Holiday Gift Guides

Johnny Carson might have been king of the late-night airwaves, but it was Merv Griffin who held court during the day. From 1962 until 1986 Merv Griffin brought you the most important, entertaining and fascinating personalities to your living rooms. He was also quite the producer. Here's the question:  He created two of the longest-lasting game shows in television history. Who was Merv Griffin? That's correct. He created both Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy.  But it will be The Merv Griffin Show that he'll he's most remembered for.

Star Vista and Time-Life have combined to bring you a 12-disc collection of some of Merv's best moments. Taken from the entire series run these highlights includes such guests as: "Lucille Ball, The Everly Brothers, Willie Mays, Aretha Franklin, Salvador Dali, Dennis Hopper, Maya Angelou, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., John Wayne, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Warren Beatty, Jayne Mansfield (seen with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Mariska Hargitay), Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Jay Leno, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Jerry Lewis together (!), Joan Rivers, Steve Martin, Moms Mabley, Bill Cosby, Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Carol Burnett, Andy Kaufman, Woody Allen, and more." 

It's funny how some actors mean different things to different people. It often depends on your age and interests. Michael Landon is one such actor. I was a horror movie fan who watched late-night creature features with my dad. To me Landon was the titular character from I Was A Teenage Werewolf. To my Dad and his generation, Landon was Little Joe from Bonanza. To continue the comparison, Little Joe's pop was always Commander Adama, with no offense intended toward Edward James Olmos. But there is another generation that doesn't know werewolves from cowboys, and to them Michael Landon will always be the warm father Charles Ingalls from Little House On The Prairie.

From 1974 until 1983 Little House On The Prairie told the story of the Ingalls family. The series was based on the book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is one of Charles' daughters and is played by Melissa Gilbert in the series. It had a very Waltons feel for family life in a bygone age. For the Ingalls family, it was the mid-1800's, and they were a true pioneer family. The show's focus was on the family, but the entire little town became a character on the show, as well. It was populated by many recurring characters who combined to give the show that rural charm found in shows like The Waltons or The Andy Griffith Show.

"The gods finally bless us with a complete collection."

AnchorBay is going all out in delivering a couple of complete series collections. There is a limited edition with some cool stuff that we hope to talk to you about on Black Friday for your shopping edification. This set contains all of the show's 39 episodes on 12 discs. There is a 13th disc with limited extra features that were not found on the original individual season releases. 

“I don’t know why death still surprises me.”

As we get closer to holiday shopping time, Upcomingdiscs will be here to help you find something for that home theater fanatic on your shopping list. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them.

If you're like many folks out there, Christmas is over and you've got some gift certificates or holiday cash to spend. If you're a reader here at Upcomingdiscs, you're looking for something to add to your home theater with that booty. May I suggest that you look at the impressive box set for Diagnosis Murder. This is one heck of a collection. You get 51 DVD's in all. All eight seasons are included, along with the earlier television movies and reunion films. You get every episode, and you also get the Jake And The Fat Man episode where Dr. Mark Sloan first appeared.

Dr. Mark Sloan first appeared in The It Never Entered My Mind episode of Jake And The Fat Man. In that episode Sloan was accused of a murder, and it was up to Jake and Jason to prove his innocence. The character had a certain charm that appeared to carry with audiences, and two years later Sloan had his own show, Diagnosis Murder. Dick Van Dyke did for doctors what his good friend Andy Griffith did for lawyers as Matlock. Both traded on their earlier careers in trademark comedies to reimagine dramatic roles in their twilight years.

"This is a story about stick figures who live in a world full of monsters and explosions and raccoons and a lot of other cool stuff, too. And it all takes place on a little planet we like to call Earth."

Last minute gifts are often the hardest of all. If you have someone on your list who likes irreverent humor and is also a home theater enthusiast, I think we might have an obscure title they likely missed. It will be a pretty cool surprise on their part, and you're sure to have delivered a few laughs along the way. In the spirit of shows like South Park and based on a series of cult web episodes comes Dick Figures: The Movie.The film is one of those intentionally crudely animated features. The main characters are literally colorful stick figures in an almost entirely black and white background world. The backgrounds mostly look like film storyboards with the occasional flare of color or explosive special effect. Of course, there are also a few raccoons which are cutouts that are animated much like things are on South Park. Like South Park, the film contains the kind of language and humor that sticks it in the face of political correctness. The film was written, produced, directed and voice-acted by Zack Keller and Ed Skudder. They are Jackie Chan fans who wanted to do a huge action-adventure film, but that stuff costs money. Instead they put it all into this project.

One of the best things about the last decade's arrival of high definition and Blu-ray is the chance to revisit classics. Often these movies have only been seen on late shows where they're cut to pieces. The DVD releases have often been less than spectacular because of the presumed limited audience. Fox has done a pretty solid job over the years of bringing these classics to Blu-ray. This year is no exception, and if you have a classic film buff on that list of yours, and you know what list I'm talking about, why not deliver such greats as Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Rock Hudson or Tyrone Powers to them. They make excellent Christmas guests, and they won't hog up all of the eggnog.

Fonda plays the famous Frank James, brother to Jesse and leader of the infamous James Gang. There were two films. Jesse James was the first and was really an attempt to get the story right. Of course, this is Hollywood, and the characters are brought to us larger than life. This was also not terribly long after the actual events of the story, and Jesse's granddaughter signed on as a consultant for the film. Jesse is played by Tyrone Power and is played more like the cult hero Hollywood has traditionally made the character. Even the granddaughter thought Power had not portrayed the cold-blooded killer Jesse really was. The film was also noted for its early use of Technicolor and the rather beautiful vistas the cinematography displayed. John Carradine plays the infamous Robert Ford, who shot Jesse in the back. Another notable horror actor, Henry Hull, also rounds out a wonderful cast. Unfortunately, the film has been remembered less for these performances than the death of one of the stunt horses that went over a cliff during filming. This was actually the incident that brought about those disclaimers that end many films since that no animals were harmed during the shooting.

While we usually have a ton of stuff each year from A&E to share in our holiday spotlight, we just haven't seen near as much from the studio in 2013. The distribution has changed, and we just don't see the kind of titles we used to. It's sad both for us and you. Take heart. We have been given two potential gift guide titles to share with you this season.

“Meet the Robertsons clan. They turned duck calls into a multi-million-dollar empire.  But running a family business is tough when the family just wants to run wild.”

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It's a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they're into home theatre, and you don't know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn't tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. This time we turn our attention to Paramount/CBS.

"You think you’re safe. You are not. Is there anything you would not do for your family?”

Warner has put out a few solid films and television shows on home video this year. There are a few of them that would make fine gifts for the home theatre fan on your Christmas list. From superheroes to hobbits and vampires, there's something in this list for everyone. Wouldn't hurt to snag a little something for yourself, now would it?

Films: