“Who’s on First?” is one of my favorite Abbot & Costello sketches. I have always found their movies hilarious. That is why I find the first release in a series of classic Hollywood comedy collector’s sets, Legends of Laughter: Abbott & Costello, worth placing it in my DVD player every now and then for an upbeat moment. The DVD arrives on the streets January 26, 2010 and Screenhead has 4 copies as a giveaway. 

Burlesque entertainers “Bud” Abbott and Lou Costello first teamed in 1936, going on to become one of the greatest and most enduring comedy teams in showbiz history—stars of radio, film and television (helping pioneer the fledgling medium) throughout the ’40s and ’50s.

So immensely popular were the funnymen, their personal efforts during a 1943 World War II Bond Drive helped deliver an astounding $89 million in just three days ($1 billion+ today)! 

During a 20-year partnership, the tall and slim Abbott’s devious, acerbic and exasperated straight man was counterpoint to the pudgy Costello’s dim-witted, child-like, stumbling demeanor. Their style of knockabout comedy and precision, rapid-fire wordplay set the side-splitting framework for their most-famous routines, including “Who’s on First?” (often called the greatest comedic skit of all time), “Two Tens for a Five,” “Hertz U-Drive” and “Fleeing Flu.”

This special, six-disc collector’s set includes extremely rare bloopers from film and TV; 17 celebrity-studded episodes of The Abbott & Costello Show on radio (1942-49), a 1943 World War II PSA, “The Autobiography of a Jeep”; the feature films Africa Screams (1949) and Jack and the Beanstalk (1952); 20 classic movie trailers, charting their careers from 1940-59; and 14 TV episodes, hosted by the duo, of the Colgate Comedy Hour (1951-54).

Appearances by:Marlene Dietrich; Errol Flynn; Lucille Ball; Lon Chaney, Jr.; Jane Russell; Veronica Lake; Rudy Vallee; Louis Armstrong; Dorothy Lamour; Peter Lorre; Hedda Hopper; Bella Lugosi; Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake (Blondie & Dagwood); Joe Besser and Shemp Howard (Three Stooges); Charles Laughton, Peggy Lee; The Andrew Sisters; Hoagy Carmichael; Alan Hale, Alan Ladd; Victor Borge; Les Paul and Mary Ford; Rhonda Fleming; Gale Storm; The Nicholas Brothers; Mel Blanc; Clyde Beatty; and more!

Screenhead has 4 copies of Legends of Laughter: Abbott & Costello giveaway.  Post your name and we will pick the winner Friday, February 22, 2010.