Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp (1970)

Move over, James Bond! Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp swings into action as the greatest super spy ever to foil international evil-doers, charm the ladies and drive a really cool car! In this hilarious all-chimp spy spoof airing from 1970 to 1972, Link and his stunning sidekick Mata Hairi adopt more and more outrageous disguises as they use their considerable wit and cunning to battle the Baron, his chauffeur Creto, the Duchess, Dr. Strangemind, Wang Fu and Ali Assa Seen. When he's not fighting diabolical criminals, Lancelot gets groovy as the leader of the psychedelic pop band Evolution Revolution, which rocks out in these 22 memorable episodes.

Awesome wholesome fun!

Just got this series yesterday, i was a kid in the 70's but i guess i missed this show, but what a blast to watch now!Put in the first dvd and me and my niece laughed the whole way thru, if you are a fan of monkeys like we are, you will love it , and if you aren't bananas about monkeys, you will STILL love it! September 23, 2008

Proof of intelligent design in childrens' programming.

Wow, now here's a memory from my childhood that I thought I'd never get to relive! And the best thing is that it's got a satirical element that I never could appreciate when I saw this as a kid. Sure, I understood that it was "Get Smart" with apes instead of humans, and I could follow the story lines, but it was those little pop culture things that I missed out on and that I was pleasently surprised at when I watched this again after almost 40 years.

For example, having a celebrity named "Raquel Wench" show up at a car race to kiss the winner, or the spoof of Bluebirds and Campfire Girls when Mata Hairy dresses like a "firebird girl" to infiltrate a bad guy's secred headquarters. That's the stuff that just went over my head as a kid.

So, it's great to see Lance again, but it's not something that I could immerse myself in and watch a marathon. It could get old very quickly. I'll take it in episode by episode over weeks and months, like a fine wine made from bananas. May 15, 2008

Oh, Lancie!

As I grow older, I become more nostalgic for the things of my youth. That is my excuse for liking this two-disk set, regardless of its faults. "Lancelot Lot Link - Secret Chimp," was simultaneously campy and clever, and the most expensive Saturday morning television show of its time, costing more than one million dollars per show.

"Lancelot Link" was a campy send up of various spy shows of the 1960, particularly "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," but also "Get Smart," "I Spy," and even the James Bond movies. Lancelot had a beautiful associate, Mata Hairi, a boss who was a lot like M, Commander Darwin, and a host of baddies working for evil agency C.H.U.M.P. What more could you ask for in Saturday morning television?

Each week, Lancelot and Mata Hairi would thwart the evil schemes of C.H.U.M.P., using Mata's cleverness, Lancelot's cluelessness, and miscellaneous gadgets that appeared a lot like ordinary devices. The jokes were frequently corny, the chase scenes were laughable, and the script lines frequently elicited groans, and yet, it was all fascinating. Matching the voices to the movements of the chimpanzee's mouths was excellent. The chimps moved well and their training was phenomenal. Even now, I am amazed at the attention to detail and how well the chimpanzees appeared to perform everyday tasks.

Also included in this collection are a bunch of songs from Lancelot Link and the Evolution Revolution. The music is essentially late 60's pop, mimicking groups like The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats, only with fur; mostly forgettable, but still clever. Both disks permit you to select the music videos independent of the episodes.

I do like this collection, but only because the collection is the only one available. This collection, unfortunately, has flaws.

The biggest flaws are that these episodes are neither all the episodes nor are they the whole show. "Lancelot Link" was shown for an hour in its first season, with cartoons between the live-action portions, and for a half hour in the second season. All that is included on these DVD's are live action portions and a goodly number of songs from Lancelot Link and the Evolution Revolution.

I could probably forgive deleting the cartoon portions of the show if we got all the live action episodes, but out of the 33 episodes produced (counting "There's no Business like Snow Business" as one episode, even though it was two parts), this two DVD set only has 22 episodes. 11 episodes are missing. Why make the collection at all if you are not going to provide all the episodes?

The other problem I have is that the video has had zero clean up. The images are grainy and dirty. It looks like they put the film into a projector and copied the result. Okay, I understand that the audience is limited for shows like "Lancelot Link," but why charge a price for this collection that is comparable to the prices for collections that are in much better condition?

How can I recommend this collection? Missing episodes and grainy video are difficult to recommend. On the other hand, this collection is the most complete available, to my knowledge. If you have been waiting more than three decades to get your hands on Lancelot Link episodes, then maybe you should get these. If you would really like to have Lancelot Link but you want all the episodes, perhaps you should wait a little longer. However, a truly complete collection may never exist, and I am not getting any younger. As Mata Hairi frequently says, "Oh, Lancie!"

Good luck!

May 10, 2008

He's the agent to call when trouble is near......

I felt compelled to write a review simply in attestation of the quality of these DVD's, as many here mistakenly give the impression that these have the quality of pirated DVD's, when in fact this could not be further from the truth.

Several years ago, I bought a used DVD from a seller on Amazon only to watch it and see very poor quality, and immediately realized it was in fact a pirated DVD. (Amazon, being the epitome of internet retail, amicably and quickly resolved the problem). But, using that DVD as a comparison in terms of video quality, these Lancelot Link DVD's are at the other end of the spectrum! If people here complain about the quality of these DVD's, which admittedly isn't perfect, one has to wonder if they also expect Dolby Surround sound too. I popped these in expecting to be disappointed; I wasn't. Quite the opposite in fact.

4 1/2 Stars because as another reviewer said this isn't quite the complete series.
April 2, 2008

Smokin' Drinkin' Fightin' chimps, ahhhhh the memories!

I know P.E.T.A. doesn't really like to get there hands dirty, or they would have gotten this pulled long ago.... But I'm sorry, it's funny as heck and there are very few old shows that my kids and I can all get a belly-laugh from. These politically incorrect chimps fascinated me as a youngin' and it holds up- even today. The episodes are schlocky and predictable as far as story lines go, but the "production value" (ha!) is priceless....If you want to re-live the days of good clean tv (with a few brawlin' partying monkeys thrown in) then this is for YOU! January 20, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...