Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 7th, 2006
Ahh, Moonlighting. For people of my generation, this may be the golden age of television. That's not to take anything away from I Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show, but when you grew up in the 80's, there was this, L. A. Law and Miami Vice. For my money, Moonlighting was the best of the three. Even by today's standards, it is extremely rare to find a show such as this. A genuine drama/mystery program that succeeds in being very, very funny. The fact is, the entire show was ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Let me tell you a story. Back in 1904, I used to be in the Army. For 3 glorious years, I went to the office every day from 9 to 4:30 (with an hour and a half for lunch), typing up and processing awards and various evaluation reports and generally doing the best job I could. When I had to, I went out for field training and would (for lack of a better phrase) “play Army”, where I would sit in a communications center for 8 hours at a time, checking to see if the radios worked occasionally.
W...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 3rd, 2006
Every so often, an idea for a movie, mini-series or TV show becomes so hot that multiple projects are given the green-light, even though the subject matter is very similar. Remember Dante’s Peak and Volcano in 1997? Murder at 1600 and Absolute Power the same year? Deep Impact and Armageddon in 1998?
Now comes ABC’s mini-series, Empire and HBO’s on-going series, Rome. Both were high budgeted, epic projects about ancient Rome, and both networks strived ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2006
Wildfire has all the subtlety and charm of an ABC After School Special. Truth be told, the pilot episode reminded me a lot of Showgirls, but instead of becoming a pole dancer, this girl is becoming a horse trainer. The basic elements are still the same, though. A girl with a rough past gets an entry-level position at her dream job, and must work her way up the ranks. Only this show is on ABC Family. Gone is all the glitz and flash that tried to cover up the horrid plot of Showgirls. Withou...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2006
My name's trouble... and you got some of it lady.
I admit, I wasn't even a big fan of The A-Team back in the day. I mean, I was a boy, and Mr. T was cool and all, but the show itself never really grabbed my attention. Even at a young age, the whole thing just felt a little too unbelievable. I mean, if these guys are a group of deserters and felons who are wanted by the government, then how is it that everybody knows who they are? Plus, Mr. T isn't exactly inconspicuous wearing 832 gold ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006
The longest running show in prime time doesn’t feature cops, doctors, or lawyers. It’s hard to believe that The Simpsons have existed as long as the Fox network. While the series didn’t really begin until Fox’s second year, the characters were part of The Tracey Ullman Show, which did start the first year of Fox. Who could have guessed that an animated short from an otherwise horrible and doomed variety show would explode into such a phenomenon. The Simpsons have not only dominated the pop culture; they have placed...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
Sex and the City: The Essentials – Mr. Big is a release, which serves no purpose that can’t otherwise be obtained from watching reruns on TBS. True, the series is edited for television, but a show should not have to resort solely to objectionable content to build a relationship with its audience. That’s not to say it can’t, but if you’re interested in trying out Sex and the City, I doubt it’s to see how many breasts, penises, and profane words you can see and hear, respectively, in a half-hour of televi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 21st, 2006
Jack Webb built an empire out of the police drama. Dragnet laid the foundation that 50 years of cop shows would stand upon. In 1972 Webb turned his attention to the relatively recent phenomenon of the paramedic. Based on a California law, the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, which created one of the first paramedic programs, Emergency brought the exploits of these young, daring rescue workers to our living rooms every week.
Roy DeSoto (Tighe) and John Gage (Mantooth) were pioneers in the paramedic field. They would be stationed out of L.A.’s real station 51.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
The Adventures of Superman – The Complete Second Season is the last of George Reeves’ Superman character. It’s also a loving tribute to a show that didn’t really deserve it. I respect television shows and movies from yesteryear – in many cases, I even prefer them – but it’s hard to justify the shallow plots and poor character development this show has to offer. I’m sure nostalgia buffs reading this are screaming “Blasphemy!” as we speak, but honestly… how can this show be justified on merits of good writing an...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
Sex and the City Essentials: Breakups is a little introduction type collection into the famed HBO series. Here we get three episodes about the various Breakups in the show. The first episode is entitled Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and is about Carrie deciding to chose her honesty first. This causes her to lose Aidan in the process. The second episode is entitled I Love a Charade and is about Samantha’s wrath for Richard. The final episode is entitled The Post-It Always Sticks Twice and is about ...
