Enjoy live TV? Watch 'This Is Your Life' DVDs

There was a time when "live TV" really meant "live."

These days, "live" means, at the very least, tape-delayed — including awards shows and so-called "reality" programs.

If you've ever seen black-and-white kinescopes of ancient live television shows from the 1950s, from game shows to "Candid Camera," you've probably seen the embarrassment, the reluctance — even the hostility — associated with the real deal.

All of those emotions and much more can be seen in the new "This Is Your Life" DVD collection (R2, 1953-87, not rated, b/w and color, $49.99, three discs).

On this popular show, host Ralph Edwards would surprise celebrities . . . and sometimes non-celebs . . . then bring them into his studio before a live audience. There, Edwards would host a minibiography of the subject's life, with family and friends in attendance — and sometimes people they hadn't seen in years. (Occasionally, Edwards is visibly nervous about whether it's going to work.)

There are 18 episodes in this DVD set, and not one is a clunker. Most of the subjects are entertainers — Laurel & Hardy, Lou Costello, Bette Davis, Jayne Mansfield, Roy Rogers, Johnny Cash, Milton Berle, Betty White, Bobby Darin, Dick Clark, the Carpenters, Shirley Jones, Boris Karloff and Vincent Price.

Then there's Olympic runner Jesse Owens and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, who also have great stories to tell.

A lot of other celebrities show up in these various segments, too — either in tribute or to help Edwards set them up.

Price is surprised at a bookstore signing, with help from Hans Conreid. Edwards walks in on Costello and Bud Abbott on a soundstage, where they are in the middle of a variation of "Who's On First?" — ostensibly as a promo for their latest film. Berle is dining at the Brown Derby with Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis when they're interrupted.

There are laughs and tears and wagonloads of sentiment — and hardly a moment when it's not completely fascinating fun.

Each of these subjects is highly entertaining, but the two that will stick with you are less well-known:

• Rear Admiral Samuel G. Fuqua, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism as an officer on the USS Arizona during the bombing of Pearl Harbor (broadcast live from Hawaii).