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
To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
The New Adventures of He-Man TV.com Page
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, February 24
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Getting Lucky" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin and Dave join Lamar (Kevin Pollack) on a road trip to the casino. Also, Tina and Gemma babysit Daphne while Marty desperately tries to spend time with Courtney alone. Series star Tichina Arnold directs this episode.
Poppa's House - "Slumber Party" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Poppa dodges an invitation to a family slumber party, Junior attempts to change his mind by making him jealous of everyone attending. Charo guest stars as herself. Wendy Raquel Robinson returns as Catherine. Geoffrey Owens returns as J.J.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)
Monday, February 24
- Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Chris on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) - Drew appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Wendell Pierce (The Odd Couple/The Michael J. Fox Show/The Weber/The Brian Benben Show/The Gregory Hines Show) - Wendell appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. He talks about the latest season of Raising Kanan on Starz on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Sam Waterston (Grace and Frankie) - Sam makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Christian is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) and Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Tichina and Essence are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS. Tichina appers on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Jon Hamm (Grimsburg/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Jon appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
- Kate Hudson (Running Point) - E! News has an interview with Kate at 11pm on E!.
- Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) - NBC's Today catches up with Eric in the 9am hour.
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons and Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - CBS Mornings has CBS deals with Anthony and Cedric sometime between 7-9am.
- Clifton Davis (Amen/That's My Mama) - Nancy Giles goes behind the scenes of CBS' new series Beyond the Gates with actors Clifton Davis, Tamara Tunie, Daphnée Duplaix and Karla Mosley on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank chats with the hosts and performs with the EZ Street Band on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso) - Phil talks about the new season of Ted Lasso on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle is hitting the headlines with Drew and Ross and opening up about finding love again on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, Halle is opening up about her experience with menopause and the new platform Respin she made to help women through it.
- Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts