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Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime, Vol. 1
Ventura // Unrated // June 17, 2003
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Dvdempire]
Robert Townsend has worn every conceivable hat in the industry, serving as an actor, director, writer, and producer on projects as varied as A Soldier's Story, 
Hollywood Shuffle, and Eddie Murphy Raw. All of Townsend's many talents were on display in his series of HBO specials, which netted an armful of NAACP Image Awards and Cable Ace statuettes. UrbanWorks Entertainment is releasing each of the Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime specials on DVD this year, beginning, not surprisingly, with the original from 1987.
Rather than just go for straight stand-up, Partners in Crime is a variety show, complete with a pair of musical performances, a small army of comedians, and even some filmed spoofs. Townsend begins the stand-up comedy with a routine about an urban approach to Shakespeare. He later passes the mic to comedians Damon Wayans (back when he had hair), Franklyn Ajaye, Don Reed, and Paul Mooney, who tackle subjects as varied as handicapped bullies, ineptly-dubbed chop-socky flicks, the divine plan of sexual impulses, and less watered-down television programming for black audiences. Soul singer Howard Hewitt makes a pair of appearances, kicking off the special with the poppy "Last Forever". He returns later for a :sniffles: more heartfelt song, "Say Amen", where he's joined by none other than Townsend himself, apparently in a bid to prove his total mastery of every facet of entertainment. The filmed segments include a jab at undeserving athletes with their eye on a slot at the All-Star Hall of Fame, an over-the-top parody of soap operas (The Bold, the Black, and the Beautiful), a safe sex PSA, and a buddy cop show pairing thinly-veiled cariactures of Prince and Michael Jackson.
With the obvious exceptions of clothing and hairstyles, the sixteen year old Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime special hardly seems dated at all, its style of comedy not ravaged by the decade and change that have passed since its initial broadcast.
Though it didn't leave me consistently doubled over in laughter, this is definitely an entertaining special, benefitting from strong material (written by Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans) and the solid assortment of comedians that round out the cast. There's quite a bit of talent on display, including a gaggle of pre-In Living Color Wayans, along with John Witherspoon and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. of Friday fame. I found myself fighting the urge to repeatedly whack the 'Skip' button to bypass Howard Hewitt's musical contributions, but other than that, not a single portion of the special failed to please. Damon Wayans and Don Reed put in the best stand-up performances, with Wayans playing Dozens and ranting about crippled bullies, followed by Reed's one-minute rendition of The Birds and a hysterical impression of Sunday afternoon kung-fu. The filmed portions are all great, particularly the extended spoof of soap opera theatrics and a nod to the "you're sleeping with everyone your partner has slept with" public service announcements of days gone by.
This first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime hits DVD with an hour of material, a $19.98 price tag, and a questionable Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.
Video: Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime is presented full-frame, just as it originally aired on HBO sixteen years ago. The bulk of the special was shot on video, with some of the live footage separated by four filmed interludes. The special as a whole has a soft, undetailed appearance, and light video noise can be spotted throughout. Completely unremarkable, but probably in keeping with the way this special looked during its cable debut in 1987.
Audio: The packaging proudly boasts that this first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime sports "5.1 simulated surround sound". I popped this disc into my DVD player expecting the standard six-channel stand-up setup, with the performers anchored up front and crowd noise roaring from every direction. The 'simulated' multichannel approach in this Dolby Digital track (448Kbps) means taking seemingly monaural audio and duplicating it across five different speakers. I'd rather have a flat stereo mix than a comedian's voice booming both in front of and behind me.
Taking better advantage of the nicities of six-channel audio is the substantial low-end, which roars to life whenever Townsend's band performs as well as during the music in the filmed segments. The kick drum in "Safe Sex" in particular is enormous. Some hiss lurks in the background as well.
For anyone keeping score, there are no alternate soundtracks, subtitles, or closed captions.
Supplements: The disc includes a smattering of previews for other UrbanWorks stand-up releases, including titles featuring Bruce Bruce, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, a Shaquille O'Neal comedy roast, Steve Harvey, Alex Thomas, and Michael Colyar. A brief filmography for Robert Townsend rounds out the extras.
The disc features a set of static 4x3 menus, and the hour-long special has been divided into twelve chapters. For whatever reason, the first chapter isn't accessible through the Scene Selections menu.
Conclusion: This is the first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime, with a final pair following on September 9th. It's too bad more content couldn't have been crammed onto this release -- twenty bucks for an hour of material is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. A second special or a slightly lower price tag would've warranted a much more enthusiastic recommendation. I'd still suggest checking out Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime, but I would opt for a rental instead of a purchase. Rent It.
Related Links: Robert Townsend's official site is slated to launch on May 15th, 2003, so mark your calendars, even if it means fishing out months-old pages out of the garbage. UrbanWorks Entertainment's site is kept a bit more up to date.
Boring Image Disclaimer: The screen captures in this review are compressed, slightly digitally sweetened, and don't necessarily reflect the appearance of the movie on DVD.
Hollywood Shuffle, and Eddie Murphy Raw. All of Townsend's many talents were on display in his series of HBO specials, which netted an armful of NAACP Image Awards and Cable Ace statuettes. UrbanWorks Entertainment is releasing each of the Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime specials on DVD this year, beginning, not surprisingly, with the original from 1987. Rather than just go for straight stand-up, Partners in Crime is a variety show, complete with a pair of musical performances, a small army of comedians, and even some filmed spoofs. Townsend begins the stand-up comedy with a routine about an urban approach to Shakespeare. He later passes the mic to comedians Damon Wayans (back when he had hair), Franklyn Ajaye, Don Reed, and Paul Mooney, who tackle subjects as varied as handicapped bullies, ineptly-dubbed chop-socky flicks, the divine plan of sexual impulses, and less watered-down television programming for black audiences. Soul singer Howard Hewitt makes a pair of appearances, kicking off the special with the poppy "Last Forever". He returns later for a :sniffles: more heartfelt song, "Say Amen", where he's joined by none other than Townsend himself, apparently in a bid to prove his total mastery of every facet of entertainment. The filmed segments include a jab at undeserving athletes with their eye on a slot at the All-Star Hall of Fame, an over-the-top parody of soap operas (The Bold, the Black, and the Beautiful), a safe sex PSA, and a buddy cop show pairing thinly-veiled cariactures of Prince and Michael Jackson.
With the obvious exceptions of clothing and hairstyles, the sixteen year old Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime special hardly seems dated at all, its style of comedy not ravaged by the decade and change that have passed since its initial broadcast.
Though it didn't leave me consistently doubled over in laughter, this is definitely an entertaining special, benefitting from strong material (written by Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans) and the solid assortment of comedians that round out the cast. There's quite a bit of talent on display, including a gaggle of pre-In Living Color Wayans, along with John Witherspoon and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. of Friday fame. I found myself fighting the urge to repeatedly whack the 'Skip' button to bypass Howard Hewitt's musical contributions, but other than that, not a single portion of the special failed to please. Damon Wayans and Don Reed put in the best stand-up performances, with Wayans playing Dozens and ranting about crippled bullies, followed by Reed's one-minute rendition of The Birds and a hysterical impression of Sunday afternoon kung-fu. The filmed portions are all great, particularly the extended spoof of soap opera theatrics and a nod to the "you're sleeping with everyone your partner has slept with" public service announcements of days gone by. This first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime hits DVD with an hour of material, a $19.98 price tag, and a questionable Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.
Video: Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime is presented full-frame, just as it originally aired on HBO sixteen years ago. The bulk of the special was shot on video, with some of the live footage separated by four filmed interludes. The special as a whole has a soft, undetailed appearance, and light video noise can be spotted throughout. Completely unremarkable, but probably in keeping with the way this special looked during its cable debut in 1987.
Audio: The packaging proudly boasts that this first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime sports "5.1 simulated surround sound". I popped this disc into my DVD player expecting the standard six-channel stand-up setup, with the performers anchored up front and crowd noise roaring from every direction. The 'simulated' multichannel approach in this Dolby Digital track (448Kbps) means taking seemingly monaural audio and duplicating it across five different speakers. I'd rather have a flat stereo mix than a comedian's voice booming both in front of and behind me.
Taking better advantage of the nicities of six-channel audio is the substantial low-end, which roars to life whenever Townsend's band performs as well as during the music in the filmed segments. The kick drum in "Safe Sex" in particular is enormous. Some hiss lurks in the background as well. For anyone keeping score, there are no alternate soundtracks, subtitles, or closed captions.
Supplements: The disc includes a smattering of previews for other UrbanWorks stand-up releases, including titles featuring Bruce Bruce, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, a Shaquille O'Neal comedy roast, Steve Harvey, Alex Thomas, and Michael Colyar. A brief filmography for Robert Townsend rounds out the extras.
The disc features a set of static 4x3 menus, and the hour-long special has been divided into twelve chapters. For whatever reason, the first chapter isn't accessible through the Scene Selections menu.
Conclusion: This is the first volume of Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime, with a final pair following on September 9th. It's too bad more content couldn't have been crammed onto this release -- twenty bucks for an hour of material is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. A second special or a slightly lower price tag would've warranted a much more enthusiastic recommendation. I'd still suggest checking out Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime, but I would opt for a rental instead of a purchase. Rent It.
Related Links: Robert Townsend's official site is slated to launch on May 15th, 2003, so mark your calendars, even if it means fishing out months-old pages out of the garbage. UrbanWorks Entertainment's site is kept a bit more up to date.
Boring Image Disclaimer: The screen captures in this review are compressed, slightly digitally sweetened, and don't necessarily reflect the appearance of the movie on DVD.
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