Review: Relive Pioneering Series THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE with New DVD Set

What is the American dream? This question and many others were asked and explored on a ground-breaking public television series from the early 1970s. Combining elements of variety shows and sketch comedy, documentary film, witty animated sequences, and a who's who of pop culture icons, THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE paved the way for future television programming. Years before SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and THE DAILY SHOW, a just before cult classics like THE GROOVE TUBE and KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE offered topical and satirical comedy on film, THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE was pioneering television.

S'More Entertainment Inc. has just released a new, four-disc set of THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE which features nearly 13 hours of irreverent humor, fascinating interviews, and a time capsule of 1971-1972 topics. Originally produced by Alvin Perlmutter and Jack Willis, THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE tackled women's liberation, the war in Vietnam, the state of the union - these and many other issues of the day were looked at through a variety of perspectives. The program only lasted two seasons on the then new Public Broadcasting System, a prime-time attempt to draw young, hip audiences with an experimental format. Politics, pop culture and commentary were blended with comedy bits by up-and-coming talents such as Chevy Chase in his TV debut (one of the singing faces, complete with mime-style make-up), Albert Brooks ("Famous School for Comedians"), as well as Charles Grodin, Penny Marshall, Henry Winkler, Charlotte Rae, Linda Lavin, and Bob Dishy. Marshall Efron, a name that is all but forgotten today, became something of a breakout star from the series, contributing short sketches that were as hilarious as they were strange.

Dick Cavett shares stories written by Mark Twain, Amy Vanderbilt offers etiquette tips, and Pablo Casals the cellist turns 95 years old. Writers such as Studs Terkel (with his interviews with real people from a Chicago bar), Kurt Vonnegut (reading from "Slaughter-House Five") were featured along with a pre-60 MINUTES Andy Rooney Mel Tormé sings and scat; Elaine Stritch performs "The Ladies Who Lunch" (from COMPANY), and stripper Blaze Starr gets an artist profile. These names are just the tip of the iceberg.

Eclectic? You bet. Entertaining? Yes, indeed. For anyone who loves this era, and wants to experience the

trippy graphics, catchy soundtrack, and bold television, this collection makes an excellent choice. Consider the first 10 chapters on the first disc, which comprise the first episode of THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE in the collection. Beginning with the singing faces of Chevy Chase and Ken Shapiro, the show kicks off with the amazing, animated title sequence that sets the pace for the presentation. The groove-tastic, vividly colored cartoon title sequence displays the machine that spreads its sunshine over cities and towns, people of all colors and makes a soldier's gun sprout flowers.

The question, "What is the American Dream?" is handled man-on-the-street-style, with people of all ages, colors and creeds chiming in with their answers to the query. One kid says it's a 10-speed bike, while a little girl offers the dream is a kitten, free to a good home. At least two people said they had no idea.

An in-depth profile of the era's number one daredvil superstar, Evil Knievel provides fodder for the segment entitled "Great American Hero." Knievel discusses his unique work and his doctor talks about the numbers of injuries he sustained. Another side of the daredevil lifestyle is looked at in the news-magazine style sequence "Crasheroo" about the demolition derby craze that was popular at the time. "Everyone in this country is out to destroy someone or themselves," one of the interview subjects opines.

Marshall Efron takes a look at the packaging of increasingly large olives, ending with the new superlative-sized gargantuan olive which is so big Efron's can opener couldn't open it. The slanted comedy continues with the animated short "Portrait of the Artist," about a talented, singing pig. His operatic voice cannot seem to keep the porker from ending up as dinner. Car crashes gives way to a new question, "What is love?," and a look at the early days of computer dating - back when IBM's were the size of rooms and punch cards held data and needed to be sorted by keypunch. (Whew, times have changed!) Cameras take the viewer to another side of romance for a look at Cove Haven, one of those honeymoon hotels where heart-shaped bathtubs, big round beds and champagne flows for the dream wedding night for many young couples.

Sex is also featured in the hilarious spoof of foreign films "You Know Who and What's Her Name?" written by the husband and wife duo Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor. With Bob Dishy as the man, and Salome Jens as the woman, the sensual pair makes love in a museum gallery and purr at each other in French, with subtitles. The couple, who never stops smoking, sardonically deliver dialogue such as

SHE: Who are you?

HE: Only a shadow of what I never was until I lost it.

Remember folks, this is just a fraction of Volume 1. The three other discs contain even more riches.

Be warned: the DREAM MACHINE was a product of its time and the decidedly progressive-leanings of public television at that time. Word has it conservative critics were stung by the anti-establishment views pointing up the foibles of mass media, the news, and life at the time of the production. Thankfully viewers can rediscover or explore for the first time THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE.

Release date: October 27, 2015. Format: 4 DVD discs. Catalog# SMO-DV-7184. Suggested retail price: $39.98. Total running time: 777 minutes. Aspect Ratio: 4 x 3. Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

PHOTO CREDIT: S'More Entertainment

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