Television

There was some speculation from folks out there, myself included, that Paramount might be backing away from future releases of the popular legal show. This was sparked by a 50th anniversary release that did included episodes from the 3rd season onward, making it look like a catch-all effort. It was loaded with extras, which these collections have not been. I’m happy to report that, at least for now, these sets appear slated to continue. With the first half of the 3rd season Perry Mason continues, unfortunately in these double grab half sets.

Can animals actually talk to humans? Can we understand each other enough to consider it communication? Heck. You don’t need to watch some show on television to answer that question. I can do it for you right here and now. I’m Athena. I’m Gino’s 13 year old Siberian Husky, and Gino’s letting me communicate with you so that I can tell you what I thought about When Animals Talk. I’m here to tell you that we can talk pretty good. We also understand a lot of your human words as well. My favorite are words like Belly Rub, and Want.

I often have trouble believing that South Park has been around for as long as it has. It’s not just the passing of 11 years but the sheer brilliance in the face of an increasingly politically correct society. It’s like watching old episodes of All In The Family. Who believes that Archie Bunker would have any chance of survival in the 21st Century? It’s no wonder that Norman Lear has become involved in the series. It’s the last remaining vestige of a once great freedom to be ridiculous and offend.

The first season release of Dave’s World is going to upset the show’s fans a bit. Paramount has decided to change the opening theme from Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right” to some jazzy piece that doesn’t come close to saying the same thing. This wasn’t even Joel’s performance of the song we’re talking about on the original. I know that the musical rights issues can be a problem. Shows like WKRP suffered from being loaded with songs and racking up a fortune in royalties for home video release.

While nowhere does anyone actually say it, Caroline In The City is obviously inspired by/ripped off from the popular newspaper comic strip Cathy. Each episode, for a time anyway, would begin with an animated scene from one of the “Caroline” strips. The topic mostly deals with the pitfalls of being a single New York City girl. From these roots there was an often awkward attempt to create a warm and fuzzy romantic comedy that never seemed to find its own focus, let alone footing.

"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before !"

Paramount was bold indeed when they undertook the remaster project of the original series. Not only did they clean up the prints, but they took the decidedly risky option of redoing most of the f/x shots from the original prints.

Family Ties is likely remembered most as the series that launched the career of Michael J. Fox. There’s no question that he owes a great debt to Alex Keaton. It’s almost a bit awkward now to watch him as this young, extremely conservative teenager after Fox has spent so much of his life as a liberal poster boy in the last couple of elections. Politics aside, it’s hard not to credit his performances in Family Ties and the Back To The Future films

Can you take the dump of death”, or What’s the fastest way to get drunk”. These are the types of questions and answers that make up the Spike TV series Manswers. The idea is that the show answers those pressing questions that you guys out there might have been to afraid to ask. On first look you might get the mistaken idea that this is a copy of A&E’s far superior Mythbusters. On the surface the premise appears the same. Both shows appear to tackle the oddball question and attempt to find the truth behind the BS.

This BBC mini-series has the unenviable task of winning over audiences very likely familiar with Ang Lee and Emma Thompson’s excellent theatrical adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. And the opening scene might very alarm many a viewer: the rather steamy seduction on display does not, at first blush, seem to fit in to the comedy of manners one is expecting. The post-credit sequence is also rather more gothically melodramatic than one might anticipate (or hope for).

Think of it as Coach meets Newhart. That’s about the best way I know how to describe this somewhat quirky sitcom from CBS. It was mostly intended as a television project for its star, Burt Reynolds. The character would echo Reynolds’ own life somewhat. His character, Wood Newton, was a running back who had moderate success, just as Reynolds himself had. In the show he retired to his rural hometown of Evening Shade.