Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2008
Imagine a world where William Shakespeare is being controlled by creatures akin to witches, a place where Santa is a deadly menace, and a rather eccentric fellow travels about in a police call box with a rather deceptively spacious interior. To Dr. Who fans of all ages, this is all very familiar territory. I fell in love with Dr. Who as played by Tom Baker from 1974 – 1981. He was the fourth actor to portray the Doctor and arguably the most popular. With a pocket full of jelly babies and a trusty sonic screwdriver, The Doctor rather muddled his way about with a massive wool scarf around his neck, all the while solving the mysteries of the universe. It was through PBS stations in the late 70’s that Americans were first introduced to these adventures on a regular basis. Before long The Doctor would develop a cult following of sorts, particularly at college campuses. The Doctor was an alien from the planet Gallefrey. A time lord, he traveled through space and time in his TARDIS, disguised as a police call box by a chameleon device. He was accompanied by a line of companions that would serve as the representative of the audience. These women provided a place for The Doctor to bounce his ideas off of, and from time to time they would more often than not require a bit of rescuing. The show was noted for its low budget f/x and over the top villains. The cardboard sets often appeared as if they would collapse at any moment. All of this created more than a little bit of campy cheese. But for some reason there was a charm to the entire play that was oddly compelling. To ensure longevity, the character was able to regenerate when faced with death. The new Doctor would not only look different, but he would sport an entire new range of mannerisms. This way the series would continue through several changes in the actor playing him. It all worked, and Dr. Who became the longest running scripted science fiction show ever in the world. Of course all good things do come to an end, and so did Dr. Who, in spite of an American television film attempt to bring the character back. But what started with Peter Cushing in a couple of films finally ended for good…
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 16th, 2008
So from time to time, I get television shows to review that frankly I don't really follow. However, my wife does, so she grabbed the tenth season of Frasier from me quicker than a crackhead getting a fix at the methadone clinic. I encourage you to peruse and enjoy her literary stylings.
For about 20 years, the character of psychiatrist Frasier Crane gave us awkward humor, taught us about Freud, and was the only character on television who tried to get sherry promoted from cooking liquor to a regular drink.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 14th, 2008
Gunsmoke is the longest running scripted live action television show in history. The series ran from 1955 to 1975. At first it was a half hour black and white show that evolved into a color hour by 1967. It actually started before the days of television, premiering on radio in 1952. Then it was William Conrad as the tough as nails Marshall Matt Dillon. When television came into its own, Gunsmoke made the jump to the bright living room box and made history. Westerns would ride across our small square screens for the next 3 decades, making it the most successful genre of that time, and it was Gunsmoke that started it all. The television version of Gunsmoke was originally conceived as a vehicle for John Wayne, who opted to remain in movies. Yet, it was Wayne himself who suggested James Arness, and it turned out to be a career for the once “carrot” monster from The Thing. Gunsmoke started before all of the big westerns and was around when most of them had departed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2008
My wife and I have gotten into a small discussion about October Road. A fellow writer has mentioned that this show is the natural progression of shows like Gilmore Girls, where you've got young twenty and thirty somethings living in an idyllic setting, somewhere in the Northeast, as they take in the residents of the town they used to spurn. I think my wife likes it in that vein. Me? Not so much.
October Road was helped along to TV by Gary Fleder, director of films like Kiss the Girls, but also has done quite a bit of television directing. The show's main focus is Nick (Bryan Greenberg, The Perfect Score), who left Knights Ridge, Massachusetts when he graduated college and went to New York and became a successful writer after his book about his hometown was published. He's faced a couple problems since then, first off is that he's blocked and unable to write a follow-up, and secondly, the first book seemed to burn a lot of bridges and goodwill between him and the town, so it seems he can't go home again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 11th, 2008
Arthur Kennedy and wife Teresa Wright are an older childless couple who discover a young man (Tom Happer) living in the crawlspace of their basement. Though they are initially alarmed, he seems harmless, and they take him under their wing. What seems to be a nice, if bizarre, solution for everyone becomes tense when Happer, tormented by locals, shows a potential for great violence.
This release from Wild Eye in their TV Movie Terror Collection is a much stronger entry than The Devil’s Daughter. Rather than highlight the limitations of television when it comes to horror, the film plays to the medium’s strengths. The tone is low-key and character-driven, and off-kilter in just the right sort of way to generate a nice current of unease. Happer is a disturbing figure, but he’s also sympathetic, much in the same vein as the Frankenstein monster.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 7th, 2008
HBO’s
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2008
So here we are again with a second collection of episodes from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series. This is the middle of a three volume set and concentrates the stories around World War I and II. It can hardly be a surprise that Young Indy kept himself quite busy during these war years in Europe. He was a pilot, secret agent, and even ballet dancer all for the cause. The set has as an appropriate subtitle: The War Years. Except for the bountiful features, the information from the first set is still valid and repeated here for the sake of convenience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 26th, 2007
I remember when there was only one Criminal Investigation show and it was in Las Vegas. The buzz was how they could piece together scraps of evidence to form a case against the eventual perpetrator. Now we have ones in Miami, New York and I heard they were pitching one for Sister Mary's School for Girls. (those nuns are deadly with rulers) However, in the redundant search for DNA and hair follicles; there is one rather unique gem in NCIS or better known as Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The series boasts both dramatic and comedic elements and has to date posted very strong ratings. But how would season four relate to DVD and does the show continue its strong impressive form?
At the beginning of season four, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) has retired to south of the border and the NCIS force is left to their new leader, Tony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly). Tony does his best to lead the staff which includes Tim McGee (played by Sean Murray), Ziva David (played by Cote de Pablo ) & Michelle Lee (played by Liza Lapira). The season is dubbed "The Season of Secrets" as we start finding out various things about the cast and certain things they have done or situations they find themselves in. Some are interesting, some are provided for comic relief. However, they aren't revealed to the cast until the last episode (the audience sees it in bits and pieces throughout the season) in a dramatic cliff hanger show guaranteed to get us back into season five. (which is enjoying the usual great ratings NCIS has come to expect)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 18th, 2007
Long before Clint Eastwood was making our day as Dirty Harry or even roaming the badlands without a name for Sergio Leone, he was working the cattle drive on Rawhide. Rawhide was created to take advantage of the huge Western film and television wave that
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 14th, 2007
Gomer Pyle began life as a one of the down home residents of Mayberry, where Andy Griffith held court as the sheriff and Don Knotts blundered his way to fame and fortune. It’s no small task indeed to find a way to shine as a minor character who wasn’t even there from the beginning; he replaced Floyd after the second year. But shine he did. Much of the character’s charm and success has to be given to Jim Nabors. The shy naive Gomer worked as an auto mechanic in Mayberry, but for his own series he appeared in one of the most unlikeliest of places, the U.S. Marine Corp. There Nabors found the perfect comedic partner in Frank Sutton, who played his superior Sgt. Vince Carter. The chemistry and remarkable timing these two brought to the Andy Griffith spin-off made it an instant hit. Critics at the time were very skeptical of the move, and most of the predictions called for a swift end to Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. But before you can say “surprise, surprise, surprise”, the series became as popular, if not more so, than the parent series, at least for a time. In syndication the show was always a hit.
