> Forty-year-old kidvid program works best as baby-boomer nostalgia.

Created by Alan Livingston in 1946 for a children's record, Bozo the Clown was franchised in the late '40s and early '50s to various TV stations in major markets. Larry Harmon bought the character rights in 1956, and this DVD box set collects 30 episodes from Bozo's Big Top, a half-hour show Harmon began syndicating in 1966. Starring Frank Avruch as the carrot-topped clown, this crudely made program—which also featured a daily animated cartoon starring Bozo—offered lame comedy skits that appealed mainly to preschoolers. Shot in a tiny studio with a live audience of kids who look bored and dazed, Bozo's Big Top even then seemed like a throwback to TV's earliest days.

Shelf Talk: Live-action Bozo shows of one sort or another have aired on TV for 47 years and have attracted an estimated audience of more than 200 million viewers. Though making its DVD debut, this Harmon-produced series has little to recommend it and will have to rely on the warm, if fuzzy memories of baby boomers who saw it in their childhood.