Saturday, September 23, 2006
Mini-DVD Reviews: The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest and The Benny Hill Show Set 5 (Sept. 26)
The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest (Universal, $19.98) brings the classic TV series as feature movies. America's first family of fright make their way to DVD in this very special release. Following their highly popular TV series (which is still going strong in reruns on cable -- TV Land), original cast members Fred Gwynne (Herman), Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) reunited in two movies -- giving us the Munsters as they were never before seen -- in color! In 1966's "Munster, Go Home!" (1 hr. 37 mins), Herman moves the family to an English estate he inherited. Starring in this are Gwynne, DeCarlo, Lewis and original cast member Butch Patrick (Eddie). Red-headed Debbie Watson portrays Marilyn. Guest stars include Bernard Fox ("Bewitched") and Richard Dawson ("Hogan's Heroes"). In 1981's "The Munsters Revenge" (1 hr. 37 mins), Sid Caesar stars as Dr. Diablo, who concots a plan to create robot "Munsters" to pull off a series of art heists. Starring in this are Gwynne, DeCarlo and Lewis. KC Martell portrays Eddie while Marilyn is recast again, this time with blonde Jo McDonnell. The cover art is neat in that the case is like a regular movie release case (a snap-case), but the cover you can slide off. The cover is a spider web that covers the main box. On the main cover is the original cast (Gwynne, DeCarlo, Lewis and Patrick) along with Debbie Watson (Marilyn in "Munster, Go Home!"), who's now blonde! The menu is simple. It features a spider-web and the two movies are listed that you can pick from. Both selections take you to a sub-menu that allows you to choose English or Spanish subtitles. Closed captioning is available.
The video is presented in both Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) or Full Frame (1.33:1) -- and in color (although personally, I turned the color all the way to black and white -- it really brings back the feel of the show doing so). To get the movies in wide-screen, you're TV should already either be wide-screen or you might have a menu selection that allows you to pick wide-screen. I did and it does make the movie wide-screen. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. And on a side-note, the movies are clearly remastered. The color is vibrant and dust and debris free. There are chapter skips available during the movies so you can jump around to different parts.
So in closing, I was very happy to get both of these on DVD; they are a must have for any Munsters fan! It's nice both movies are on the same disc. No special features are included but regardless of that, these movies haven't been in print for a while (although I did find both in a cheap bin at Best Buy a few years prior) so you should definitely shell out the 20 bucks to get these -- two movies for the price of one. You can't beat that!
-- Reviewed by Shawn Eaton
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The Benny Hill Show, Complete And Unadulterated: The Hill's Angels Years - Set 5 (A&E, $49.95) brings the next 9 episodes from the classic British series to DVD. This set is available on a three-disc set that contains 9 classic hours from 1982-1985. Hill's Angels join the cast and my they are so good. Benny got even naughtier when they arrived! Each episode runs about 50-52 minutes. Packaging is very similar to the first four sets. The set even has special features. "Hill's Angels Off the Record" runs 11:56 and is produced by A&E and has interviews with some of the Hill's Angels--they share a lot and it is very interesting to watch. Then there is the little trivia game you can play titled "The Benny Hill Cheeky Challenge Trivia Quiz #5." The menu screen has video clips to start off then the main menu comes, and the art is like the cover art. Episode numbers are on each main menu then when selected, you get to a skit selection screen, or you can just play the episode straight through. Chapter skips are also there, if you need them. Now, if my calculations are correct, we should have one more final set with about 8 episodes. Let's hope we get those episodes very soon on DVD. I liked Benny Hill even better in the 1980s years, so I'm sure many others do, too, and this DVD is great to watch because you'll die of laughing. Don't show this to little kids, because Benny is very naughty!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
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Benny Hill Show TV.com Page
Stay tuned tomorrow for our first week ratings blog for the 2006-07 season and on Monday a review for the new sitcom Help Me Help You, premiering this Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Wednesday, August 17
Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.
Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.
Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.
Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.
Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.
Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.
grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.
Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)
Wednesday, August 17
- Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
- Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
- Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
- Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (April-August)
04/05 - Up All Night - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/26 - The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy) - The Complete Fourth Season
04/26 - Jackie Gleason TV Treasures - 70th Anniversary Collection (including Honeymooners Rarities)
05/03 - No Activity - Season Three
05/13 - The Donna Reed Show - The Complete Seasons 1-5 (Time Life)
05/31 - Becker - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
06/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Eleventh Season
06/14 - Hacks - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/14 - Rutherford Falls - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season One / Season Two
07/19 - The Neighborhood - Season Four
07/19 - Reno 911! - The Hunt for QAnon (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/26 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Three / Season Four
08/16 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. - Canada)
08/16 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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