The Show
Once DVD established itself as a profitable format, it was a given that eventually old best-of videotapes would get ported over to create cheap DVD material. That's definitely happened, with "The Best of Beakman's World" being just the latest example. The DVD version of the 1997 VHS release gives itself away right from the start, as Beakman explains just how much tape is inside the videotape you're watching. Way to confuse the kids, guys. There are several more mentions of the incredible invention known as videotape, so it's up to the parents to straighten things out.

But once you get past this out-of-date info, there's an entertaining 60 minutes of scientific information waiting. With wrap-arounds by Beakman (performance artist Paul Zaloom), this DVD packages 17 of the best "challenges" from "Beakman's World," a Saturday-morning "Mr. Wizard" for kids of the late '90s. That means faster edits, bright colors and hip, cool characters like Lester the rat and the much-beloved Josie (Alana Ubach, Legally Blonde, who represents the audience. Why they all have New Jersey accents is unclear, but they do. It's like "Sopranos Jr." ova heay. All three characters are hyperactive, standing in extreme contrast with the rather staid Mr. Wizard.

This show is put together using a recipe that comes direct from the show, with each challenge preceded by a "Fast Fact", and followed occasionally by a quip from Beakman's number-one fans, a couple of penguins named Don and Herb (christened perhaps after Mr. Wizard himself, Don Herbert). The 60 minutes fly by, as the challenges really are interesting, especially the water rocket. The challenges are well-constructed, as reproducible experiments include "Pencil Alerts", which indicates a list of supplies is coming, for kids to write down and collect. Some seem to go by too quickly, but more in-depth explanations often follow a replay.

The DVD
This DVD has one 60-minute special, with "Experiments" selection to go to specific challenges. There are also three previews for Columbia/Tri-Star family films. The menus are static, with no music.

The Quality
This is a direct port of the now out-of-print VHS release, which means the video quality is hardly top-notch, though it likely looks better here than it has ever looked. The full-screen video is soft and grainy at times, and the video effects look public-access quality 10 years after their creation. With just 60 minutes of content, though, the DVD producer encoded the disc at an average of 8Mbps, giving it the best presentation possible. The soundtrack is done in Dolby 2.0, and sounds terrific, which is important for this show. The hundreds of sound effects used come across clear as crystal.

The Extras
Nothing at all, unless you count the three trailers for Columbia's family titles.

The Bottom Line
Kids aren't going to care about the 8Mbps encoding or the lack of extras. And that's a good thing, since it means the actual content is enthralling, which it certainly is here. We don't have "Mr. Wizard's World" DVDs yet, (but I'm sure we will one day), so this is the next best thing. Perhaps if this disc does well at retail, which it should considering the sub-$10 price tag, we'll get full episodes of scientific goodness on DVD. Until then, enjoy this disc with your kids or nieces or anyone young at heart.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.