Saturday, July 19, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS/The CW, Day 2
The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (Universal Home Video, $14.98) tells the classic story of a child living in a new environment feeling homesick at Christmastime. The 1996 made-for-TV movie, based upon the classic TV series, begins with Eddie being bullied and picked on, because he is different. After all, he is a werewolf living among mortal children in Los Angeles. But the pain that Eddie feels becomes a bigger deal when it happens during the "most wonderful time of the year," so it is up to his family to do whatever it takes to cheer him up and get him in to the Christmas spirit. Everybody has their own ideas, from Lily's idea of getting Eddie involved in a Christmas decorating contest to Grandpa Munster's crazy experiments to Marilyn's plan to have a huge Munster family reunion just in time for Christmas. And to support it all, Herman is doing whatever he can do to make a buck, including nude modeling! In the end, it all comes together to create an old-fashioned Christmas that only a family from Transylvania could envision.
The video quality of the movie is fine for the most part, but the audio is very problematic. It is presented in full-screen, which is how it was presented when it originally aired. For some reason, the audio is out of sync with the video, so you see lips moving out of sync with the video. I don't know why this problem occurred on this DVD, as it is not a common problem wit h DVDs in my experience. It is somewhat obnoxious to see. The disc is lacking any special features, which isn't surprising, as this wasn't a big budget cinematic film or anything along those lines.
All in all, I think most observers wouldn't think of this is a great movie or anything like that, but rather just a mediocre movie based upon a great TV classic. It won't take too much of watching this movie to realize why it was a made-for-TV movie for Fox, as opposed to being a theatrical release or even one of the larger networks. There are some moments in the film that will SOMEWHAT remind fans of the hilarity of the original sitcom, but the overall plot of the movie is one of those plots that fans will find difficult to drag themselves into and fully enjoy. Still, if the DVD can be found cheap, fans may want to pick it up, just to check it out.
-- Reviewed by skees53
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The CW is up at the summer 2008 TCA press tour today as well as CBS's syndication division, CBS Television Distribution. Up at the panel for The CW this morning will be 90210, Privileged and Stylista, followed by the executive session. In the afternoon, we have the CBS Television Distribution series, starting off Inside Edition which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and new series The Doctors, and Judge Jeanine Pirro. Then tonight there is a WGA reception followed by the TCA Awards! We will give you the winners either tonight or tomorrow.
From The CW side, we learned that Shannen Doherty will return to the zip code that made her famous when she guest stars in multiple episodes of The CW's spin-off, 90210, premiering Tuesday, September 2. Doherty will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh, who was last seen headed to London to study acting. As previously announced, Jennie Garth returns as Kelly Taylor, now a West Beverly guidance counselor; Tori Spelling returns as Donna Martin, now owner of an upscale boutique, and Joe E. Tata returns as Nat, owner of The Peach Pit.
The CW announced premiere dates for their Mon-Fri schedule (and MRC Sunday block, below):
Monday, September 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl
9:00-10:00 p.m. One Tree Hill
Tuesday, September 2
8:00-10:00 p.m. 90210 (Two-Hour Premiere)
Wednesday, September 3
8:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Two-Hour Premiere)
Tuesday, September 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. Privileged
Thursday, September 18
8:00-9:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural
Friday, October 3
8:00-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
8:30-9:00 p.m. The Game
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Encore Presentation)
Wednesday, October 29
9:00-10:00 p.m. Stylista
Couple of notes on these premiere dates: Wednesdays at 9pm until Stylista premieres on Oct. 29 will be encores of 90210. Mid-season premiere dates and times for The CW's returning drama Reaper and new reality series 13 - Fear Is Real will be announced at a later time.
As for Sundays, the MRC (Media Rights Capital) programming block will launch on September 21. The block will begin at 7pm and end at 10pm. Then starting November 2, the block will start at 6:30pm.
Laurie Metcalf (Easy Money), Judge Reinhold (Easy Money), Bob Saget (Surviving Suburbia), Jaime Murray (Valentine), Autumn Reeser (Valentine), Kristopher Polaha (Valentine) and Jeff Hephner (Easy Money) will star in this Sunday Night Block.
In the sitcom Surviving Suburbia, MRC is proud to announce the casting of Bob Saget. It follows Keith (Saget) and Anne Stevers, a seemingly normal couple who has been married for 20 years, have two children and a cookie cutter house in the idyllic suburbs. Full casting will be announced in the next several weeks.
Here are the premiere dates for this MRC (Media Rights Capital) block on The CW Sundays:
Effective Sunday, September 21
7:00-8:00 p.m. In Harm's Way (reality)
8:00-9:00 p.m. Valentine (romantic comedy/drama)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Easy Money (family crime drama)
Effective Sunday, November 2
(changes listed only)
6:30-7:30 p.m. In Harm's Way (New Timeslot)
7:30-8:00 p.m. Surviving Suburbia (sitcom)
Programming for the 5:00-6:30 p.m. time slots will be announced soon.
More coming ...check back keep and refreshing.
SITCOMS AIRING TONIGHT (May 20)
Raising Hope - "Not Indecent, but Not Quite Decent Enough Proposal" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Chance family meets Sabrina’s mother, Tamara (guest star Melanie Griffith), at the funeral of Sabrina’s grandmother, Nana (guest star Tippi Hedren). Nana’s last will and testament, revealed in a video she recorded before she died, has a big impact on Jimmy and Sabrina’s relationship.
The Goodwin Games - "Pilot" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Series Premiere)
Starring Scott Foley (“Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy”), Becki Newton (“Ugly Betty”) and T.J. Miller (“Our Idiot Brother,” “She’s Out Of My League”), the new inventive family comedy features three estranged siblings who return home after the loss of their beloved father (guest star Beau Bridges) and unexpectedly find themselves poised to inherit more than $20 million – if, and only if, they can adhere to their late father’s wishes.
New Girl - "Cabin" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jess invites her divorced Mom and Dad (guest stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Rob Reiner) over for Thanksgiving dinner and enlists Nick and Cece to help her with a “Parent Trap” to reunite them. Meanwhile, Schmidt’s cousin, Big Schmidt (guest star Rob Riggle), visits, and Winston manipulates them into an escalating battle to prove their manhood.
The Mindy Project - "Danny Castellano Is My Gynecologist" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Mindy must find a new gynecologist, she asks Danny to assume the role. Eventually, he accepts – on the grounds that Mindy will feel too uncomfortable to go through with the exam. The two then play a game of chicken to see who will back out of the deal first. Meanwhile, Jeremy tricks Morgan and Betsy into helping him break into Mindy’s apartment to retrieve a valuable item.
2 Broke Girls - "And the Broken Hip" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Max and Caroline pay a high price for attempting to remove a street performer away from the entry to their cupcake shop.
Comedian Andy Dick guest stars as J. Petto, a litigious puppeteer.
Rules of Engagement - "100th" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Series Finale)
Brenda goes into labor on Jennifer and Adam’s wedding day. Meanwhile, Russell and Timmy make an attempt at reconciliation and Audrey surprises Jeff, on the 100th episode and the seventh season finale.
The Big Bang Theory - "The Holographic Excitation" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The gang celebrates Halloween at Stuart’s comic book store. Meanwhile, Leonard seduces Penny with science. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin makes a cameo appearance as himself.
Mike & Molly - "Windy City" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Season Finale)
Mike and Carl get stuck working at the Renaissance Faire after their boss, Patrick, gets dumped by Mike’s mother. Later, as a tornado descends on Chicago, Mike and Molly each confess important news to each other. Gerald McRaney guest stars as Police Captain Patrick Murphy, Mike’s boss. Jim Beaver guest stars as Dwight.
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