Featured CED VideoDisc No. 19 - Winter 2001

Aerobicise Workout CED's

'Tis the season for indoor exercise, and with that in mind this is the second genre-spanning CED feature, covering Exercise CED's (the Christmas CED's were covered three years ago). Eventually, I'll cover all the various movie genres with a featured CED on each.

Although "Jane Fonda's Workout" may have been the obvious choice to spotlight in this feature, I decided to use the Aerobicise VideoDiscs as the first disc, subtitled "The Beautiful Workout" is the earliest exercise material available in the CED format, coming out on tape shortly after the CED system hit the market. In 1981 there were only a handful of workout videotapes available, the most notable being the original "Video Aerobics" from 1979. Aerobicise, with its high production values, multiple camera angles, and cool visuals did a lot to expand the market. Indeed, informal surveys of people renting the videotape (for $10 to $15 a pop at that time) revealed that most of them were men who had no intention of actually exercising along with the video. This launched the sub-genre of exercise videos as visual entertainment, which "Eroticise" and "Playmate Workout" are obvious examples of. The Aerobicise formula appears to have been a success, as producer Ron Harris is still releasing videos that are nearly carbon copies of the original Aerobicise CED, right down to the music by Shiva. The second Aerobicise VideoDisc subtitled "The Beginning Workout" was the first banded exercise video available in the CED format.

From the start, CED was an ideal format for exercise videos, as the minutes counter on all players except the SGT075 could be used to rapidly locate a particular program segment on the disc. Nearly all of these workout CED's have the starting minute for each program segment printed on the caddy. Stereo players had a further advantage of being able to play dual-audio discs with either just music, or music with instructions. All the Jane Fonda discs are dual-audio except the last one. And with the interactive SJT400 and SKT400 players, a random band sequence of any five program segments could be easily set up with the remote control. LaserDisc players contemporary to CED didn't have this ability unless they were industrial players hooked up to a computer. And even modern DVD players lack this ability, unless an assortment of sequences are pre-mastered into the menu for a specific disc.

The remainder of this CED feature provides a brief summary of each of the twelve workout CED's along with a table listing the features and casts of each disc. The exact elapsed program time of the displayed image appears at the end of each summary.

Aerobicise Beautiful Workout Sample Image

Aerobicise: The Beautiful Workout

This image shows one of the cool intro effects used on the Aerobicise CED's. This is the original Aerobicise workout video, and is the only workout CED whose program contents date from 1981. (04:15, Side 1)

Aerobicise Beginning Workout Sample Image

Aerobicise: The Beginning Workout

Exercise instructor extraordinaire Debbie Bellman appears above a five band sequence programmed by the SJT400 remote. When this sequence is executed the stylus moves to non-contiguous program segments providing a workout that emphasizes aerobics and abdominal exercises in lieu of the more stretch oriented segments on the disc. (06:50, Side 1)

Eroticise

Class participant Kitten Natividad loosens up prior to the start of class. This disc starts out looking like a regular workout video but gets more adult-oriented about halfway through with the participants partially naked and ultimately completely nude. Kitten unfortunately had to undergo a double mastectomy in 1999, but she made a full recovery from the surgery. (03:52, Side 1)

Jane Fonda's New Workout

The last workout video released on CED in December 1985 and one of the more interesting of the Jane Fonda series. This is also the only Fonda disc that is not dual audio. Fitness guru Leslie Lilien (in pink shorts to the right of Fonda) sings the song "Do It" while the class exercises aerobically. This was so home viewers can sing along, and if they can't, they know they're exercising too hard. On the far left is Peggy Lipton from the 1960's Mod Squad TV show, although she's listed in the credits as Peggy Jones for then husband Quincy Jones. The "New Workout" was put out by RCA Video Productions in association with Karl-Lorimar Home Video as by this time RCA had stopped using the phrase "RCA VideoDiscs" in the name of their productions. (07:03, Side 1)

Jane Fonda's Prime Time Workout

This video was advertised as a less difficult version of Jane's original workout and workout challenge. This was the last workout disc of 1984, being released in December of that year, and it was another year after that before the final workout video was released in the CED format. Five workout CED's were released in 1983 and another five in 1984, while only one per year were released in 1982 and 1985. (07:38, Side 1)

Jane Fonda's Workout Challenge

The most difficult of Jane Fonda's workout CED's with a 20 minute aerobics section specially choreographed by Peter Dudley exercising to the right of Jane. This was the first CED title I ever acquired, as I found an SFT100 player in a thrift store with this caddy pushed all the way inside. (15:20, Side 1)

Jane Fonda's Workout for Pregnancy, Birth, and Recovery

Jane Fonda's second workout video in the CED format, this one specifically designed for expectant and recent mothers. The picture is from the workout with your baby section, a concept that seems to have not caught on very well, although someone may have remembered it when conceiving the dancing baby on Ally McBeal. This disc was put out by RCA VideoDiscs in association with Karl Video Corp. as by this time RCA had started calling CED's "RCA VideoDiscs" rather than "RCA SelectaVision VideoDiscs." (05:23, Side 2)

Jane Fonda's Workout

The first workout video released on CED in July 1982 and also the first dual audio disc available in the CED format. With dual audio exercise discs it's possible to listen to just the music, without spoken instructions, by activating a switch on the player or on the remote control with some players. This disc was one of the twelve discs RCA announced along with their new stereo SGT200 and SGT250 players in May 1982. The credits at the opening of the disc state "RCA SelectaVision VideoDiscs in Association with Karl Home Video Present...," and interestingly enough the VHS and Beta tapes of this video state the same thing, as this production was jointly managed by RCA. RCA also participated in the production of the other Jane Fonda workout videos. Fitness guru Leslie Lilien appears to the right of Jane, and she's in the same spot on the final CED exercise video "New Workout" in 1985, when she sings a snappy aerobics song. (25:05, Side 1)

The New Video Aerobics

The first aerobics workout ever available on video is often considered "Video Aerobics" from 1979 with Leslie Lilien being the star of the production. She appears on the left here in an updated video aerobics produced in 1982, and she was also in two of the Jane Fonda workout CED's. The updated workout was released on CED by Vestron Video in August 1983. This disc is perhaps the most straight forward of the exercise discs and comes closest to emulating a real-world class. At one point the microphone worn by co-instructor Julie Lavin (on right) comes loose and is rather distractingly bouncing around. It always surprises me that they didn't bother to re-tape that segment. (11:43, Side 1)

Playboy Playmate Workout

Play Mate instructors Victoria Cooke and Jeana Tomasina during the intro to this video with the tagline "Exercise your eyes," although nudity aside, it could actually be used as a regular workout video. Jeana also appeared in five CED movie titles and is the mother of actress Cara Keough. (02:24, Side 1)

Solid Gold 5 Day Workout

This disc is unique in providing a 20 minute workout for each of the five work days. The Solid Gold Dancers from the popular 1980's hit music TV show are the instructors and class for each segment. At the center of the picture is Tony Fields who also appeared in the CED title A Chorus Line. He unfortunately died from aids-related cancer in 1995. (44:26, Side 1)

Yoga Moves

This disc could be the hardest one of the lot to follow along with if you really try to assume these yoga positions to the same degree as the class members. At the conclusion of the disc yogi Alan Finger is shown performing a yoga visualization technique that uses the same six colors of the CED Magic web site logo. (55:45, Side 1)

Features and Casts of CED Exercise Videos

Title	Banded	Sound	Cast
Aerobicise: The Beautiful Workout	No	Stereo	Loryanna Catalano, Deborah Corday, Tina Rocca, Tamarah Park, Beth Farrelly, Amanda Lee
Aerobicise: The Beginning Workout	Yes	Stereo	Loryanna Catalano, Deborah Corday, Debbie Bellman, Beth Farrelly, Evangeline Browne, Darcy Demoss, Lee Nicholl, Adria Wilson, Dan Peterson
Eroticise	No	Surround	Kitten Natividad, Gigi Anthony, Kit Fargo, Rita Gardner, Ashley St. Jon, Summer Tenaya
Jane Fonda's New Workout	No	Stereo	Jane Fonda, Marianne Black, Jacalyn Gross, Peggy Jones, Leslie Lilien, Lesley Mallgrave, Kellyn Plasschaert, Audrey Pressman, Jeff Sacher, Brigitte Steinberg, Richard Walsh
Jane Fonda's Prime Time Workout	Yes	Audio A/B	Jane Fonda, Femmy DeLyser, Herb Feinstadt, Shirlee Fonda, M'Liss Fotre, Julie Jordan, Bettye Sherman, Hazel Washburn
Jane Fonda's Workout Challenge	Yes	Audio A/B	Jane Fonda, Peter Dudley, Greg Gonsalves
Jane Fonda's Workout for Pregnancy, Birth, and Recovery	Yes	Audio A/B	Jane Fonda, Femmy DeLyser, Marianne Black, Susan Kawashima-Blake, Nikila Ellis, Tovah Feldshuh-Levy, Merrill Grinnell, Nancy Kaufman, Jenny Lama, Lauretta Walker, Justin Blake, Sara Austin Ellis, Benjamin Grinnell, Nicole Lama-Sartori
Jane Fonda's Workout	No	Audio A/B	Jane Fonda, Steve Brourman, Beverly Brown, Carol Gutierrez, Penny Lynn Hauge, Leslie Lilien, Ed Oster, Doreen Rivera
The New Video Aerobics	No	Monaural	Leslie Lilien, Julie Lavin, Victoria Shea, Ingrid Hasserjian, Constance Pagano, Penny Lynn Hauge, Cindy Lee Sawyer, Tina Fottler
Playboy Playmate Workout	No	Stereo	Jeana Tomasina, Victoria Cooke, Karen Witter, Lisa Sohm, Kym Malin, Linda Vaughn, Denise McConnell, Lynda Wiesmeier, Roger Menache, Don Merrill, Peter Nicholas, Patrick Palombo, Michael Rapp, Ted Sowell
Solid Gold 5 Day Workout	Yes	Stereo	Darcel, Kahea, Gayle, Chelsea, Tony, Cooley, Deborah, Pamela
Yoga Moves	Yes	Stereo	Alan Finger, Rod Stryker, Lisa Grant, Lynda Hall, Simone Overman, Leland Nichols, April Wayne, Theresa Belle