Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2010
Perry Mason did it for lawyers. Marcus Welby did it for doctors. From 1969 to 1976 and beyond, Robert Young was the face of the television doctor. The actor was so identified with his part that he dealt with fans and their medical questions his entire life following his portrayal of Marcus Welby. In those days there wasn't a medical doctor on the planet, real or fictional, who was more recognizable than Welby. The show pretty much wrote the book on the television medical drama. It doesn't matter if your a fan of House, ER, Grey's Anatomy, or any of a hundred other medical dramas that have come and gone since that time, each of those shows owes more than a little of its existence to Marcus Welby, MD.
In the 1950's Robert Young was that model parent in Father Knows Best. It's likely that audiences first fell in love with his wise and caring style. There was something about both the character and in the man himself that just caused America to trust him. It was no surprise that when the Marcus Welby creators were looking for a doctor that could, above all, exhibit those same qualities that Robert Young would get the call. And it didn't matter that Young considered himself retired from show business for the last 6 years. Marcus Welby was a role he just couldn't turn down. It was another gentle character with wisdom and common sense beyond his years. The Doc was a general practitioner in California. To him his patients were people. He would treat the individual as well as whatever ailment was proving to be the problem. He took the tough cases, often seeing some slight symptom that others would miss. That's because he paid attention to his patients, and they couldn't help but trust him with their lives. More times than not, that trust was rewarded with a full recovery. But, even when Welby couldn't beat a disease or injury, he always added something to the patient’s life. It might be helping them to come to terms with their own mortality. He might heal a family rift. Sometimes he just offered a kind word at just the right time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2010
This is the final seasons, so we are well into the series. Its groundbreaking nature (an unmarried professional woman as a central character) has obviously long since ceased to be a novelty, and the show is, by this point in its existence, what one might call a fixture. This is merely by way of observation, and not a criticism, because the writing remains as strong as ever, and the show has stood up well to the test of time. Not every joke is a winner, of course, and there are plenty of situations whose outcomes are visible a mile off. So name the sitcom for which this isn’t true. But it was the characters more than anything else that won audiences over, and the terrific chemistry of eccentricity and camaraderie is very much in evidence here. Humanity over ratings is typical of the show’s philosophy and spirit.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is classic TV comedy at its best. This show is legendary, and still ranks amongst the top comedy sitcoms of all time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 15th, 2010
Gunsmoke, in all of its 20 seasons, making it the longest running prime-time drama of all time, has such a strong legacy that it feels odd to review it. Thankfully the challenge is an enjoyable one as the show is at a full head of steam in its fourth season (it was ranked #1 at this time) and each episode is still as engrossing today as it was over 4 decades ago.
James Arness plays Marchall Matt Dillon, and is the law of Dodge City. Both him and the local doctor have rather stony demeanors when it comes to death, and death seems plenty common in 1800s Kansas. More often than not the criminal behind each episodes story is shot dead by the quick draw of Dillon before they could ever see a trial. I suppose that just makes the opening narration all the more suiting as many episodes start with a stock scene of Dillon wandering through a graveyard as Dillon narrates his musings on those that have made one too many mistakes and earned themselves a spot in that yard.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Considered by many to be the first televised miniseries, Rich Man, Poor Man became a television ‘event’ in the late 1970s and opened the doorway for other miniseries to follow. A&E and NBC Universal restored and compiled the two-part, thirty-four episode long show on DVD format in this one-of-a-kind collection. It was difficult for me to grasp the importance of this show just by watching it because I wasn’t born until the late 80’s. I decided to surf the internet to gain insight on a true fan’s response to the show and their impression of this collection. It was not hard to discover that the fans of Rich Man, Poor Man have been waiting with bated breath for the show to be released on DVD.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2010
"58 full-length episodes. 585 classic sketches. On 18 discs."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2010
There hasn't been a show quite like Human Target on television. There are certainly action shows, and there have been many shows that have taken on the "private" bodyguard or dedicated do-gooder. But I haven't seen a series yet that managed to capture the kind of action that you only find in big-budget feature films on the smaller scale and more limited budget of television. That is, until I saw the 12 episodes of the first season of Human Target. I remember seeing a huge advertisement blitz around the time of the Super Bowl, but I've seen a ton of these dramatic previews that only seemed to lose the sizzle over the course of a season, or even a single episode.
Christopher Chance (Valley) has a mysterious past. We get the idea he was a paid assassin for some sinister organization. He, at some point, has had a change of heart. It's an incident that is only hinted at until the final episode of the season. He now works with former San Francisco detective Winston (McBride). They provide protection services for people who find themselves in danger or in need of being rescued. They function outside of the normal boundaries of the law. Winston has some pretty impressive connections that allow them to have access to sensitive information. These connections also come in handy during a pinch. Many of these people are folks that they had already protected at some point in the past. The team is often assisted by Guerrero (Haley). He is another former bad guy from Chance's old organization. Their old boss is trying to track down Chance. We don't completely understand the relationship Chance had with his boss, but we know that they were close and the Boss considered it a personal betrayal when he left the company. We know that the falling out involved a woman named Katherine, and she's a source of great guilt for Chance. Of course, much of this will be revealed in the last episode of the season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2010
Charlie Sheen is an unlikely actor to star in a television sit-com. Even after watching the show, I’m not sure how anyone came up with the idea in the first place. He has little to no comedic timing, and he’s about as funny as a funeral. The thing that works here, however, is that he really doesn’t need to be all that funny to make this show work. Sheen pretty much deadpans his entire performance, which generously enough works rather well teamed with the more manic comedy of Jon Cryer. Throw into the mix a rather extraordinary young child actor in Angus T. Jones, and suddenly a show that looks terrible on paper turns out to be pretty dang funny. We’re not talking Fred Sanford funny, but I caught myself laughing far more often than I expected to. I had only caught the show before in bits and pieces and was never all that fond of what I saw. Watching these DVD episodes from the third season shed some new light on the show for me.
Charlie Harper (Sheen) is your typical womanizing bachelor. He’s got plenty of coin because he writes those annoying jingles you hear on commercials. He also happens to go through plenty of women. He’s got a swank place on the beach, and life is pretty much one big party until his brother Alan (Cryer) shows up on his doorstep along with his son Jake (Jones). In typical Felix Unger/Oscar Madison style, Alan’s been kicked out by his wife of 12 years and needs a place to stay for “just a little while”. Of course, Alan’s lifestyle is drastically different from Charlie’s. He’s got the responsibility of raising his son, and he’s rather obsessive-compulsive. As I’ve already mentioned, there is no escaping the obvious Odd Couple revival at work here, down to the slob vs. the neat-freak mentalities. Here we add the presence of an impressionable child. Most of the best laughs come when Charlie is trying to educate young Jake to his own philosophies of life. Naturally Alan considers him a bad influence, but then again, he is a guest in Charlie’s house. Helping to spread the humor out a bit, we get some great supporting work by Holland Taylor, who plays the boys’ smothering mother. Every good sit-com needs the nosy or pesky next door neighbor, and Melanie Lynskey fits the bill as the rapid staler, Rose. Some ethnic humor is provided by bossy housekeeper Berta, played by sit-com veteran Conchata Ferrell. New to the cast in season three is April Bowlby as the brainless Kandi dating Alan. As a particular treat, we get a visit from Charlie’s real life padre; Martin Sheen is an extremely off-the-wall character, the guys’s… what else… dad. If all of this sounds a bit complicated, it really isn’t. My best advice is not to ask too many questions, and enjoy the ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2010
There were a lot of changes in store for the Bunkers in the seventh season. The Jeffersons, long a source of irritation for Archie and a ton of laughs for us, moved to their own show, on up to the East Side and that big de-luxe apartment in the sky. Mike and Gloria finally move out of the house, but only as far as next door in the vacated Jefferson home. Most importantly, little baby Joey joins the family. New characters would join the show in the seventh season. It's been a rough ride for the Bunkers, to be sure. The series was first released through Fox for three seasons. Sony took over the releases for the next three seasons. Finally Shout Factory has stepped up and has taken over the release chores for this classic comedy.
It’s perhaps a sad commentary on the level of political correctness that Archie Bunker could never have graced network primetime in 2010. Archie was ignorant and an incredibly vocal bigot. Archie was an equal-opportunity bigot. He didn’t just hate certain minorities … he hated everybody who wasn’t white blue-collar protestant. Carroll O’Connor, who brilliantly portrayed Archie, was without a doubt one of the best actors to grace a network sit-com. Just watch his eyes and you’ll understand. All in the Family holds a record for spin-off series. The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, and Archie Bunker’s Place are just a few of the highly successful shows that owe their roots to All In The Family. Rob Reiner, Meathead, has since followed in his father Carl Reiner’s footsteps as a highly-acclaimed producer.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 8th, 2010
As mentioned before, reviewing television series can be very rewarding since I don’t watch as much television as I used too. I’ve found series that I never knew existed until the discs showed up in my mailbox. One of these great series is named Legend of the Seeker. I was fortunate enough to review the first season and it got great marks. So, I was even more delighted to see the second season hit my hands as well. This might be the final season for the show but let’s hope they saved the best for last.
So boys and girls, do you remember what happened in the first season? Well the Seeker, Richard Cypher (played by Craig Horner) defeated the evil Darken Rahl (played by Craig Parker) and sent him to the underworld. There will be much rejoicing and celebrating now that the lands are free and maybe finally the people can live in peace. Or will they? *insert dramatic music here*.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2010
"Every government has its secret service branch. In America it's CIA, England MI5. A messy job? Well, that's when they call on me, or someone like me. Oh yes. My name is Drake, John Drake."
![Human Target: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/human-target-the-complete-first-se-large.jpg)
