TV Comedy Movies

Funnyman Will Ferrell spent seven years in the cast of Saturday Night Live before striking out on his own and making a splash in the movies Old School and Elf, and this home-video collection brings together some of his funniest moments from the show. Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell features Ferrell bringing down the house as George W. Bush, over-enthusiastic cheerleader Craig Buchanan, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, clueless music teacher Marty Culp, and any number of overexcitable regular guys with a bad habit of taking their clothes off when you don't want them to. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Another 39 terrific episodes are served up in Leave It to Beaver's third season, which when originally telecast on ABC were seen in the series' brand-new Saturday evening time slot. The first offering is "Blind Date Committee," another thrilling chapter in the love life of the now-14-year-old Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow). This is followed with another classic episode wherein Wally volunteers to babysit kid brother Beaver (Jerry Mathers) with embarrassingly soggy results in "Beaver Takes a Bath." And one week later, Beaver's classroom nemesis Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil) of necessity becomes his best friend for a whole four minutes in "School Bus." In other episodes, mom June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) mortifies Beaver by making public his baby pictures; dad Ward's (Hugh Beaumont) well-meaning exaggerations about his own youthful athletics cost Beaver dearly in "Beaver Takes a Walk"; Beav's schoolteacher Miss Landers (Sue Randall) shocks her favorite pupil by wearing open-toed shoes in "Teacher Comes to Dinner"; chaos ensues in "Beaver the Magician" when The Beav convinces five-year-old Benji (Joey Scott) that he has turned himself into a rock; and later on, it is weaselly Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond) who pulls the wool over Beaver's eyes in "The Hypnotist"; June chooses to wear an outlandish blouse rather than break her sons' hearts in "June's Birthday"; and Eddie -- that creep! -- persuades Beaver that Ward will go to jail when Beaver's library book turns up lost. Many fans consider the season's highlight to be "Beaver and Violet," in which poor Beav is unwittingly caught in a kiss with little Violet Rutherford (Veronica Cartwright) ,thanks to her camera-fiend dad Fred (Richard Deacon). Also, for the benefit of those who regard the series as frivolous and insignificant, we refer you to the episode "Beaver and Andy," a poignant and thoroughly realistic story about alcoholism. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The setting for this morbidly amusing British sitcom was Bayview Retirement Home, a sterile senior-citizen center. Upon his arrival at Bayview, randy oldster Tom Ballard (Graham Crowden) formed a curious bond with fellow inmate Diana Trent (Stephanie Cole), a relentless griper who claimed that she was anxious to die and have done with it all. Together, Tom and Diana contrived to make life miserable for Harvey Bains (Daniel Hill), the prissy, rule-bound manager of Bayview. Also appearing from time to time were Tom's son Geoffrey (Andrew Tourell), Jeffrey's snappish wife Marion (Sandra Payne), and irritatingly cheerful senior-center worker Jane Edwards (Janine Duvitski). Despite its geriatric cast, Waiting for God managed to stay on the air for five seasons and 47 episodes, from June 28, 1990 to October 27, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was planned as the series' last year on the air, the producers managed to forge a new contract with ABC assuring that Will Smith (as teenager Will Smith) and his co-stars would be reporting to duty for season five. The basic "culture clash" premise with streetwise Philadelphia native Will Smith moving in with his wealthy relatives, the Banks family in Bel-Air, CA, was still in place, but a few changes were made for the series' fifth go-round. Gone are two holdovers from Will's Philadelphia days, his buddy Jazz (played by actor Smith's real-life musical partner Jeff Townes) and his off-and-on girlfriend Jackie (Tyra Banks); the latter character is more or less replaced by Will's new heartthrob Lisa (Nia Long), who almost -- but not quite -- marched down the matrimonial aisle with our hero at season's end. In another development, Will's cousin Ashley Banks (Tatyana M. Ali) launches a career as a singer with Will as her manager; and the baby of the Banks family, little Nicholas (Ross Bagley), turns five years old -- even though he had been "born" only a year and a half before! Highlights of season five include the ever-growing confidence of Will's prissy cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) in the romance department; an effort by Carlton, Ashley, and their sister Hilary (Karyn Parsons) to sneak a peak at their father Philip's (James Avery) will; and a chilling episode in which Will is shot and wounded by a would-be robber. And, in keeping with the precedent established in season four, season five of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is top-heavy with guest stars. This year's celebrity roster includes the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Don Cornelius, Jay Leno, Pat Morita, Ken Griffey Jr., John Amos, Isaac Hayes, Robin Givens, and Sherman Hemsley...as George Jefferson! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This 1976 special constituted the first of four hour-long reunions featuring three actors (and the beloved characters they created) from the original 1955 Honeymooners) series. It brought back Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, Art Carney as Ed Norton, and Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden - plus Jane Kean, who had originally inherited the role of Trixie Norton from Joyce Randolph in 1966. The premise on this occasion finds Ralph planning to remarry Alice at the Raccoon Lodge - a celebratory event that grows panic-stricken when Ralph mistakenly believes that Alice is pregnant, and Ed decides to teach Ralph how to care for an infant. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi