"Jack of All Trades" puts Bruce Campbell into the perfect role as a sort of swashbuckling hero that reminds me quite a bit of the Daffy Duck "Scarlett Pumpernickel" cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. Appointed by Thomas Jefferson to prevent the French from further colonizing, Jack tangles with Napoleon (played by Vern Troyer aka Mini-Me)in a number of episodes. He also rescues Ben Franklin from Napoleon who hopes that Franklin will come up with the ultimate weapon and Jack appears as a masked folk hero the Daring Dragoon (great name)when he tangles with the French governor Croque. His contact is a beautiful British agent (Angela Dotchin). Aside from the great chemistry between Campbell and Dotchin, the show has all the entertaining trademarks of Equal bits adventure and comedy the show was the best part of the ACTIONPACK hour that also featured "Cleopatra 2525". The DVDs look extremely good with nice full screen transfers and colors that pop off the screen.
Unfortunately Universal has decided to release the full series without any extras. There was a review that mentioned that Campbell was against the release of this show and Brisco on DVD--nothing could be further from the truth. He was probably referring to a money issue (or being sarcastic)and the haggling with Universal. Also, the show had such a small cult following I'm sure that impacted the release as well. Campbell was executive producer of this show with Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi.
Delightfully funny "Jack" makes a perfect compliment to "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." (through no accident its being released the same day at a much lower price--because there are no extras--Universal is hoping that Campbell/Brisco fans will see this, see the price and say, "hey this looks pretty good, too". Can't fault them for a brilliant marketing ploy).
The show is nicely packaged in those slimline DVD holders so they won't take quite as much space on your shelf. Jack of All Trades - The Complete Series
At last one of the funniest shows on TV gets its due. Of course it still should be on the air but at least we can relive the show which had Verne Troyer as the funniest Napoleon ever. Bruce Campbell is one of the most underrated actors alive and does the role of Jack/Daring Dragoon justice. Please buy this wonderful piece of television as shows like this are hard to come by today.
*JACK OF ALL TRADES - DVD"
I'll make this short. It's whitty and funny, at times, but I just kept feeling like something was missing. Perhaps it's because the show is only 22 minutes long each and there's not enough character development? Anyway, overall it's not bad, but there's way too much verbal porn with sexual inuendos in almost every line. To me that's what really ruined this series.
*NOTE* NOT FOR KIDS! ! !
My favorite part of the show is the intro theme and the theme song, it's brilliant. Too bad it's the only thing the kids can watch. Again, Bruce is brilliant.
One of my favorite shows-EVER. Bruce Campbell at his best, and Angela, WOW what can one say other than, wish I could see more of her as well.. I've been waiting for YEARS to find this series on VHS and/or DVD (bootlegs were OK, however... I'm sure Bruce and all the other actors would like their residuals!) Excellent show, great slapstick, wonderful acting and very entertaining. This is a must for christmas for the Bruce Campbell fan...
One of the goofiest shows I've ever seen (along with "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.", which was released on DVD the same day as this series) has finally been resurrected from the graveyard of unfairly-cancelled series! The plot is very simply told; an American secret agent, Jack Stiles (Bruce Campbell) is ordered by President Jefferson to go to the French colonial island of Palau-Palau in the South Pacific to thwart Napoleon's expansonistic schemes. There, he will work with a female British agent-merchant-inventor, Emilia Rothschild (Angela Dotchin). This provides the foundation for 22 episodes' worth of pure zaniness centered on the Moonlighting-esque relationship between Jack and Emilia, and their continuing misadventures as they elude the idiot French governor and his even more buffoonish army commandant, encounter historical figures including Napoleon himself (played by Verne Troyer, a/k/a Mini-Me), Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Lewis and Clark and Blackbeard, and exchange politically incorrect and risque one-liners. Campbell and Dotchin generate plenty of onscreen sparks; Dotchin is a gorgeous petite blonde with ravishingly expressive blue eyes which she deploys to splendid comic effect (I love watching her roll those beautiful orbs every time Jack lets loose with a particularly stupid quip!)
I can't give this DVD set 5 stars, though, much as I'd like to, because the episodes aren't presented in the proper order. This can confuse some people new to the series. Also, there don't seem to be any extras, which is a pity.
I grew up when Bob Hope movies were still played on Saturday afternoons, and as a kid I loved his wacky antics. It was only later I realized how risque he was for his time with all the one line zingers that zoomed over my head at first.
Jack of All Trades reminds me of nothing as much as it does those zany Bob Hope movies. Bruce Campbell has nailed this "persona,' and while he's not aping Hope, he nails the essence of that style with flair.
You'll want to be careful who watches it with you as it's rather spicey tongue and cheek dialogue is not really suitable for teens (who might not want to watch a 10 year old series anyway.)
The series works great for my wife and I and we enjoy it as we do most Bruce Campbell offerings. I still scratch my head over why Bruce didn't become more popular, maybe he doesn't take himself seriously enough, but whatever the reason, he's easy to like and fun to watch, and he hasn't lost a step with Burn Notice. - Comedy - Best Cancelled Tv Shows - Tv Series - Campy'
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