Disc Type

"Everybody here knows what a spin-off is."

No doubt about it. Major Crimes has managed to do what few shows before it have been able to pull off. Shows have survived the loss of their lead, but the remaining years were usually something lesser than it once was. That's not the case when The Closer lost its lead actress/character. The title was changed, and with just a few cast tweaks the series returned as Major Crimes, and I dare say it’s a much better show than its predecessor. Is it a spinoff? I might have to go to the replay booth to answer that one.

In my experience there are three types of comedians: 1.) Ones that are good at standup but bad at a series 2.) Those that are good in a series but not so great at stand up. 3.) Those who can do both. Want to guess which one Jim Gaffigan is? The standup comedian, known for his clean brand of comedy, gets his own series loosely based on his life. He’s a bit of a slob, he’s occasionally lazy, and he is without a doubt addicted to junk food. Rounding out the season are a group of instantly recognizable stars like Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi, Hannibal Burress, and Macaulay Culkin…or is he Macaulay Culkin? (Inside joke, you’ll get it once you watch).

Gaffigan plays a fictional version of himself, a popular standup comedian living in New York with his wife, Jeannie (Ashley Williams, How I Met Your Mother), and their five — that’s right, five — kids in a two-bedroom apartment. I’ll give you a moment to wrap your head around those cramped quarters of theirs. While balancing his career and parental responsibilities, the family searches for a larger place with the help of Jeannie’s gay best friend/former boyfriend Daniel (Michael Ian Black, Wet Hot American Summer) who is in real estate and hates Jim. Along for the ride is Jim’s immature, opinionated, insensitive best friend and fellow comedian Dave Marks (Adam Goldberg, NYC 22). This season deals with Jim’s perception in public with regards to his religion and his role with his kids, as well as vasectomies, and his obsession with junk food. There is even an It’s a Wonderful Life-themed episode.

There seems to be so much information and films about Helter Skelter and the atrocities Charles Manson and his followers committed.  Though the notorious Sharon Tate murder took place decades ago, it continues to be a crime that fascinates people to this day.  As interest in the story continues to thrive in the media, whether it be in books or various films, it seems it’s getting harder to find a fresh spin on the story, or at least one that will garner more attention.  Manson’s Lost Girls is a new extension to the story about the events that led up to the fateful night that would forever leave its mark on America pop culture, but does it bring anything new to the table?  Well, it doesn’t present a new perspective on the crime spree, but sadly its execution is a well-polished mess that simply doesn’t add up.

Manson’s Lost Girls starts off strong by introducing us to Linda (Mackenzie Mauzy) who is on the run, attempting to escape Manson and his followers; unfortunately in the process she has to leave her daughter behind.  Yeah, from the get-go we see that Linda is a pretty awful mother considering she seems to have no problem leaving her kid behind with a group of drug addicts and killers, all so she can save her own hide. As a way to grip the audience, this works on getting us into the story, problem is from the start we know Linda is a terrible parent and simply makes it difficult for us to have any sympathy towards her.

Bob Newhart is one of the last in a dying breed of comedians, at least on television. He had a reserved, almost deadpan delivery that drew your attention not because of raunchy material or manic display of hijinx. He was obviously comfortable with being the brunt of all of the jokes. His half embarrassed and half sly-dog grin become a staple in our living rooms for four decades. Newhart was his second situation comedy following a respectable run as a stuttering stammering psychologist with a wacky set of patients and friends. The Bob Newhart Show ran from 1972 to 1978. Just four years later Bob was back on our television screens with Newhart, and it was as if he hadn't missed a beat. Newhart would better those six years by running from 1982 until 1990. Bob Newhart may not have a ton of range as a comic actor, but the television personalities he created in both The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart were lovable enough to bring great success to both of the shows. One could safely admit that he was really playing the same character in both, and the final episode of Newhart pretty much acknowledged that fact with one of the more clever series finales in television history. Bob Newhart will always be remembered as a television icon.

Dick Loudon (Newhart) once worked as a successful advertising executive. He gave up the lucrative job to follow his dream of becoming a writer which led to a nice run of "how to" books. Now he's ready to try his hand at something else. He and wife Joanna (Frann) buy an historical Vermont inn and try their luck as innkeepers. Their second maid was Stephanie Vanderkellan (Duffy), the spoiled daughter of a super-rich New England family. Dick also does a local television show called Tool Time Vermont Today, which is produced by Stephanie's boyfriend, the equally superficial Michael Harris (Scolari). The two of them take "cute" to a pretty much nauseous level. The inn is kept in shape by their inherited handyman George Utley (Poston). George reflects the town's slow and often naive lifestyle. He has a hard time identifying with anything but being a handyman. He's kindhearted to a fault and pretty much becomes a part of the Loudon family.

“’Have gun, will travel’ reads the card of a man. A knight without armor in a savage land…”

Those words ended every episode of Have Gun Will Travel, sung by Johnny Western in a time that such words could be sung without irony. Outside of Richard Boone’s black-clad, craggy, Rhett-Butler-gone-to-seed gunfighter, that song was all I could really recall about this venerable Western from television’s golden age. Would it, like so many revisited shows from my youth, ultimately disappoint? Or would it hold up fifty years after it was originally broadcast, viewed as it would be by the far more jaded, cynical man I’ve grown into?