Being a skeptical type, I almost giggled at the thought of Tony Bennett being on MTV: UNPLUGGED. I said to myself, it all comes down to marketing. The MTV generation has no interest in Bennett or his music. I'm sure the house was "papered" by Tony's son, Danny.

Be that as it may, this is a wonderful program! The late Ralph Sharon and his trio do a fantastic job (without a stitch of music in front of them, I was delighted to see), and Tony seems to be having a ball.

The weak links, I'm sorry to say, are his two guests. Elvis Costello I found to be annoying. k.d. lang (who one day must save up her pennies and buy herself some capital letters) was wasted in the number she did with Tony. I have Tony's DUETS album, on which she makes an appearance, as well as the album they did together, and she gets to strut her stuff much more effectively in them.

All that aside, though, this is a fine and fun DVD. If you're a Tony Bennett fan, I highly recommend it. (Of course, if you're a Tony Bennett fan, you probably already have it!)