live action brother to the classic WB cartoons of the same period -- Elmer Fudd himself, Arthur Q. Bryan, is in several shorts. Each short is around ten minutes long and they are addictive.

Comments about Joe McDoakes (63 SHORTS) (6 DVD Set):

This is a wonderful and under-appreciated series of short comedies. Writer-director Richard L. Bare is better remembered for his work on TV's "Green Acres," but his zany sense of humor was already well-developed in the early '40s, when this series began. George O'Hanlon is better known vocally than visually, since he was the actor who gave voice to George Jetson in the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Each short gives Joe McDoakes a specific goal or task, which he muddles in hilarious fashion. Highlights include "So You Want to Be a Detective" (a great spoof of film noir), and "So You Want to Be in Pictures." The series maintained a high level of quality all the way to the last entry, made in 1956.