The wonderful nonsense that made up the comedy of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello is carefully preserved and is to be treasured in this two season television series which I can remember from my earliest days. It seemed like it was in syndication forever on WPIX TV in New York in the fifties, sixties and seventies. Made those Honeymooner episodes look like nothing.A careful viewing of all their feature films will find all their famous routines in them at one point. But if you just want to see the boys do their stuff and not have to worry about the plot of some movie, than by all means try to acquire these shows on VHS or DVD.The plots of these shows are absolutely meaningless. The common thread was the fact that they didn't pay the rent at their rooming-house and as their harassed landlord said on one show, they were going into their second year. Of course the fact that they didn't want to work and when they got jobs, they inevitably blew them up didn't help matters.The landlord was Sidney Fields who went back in burlesque as long as Abbott and Costello did. Fields had one magnificent temper and when Abbott wasn't abusing his hapless partner, Fields was. He got almost as many laughs as the boys did, in fact they could have been a trio act.Another tenant at the rooming-house was Gordon Jones, known as Mike the cop, though in one episode it did slip that his last name was Kelly. He also was driven to distraction by Costello's antics. There was the beautiful and ever patient Hillary Brooke who Costello was crushing out on big time. And there was Joe Kirk, in real life Lou's brother-in-law, who was the ever excitable Italian, Mr. Baciagalupe. Kirk was a poor man's Henry Armetta and the boys constantly made him lose his "temperature".Somewhere on some cable station these shows are still playing, with comedy that is absolutely timeless and will be enjoyed a thousand years from now.One thing I did wonder when I got older. Why didn't Fields just take Abbott and Costello to Landlord and Tenant Court. He had more than enough grounds.

Abbott and Costello was arguably one of the best comedy teams of all time. The quality of their comedy is timeless. It's something the while family can sit down and enjoy. None of their comedy was ever off color or something anyone would feel embarrassed to watch..The Abbott and Costello Show is one of Television's best comedy classics. While the basic theme of the show was the same every week (Bud and Lou trying to avoid the landlord, because they can't afford to pay the rent), it highlighted the best of all their movies and vaudeville acts. All of shows were filmed in black and white but still enjoyable today.I just purchased the full 52 episode set. As I have the time I hope to review each episode. The following is a full list of all of the shows 52 episode titles which ran from 1952-1953: The Drug Store, The Dentists Office, Jail, The Vacation Louis Birthday Party, Alaska, The Vacuum Cleaner Salesman, The Army Story, Pots And Pans, The Charity Bazaar, The Western Story, The Haunted House, Peace And Quiet, Hungry, The Music Lover, The Politician, The Wrestling Star, Getting A Job, Bingo The Chimp, Hillary's Birthday, The Television Show, Las Vegas, Little Old Lady, The Actor's Home, Police Rookies, Safari, The Paper Hanger, Uncle Bozzos Visit, In Society, Life Insurance, Pest Exterminators, Killer Wife, Cheap Skates, South Of Dixie, From Bed To Worse, $1000 TV Prize, Amnesia, Efficiency Experts, Car Trouble, Wife Wanted, Uncle From New Jersey, Private Eye, The Tax Return, Public Enemies, Bank Hold Up, Well Oiled, The Pigeon, Honey Moon House, Fencing Master, Beauty Conteststory, Fall Guy, Barber Lou.

The A & C show is one of the funniest comedy shows in the history of television. All of the skits that made this comedy team American comedy icons are in this series. And what adds to the shenanigans is the cast of those inimical characters that we still talk about - Mike the Cop, Mr. Fields the landlord, Hillary Brooks (Lou adored her. And how could anyone not react with a smile when she would condescendingly refer to Costello as "Louis?"), Mr. Bacigalupe and Lou's "friend" Stinky. Every episode is funny; every character is funny, and this show is proof that humor does not have to be dirty to be funny. Bud Abbott's sneer, Lou's whining, Mike's indignation, all that and more is what is to be found in this treasure chest of comedy, brought to you by one of the greatest comedy teams of all times - Abbott and Costello.

The raison d'etre of these 52 shows is the desire of Lou Costello to leave behind definitive versions of all of their burlesque and vaudeville routines. Most of these were not original, some having circulated since Plautus. Floogle Street (also known, incorrectly, as the Susquehanna Hat Company), Crazy House,Niagara Falls (Slowly I Turn) were all such staples that every new burlesque comic was expected to know them in case they were needed to fill in at a moments notice. They were part of the stock repertoire. What Abbott and Costello did was present the absolute perfect version of each bit. It was this absolute perfection which caused them to rise to the very top of burlesque, and to, uniquely, make the transition to the mass medium of films.They did these bits in their films but they were usually compromised by having plots and sub plots and romance and songs and whatever the studio executives or their agents (actually the same person) thought people who went to the movies wanted. Comparing their late films with the TV series is night and day. They look old and tired and out of shape in the films but crisp and perfectly timed on TV. The big difference with the TV series is that Lou Costello was in complete charge and did things his way. Absolutely the ne plus ultra of the burlesque comic genre, pardon my French. One day the National Film Registry will have to list the entire series as a national treasure. Lou Costello was right and their act was for the ages and this black and white series preserves it perfectly. Meanwhile watch that bit again where Mr. Bacciagalupe (I still call my greengrocer Mr. Bacciagalupe) convinces Lou that two bananas are really three bananas. Also the routine where Abbott convinces Costello not to let Mike the Cop push them around which keeps getting Lou hit on the head which is so much like modern international politics that it's frightening.P.S. Doing my Joe Besser ('Stinky') impression got me out of the draft.