Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 11th, 2005
Synopsis
With all due respect to The Kids in the Hall, Saturday Night Live has an uncontested place in television history as one of the most influential shows ever to air on a small box of cathode ray tubes and circuit boards. Over the years, the show has launched the careers of Will Ferrell (Anchorman), Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop), Adam Sandler (The Waterboy) and a host of other notable actors. The talent that creator Lorne Michaels has put together for over a quarte...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2005
First there was no James. This year no Florida. Yes, the Sunshine State is alive and well even after a year full of hurricanes, but the lovable mother Evans is not a part of Good Times 5th season. I found these episodes to be the show’s least funny. There’s no doubt that the scripts are trying way too hard to cover the awkward situations. The addition of young Penny is really no compensation. It doesn’t help that after 5 years JJ’s shtick is beginning to show its wear. Still, there are some good moments here for the show’s legion of fans.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2005
ALF stands for Alien Life Form, but anyone who has seen this hit 1980’s comedy knows ALF stands for “laughing your ass off funny”. That’s what I had to say about season 1. Season 2 is just as funny, if not tons more. Of course, it helps that the show got its first full run of episodes in this year. Each episode shares its name with a song title. To the show’s credit, many are obscure. The big problem here continues to be the use of cut syndicated episodes. At least on this set the box clearly alerts you to this fact.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 4th, 2005
Synopsis
Kingdome Hospital is built on the site of a former Civil War textile mill, where many children lost their lives in a tragic fire. The ground is therefore haunted, and strange things are happening in the hospital. We follow the lives of many characters here, including one particular patient, an artist who was hit by a truck (the incident is very faithful reproduction of what happened to Stephen King himself) and is haunted, in his comatose state, by visions of a supernatural anteater (I’m not...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 3rd, 2005
Married With Children was something of an anomaly among the pantheon of breakthrough television shows throughout history. Shows such as Archie Bunker and Roseanne broke through the stereotypes of the television family, and showed life much more as it really is in most American households. What made Married With Children especially unique is that while those other shows often-times made very real comments about society through their laughter, this program mainly focused on the American mal...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 27th, 2005
Synopsis
While some sketch shows like The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show have managed to touch on the Cops parody with their material, the only one that does it regularly now is a show that uses it for inspiration.
In Reno 911!, produced and aired on Comedy Central, the show focuses on a group of police in the sleepy Nevada town doing what they can to keep law and order. You’ve got Lieutenant Dangle (Thomas Lennon, The State), a bicycle cop who perpetually wears h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 24th, 2005
It sometimes becomes quite challenging to write a review of a television show release in the mid-seasons. The opening season of the show has plenty to talk about, and the final season wraps things up, but what about season six, say, of an eleven season show? What is there to say then? “Well, this season involves the same characters doing the same stuff they have been doing for years.”
Lucky for me, this is a mid-season set that has something to talk about. Something big. Something the whole nation was talking...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2005
Synopsis
Another eight Columbo mystery movies are included here. The formula they follow is familiar: a murder is committed (and we generally know whodunit right off the bat), and we watch as Columbo, apparently absent-minded, closes in on the culprit, making said individual sweat like the dickens before he closes in for the kill. The episodes here also feature turns by such stars as Martin Sheen, Vincent Price and Johnny Cash, which makes this nostalgic trip all the more fun. These short movies-of-t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 12th, 2005
Season Two of Star Trek Enterprise was without a doubt the weakest of the series. It’s no mystery that the show’s demise was already being talked about by the time Year Two was finished. The stories were unoriginal and it appears budgetary concerns often meant unimaginative bottle shows. The words Star Trek were finally added to the title. Rick Berman has always tried to distance himself from Gene Roddenberry. When Enterprise was first released he felt it was time to finally cut the umbilical cord and drop the franchise tag.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Tim Allen was fortunate enough to ride a couple of trends and nurture them into a steady paycheck without really having to do anything. He was a stand-up comic in the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s and was pretty good at it. And like many other stand-ups during the time, he was given a sitcom with which to basically recycle his act onto a smaller stage. And to his benefit, the public enjoyed it, and Allen’s pet project Home Improvement was a smash hit, and would later go on to enjoy eight seasons o...
