Posted Nov 5th 2009 10:02AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: TV on DVD, Adult Swim, Reality-Free
The new
Adult Swim In A Box is an embarrassment of riches - six boxed sets for six different shows and a bonus disc featuring five unreleased pilots -- more than 20 hours on 12 DVDs. I was especially happy to get season two of
Sealab 2021, which I have never been able to catch regularly, and season one of
Metalocalypse, which I have always enjoyed.
Getting season two of
Robot Chicken, volume one of
Moral Orel, volume two of
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and volume three of
Space Ghost Coast to Coast just seemed like a bonus. Well worth the suggested retail price of $69.98 for Adult Swim fans who haven't already purchased any of the included sets.
The pilots are a mixed bag, but mostly good.
The Best of Totally for Teens is a live action parody of a moralistic teen variety show hosted by thirtysomethings trying to be hip. It's a promising premise, one that should maybe be revisited, but the pilot is a bit of a mess. It hits topics ripe for satire in the format like teen insecurity, drugs, and sex, and has the right look for Adult Swim.
Continue reading Review: Adult Swim in a Box
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 8:03PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV Royalty, TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
Ah, how good it is to get back to
The Wire. I've been steered off track by other DVDs landing on my doorstep for
Jane After Dark, so season five of
The Wire has been a while coming. One again, the show blows me away with the writing, characters, cinematography and realism. I'm just part-way into season one, but I love all of the references to everything that's happened thus far in the series, and the crew's continued attempts to bring down Marlo's organization. And, apparently, Omar is still in the game ...
Continue reading Jane After Dark: The Wire, season five (part one)
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 6:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
If you loved
The Rockford Files and you own the season sets, you'll probably want to buy Volume 1 of the movies (four in this batch) that is being released tomorrow. They weren't as good as the series, of course (sort of like the
Spenser: For Hire movies that Robert Urich did after that series ended), but they're actually pretty good.
And season 6 of
Kate & Allie is out. That reminds me: I still have to get season 5.
- Afro Samurai - Complete Murder Sessions
- The Clone Wars - Season 1
- Doctor Who - The War Games and The Black Guardian Trilogy
- Edge of Darkness - The Complete BBC Series
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Oct 30th 2009 4:04PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV on DVD, Reality-Free
I know I'm dating myself, but I'm really looking forward to watching the second season of
thirtsysomething on DVD.
The first season was released back in August, and I had a blast catching up with great characters like Michael and Melissa Steadman, Elliot Weston and Gary Shepherd. Season two
hits DVD in January, thanks to the good folks at Shout! Factory, known for putting out great sets like the packed
Freaks and Geeks collection and the recent
Transformers "G1" collector's set.
Some people might only think of
thirtysomething as "that '80s show about whiny yuppies," and that's fine. But the Emmy-award winning drama brings back a lot of great memories for me. As I
mentioned before, I used to watch it with my mom, who I'm pretty sure related to Patricia Wettig's frustrated homemaker Nancy Weston and free spirit Melissa Steadman, played by Melanie Mayron. (As for my dad, I'm not ashamed to say that he's more of a Timothy Busfield type!)
Continue reading Thirtysomething season two hits DVD in January
Posted Oct 26th 2009 6:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
Why didn't somebody tell me that they were going to release
The Guardian on DVD? I really liked that show. I don't know if the show is being released because Simon Baker and
The Mentalist are a hit or if it has been in the works long before that, but it's a nice surprise.
- The Barbara Stanwyck Show - Vol. 1
- Battlestar Galactica - The Plan
- CBS News Sunday Morning - On The Road with Charles Kuralt: Set 1
- The Diary of Anne Frank - Miniseries
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:29PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: TV on DVD, Battlestar Galactica, Reality-Free
Leoben, that tricky toaster, was right: All of this
has happened before, and all of it is happening again.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan retells major events from the first two years of the celebrated sci-fi series through the eyes of the Cylons. It weaves together recycled scenes from the series with new footage to reveal a first-hand account of the Cylon agenda, or "plan."
The result is a film that feels incomplete, episodic and disjointed. It plays less like a movie and largely like a disk full of high quality bonus material. Most of what happens here feels irrelevant to the series -- almost like it was tacked on to the
BSG mythos to satisfy completists and hardcore fans. Still, it's worth watching to see Dean Stockwell carry the film with a fearless performance as the scheming and duplicitous Brother Cavil. The veteran character actor takes center stage in
The Plan, and your enjoyment of the film will rest largely on how much you like, or dislike, Cavil and his major role in the series.
Continue reading DVD Review: Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Posted Oct 25th 2009 3:03PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
It's always interesting when you've been hearing about a series for years and then finally sit down to watch it. All the little pieces and pop references of
Ally McBeal are starting to come together, like Fishisms, The Biscuit, dancing babies and Vonda Shepard. I have seen the light. Well, at least season one of the light.
I mentioned in
my preview last week that
Ally McBeal seems like a mix of
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and
My World and Welcome To It. Having reached the end of season one, I still feel that way, with maybe a little
Buffy the Vampire Slayer thrown in (hey, don't throw things at me, Ally looks like Buffy).
Molly Dodd because Ally is funny, desperate, strong and cute.
My World because of all her fantasies, though not always in cartoon form as was the case with John Monroe / James Thurber.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Ally McBeal, season one
Posted Oct 25th 2009 10:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, TV on DVD, OpEd, Video, Reality-Free
While perusing around
SlashControl tonight, I nearly stopped breathing when I came across
Babylon 5. Not just a few episodes or even one or two seasons. All five seasons, 99 episodes total.
My sci-fi-loving mom taped the entire series on VHS, and I have the first few seasons on DVD. But what a thrill to find it on SlashControl. If you're not familiar with J. Michael Straczynski's groundbreaking show, it takes place in the year 2258, ten years after an Earth-Minbari War. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) takes command of a giant five-mile-long cylindrical space station, orbiting a planet in neutral space.
Continue reading What's Hot on SlashControl: Babylon 5
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 10:02AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Somehow, those little bite-sized Snickers and Milky Ways you got as Halloween Trick or Treat candy always seemed to taste better than the bigger ones you can snag in any store.
That's kind of the effect you get from watching a new pair of laugh-out-loud
Shorts DVDs from
Rifftrax --
Wide World of Shorts and
Shorts-Tacular Shorts-Stravaganza.
The commentary of
Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy can usually make any movie funny. But, the riffs you buy off their website for major feature films can sometimes come with a cost.
For example, the problem with buying the riffs for
Twilight or
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is you then have to sit there and watch
Twilight or
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. That's a razor's edge trade-off for a few laughs.
Continue reading MST3K goes bite size with Rifftrax Shorts DVDs
Posted Oct 21st 2009 3:03PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, British TV
When I was a kid, I remember seeing episodes of a couple of strange British shows on my local PBS affiliate in Rochester, NY. I never caught them regularly, not even sure when they aired, but I remember one of them was a peculiar little period piece with some funny gags, and a storyline I never completely grasped.
I learned later this first show was the classic
Blackadder series with Rowan Atkinson, and the reason the storylines never made sense from show to show is that there are four seasons of the show, all taking place in a different historical period. I saw them out of order, and mostly caught the first season.
Watching the new
Black Adder Remastered - The Ultimate Edition DVD set from BBC America (video and audio both remastered), it's clear the best way to watch
Blackadder is to at least watch each series in order. And if you can watch the whole run in order, so much the better. From the first series set in the Dark Ages to the last set in World War I (
Blackadder Goes Forth), Atkinson's character, Blackadder, remains a scheming coward. But he changes, too.
Continue reading Review: Black Adder Remastered, Fawlty Towers Remastered
Posted Oct 21st 2009 2:03PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, TV on DVD, OpEd, Video, Music and Variety, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
I'm watching season one of
Ally McBeal for
Jane After Dark this week, and will give a full review this weekend. But I have to say, I'm just a few episodes in, and I'm already hooked. It's a weird blend of
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and
My World and Welcome To It.
And it's very weird seeing Calista Flockhart, whom I mainly know from
Brothers & Sisters, and all of her co-stars, whom I know from other current shows, on
Ally McBeal. What's even more amazing is all of the musicians featured on this show: Elton John, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Al Green, and many more.
Continue reading Jane After Dark preview: Hooked on Ally McBeal
Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
I wasn't even aware that there was already a
Fawlty Towers complete set out. Or maybe I knew it and forgot and didn't get reminded of it until I heard about the new remastered set that comes out tomorrow. I'm gonna get that.
I'm also tempted to get
Vegas, just because I liked that show and haven't seen it in years. I hate these "Volume" sets though. Just give us the whole season!
- Black Adder - Black Adder 1, II, III, IV, and V (All remastered) and Ultimate Edition
- Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - Complete Series (New package)
- Eleventh Hour - Complete Series
- Faerie Tale Theatre - Bedtime Tales and Magical Tales
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Oct 18th 2009 11:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
I've been hearing about this little show called
Legend of the Seeker since it debuted last year. Season one was just released on DVD, so I checked it out for
Jane After Dark this week. It's a great show. In my neck of the woods, it airs Saturday afternoon at 4 PM, which is a perfect time. If it aired during the regular primetime schedule, I'm afraid it would be eaten up by other shows, but the weekends are a nice home for it.
I've heard that
Legend of the Seeker, based on
The Sword of Truth novels by
Terry Goodkind, is similar to
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and
Xena: Warrior Princess. As with
Legend, both of these shows were produced by Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Legend of the Seeker, season one
Posted Oct 12th 2009 6:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
I don't know if
Legend of the Seeker could be considered a guilty pleasure or not. I mean, if you like something, why does it have to be a "guilty" pleasure? Having said that, I think a lot of people would consider this show something they're not willing to admit they like. But I'll admit it: I like it. It's a fun show.
Holiday TV Comedy Collection is a mix of Christmas episodes from various shows, including
The Office,
30 Rock,
Psych,
Monk, and
House.
- Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes - Spotlight Collection Vol. 7
- Curious George - A Very Monkey Christmas
- Flashpoint - Season 1
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Oct 11th 2009 10:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Animation, Children, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
Like most people in the known universe, I grew up with Charlie Brown. In addition to watching all the TV specials, my family amassed a fairly large collection of the paperback Peanuts books and even a few nice hardcovers. Family friendly graphic novels, you might call them.
So I was pretty excited to learn that Warner Home Video was releasing a lot of the TV specials, both individually and in collections. On Oct. 20, the
Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1 will hit store and cyber shelves in a 2-disc set. A nice publicist sent me an advance copy, so I'm happy to devote this week's
Jane After Dark to this lovely set.
I'm always harping on all the sex and violence on TV right now -- often in shows that bill themselves as family friendly -- so it's really nice to have something you can watch with your kids that you
know won't contain anything offensive or off-color. Not only that, the stories usually have a moral lesson, but they don't whack you over the head with it. It's more subtle, wrapped up in the humor and innocence of the stories and characters.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1
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