Posts by Gino Sassani

Just to look at it you would think that My 3 Sons was a Disney production. Its star Fred MacMurray had appeared in many Disney films of the 50’s and 60’s and is most likely recognizable from those appearances. Two of the three boys were also known for work with Disney. The eldest boy, Mike, was played by Tim Considine, who starred with MacMurray in Disney’s The Shaggy Dog. Middle son Robbie was played by a former Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer,

The holiday season is coming fast. It should come as no surprise with all of the Chipmunk DVDs being released that a Holiday Collection was going to be included. Of all of the sets, this is the best. There 12 episodes in all, and each is among the best of the classic show. You get three discs, one for each of the upcoming special days: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. There’s plenty of Chipmunk antics and some great song selections included in each disc.

“Who? Or What is the newest, most breath-taking, most sensational super-hero of all?”

That was the question asked on the cover of Marvel’s Tales Of Suspense issue number 39. Pictured with that buildup was a character quite different from the Iron Man that we would come to know and love over the next 40 plus years. He was all silver and appeared to be wearing combat boots. He was not very slender, and you could almost hear the clunking as he moved.

Shonda Rhimes had a big hit on her hands with Grey’s Anatomy, so after five years she did what comes naturally in her situation. You spin the success off in the hope that the fans just can’t get enough in just one night. At first it appeared to me she had chosen the wrong character to put out on her own. I mean, I never considered Kate Walsh as Addison to be one of the show’s more compelling characters. The show was presented as what the business calls an imbedded episode on Grey’s.

If you come to this DVD set in the hopes of discovering something to do with Jason or even his machete wielding momma, you will be very disappointed. There is no Camp Crystal Lake, and no one’s wearing a hockey mask. The fact is that this series, syndicated from Canada, had absolutely nothing to do with the film franchise. They have no characters in common. They have no connection to the stories in the film franchise. Basically the name is the only thing they share.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. No, I’m not having a Charles Dickens flashback or reliving Star Trek II. I’m pondering the release of this new Fan Collective featuring alternate realities. This new 5 disc collection brings together episodes from all 5 live action television Star Trek shows. They all deal with some adventure into a twisted or fabricated reality outside of the Trek universe we already know. Of course, that covers a lot of ground when you’re talking about Star Trek

To the point, Criminal Minds is very compelling television. Ever since The Silence Of The Lambs and perhaps long before, we have been fascinated by serial killers and the profilers who try to get inside their heads. To see evidence of the continuing trend, one needs only look toward the success of films like Zodiac and shows like Dexter. Of course, serial killers are not the only prey this FBI team pursues, but they are certainly the marquee item on the agenda.

The Alvin Collection is another group of episodes of The Chipmunks from their popular Saturday Morning series, Alvin And The Chipmunks. The shorts are not theme related as some of the other recent sets have been. The stories range from the film inspired Romancing Miss Stone to the globe trotting episodes like Maids In Japan or The Curse Of The Lontiki. They aired originally between 1983 and 1987, but many of them have sprung up in syndication up to the present day. There are 14 episodes in all, lasting a little over 20 minutes each.

Duckman began life as an underground comic created by Everett Peck. It gathered to itself quite a cult following, and like all such things caught the attention of Hollywood. The USA Network took a chance on the quirky property and cast Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander to voice the crude character. And so Duckman’s wife was killed, and he was forced to rent his own house from his sister-in-law who was left the estate by Duckman’s wife.

It’s unfortunate that the writers’ strike interrupted the second season of Brothers & Sisters. I was looking forward to finding out if the writers were going to live up to the amazing on camera talent they had speaking their words. What I found was pretty much more of the same, and a quickly eroding patience with the series. I guess the writers had a little more on their mind this year. More’s the pity.