Well, since I couldn't post a link to my DVD blog (apparently because it's hosted by that evil Yahoo!), I thought I'd start a thread based on a topic I covered in the blog a while back... books that contain a bonus DVD.

The latest one I've found is called "Made You Laugh", and the DVD is hosted by Carl and Rob Reiner. The book and the DVD are an overview of the history of comedy on TV and in the movies, as well as a look at stand-up comedy. It was put together by Joe Garner, who has done a couple other such packages, like "Now Showing" (great movie moments) and "Stay Tuned" (classic TV moments).

I also own "What We Saw" from CBS, which is a recap of the events of 9/11, and a book on the TODAY show, both of which are quite good. I bought one at Barnes and Noble called "The '60s" and it was absolute crap, but for the most part these are really cool.

The only example of a book-and-DVD set I've yet to find is "Tony & Me" by Jack Klugman, which reportedly includes a DVD of "The Odd Couple" bloopers. I keep waiting for that to show up on B&N's bargain racks, but nothing yet. Anybody who's seen it cheap anywhere, please let me know.

So, any other book-and-DVD sets anyone has seen that would be worth mentioning? I've heard about the horribly overpriced STAR WARS ones, and there's the "Inside Genesis" 2-disc set that's actually more of a DVD-sized book than a DVD included with a full-size book, but is there anything else out there?

Is the Made You Laugh DVD worth it?

The book "True Hollywood Stories" (from the E! TV channel show) has a DVD in it.

I got my girlfriend Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book and it had a DVD in the back w/ interviews and stuff.

Lost had a behind the scenes book which includes a bonus DVD. It's mostly recycled fluff from the Season 1 DVD set, but it does have a few exclusive deleted scenes on it.

It was certainly worth the $7.98 I paid, yes. I probably would have eventually bought it at cover price if I'd have had to, but if you're looking for a Kevin Burns-quality documentary, you'll be disappointed. I thought it was pretty decent, and liked that Carl and Rob were introducing clips from projects they had actually worked on (i.e. "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "All In The Family", "When Harry Met Sally", etc.)

For my fellow Python fans, a couple segments make mention of Monty Python's Flying Circus and "Holy Grail" (along with clips of each, including almost the entire "Black Knight" sequence), so that was cool.

As far as the book goes, I didn't read anything but the Foreword from Richard Pryor, but that was well worth the price in itself. It was a nice antidote for my recent viewing of "I Ain't Dead Yet, !@#$%", which had a bunch of sycophantic comics talking about how Pryor pioneered all this "n-word" this and "MF" that garbage -- I thought, "No, that CAN'T have been the point." Sure enough, in the foreword to the book, Richard dispels all that crap (I don't know which of the two came first, but obviously people had been saying shit like that for years), and says that "n____" and "MF" were only incidental to his material, and anybody who only got that out of his comedy and sees themselves as carrying on his work by just being obscene and racially-charged is an idiot.

It's not a popcorn muncher, but well worth the price of admission, especially if you find it on B&N's bargain rack like I did.

...do I get on the review board now?

Wow, I'll definitely have to check that out. Think I saw it on Amazon. I managed to get the show on John Ritter as an Emmy DVD off eBay, but there are a TON of other ones I'd like to have, and I'm sure the disc in the book is a great sampler for the series.

Cool... I'm not a LOST fan, but thanks for letting us know about that. I'm sure fans would enjoy it.

Oh wow, gotta get that then. I think I actually saw it once and kind of recognized the artwork, but didn't investigate further. Now I see why it seemed familiar... Brian Froud! I have Labyrinth on DVD just for the interviews with him and Terry Jones, so that book definitely goes on my shopping list. Thanks!

While I'm reviewing stuff, I should point out that Joe Garner's "Now Showing" DVD is hosted by none other than Dustin Hoffman (and yes, it included a segment on "The Graduate", and hearing Dustin drop behind-the-scenes tidbits about the film made me tingle in my naughty places), and the "Stay Tuned" DVD is hosted by Dick Van Dyke, who also gets to be self-referential when a segment on his show comes up.