Saturday, January 06, 2007
Mini-DVD Review: The New Adventures of He-Man Volume 1 (Dec. 26)
The New Adventures of He-Man - Volume 1 (BCI, $49.98) brings the first 33 episodes from the series only season. BCI did a VERY nice job with the original series, and this set is right on par I think. The series had just one season, and probably isn't as popular as the original series. I don't remember much about this series at all actually. Like the original He-Man, this was a first-run syndicated series and aired weekdays after school in 1990-91, so every day was basically a new episode. BCI will create two volumes for this series, which is a smart move and will be treated in the same manner just like the original series. So, of the 65 episodes, we got them on just two six-disc sets...not bad at all. Plus extras are included. In this series, He-Man heads to the future to the planet Primus. No more planet Eternia, but the villain Skeletor is back! The main villain in this really is Flogg and his mutants. This is certainly a new beginning and different from the original series, but still good! None of the original characters are back but He-Man and Skeletor. The menu screen has the options of Play All, Episodes, and Settings, with nice animated menus. When we select a sub-menu we get a nice transition music or even a nice transition video. When we select Settings, we change from English to Spanish, or vice versa. When we go to Episodes, nice animation and music plays with the episode title listed, you can choose play or select chapters to get to a scene faster. The director and writers of each episode are listed along with a nice long synopsis of the episode. Like the original series DVDs, these are the most informative episode menus I have ever seen. Nicely done! Chapters sub-menu has 4 stops with a nice little video in the box of each and interesting facts from Gleep on the right...again informative! The video is pretty good and the audio is also decent. There is one episode on disc 5 that had to be digitally remastered. I guess it had terrible prints, but the remastered episode looks great! The packaging is the same style as the original series, a nice outer box with a very nice looking digipak. There are nice images on the digipak along with memorable quotes from the episodes on this set. Each disc has its own section, so no overlapping and easy to take out. A nice episode booklet comes with the set that details so much along with two collectible 4 X 6 cards by two wonderful artists. On the episodes itself, each one runs just over 22 minutes or so. The bonus features are all on disc six. All the extras are listed on the main menu. The first option is Documentary Features, there are two of them: "Creating the New Adventures of He-Man" and this runs 28:04. Find out how the show got started and what it is about...great interviews. The next documentary is "The Comic Book Adventures of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and this runs 25:16. This documentary shows us the 1982 comics and more! Then the next extra is called "Character Profiles." 50 detailed profiles of various Characters, Guest Characters and Technologies. When selecting one from each category, you get some text and you can play a little clip related to what you chose. Very cool. Then we have the series bible and scripts from episodes that can be accessed on your computer via DVD-ROM. They are in PDF format, so you will need Adobe Acrobat. Then we have four very short commercial bumpers that was used in first-run syndication. The total run time for all 4 in total is just 15 seconds. I wish they would have just kept this in the actual episodes. Finally, we have an Image Gallery where we can see 19 cool images. There is also a trailers section for other BCI/Ink & Paint DVDs such as She-Ra, Flash Gordon and the original He-Man.
This is indeed a wonderful set and BCI continues the He-Man brand in a great and quality way. I don't remember much about this show, but thanks to BCI, I can relive this and try to remember. Volume 2, which will have the final 32 episodes should be out in early 2007, I would think. They are releasing spin-off She-Ra as we speak and two more sets are still to come! By the power of good and the way of the magic, the battle begins anew, but buying this DVD is still the old way by clicking on the link below!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(5/5 stars)
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Tuesday, March 19
Night Court - "The Duke's a Hazard" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Gurgs' royal boyfriend pays a surprise visit, she questions their compatibility; Dan defends his family's honor after he discovers a feud that dates back centuries.
Extended Family - "The Consequences of Being Irish" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Jim learns of Trey's St. Patrick's Day fundraiser plans, he offers his expertise in an effort to save Trey and the Celtics from embarrassment.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 18)
Tuesday, March 19
- Tracy Morgan (The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Catch Tracy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale/God's Favorite Idiot/American Housewife/The Odd Couple/About a Boy) - Leslie appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso), Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) and Zainab Johnson (Upload) - Brendan, Marc and Zainab are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Hilary Swank (Camp Wilder) - NBC's Today catches up with Hilary in the 10am hour.
- The cast of Girls5eva) - Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Sara Bareilles are guests on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse talks about his podcast Dinner's On Me on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Annie Potts (Young Sheldon/Over the Top/Love & War/Designing Women/Goodtime Girls) - Annie talks about her legendary career and new film, Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire, on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Joe stops by Tamron hall to chat about hosting the new Deal or No Deal Island, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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