DVD Collectors Online
DVD Reviews => The "Marathon" reviews => Topic started by: Rogmeister on January 03, 2010, 01:44:07 AM
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To keep this to a manageable figure, I will limit this to what I watch that's via DVD.
Have Gun Will Travel
The O'Hare Story
Paladin gets involved in a story about a man damming up the water that a town needs. It's an okay story...nothing real special except that it guest-stars the great character actor Victor McLaglen (who won an Oscar for "The Informer") and who is directed here by his son, Andrew V. McLaglen. Victor McLatglen would have just 3 more credits before his demise. His final role was appropriately in another western, an episode of Rawhide, where he was again directed by his son. I'll have to get that...it's in the second season. I only have Rawhide's first season at this point.
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I never seen a single episode. :bag:
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The Young Riders
Pilot
The Young Riders was a western series from the 1990s that lasted (I think) about 3 seasons. It dealt with a young group of riders for the Pony Express who ran a route on horseback delivering precious mail in their saddle bags. Among the riders were a few notable names...William F. Cody (later to be known as Buffalo Bill) and Wild Bill Hickok...Jesse James would show up on the series in a later season. Among the young cast were Josh Brolin, Stephen Baldwin and Ty Miller. Yvonne Suhor played Lou, a young woman posing as a man trying to earn enough to buy her own home and get her brother and sister out of an orphanage to join her. The way station was managed by the grizzled Teaspoon, played by veteran actor Anthony Zerbe and Melissa Leo played Claire who was the young riders' mother hen as well as the one who cooked food for them.
In this pilot episode, we meet all these characters and see them cross paths with a dangerous group of desperadoes. One of the male riders discovers Lou's secret but keeps it. The young cast is engaging and I can see where it was popular enough to last 3 or 4 seasons. One of these days I want to learn more about the real Pony Express which, if I remember correctly, actually had a very short existance. John Debny provided a lively score.
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The New Adventures of Superman
I began seriously collecting comic books in the fall of 1966. I don't think it was a coincidence that that was around the same time this cartoon series began airing. It was the first of the DC comic book series (and which has hardly stopped ever since). In this half-hour series, they had two Superman cartoons with a Superboy cartoon sandwiched in between...each probably about 7 minutes long. This collection only includes the Superman cartoons but you get 38 of them on two discs. Of course, they played loose with the rules then...in the first cartoon, Superman seems to kill off some aliens in a spaceship attacking Earth with an energy monster...and we all know Superman has a moral code to never take a life. Many of the cartoons in here are written by people I am totally unfamiliar with but I note that some are by George Kashdan who was also an editor at DC Comics. Superman is voiced by Bud Collyer who had also played Superman on radio and in the Fleischer movie cartoons of the 1940s. Joan Alexander, who also did the voice of Lois back then, voices Lois in some of these cartoons as well (Lois is voiced by another actress in some of the cartoons as well). To me, it's impossible to get past the nostalgia factor...I see and hear that old opening and all of a sudden I am 14 years old again. Compared to the cartoons of today, these are pretty much the stone-age of super-hero cartoons but I still get a kick out of them. Whether you will (especially if you've never seen them before) may be a totally different matter. :P
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The Range Rider, Vol. 2 (Alpha)
"Border City Affair"
"Outlaw Pistols"
"Blind Trail"
"The Chase"
I'm not sure if they are available outside of North America but here in the U.S., we have a company called Alpha that puts out very inexpensive DVDs. They can usually be had for $5 to $8. Their TV ones are usually single disc affairs featuring 4 half-hour episodes each. This week I have watched the second volume they have put out of The Range Rider. This was a series during the early 1950s produced by Gene Autry's company. It starred Jock Mahoney (though back then he was still being billed as Jack Mahoney) as The Range Rider (the only name he ever went by) who went from town to town righting wrongs aided by his young sidekick Dick West (Dick Jones). These episodes are very lively with the heroes rarely mounting their horses in the foot-in-the-stirrup way...they tend to jump up in the saddle from the rear of the horses.
The Alpha discs are usually hit-or-miss regarding quality but these are okay. They're not pristine or anything but they're certainly watchable and I enjoyed watching these. There were a few familiar faces in here such as western veteran Myron Healey (you may remember him as the bully in the Adventures of Superman episode where Jimmy and Lois go to a western town), John Doucette (who played a bad guy also in many Superman episodes), Sheb Wooley (from Rawhide) and Stanley Andrews (one-time host of Death Valley Days) among others. One episode here even features a female bandit which is kind of unique for the time. Nothing here will make you forget Lonesome Dove but these were made for the kids and they entertained them.
By the way, Dick Jones...who played the young sidekick...would star in his own series a few years after this...Buffalo Bill Jr. I have two Alpha discs of episodes of that series...and I may watch them next.
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Bewitched: Season One
I decided to finally get around to watching my Bewitched series...I have the first 5 seasons, stopping there since that concludes Dick York's run as Darrin. I never cared half as much for his replacement, Dick Sargent. I had watched the first four episodes (including the pilot and the episodes where we meet the Kravitzes and where Darrin meets Endora) so we pick it up with episode 5...
LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG FEARS: A neighborhood kid with an over-protective mother wants to play baseball, and Samantha helps him out.
THE WITCHES ARE OUT: Darrin's new client is in the Halloween candy business and wants an ad with an old ugly witch in it, but Samantha and her elderly witch friends, change the new client's mind with a Scrooge-like visit in his sleep.
THE GIRL REPORTER: A young college girl interviews Darrin for her school's paper and also tries to steal him away from Samantha, who is confronted by the girl's football player boyfriend, "Monster."
WITCH OR WIFE? : While Larry and Louise are on a business trip in Paris, Darrin is left behind with a heavy workload. Samantha is alone and bored at home and accompanies her mother for lunch, in Paris! They meet up with the Tates and soon Darrin learns of Samantha's whereabouts and it furious!
I especially like "Little Pitchers Have Big Feara". June Lockhart plays the overprotective mother (I'm guessing this must've been done around the same time she was playing Timmy's mom on Lassie) and her son is played by Jimmy Mathers who looks just like his better-known brother Jerry (star of Leave It To Beaver). The other episodes are fun, too. Interestingly enough, Endora is absent from two of these episodes (Samantha does mention in one episode that Endora leaves the country during the Halloween season as she finds the U.S. depiction of witches appalling). I like Endora but I like the occasional episode where she's absent...just as I find too much Barney on The Andy Griffith Show to not always be a pleasant thing. The first two seasons of this series were done in black & white...you can get these first two seasons in colorized editions but I, of course, bought the proper B&W versions.
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Due to a money crunch, I was late paying my cable bill and now my cable service has been suspended. Bad timing for me as the baseball season is starting...but it gives me more time to devote to DVD-watching I guess.
Bewitched: The Complete First Season
I started watching Disc 2 this evening...
"Just One Happy Family"--In this episode we first meet Samantha's father Maurice (played by Maurice Evans), a warlock with a temper tantrum who gets all wicked when he learns Samantha has married a (gasp!) mortal. This is a fun episode.
"It Takes One To Know One"--Sam finds out that a model who is scheming to take Darrin away is in actuality a witch herself. They could've had a real war between witches here...but perhaps they didn't have the special effects to pull it off? An okay episode.
"And Something Makes Three"--This may be the episode with the smallest amount of witchcraft. Gladys thinks Sam is swimming...but they have no pool. The only real "special" effect is when Sam temporarily makes herself move fast to get cleaning done quicker as Louise Tate is coming. Louise finds she is expecting...but Larry overhears and misunderstands, thinking it's Samantha who is pregnant. This episode could actually be pretty much the plot of any sitcom.
"A Vision Of Sugar Plums"--I skipped ahead about 3 episodes to watch this Christmas episodes tonight. Darrin and Samantha take in an orphan for the holidays who doesn't believe in Santa, so Sam takes him and Darrin on a visit to the real Santa...at the North Pole. Child actor phenom Billy Mumy plays the nonbeliever and future sitcom star Bill Daily has a bit part as the man who wants to adopt him. With episodes like this and the one I mentioned earlier about the boy pitcher, it's no surprise they wanted Samantha to have a baby pretty quickly...then they could stop using their kid storylines on guest-kids and save them for their own!
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Bewitched: The Complete First Season
Finishing off Disc 2...
"Love Is Blind" Samantha decides to play matchmaker, getting a girlfriend of hers together with a male friend of Darrin's. Darrin's friend in this episode is played by Adam West. I noticed Endora's absence again in this episode...she seems to be absent from several first season episodes.
"Samantha Meets The Folks" Darrin's parents come to visit and Samantha's Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) picks the same time to...ummm...drop by. Darrin's parents are played by Robert F. Simon and Mabel Robertson...who also played Howard Sprague's meddlesome mother on The Andy Griffith Show.
"It's Magic" In this episode, Samantha is given the job of getting some talent for a hospital benefit show and she hires a former vaudevillian magician...who she helps regain his confidence.
"A Is For Aardvark" This episode was directed by actress Ida Lupino. Darrin sprains his ankle so Samantha has the house obey his every whim...which makes Darrin rather power mad and he decides to quit and take his wife on a tour around the world. Don't ask me what the title means, though!
"The Cat's Meow" A female chairman of the board (Martha Hyer) for a company Darrin is trying to land an account of has him come to Chicago to meet with her...where she puts the moves on Darrin. Darrin, meanwhile, thinks a cat who shows up there is actually Samantha in disguise.
I've also checked out the short extras on discs 1-3 (which disappeared very quickly in future sets). Discs 1-2 featured short interviews with Bill Asher and some still surviving cast members. It is mentioned that this was the first show to feature a separated couple (Samantha's parents) and also the first TV show in which a couple (Darrin and Samantha) actually slept in the same bed. The third disc shows some small mistakes during the show that most people would miss...such as Samantha getting a new dress in one episode...despite the fact she had previously worn the same dress in 3 previous episodes. Still, it's a fun little short.
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Bewitched: The Complete First Season
This evening, I watched Disc 3 of this set. This time, however, I didn't bother marking down the episode titles so I can't list specific episode plots and such...but I can still make a few comments. Most of the episodes were fun though there was one really sweet episode about Aunt Clara babysitting and how some parents reacted to her telling the children she was a witch. Quicker than you can say Kris Kringle, we have a hearing reminiscent of Miracle On 34th Street. Paul Lynde made his debut in another episode in which he is a driving instructor (a very nervous one, of course) and he attempts to teach Samantha to drive. At least she picked it up faster than Aunt Bee did! Sam seems to like turning animals into people (and vice versa) and there's an episode here in which she turns a cat into a beautiful woman. And Endora, posing as Samantha, winds up dating a friend of Darrin's...and, of course, hilarity ensues.
One of my favorite characters is Gladys Kravitz...at least the original Gladys as played by Alice Pearce. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, Miss Pearce died about two years into the series and the character then had to be recast and it just wasn't the same. Since they recast Mrs. Kravitz, I wonder why people made such a stink when they recast Darrin?
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I haven't watched any of my Bewitched in a while... other then the pilot when I was in the B's of my Pilot Thread. It is another series I am behind one. I really should look into getting caught up.
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Bewitched: The Complete First Season (Conclusion)
I've now watched the fourth and final disc of this set. It includes these 9 episodes...
"Open the Door, Witchcraft" A fun little episode in which the Stephens get a garage-door opener...flying aircraft radio signals keep opening and closing it but Darrin thinks Samantha is doing it magically.
"Abner Kadabra" Gladys Kravitz again sees Sam doing magical things...but Sam, thinking fast, makes Gladys think it was HER doing the levitation and then Gladys goes nuts trying to do wilder and wilder things.
"George the Warlock" This is the first of two episodes this disc introducing us to yet another of the magical friends and/or foes of the witches. Here we meet George, a warlock...played by Christopher George. In this episode, George tries to break up Darrin and Samantha.
"That Was My Wife" Samantha goes brunette...and Larry, seeing her only from the back kissing Darrin, thinks Darrin is seeing another woman.
"Illegal Separation" The Kravitzes have a fight and split up...and Abner winds up rooming at the Stephens' so they try to figure a way to get them back together.
"A Change of Face" Endora and Samantha have fun changing Darrin's features and when he learns what they did, he suddenly becomes self-conscious of his natural looks.
"Remember The Main" The Stephens get involved in politics as they back a candiate for council who is battling the crooked incumbent.
"Eat At Mario's" Samantha and Endora use their magic to advertise for a failing Italian restaurant they love...which puts them at odds with Darrin's trying to keep an account with a pizza chain owner.
"Cousin Edgar" This is the second episode this disc introducing a new magical character. Cousin Edgar is an elf (played by Arte Johnson) who sees himself as Samantha's protector...and since he sees Darrin as unfit for her, sets out to ruin his life.
A fun group of episodes and I enjoy seeing all the supporting characters in various episodes. We even get a fairly pleasant conversation or two between Samantha and nosy next-door neighbor Gladys.
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Bewitched: The Complete Second Season
Disc One
After watching the first season of Bewitched, I have decided to go ahead and move on to the second season...sadly this would be the last season with Alice Pearce as the orginal Gladys Kravitz as she developed cancer during this second season and would be replaced by a different actress in season 3.
"Alias Darrin Stephens" has Darrin accidentally turned into a chimpanzee by Sam's Aunt Clara (whose magic never goes quite right). Sam also learns she is going to have a baby in this episode.
"A Very Special Delivery"--Endora gives Darrin pregnancy symptoms.
"We're In For A Bad Spell"--A visitor from Salem is the victim of a witch's curse and the Stephens attempt to help him find the cure.
"My Grandson The Warlock"--The Stephens are babysitting the son of Larry and Louise Tate...but Sam's father, thinking it is Sam's baby, takes him away.
"The Joker Is A Card"--This episode introduces us to Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde) and his wicked sense of humor.
"Take Two Aspirin And Half A Pint of Porpoise Milk"--This would be the first of a series of episodes in which Samantha gets a weird malady. In this one, she develops square green spots and Aunt Clara must put together an antidote (future episodes of this type would require the services of Dr. Bombay).
"Trick or Treat"--Endora turns Darrin into a werewolf on Halloween. By a weird coincidence, two guest-stars in this episode would later go on to appear in The Brady Bunch...Maureen McCormick (Endora as a little girl) and the actor who would become Mike Brady's boss.
"The Very Informal Dress"--Aunt Clara zaps up attire for Sam and Darrin for a party...but they don't hold up well during the event.
"And Then I Wrote"--Sam is roped into writing a play about the Civil War...and her imagination brings several characters to life including an Indian and a Confiderate soldier...and his horse.
Watching these episodes, I think one reason I preferred this series to I Dream of Jeannie (apart from the fact Jeannie was a slave to her "master" and Sam was an independent young woman, despite being married) is that I feel Bewitched definitely had better writing.
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Bewitched: The Complete Second Season
Disc Two, Part One
I've now watched about half the episodes on disc two...
"Junior Executive"--During an ad campaign to sign a new client, Darrin iws turned into a young boy. Young Darrin is played by Billy Mumy.
"Aunt Clara's Old Flame"--An old flame of Clara (played by Charlie Ruggles) comes to visit and Sam helps her perform her magic so he doesn't think she has lost her abilities.
"A Strange Little Visitor"--The Stephens babysit a young warlock while his parents are away...and their house is robbed during that night. The father of Merle, the warlock, is played by James Doohan.
"My Boss, The Teddy Bear"--Darrin thinks Endora has turned his boss, Larry Tate, into a Teddy Bear.
This disc also has a replaying of the Christmas episode from the first season with Billy Mumy...though they did add one short new scene so they are reminiscing about what happened the year before. Billy Mumy is in this episode, too. This is the episode with a short cameo by Bill Daly.
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A few days ago, I wrote about watching the pilot episode of the western TV series "Whispering Smith" which starred Audie Murphy in the lead role as a detective lawman in Denver in the 1870s. i posted that in my TV pilot thread. I just got done watching the 3 episodes following that one...
"The Grudge" was a strange tale of revenge. A woman's husband (an outlaw and killer) had been killed years earlier by Whispering Smith and she raised her son to be a fast-shooting gunslinger with the ultimate goal being that he would shoot Smith down. In this episode, that young gunfighter was played by a young Robert Redford. She also had a daughter, played in this episode by Gloria Talbott. She looked familiar...at first I thought it was an actress who had appeared on Petticoat Junction (she looks just like one of the dark-haired girls to me) but she wasn't ever on that show. I thought this was an interesting episode.
"The Devil's Share" guest-starred Clu Gulager as a man who kills his own brother and then tries to plant evidence to make it look like someone else committed the crime. This was an episode I l iked as we saw how Smith figured out who did it.
"Stake-Out" had different opening titles than the first 3 episodes. I probably prefer the first opening...I'm not sure yet (obviously) if this new one became a permanent opening. In this episode, another deputy and friend of Smith takes center stage as some outlaws who he was once friends with try to get him to help bust their leader out of jail and they kidnap the deputy's pregnant wife to make sure he goes along. There's some solid action in this and the other episodes.
If you've bought Timeless releases, you know that sometimes they don't have the best prints. I did see a few scratches on the prints in one or two small spots (mainly in night scenes where I guess it's more noticeable) but it wasn't too bad and overall I am enjoying this series.
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Today I decided to continue watching the TV set of Whispering Smith. I had watched half of Disc 1 before, the first four episodes. So I put Disc 1 in again and watched the remaining 4 episodes on this disc...
Safety Valve--In this episode, Smith and his deputy work undercover as calvarymen to try to find out who is shooting down officers during fights with Indians. Harry Carey Jr. guest-stars in this and there's a singing interlude inside a men's barracks which made me think of the singing moments of John Ford western films. Les Tremayne also appears in this episode as the head of the fort they are at.
Stain of Justice--A young man is accused of murder when a woman, who happens to be the mistress of his father (a respected judge) is found dead with the son at the scene. Guest-starring Richard Chamberlain. This was an okay episode.
The Deadliest Weapon--Smith and his deputy watch over a gold mine owner who has been threatened with death with mysterious notes and attempts at his life. This was a better-than-average episode with a few nice plot twists.
The Quest--A young woman comes to Denver looking for her mother who she has not seen in 15 years. Smith tries to help her find her mother while the young woman is also being warned to return East and never return. This is a nice episode with a mystery angle and is probably my favorite of the series so far. I'll be very happy if future episodes (I have 2 discs to go) are as good as this one.
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Today I watched the second disc of the 3-disc set of the western TV series "Whispering Smith" which starred Audie Murphy. In case you missed what I wrote about it before, thnis was Audie Murphy's only TV series. It began filming in 1959 but didn't air until 1961 because of various problems. Guy Mitchell was a singer who appeared in this series as Whispering Smith's partner. He fell off his horse at one point and broke his arm. In Disc 2, you see a few episodes where his character has an arm in a cast so that was obviously written into the script. I also understand somewhat after this, actor Sam Buffington (the one who played their superior) committed suicide. I'm not sure if I've reached the point in the series where that happened though I have seen a few episodes now where his character does not appear. When I was watching the first disc of this show, I thought the series was "just okay" but I seem to like it more as I go along. Maybe I'm getting to like the characters? Did Guy Mitchell ever do any other acting? Some of the guest-stars on this disc (which contains 9 episodes) include Roscoe Ates, Robert Lowery, James Best, Patricia Medina, Edward Platt, Myron Healey, Marie Windsor and Alan Mowbray. I think the case has a misprint...it says one episode has Forrest Tucker but he's not in it. But there's an actor in that episode with a similar name...Forrest Taylor.
My only problem is I still don't know why the title character is called "Whispering" Smith. I do have one more disc to go so maybe one of the stories in there will tell me...or maybe I'll have to watch for the Alan Ladd feature film of Whispering Smith to find out?
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I have never heard of Whispering Smith... perhaps he should have shouted! :hysterical: :bag:
I think actually I've only seen Audie Smith in one Western at all, The Night Passage with James Stewart.
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I actually only have about 3 of his movies myself. I also have Night Passage. I also have No Name On The Bullet which I have previously reviewed and one I've yet to watch, Duel At Silver Creek.
Did you know Audie Murphy was the most decorated U.S. soldier during World War II? Another highly decorated U.S. soldier was another actor, Neville Brand, who appeared in a TV western series called Laredo as well as being the bad guy in a favorite western film of mine, The Tin Star.
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I had heard that. Impressive, especially as he seems so short and young in these movies. Rewind a few years and I can't quite see him as a war hero.
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I recommend you both try to find this film...
http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5724.0.html (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5724.0.html)
His actions in WWII are the true meaning of hero. Google his name, you'll be impressed. The only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who didn't kill anyone, or brandish a weapon.
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Whispering Smith: Disc 3
I just got done watching the third and final disc of Whispering Smith, a TV western that originally started filming in 1959 but didn't air until 1961 and didn't last long then. Too bad...it took me a bit to get into this but after watching it a bit, I got into it and enjoyed it more. Disc 3 included 8 episodes and included more notable guest-stars...not a lot of them, but a few. There was Alan Hale (playing a not-too-bright Swede), Jim Davis, Leo Gordon (best-remembered as the guy Duke Wayne knocked into the giant mud bath in McLintock!) and Arthur Franz. A couple episodes in this series were like western whodunits and I really enjoyed those...that includes the final episode, Hired To Die.
Sometimes we know too much going into a series...for instance, I knew Sam Buffington, who played Audie Murphy's superior in this series, committed suicide during the series...so I kept waiting to see when his character would leave the show. I thought I had seen that in disc two when he wasn't seen in the last several episodes, but then he showed up again in a handful of episodes on Disc 3. I don't know if these episodes were shown out of order or if they were shown like that and they staggered them so that character would show up throughout the run of the first (and only) season. In fact, his character even showed up in the very last episode.
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The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season
I seem to be one of the few who haven't reviewed previous seasons of this show so I thought I'd write this up since I just got it and watched it. I got the set about two days before the premiere of the show's fourth season. I wanted to watch it all before then but didn't quite make it. I skimmed over a few episodes to finish in time and today I went back and watched those last few episodes completely. My brother says I like this show because, like me, it's about a bunch of geeks. He's just another who doesn't get it, I guess. This is one of those shows (like Friends) that I've enjoyed since the beginning and I do hope it continues for some time to come. Despite the fact I like it, it hasn't really gotten me to get more comic book-type t-shirts. The one thing I didn't really care about in this season was towards the end where they had Penny and Leonard break up. I am hoping that development is just temporary.
I also like the extras. The gag reel is pretty predictable...fluffing of lines mostly. There's a segment where the actors who play Howard and Rahj take us on a tour of the set. And I like "Take Out With The Big Bang Theory Cast" where they open fortune cookies which actually contained questions for the cast. It was nice to see everyone being themselves instead of their characters for a change...but it was a bit ironic when Kaley said that, if she had to have a career other than acting, she might raise horses. Of course, we all know she recently broke a leg when she fell off of a horse. If I'd like to make a suggestion regarding the 4th season DVD set (obviously a year away), I'd like to see some audio commentaries. I always enjoy those.
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I didn't care for the break up either...especially how it just sort of came out of nowhere. Wil Wheaton must pay for manipulating Penny that way.
I did enjoy that take out extra too..and the bloopers. Commentaries by the cast would be great. I don't always listen to those, but I would for this show.
I'm also hoping that Sheldon's Meemaw will be in an episode at some point. I also think it would be interesting for Leonard and Sheldon's mothers to meet.
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I still need to get season three. I do agree about the breakup.
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Justice League Unlimited
I have all 4 seasons of the Justice League animated series but it's really in 2 different incarnations. The first 2 seasons is a very dramatic and action-packed series and the roster is, I believe, consistant throughout the run of the seasosn (I say I believe as I've still only seen a few episodes myself). The regular 7 in that version: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, J'Onn J'Onzz (pronounced John Jones, also known as the Martian Manhunter), Green Lantern (the black version, AKA: John Stewart) and Hawkgirl. With Justice League Unlimited, virtually every DC hero can be a member of the group and you never know who's going to show up. Some episodes have as few as 3 members (one story has Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman while another is basically Black Canary, Green Arrow and Wildcat) and still others throw in a veritable army of heroes. And you never know who will show up next. I've seen Bwana Beast (a jungle hero who only had one or two comic book appearances), Hawk and the Dove, Supergirl and the futuristic Batman from Batman Beyond. I decided to skip watching the rest of the first Justice League series because I wanted to get into this version and see all these other heroes.
So far I've seen the first 2 discs of season one of Justice League Unlimited and one episode of the 3rd disc. Among the better episodes (in my opinion) are "For The Man Who Has Everything" (the one with Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman) which was adopted from an actual comic book story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, The Return (one of those featuring more heroes than you can shake a power stick at) where they battle an unbelievably powerful robot, and the one the Batman Beyond version of Batman shows up in...a 2-part time travel story where we even see some of the heroes from DC Comics' western series. Also, unlike the first version of the series, JLU isn't afraid to use comedy and there's a couple very funny episodes including one where several members are turned into kids and one featuring Booster Gold who wants to be on the front lines during a major crisis but is instead put in charge of crowd control. My only problem with the series will be when I run out of new episodes...sigh...then it will be all over. But I'm having a blast in the meantime. :thumbup:
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Justice League
I previously posted in my "In The Beginning" thread about the pilot or first episode of this series. Then I moved to the Justice League Unlimited series...what this series morphed into in its 3rd season...where any DC hero could show up. But now I've gone back to the original version of this series and have been watching episodes of this recently...
In Blackest Night puts the spotlight on Green Lantern (in this series, the black hero known as John Stewart is the Green Lantern) is believed to have destroyed a world and Green Lantern himself believes it.
The Enemy Below introduces Aquaman into this series...he winds up losing his hand in this adventure. We also meet his queen, Mera, and their son. Despite his appearance here, he does not become a regular in the Justice League series.
Injustice For All sees a group of villains take on the Justice League...Lex Luthor, The Joker, The Cheetah and others.
War World has Superman taken captive and forced to fight in a gladiator style combat while his friends try to come to his aide.
Legends is one of the more interesting and funny (up to a point) stories so far as the Justice League meets up with some other heroes who are similar to the Justice Society of America heroes who existeed in comics in the 1940s.
I've also checked out some of the extras doing my viewings of these episodes including the audio commentary on Legends and some of the creators talking about the series.
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Justice League: Season One, Conclusion
I finished watching the first season of Justice League at around 2am this morning. Once I got into it, I just couldn't stop, I guess....
The Brave and the Bold--I'm not sure why they chose to name this episode off of a comic book from the 50s to 80s but I liked this episode a lot. It started off with a wild sequence involving The Flash chasing after a van containing some stolen isotopes. There's also a sequence where The Flash is dreaming and he goes through some wild transformations...all of which are taken from actual stories in the Flash comic books.
Fury involves a renegade amazon who wants to rid the world of all men. With most of the men of the League incapacitated, it's up to Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl to save the day.
A Knight With Shadows is the first of 3 adventures (all comprising the final disc) featuring guest appearances by various other DC comic book characters. This includes The Demon in a story involving vile sorcery.
Metamorphosis gives us the cartoon version of the origin of Metamorpho, a super-hero with chemical-based powers.
The Savage Time is a really intersting time travel story where the league has to go back to the era of World War 2 to take on Vandal Savage. This story also includes some of DC's war-time characters...the flying squadron known as The Blackhawks plus Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. I was half hoping Jeb Stuart and his Haunted Tank would show up!
Overall, I had a great time with this set and I think I'll dive right into Justice League: Season Two today. I see there's one episode there called "Maid of Honor". Could this involve an appearance by Supergirl? Like most of the episodes in Season One, most of the stories in that set are 2-parters. There's one single-episode adventure and, as with Season One, a 3-part adventure to cap off the season.
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Justice League: Season Two
Today I watched the first 2 discs of this 4-disc set. Every adventure of the two discs was a 2-part adventure.
Twilight--If I remember correctly, this adventure dealt with league fighting two really tough super-villains...Darkseid and Brainiac. Guest-starring were several characters from The New Gods...Orion and Lightray...we even got to see a fleeting glimpse of the Forever People. Even comic fans may not remember them...their comic lasted just a short 11 issues.
Tabula Rasa--This episode has such an odd title, I can't even remember what it was about.
Only A Dream--The league fights Dr. Destiny, an enemy who can attack them through their dreams.
Maid of Honor--Vandal Savage returns in this story involving a spoiled princess who Wonder Woman befriends. Wonder Woman actually spends much of this adventure out of costume.
Hearts and Minds--I believe this adventure is an interstellar one involving some other Green Lanterns and the three-eyed enemy Despero.
A Better World--The league comes across other-dimensional versions of themselves who aren't exactly as much on the side of true justice as they are.
Besides a couple of commentaries, there are a few other features. I enjoyed one which included several of the voice actors and the voice director of the series talking about their thoughts on the voice-acting process. I have two discs yet to go through which includes the big 3-part finale that has one of the League itself becoming a traitor. Who is it? I'll never tell!
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Tabula Rasa--This episode has such an odd title, I can't even remember what it was about.
It is an odd title, it's been used a few times in TV shows. There is also an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the same name. As far as I can tell the term Tabula Rasa refers to a thesis that all humans are born a blank slate and knowledge comes from experience. Or something like that.
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Thank you...that is enough to remind me what this episode was. It involved Lex Luthor and an android one of his scientists created that adapts and gains the powers of any hero that goes against him. When Hawkgirl attacks him, HE grows wings and can fly, for instance. I did like this episode...and this android showed up again the following season when the series was retitled Justice League Unlimited.
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Justice League: Season Two
I finished watching this set last night...
Eclipsed featured the enemy known as Eclipso. I don't know why but I never cared for him in the comics so this wasn't one of my favorite TV episodes either.
The Terror Beyond is, I think, an episode involving mysticism and so Doctor Fate was a guest star as was Aquaman. Solomon Grundy was in this...he was acting like the Hulk in this episode and it even rubbed off on Hawkgirl. At one point, she was talking to Grundy and then said "Excuse me...Hawkgirl smash!"
Hereafter...oops, I forget what this episode was, too. That's what I get for watching so many and not taking notes!
Secret Society features what is believed to be the death of Superman. In reality, Superman is hurled far into the future where he meets up with Vandal Savage. The wild character Lobo shows up in the current time, determined to take the place of Superman in the league. He is voiced by Brad Garrett.
Comfort and Joy--This is the only 1-episode story in the series first two seasons. It is a Christmas story and we see how J'Onn J'Onzz, the Martian Manhunter, takes the holiday in. Meanwhile, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern whoop it up at an interstellar bar and The Flash tries to get a favorite toy for some orphans.
Wild Card has The Joker planting some bombs in Las Vegas and betting the Justice League can't find them and disarm them before they go off. The Royal Flush Gang is in this episode...but they have powers I don't remember them having in the comics.
Starcrossed finishes up the second season...it is a big 3-part episode featuring an alien invasion and a betrayal to the league by one of its members.
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Justice League Unlimited: Season Two
After finally getting through Justice League Seasons 1-2, I returned to the follow-up version, Justice League Unlimited and watched the 2nd season over the last few days. This is a shorter season of just 13 episodes. Among the episodes...
Shadow of the Hawk introdues Hawkman to the series. Unfortunately, he shows up so late in the series' run he only gets to appear in a couple of episodes.
Flash and Substance has a bunch of The Flash's rogues gallery decide to attack him during the opening of a Flash Museum. Batman and Orion are also in this. I love the episodes involving The Flash...he's one of the lighter characters and his episodes are always very funny.
Grudge Match has a villain using mind control to pit the female Leaguers against each other in no-holds-barred wrestling matches. This episode includes Black Canary, The Huntress, Vixen, Fire and Wonder Woman.
The overall plot this season is a kind of more serious version of the Legion of Doom from the Challenge of the Super Friends days. It's a power struggle between Grodd and Lex Luthor for leadership. In the end, the Legion must combine forces with the Justice League to battle off an invasion from Darkseid and his evil minions from Apokolips. I was really sorry to watch the final episode because this is probably my favorite super-hero animated series and I really got into some of the characters so it'll be sad not to have any new adventures of theirs to watch.
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Boy Meets World: The Complete Fourth Season
Cast: Ben Savage, Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, William Daniels
I got this set early this month. It is a 3-disc set containing 22 episodes. The series was originally being put out by Disney but after releasing the first 3 seasons, they suspended the series but now Lionsgate has picked it up and has released this, the fourth season (the series lasted 7 seasons). I watched the first disc last night...it contains 8 episodes. There are no extras at all in the set.
Quite a lot seemed to happen in the first 8 episodes. We start by Cory (Ben Savage) and his brother Eric (Will Freidle) about to finish their summer-long cross country road trip. But they wind up in a small town that Eric decides he never wants to leave. Later in the series, their father Alan (fed up with his job as a manager of a supermarket) quits his job and eventually becomes the owner (with his wife Amy) and manager of a wilderness store and Eric comes to work for him.
We had heard of (but never seen) the mother of Shawn (Rider Strong) and we finally get to see her in this season. She had run off early in the series and Shawn's father had gone looking for her but she returns in this season and (for awhile) Shawn has a semblance of fairly normal family life. I guess the actress didn't want to continue after this season because she wound up taking off again after this season.
The series had a slightly surreal feel after it's first season or two which is hard to describe but I always enjoyed it. It's definitely a comedy but, like many comedies, they did get serious once in awhile and that is represented in this volume by an episode where a girl Shawn knows is getting beat up by her father and he tries to protect her. The girl in this episode is played by Ariana Richards who played the granddaughter of Richard Attenborough in the feature film Jurassic Park. This series may not be for everybody but I've always liked it and I hope that Lionsgate is able to complete bringing out the remainder of the season. Only 3 seasons left to go!
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I remember watching this on TV Ehen it was shown in Germany. According to the cover of your fourth season set I must only have seen episodes if season one and maybe two. The kids look so much older here :o
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And it still has 3 seasons to go... as the series lasted 7 seasons.
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According To Jim: The Complete First Season
I'm watching a couple first season sitcom sets this weekend. I started with this. According To Jim was a U.S. sitcom about a big lummox of a guy played by Jim Belushi who always has his own views on the right way to do things...I guess you might call it the lazy man's way! Yes, Jim is a bit of an oaf and a bit of a jerk...but he's not quite the jerk that Ray Barone is! Jim's wife Cheryl is played by Courtney Thorne-Smith and they have 3 kids on the show...as the show begins, their youngest, a son, is just a little tyke. Also seen regularly (as in every episode) are Cheryl's sister Dana (Kimberly Williams) and brother Andy (sorry but I forget that actor's name). This is a fun family sitcom and one I enjoy a lot...but, luckily, I haven't seen a lot of the episodes yet so many of these were new to me.
There aren't a lot of recognizeable guest-stars in this first season set but I did note two at least. Nicole Sullivan (possibly best known as the dog walker on King of Queens) plays a vegetarian girlfriend of Andy's in one episode and Dan Aykroyd also appears in one as an old friend of Jim's. I watched every episode over a couple of days and I especially liked the season finale, in which Cheryl always finds out about her husband's surprise birthday parties for her. In this episode...for once...she gets totally surprised. It shows that he does really care for her and everything isn't always the easy way out.
This set includes a few extras...there is a featurette on the show, Jim Belushi giving us a tour of the set, interviews with cast members, a gag reel and a couple of audio commentaries. I had a good time with the set and am glad I actually ordered the second season set before I actually started watching this one.
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Never seen this show... will have to keep it in mind. :)
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Hope & Faith
Cast: Faith Ford (Hope), Kelly Ripa (Faith), Ted McGinley (Charley) and 3 kids you probably never heard of.
Extras: Audio commentaries, cast interviews, blooper reel
I would say this is another effort to give us a comedic duo similar to the teams of Lucy & Ethel and Laverne & Shirley. I've watched 9 episodes of this set so far and while it may not be quite on a level with those, it's pretty funny. The basic premise is that the two leads are sisters...Hope lives in a suburban home in Ohio with her husband Charley and 3 kids while her sister Faith has made a name for herself on a soap opera. Then, Faith finds herself suddenly without a job or paycheck when her TV character is killed off (actually, her TV character AND her evil twin!) so she comes home to live with her sister, much to dismay of her sister's husband.
In several episode, Kelly is clearly over the top but there have also been a few episodes that I've noticed she seems to have dialed it down a notch. Maybe they felt it was just too much? I've really enjoyed the last 3 episodes I've watched so far. These includes...
Car Commercial--Faith (Kelly Ripa) can get a free car if she appears in the commercial for a local used car lot dealer. Handsome Hal Halverson is played by Regis Philbin and there are several in-jokes since Regis and Kelly Ripa star together in a morning talk show.
Hope And Faith Get Randy--In this episode, Randy refers to a boyfriend Hope dated and then dumped her and he comes back to town. Randy is played in this episode by country singer Clint Black. There's also a subplot where Hope's daughters knock a hole in a bedroom wall and then try to hide it (the exact same plot I saw in an episode of Full House).
Phone Home For The Holidays--Hope & Faith's father (played by Robert Wagner) comes for Thanksgiving and he brings his new girlfriend (played by Lynda Carter). The new girlfriend tells Hope & Faith she was once abducted by aliens which really gets them worried but it all works out in the end. Of course, you know there has to be a reference to Lynda's most famous part. At what point, Kelly (responding to something Lynda says) adds "Wow, look out, Wonder Woman!"
While I'm liking this series quite a bit, I doubt we'll see any further releases of it on DVD (the series lasted 3 seasons). This season 1 set came out nearly 2 years ago so if a second season was coming out, we probably would've seen it by now.
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Another one I want to check out. :)
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I saw some of Hope & Faith when it was on..I remember liking it overall.
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I've now watched 3 of the 4 discs in this set. I've seen some more guest-stars in these episodes including Mimi Rogers, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kevin Sorbo (I think that's who it was), baseball pitcher Roger Clemens (done before we found out what a cheater he was), and maybe one or two I've forgotten. So now I have just 5 episodes left to watch. Maybe I'll watch those tonight if I am not too tired out from my Monday dialysis. Actually, it's 6 episodes as I see the last is a 2-parter. And there's at least a couple more guest-stars coming in Tom Arnold and Jenny McCarthy (not in the same episode).
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I watched some of the second season of Fringe last night..will watch more today I think.
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I finished watching the first season of Hope & Faith. I enjoyed it...lots of soap opera guest-stars in the 2-part season finale (including Susan Lucci). I also watched a behind-the-scenes featurette which was basically interviews with the cast and producer...except no appearance there by Kelly Ripa. Maybe this featurette was shot in Hollywood and Kelly (as usual) was in New York at the time?
Today I got a package...All-Star Superman on Blu-ray and 3-discs (bound together) of Legion of Superheroes. I just watched the first episode of Legion of Superheroes. I enjoyed it...very colorful, even though it looks like they turned Brainiac 5 into a robot...at least he acts like one. In the comics, he was human. This series begins with the futuristic Legion showing up in modern-day times looking for help and they hook up with Clark Kent before he makes his debut as Superman. They take him into the future where he does become Superman. Not sure I like them rewriting the history of the man of steel but I liked the episode overall...very colorful and fast-paced.
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After writing the above, I looked up Legion of Superheroes at the IMDB. The 3 discs I got apparently contain all the episodes (13) from the first season. There was a second season but those aren't available at this time. And I didn't recognize any of the cast who did the voices. The one who voiced Superman has a European sounding name to me...first name is Yuri.
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I just finished watching Growing Pains: The Complete Second Season. I feel it still holds up today, a very funny sitcom that still had several seasons to run. The episodes in this set originally aired during the 1986-87 season. The funny thing is there were a few episodes where they referred to the "Goofy Glue" incident...yet that appears to be the very last episode in this set...unless there was another episode where Goofy Glue was used. There were some notable guest-stars here...Jamie Luner and Brooke Theiss showed up as different characters but would work together in a spinoff of this series titled Just The Ten of Us...Candace Cameron appears in an episode as a schoolmate of Ben's where they're making a movie for class...Dawn Wells appears in an episode as well. If they ever bring out any further seasons of this show, I'll be sure to pick them up. After all, I'm in love with Joanna Kerns...oops, did I say that out loud? :laugh:
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I've just finished watching Disc 1 of Leave It To Beaver: Season Three. Nothing two wacky here...on this disc we had Wally being head of a blind date committee for a dance, Beaver letting a tub run over while eating lunch, Beaver being expelled from the bus, Beaver winning a bicycle on a Saturday afternoon when he had been ordered to stay home all day, and one where Beaver and Larry were arrested and accused of stealing a rowboat.
One actress I really liked on this show was Sue Randall as Beaver's teacher Miss Landers. I looked her up and found out she sadly only lived just past her 49th birthday, dying of lung cancer. She did mostly TV guest spots but I do have one movie she had a supporting role in, Desk Set, which starred Tracy & Hepburn. I'll have to watch that soon.