Posted in: Tribute by J C on September 5th, 2014
“I’ve gone up, I’ve gone down. I’ve been bankrupt, I’ve been broke. But you do it — and you do it because we love it more than anything else. You want a real job, honey? There are a million things you can do, but what we do is not a job. What we do is a calling; we make people happy.”
Joan Rivers never took herself very seriously, as evidenced by the fact that seemed to have a never-ending reservoir of jokes about her own advanced age and propensity for plastic surgery. But the trailblazing entertainer — who died Thursday after going into cardiac arrest during a throat procedure late last month — was always serious about her comedy. The above quote is from a 2011 episode of Louie, and it helps explain why the tireless comic never stopped working up until her death at age 81. For Rivers, comedy was never a job; it was simply what she was meant to do.
Posted in: Tribute by J C on August 25th, 2014
“I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.”
Those words were spoken by John Hammond, the man who (in)famously brought dinosaurs back to life in Jurassic Park. However, they also applied to the acclaimed actor/filmmaker who played him. Sir Richard Attenborough died Sunday, leaving behind an indelible mark on movie history thanks to his work in front of and behind the camera.
Posted in: Site News by Gino Sassani on July 9th, 2014
Normandy's an experienced writer, to be sure. She's the author of Bullycide: To Whom It Concerns as well as many magazine articles, ads for country music stars, children's books and television cartoons. We're excited to have her share her talents with us. We look forward to a lot of reviews in the future. Be sure to follow her work here. Let her know how she's doing in the comments section. I know she'll be happy to hear from you.
Welcome aboard, Normandy.
Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2014
"This is class here, and you don't ever want to spit on class."
All this week we've been talking about Hill Street Blues. Why? Because Shout Factory has finally given fans what we've literally waited decades to have. The entire seven seasons of Hill Street Blues are finally available in one fine collection. I've been hard at work on the review, but we're talking 144 episodes, and I'm eating them as fast as I can. We hoped to have the review up today, but there is still a little more to watch. In the meantime we have another character profile to keep you going until next week.
Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 30th, 2014
Hill Street Blues is finally out on DVD, and we're celebrating all week long. Yesterday we shared the various awards that the show has earned in its seven years on television. We've also shared a couple of character profiles starting with the Captain and Detective Belker. This time out we're going to talk about two characters who were patrol officer partners for the entire run of the series. What makes them special is that they were killed off in the pilot. What the heck is that about? Read on, my friend.
When the pilot episode ended, Officers Andy Renko (Charles Haid) and Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) were gunned down in a tenement building and left for dead. In the original cut of the episode, dead is exactly what they were. However Charles Haid, who was expecting to have another pilot picked up, was suddenly without a job and came calling to Hill Street Blues asking to report for duty. The Hill character was never completely decided upon, and Michael Warren was up for a return. The pilot was swiftly rewritten with a few minutes of footage reshot, and the rest is history.
Posted in: News and Opinions, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2014
Today Shout Factory releases the entire 7-season run of Hill Street Blues. We will be celebrating all week with more character profiles and our full review on Friday.
Until that time, let's look at some of the awards the series won in its 7 years.
Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
"Would you like to sit down or would you prefer internal bleeding?"
Next on our list is Detective Mick Belker, played by Bruce Weitz. Weitz did such a phenomenal job in the role that he found himself typecast for years after Hill Street ended. On the pilot commentary Bochco tells us that when Weitz went in for auditions he was often asked to growl for them. In a way it's a shame, but can you blame them?
Posted in: Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2014
Let's all synchronize our calendars. There's an important date, and it's coming upon us quickly. Shout Factory is about to release one of the most influential series in television history. We're talking Hill Street Blues, and the complete 7-season series is coming to home video on Tuesday April, 29th. It's an event worth celebrating, and we here at Upcomingdiscs are going to help you get through these final days with character profiles from the show. I'm hard at work binge-watching episodes as fast as I can to have a full detailed review waiting for you on the 29th. I know. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
Let's start at the top, shall we? Captain Francis Xavier Furillo, played by Daniel J. Travanti.
Posted in: Site News by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2014
If Brent's name looks familiar to you, that's because he's been a major contributor here at Upcomingdiscs for going on 2 years. If you don't know Brent's name, you aren't coming here often enough. Brent's been a great find and we're looking forward to the next 200 reviews. Take the time to check out what he's had to say.
We're all lucky to have him on board.
Posted in: Site News by Gino Sassani on January 27th, 2014
Congratulations to our 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways.
It looks like 12 lucky Upcomingdiscs fans still have one more Christmas Present left to open.
