New Release: Celebrity Bowling DVD

Celebrity Bowling scene

Dick Martin and Bob Newhart team up in that Seventies TV staple, Celebrity Bowling.

Celebrity Bowling, the unabashedly silly but undeniably entertaining weekly TV show that ran for eight years in the 1970s (from 1971 though 1978), came to DVD from S’More Entertainment on June 14, 2011.

Hosted by Jed Allan (CSI: Miami), Celebrity Bowling features a pair of two-celebrity teams competing on regulation size bowling lanes that were installed inside the show’s studio at Los Angeles’ KTTV Channel 5.

The rules of the game were known as “best ball:” Each team member would take a shot on their own lane. If neither bowled a strike, then whoever rolled the worse shot would try to put up a spare on their partner’s lane. Winning teams garnered prizes (usually appliances, but occasionally even cars!) for audience members both present and sitting at home.

The real fun, of course, came in the celebrities and their often bizarre teamings. I dare you to ponder bowling competition between Roy Rogers and Don Adams vs. Bob Newhart and George Foreman and not double-over in laughter. There’s also lots of fun to be had in watching some of the celebs taking the game waaaaaaay too seriously, while others just enjoying making fun of each other. Not surprisingly, there are a bunch of celebs who don’t appear to have a great sense of humor at their own expense…

The Celebrity Bowling 3-DVD Collector’s Set contains 15 installments of the show featuring the following celebrity competitions:

  • William Shatner & Fran Jeffries vs. Hugh O’Brian & Michel Lee
  • Jimmy Walker & Michael Ansara vs. Dick Martin & Leslie Nielsen
  • Roy Rogers & Don Adams vs. Bob Newhart & George Foreman
  • Donald O’Connor & Rosemary Clooney vs. Rose Marie & Morey Amsterdam
  • Tige Andrews & Elizabeth Ashley vs. Brenda Vaccaro & Michael Douglas
  • Ed Asner & Elena Verdugo vs. Gavin McLeod & Loretta Swit
  • Dick Martin & Billy Barty vs. John Schuck & Michael Ansara
  • Bobby Troup & Roy Rogers vs. Robert Culp & Bob Newhart
  • Adrienne Barbeau & Gail Fisher vs. Arlene Golonka & Cathy Lee Crosby
  • George Foreman & Dick Martin vs. Anthony Newly & Don Adams
  • Rue McClanahan & Ron Masak vs. Charles Nelson Reilly & Robert Clary
  • Leslie Nielsen & Susan St. James vs. Angie Dickenson & Lloyd Bridges
  • Adam West & Roy Rogers vs. Kent McCord & Gary Collins
  • Howard Duff & Susan St. James vs. Angie Dickinson vs. John Saxon
  • Bob Newhart & Dick Martin vs. Anthony Newly & Nipsey Russell

No bonus features are in collection, but looking at the list of match-ups, who needs them!?!

The Celebrity Bowling 3-DVD Collector’s Set clocks in at approximately six hours and carries a list price of $29.98.

 

Buy or Rent Celebrity Bowling 3-DVD Collector’s Set
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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.