Saturday, March 31, 2007

Mini-DVD Review: The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (March 20)

Welcome to another Saturday edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we have we take a look at The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner from Comedy Central/Paramount DVD. This roast salutes the TV legend, who has starred on shows like Star Trek & TJ Hooker and currently stars on the hilarious Boston Legal. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner:

The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Paramount/Comedy Central, $19.99) brings us another in a series of roasts that Comedy Central has done over the last several years. These roasts have in the past featured such individuals as Chevy Chase and Denis Leary - this installment is a roast of TV icon William Shatner, best known to most as playing James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek series, and who currently plays Denny Crane on the hit ABC comedic drama Boston Legal.
For those reading this that has had the pleasure to see the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, you know how this SHOULD be done. A group of people, most of whom know the person to be roasted, get together and thoroughly embarrass and humiliate their friend, and all have a good time. Well, the Comedy Central roasts are a lot like that. There is a group of people, and they do their best – at least in theory – to humiliate the person. There is a key difference here, which has especially become apparent in the more recent roasts (Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, etc). Most of the roasters don't even personally know the person they're roasting; they only know them from having at best having played Janitor #3 in an episode of a TV show the other appeared in eons ago. Most – not all- but most of the roasters at these things are simply B and C-list "comedians" who Comedy Central brings in for these things due to HBO no longer returning their phone calls. Why is Andy Dick here?
Admittedly, this roast does have more people that know Shatner than I originally expected, which is a relief. You have Betty White, currently working with Bill on Boston Legal, who is as funny as ever. You have filmed "tributes" from folks like Sandra Bullock and Ben Stiller. Jason Alexander is your roastmaster, and does fairly well – though this wasn't evident in the original version. In addition, most of the living original Star Trek cast was here, including George Takei and Nichelle Nichols. Between Takei’s jokes himself, and jokes directed at him, there is certainly no shortage of gay jokes in this one.
Leonard Nimoy appeared in a pre-taped bit...except it is not here. Either Mr. Nimoy didn’t clear his appearance for DVD initially, or revoked it after seeing what kind of show the rest of the roast turned out to be, or something else happened, but the bit with Leonard is gone. Further slapping the face of the concept of releasing material uncut, several of the musical pieces are gone, as has become the standard for Paramount releases lately.
As far as the technical side, things are dull and expected. Black case with the Shat-man on the front. Video quality is fine, and audio – aside from the music replacement issue – sounds fine. Technically, the only fault with the set is the replacements. There are a couple of features – a quick "Making of the Roast" segment that goes nowhere and does nothing, behind the scenes footage, and red carpet interviews. Also included are three short segments from Reno 911, Drawn Together, and The Colbert Report – easily funnier than 90% of the DVD content.
Folks, I am a huge fan of William Shatner, a huge fan of Boston Legal, a huge fan of Star Trek, and a huge fan of the "roasting" concept – and I honestly had trouble sitting through this. While funny in places, a lot of the show was just painful. If you're THAT much of a fan that you need to own everything Bill has ever done, then by all means buy the set. If you want to see it that badly, rent it. Between the overall quality of the roast itself, and the deletions – one of which is to the severe detriment of the set, the score of the set is simply dragged down. From a technical standpoint the set is fine, but the material is just not that good. There are a few moments, which might warrant a rental, but that is about it. Strong recommendation to avoid.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(3/5 stars)

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Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, May 29

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to What Used to be the Neighborhood" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Calvin’s favorite restaurant closes and is replaced by a flashy pet spa, he worries the community is losing too many small businesses and starts a campaign to only buy local. Also, Tina helps Necie prepare a special surprise for Marty.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Your Father's Kingdom" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Abishola turns to Gloria and Kemi when Bob mortgages their home to pay for a new factory space. Also, Kemi worries that she and Chukwuemeka are losing their spark.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 29)

Monday, May 29

  • Seth Rogen (Platonic/Undeclared) - Watch Seth on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Keanu Reaves (Swedish Dicks) - Keanu appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) - Melanie is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • James Spader (The Office) - James appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ms. Pat (The Ms. Pat Show) - Ms. Pat is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Brett Gelman (Fleabag/Married/Go On) - Brett is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) - Tichina appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Kristin Chenoweth (Schmigadoon!/Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John talks about MSNBC's Leguizamo Does America on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) - Eric talks about Shudder and AMC+'s Slasher: Ripper on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man tells Sherri about his role in Sanaa Lathan’s directorial debut, On the Come Up, on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-June)

Growing Pains - The Complete Series Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Twelve Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI) Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI)

01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/04 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/18 - Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series (Blu-ray)
04/25 - Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
05/23 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Eleven / The Complete Season Twelve
05/23 - Go On - The Complete Series
05/23 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (Universal)
05/29 - Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/29 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/30 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
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