Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 19th, 2014
ABC and Disney have some rather entertaining television sets for that hard-to-please television addict on your shopping list. In recent years more and more of us engage in something called binge-watching. With either a DVR or the season sets releases, we watch an entire season of a show in a matter of a few days. I'll bet you have a binge-watcher on that list of yours. You might want to consider some of the ABC family of shows.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 11th, 2014
When it comes to getting the current shows out in high definition, no one does it better than Warner Brothers. I am impressed each year with the number of shows they release on Blu-ray every year. Readers to this site know what I'm talking about. If you have TV fans on your list who also are fans of sci-fi and horror, these are the best sets to get this holiday season. Below you'll find some excerpts from our reviews. I've put it all in one place to make your shopping experience easier. I know how little time you've got with a lot of shopping to do. Don't forget to use one of our links if you get them from Amazon. It'll help keep us going another year.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2014
"1968, I was twelve years old. A lot happened that year. Dennis McLain won 31 games, The Mod Squad hit the air, and I graduated from Hillcrest Elementary and entered junior high school...but we'll get to that. There's no pretty way to put this: I grew up in the suburbs. I guess most people think of the suburb as a place with all the disadvantages of the city, and none of the advantages of the country, and vice versa. But, in a way, those really were the wonder years for us there in the suburbs. It was kind of a golden age for kids."
The show takes place in Anywhere, USA. The pilot begins in 1968 and is told from the point of view of a contemporary adult looking back on those early years of his life. Anyone who is a fan of A Christmas Story will appreciate the narrative style of The Wonder Years.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 5th, 2014
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.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2014
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.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2014
"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.
Posted in: Tribute by J C on November 20th, 2014
“One word: plastics.”
It’s a classic line from The Graduate, yet it seems impossible to sum up the career of Mike Nichols, who died Wednesday, in a single word. Maybe that word is EGOT. Nichols was the rare entertainer to hit an awards show grand slam, winning Emmys (for directing and producing Angels in America and Wit on HBO), a Grammy (for the comedy album “An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May”), an Oscar (for directing The Graduate) and Tonys (for directing and producing both plays and musicals). But that only scratches the surface of the impact Nichols made. Click through and join us for a look at his eclectic work in the UpcomingDiscs archives.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2014
“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.
Posted in: Super Round-Up by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2014
"I met him fifteen years ago; I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding; and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil."
AnchorBay and Scream Factory have tapped into that pure evil. It's the collection we've waited years to see.
Posted in: Random Fun by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2014

This last Friday night Upcomingdiscs was invited to attend the 10th annual scare fest at Busch Gardens in Tampa. They call it Howl-O-Scream, and what a scream it is, literally.