Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2004
I am just old enough to remember when my favorite childhood television channel, Nickelodeon, took on a new evening persona called Nick at Night. “What were they doing to my beloved cartoons?”, I pondered. I still remember those first few weeks of the new format, tuning in during the evening hours after my father had returned home from a long day at work. I was amazed to see that not only were my parents interested in what I was watching, but they actually knew what it was before I did! How was this possible!?
...p>Of course, I came to love the new nighttime format, and I began to pick out my favorites of these classic shows, just as my parents had done a generation before. One of the best new programs, I felt, was Mister Ed, the story of a man and his talking horse. Every child enjoys silliness and fantasy, and this show had both.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2004
Angels and demons and monsters, oh my!
Not even the death of Buffy could stop this popular show from coming back for a third season. This time around, Angel must find melodrama in new and interesting places, and luckily for fans of the show, he succeeds admirably. In fact, I feel that the death of Buffy was a good thing, as it forced the writers to push this show into its own territory, and helped to give the whole production a voice and an identity all its own.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2004
James Gurney created a wonderful mythical land to rival Tolkien’s Middle Earth that was populated by stranded travelers and talking dinosaurs. Hallmark finally brought these settings to life on film with their popular mini-series. The ABC series that followed was unfortunately complete with several fatal flaws. The dino f/x were not really as good as we have become used to. The blurs and surreal appearance often takes one out of the experience. The actors used in the mini-series were replaced with virtual unknowns and a noticeable lack of skills. It was obviously a mistake to attempt such an ambitious project for weekly television.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2004
The best sci-fi show on television keeps getting better. MGM has also shown an attempt to improve the DVD releases with each subsequent season. This was Showtime’s final year of hosting Stargate SG-1. I will be interested to see if the cinematic quality holds up with the release of season 6 which was taken over by the Sci-Fi Channel. The stories are bigger in season 5 and the f/x continue to amaze. With seasons 4 and 5 SG-1 had reached its peak.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2004
In 1976 a New York media group conducted a survey of the NYPD detectives. The question was: “Of all the TV cop shows, which most accurately portrays life as a detective?” The overwhelming response was the comedy Barney Miller.
It seems that real cops related to the daily grind and weekly wackos of Barney Miller. Let’s not put aside that this was also one of the most consistently funny shows on television. I remember it took me a while to accept Abe Vigoda in such a light role as Fish. My first exposure to Vigoda was the ruthless mobster in The Godfather. Barney Miller always managed to be funny while still telling a good short story. The characters were always wonderful. In Season 1 we will not meet the famous Dietrich character, but it was a joy to see the briefly shown detective Chano played by Sanford and Son’s Julio, Gregory Sierra. Unfortunately there were only 13 episodes in the first season, but they’re all here in this two-disc set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2004
Unlike most spinoff series, Frasier may be one of those rare instances where the spinoff was equally if not better than the original series. Much of the writing that made Cheers a phenomenon was continued with Frasier, with the exception that there was a smaller cast of characters and as such the stories became more involved and the characters were allowed to grow. The second season adds a great amount of depth to Frasier, his equally quirky psychiatrist brother Niles, and their gruff but lovable father, Martin. ...uring the second season, Frasier annoys the entire city of Seattle by complaining about the weather, Martin’s favored bar faces the threat of a wrecking ball (which may be the fault of his own 2 sons), Roz gets a new job offer, Niles lusting after Daphne continues, and Frasier once again comes face-to-face with his ex-wife Lilith ruining his island getaway.
During its run, Frasier won several Emmys for best direction, best comedy series and best actor. Watching the second season will remind any viewer why the show was worthy of its high praise. The jokes are fast paced and work well. The writing was very clever, especially the use of Frasier and Nile’s elitist vocabulary which often was used to poke fun at them. Fans of the show quickly grew to love the characters in the first season and the second season allowed the writers the opportunity to really sink their teeth into them and truly produce one of the greatest television shows in history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2004
I had never seen, or even heard of this show until I received this complete first season to review. I was a little hesitant heading in to my first viewing… especially after seeing that the main characters are played by Luke Perry (of 90210 fame), and Malcolm Jamal Warner (of The Cosby Show fame). But after viewing a couple of episodes, I must confess that I was hooked. Sure, the story is full of holes, and the acting is suspect at times, but the overall show is quite gripping and entertaining.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2004
If your only contact with the original series Lost In Space is the episodes available in syndication ala the Sci-Fi channel then you really don’t know Lost In Space. The first season was a lot different than the final two. The most noticeable difference is that the first season is in black and white. The stories are much less schlock and camp. More Star Trek than SpaceBalls. The cheesy rubber monsters are there, but the characters have a harsher edge to them.
As the season progressed through 29 episodes (Can you imagine having a 29 episode season!) the tone of the later series begins to come through. It became obvious by mid-season that the interplay of Will, Dr. Smith, and The Robot were what kept audiences tuning in each week. (A special note to the WB network. They are planning a new Lost In Space series next year which will have no Dr. Smith and maybe no B-9 Robot.) This DVD collection is a wonderful treat for fans who have not had the opportunity to see these episodes uncut for almost 40 years.
