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 William O'Donnell on October 13th, 2010
Having been dropped by NBC, Medium finds a new home for its sixth season at CBS. The story of a psychic working for a Phoenix (I could have played off their location's name and used it as a metaphor for this show rising from the ashes onto a new network...but I'm a much classier and restrained writer than that) district attorney's office. Meanwhile, her husband struggles with a new job and when it comes to her daughters, there is evidence that there might be more than one psychic in her household.
I did not follow this show before, but had watched a few episodes previous to reviewing this season. Something I had always admired about this program was the dynamic the family has with each other. Driving the plot of each episode is a crime mystery, but instead of new evidence arriving as it might in a CSI or Law and Order, our hero would dream the truth, making for a supernatural side to things. Despite this, the writing would blend said supernatural elements into their daily bickering and family matters until it seemed utterly domestic. Now with a daughter showing powers the family is becoming significant in different ways but all the while never ignoring facts of life that occur and change over the six years that this show existed, such as the girls growing up, job changes, sickness etc. Perhaps what I admire about this is not only how the show does not hinge on the psychic aspect of things, but also creates an all the more believable family unit while doing so. Much credit for this goes to the more than capable leads Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber (who plays her husband) as well as the writing staff.
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
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 Archive Authors on October 11th, 2010
In the opening scenes of Gunless, a horse trots into what appears to be a tiny western town. Atop the horse is an unconscious man, slumped backwards in the saddle with a noose around his neck attached to a large tree branch that drags along behind them. An iconic Western opening if ever there was one. Reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter or Hang ‘em High. However, things soon begin to stray from formula when we realize that this tiny town is actually in "The Dominion of Canada" and the man turns out to be the Montana Kid, a notorious American gunfighter.
The ‘Kid’ is soon helped out by a polite bunch of Canadians, and before you can say “American stereotype” he has tried to start a gunfight with the kind local blacksmith. The reason? Why, the blacksmith had the gall to shoe the Kid’s horse. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you are the blacksmith) he has no gun and therefore, according to the code of the West, can’t be shot. The solution? Why, the Kid will get the blacksmith a gun. But since this is Canada, there are no guns in the area, except for a broken antique owned by the local Brit-accented hottie widow.
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."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 6th, 2010
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was the first movie I ever saw on HBO. These were the very early days of the cable network. It was before the dawn of any real home video. It was at my Aunt Shirley's house that several members of the extended family gathered in dining room chairs around a 19-inch television to watch a movie uncut and without commercial interruption for the first time in our lives. A lot has changed since that 1970's afternoon at my aunt's house. Today we have hundreds of such choices on our television dials. I've seen a huge wave of home video technologies since that day that have included CED video discs, VHS/Beta, laserdisc, DVD, and now high-definition Blu-ray and movies on demand. The entire game has changed since that gathering 35 or so years ago. One thing has not changed a bit. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was a dynamic and compelling film that day. It remains so today.
R.P. McMurphy (Nicholson) is a repeat criminal who has caused more than his share of trouble in the system. He is sent to the Oregon State Hospital to have his sanity evaluated. There the head psychiatrist Dr. Spivey (Brooks) doesn't really think he's crazy. But McMurphy is held over for observation. He's placed inside a general population ward where he comes into contact with the resident "crazies" of the hospital. He takes a particular liking to Billy (Dourif) who is a sexually repressed teenager who stutters and lacks any kind of self-confidence. In a big way, he is the opposite of McMurphy himself, who is quite the extrovert and borders on manic most of the time. There is an Indian man who is about as big as a mountain who the staff and inmates simply call Chief (Sampson). At first Chief is the subject of mockery from McMurphy, but the allegedly deaf and dumb Indian soon earns McMurphy's respect, something we quickly understand is a rarity for McMurphy. Other patients include the childish Cheswick (Lassick), the shy and naive Martini (DeVito), the borderline psychotic Taber (Lloyd), and Harding (Redfield) who was pretty much the crew's unofficial leader before McMurphy came along. In charge of the ward is the indominable Nurse Ratched (Fletcher). A battle of wills soon develops between McMurphy and the cold nurse. What McMurphy doesn't know is that she has the power to keep him even after his original jail sentence has expired.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 6th, 2010
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years. A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown are the most mentioned and certainly beloved by generations of children and adults. I thought I never missed an airing.
He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown: Snoopy’s driving the neighborhood crazy, and they want Charlie Brown to do something about it. That means back to The Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for everyone’s favorite flying-ace beagle, and obedience school. But along the way to the farm Charlie Brown discovers just how much he loves Snoopy, just the way that he is.
