Saturday, June 23, 2007

Mini-DVD Review: The New Adventures of Batman (June 26); Solomon's Weekly Rant: Cable TV

Welcome to another edition of mini-DVD reviews. This week we take a look at Warner Home Video's The New Adventures of Batman. The New Adventures of Batman is the short-lived 1977 animated series that reunited Adam West and Burt Ward (from the original live action 60s Batman series) as Batman and Robin, but this time in animation, rather than live action. See my mini-DVD review of The New Adventures of Batman:

The New Adventures of Batman (Warner, $26.99) brings all 16 episodes from the short-lived classic animated series reuniting the Caped Crusader (Adam West as Batman) and The Boy Wonder (Burt Ward as Robin)!
In this series, we see Batgirl from time to time and a new sidekick called Bat-Mite. Some of the villains they will battle include The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, and Mr. Freeze. Can they save Gotham City from these dangerous masterminds? You'll have to watch the episodes to find out! Each episode runs approx. 22:50. The lowest one is 22:14, which is the first of a 2-part episode. There are NO chapter stops, which is not good. The video is OK, not great, but not bad either. There are some white flashing dots from time to time, but that is to be expected. This series is also available on AOL's In2TV for free view, if you have never watched it. The audio is decent, nothing too bad about it. Packaging has a nice slim outer box with Batman and Robin running on the front cover...the back cover has tons of information a picture of Batman and Robin in the Batmobile. Inside the box is the very slim digipak case. All two discs are inside. There are two panels, the first panel gives a breakdown of each disc, which episodes, and if any extras. The second panel holds the discs...overlapping each other. The second disc is double-sided, so there is no art on it. The first disc's art has the villains, The Joker, Penguin, etc.
The menu screen has Play and Episodes. The main menu has a nice blue background with Batman. The selector is cool, when we point to an option, it is the Bat sign.
Moving on to the extras. The only extra is on disc two side B. A featurette called Dark Knight Revisited. It is very interesting and packed with lots of information on Batman. It runs 18:45 and any fan of any type of Batman series, movie or comic strip will enjoy it.
I highly do recommend any fan of Batman to pick up this set, especially fans of the classic '60s Batman. And if you never have watched the show, give it a try on In2TV for free then pick this set up! Holy DVDs Batman!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
New Adventures of Batman TV.com Page


Solomon's Weekly Rant
Saturday, June 16, 2007
"Cable Companies Making It Hard To Enjoy Television"
By Solomon Davis

It now seems like cable companies are competing with one another in coming up with creative ways to suck money out of cable customers. This really seems unfair to customers who pay their bills on time and are never late with a payment. But Comcast has made TV watching very expensive these days and it appears they will continue to jack up cable fees because they know true cable fans will always pay the increase. I guess this means that DirecTV is currently winning the battle and Comcast has made up for it by turning into "Jack the Increaser." I swear the President of Comcast should just put on a mask the way Comcast has sneakily drained money from us cable lovers.
First of all, I cannot believe I'm being charged to watch reruns of the NBC sitcom, The Office on Demand when it is completely free to watch on NBC from September to May. But once again Comcast is so money hungry and sneaky that they had to charge its customers 99 cents to watch a network TV program and didn't even tell customers there was a fee. We didn't find out until the bill came in the mail and saw that it is a dollar to watch NBC or CBS shows through Comcast OnDemand. When you first clicked on The Office you never saw that it was 99 cents, it was just recently put there now because of angry calls from cable customers. At least TubeTime is FREE!
Now I just found out that my grandmother who is a huge fan of Gunsmoke will have to upgrade her cable service in 2008 because Comcast is getting rid of basic cable. So now it is going to be all digital cable and that is not fair to a 79 year old woman who is on a fixed income and can't afford to pay more money to see a 1955 TV show. I haven't told my grandma this horrible news because I know she will be forced to pay the increase because she is so used to having cable. But Comcast can care less and they know my grandmother will find a way to pay the bill because of her cable TV addiction. My grandmother has gotten used to paying $33.00 a month for basic cable and now will have to pay a $15.00 increase for a TV show that started way before there was even cable television. Now it's looking relaxing and enjoying TV at home will be a costly experience and since Comcast MUST pull in more money than satellite rivals like DirecTV. With all the fees like maintenance, payment over the phone fee, and sales tax fee, everything will seem like PAY-PER-VIEW TV soon and we will all feel like putting a quarter in back of the cable box every time we turn on the television. I just want to know should I be furious with Comcast for finding ways to steal money from me or mad at myself for being a fan of cable television?

Agree or disagree with Solomon? Discuss it here.

DISCLAIMER: Remember, Solomon is not the voice of SitcomsOnline. He is just stating his opinions and does not reflect what SitcomsOnline says or thinks. It is just his 'View' but it is always quite entertaining.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, March 28

The Conners - "Keep On Truckin' Six Feet Apart" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Conners are dealing with the pandemic and life's financial troubles.

The Conners - "Halloween and the Election vs the Pandemic" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Halloween has been canceled, so the family works to create an unforgettable experience.

Son of a Critch - "Airing Out" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The Critches are doing their annual airing-out-the-house ritual; some family secrets are uncovered.

Son of a Critch - "Cabaret" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Mark finally gets the chance to take the stage as a stand-up comedian.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 25)

Thursday, March 28

  • Joey King (Bent) - Joey talks about We Were the Lucky Ones on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
  • Giancarlo Esposito (Bakersfield P.D.) - Giancarlo discusses his starring role in the AMC crime-thriller series Parish on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Niecy Nash-Betts (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Niecy stops by to talk about her upcoming starring turn in Ryan Murphy's horror drama Grotesquerie on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa talks about Abbott Elementary on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Lorraine Toussaint (Where I Live) - Lorraine is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Father Knows Best - The Complete Series The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

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)

That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


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