Saturday, December 29, 2007

Mini-DVD Review: The Bronx is Burning: World Championship Limited Edition; Solomon's Weekly Rant: Drew Carey Show, Celebrity Apprentice, Bryant Gumbel

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for mini-DVD reviews and Solomon's Weekly Rant! First up of course is the mini-DVD review. This week we take a look at ESPN Home Entertainment's The Bronx is Burning. Yes, we did a review on this a few months ago, but now just in time for the holidays ESPN is releasing a World Championship Limited Edition set that has two extra discs filled with extras! The Bronx is Burning is the eight episode mini-series that aired on ESPN this summer focusing on the 1977 season of the Yankees and what was going on at that time that summer. This show is well acted and got better with each episode. See my mini-DVD review of The Bronx is Burning:

The Bronx is Burning: World Championship Limited Edition (ESPN, $59.95) brings the mini-series on DVD once again, but with more extras and cool stuff! Bronx is Burning in a nutshell...New York City was in a crisis that summer of '77, they were paralyzed by a blackout, political strife, and the Son of Sam killing spree, so the Big Apple was burning. Rising out of this, came the New York Yankees...they signed Reggie Jackson and the trouble and turmoil started, but in the end they won a world championship. This is a true story of how the New York Yankees single-handedly helped to raise the spirits of a city in a time of darkness and uncertainty. Based on the best-selling novel by Jonathan Mahler, this historic 8-part dramatic mini-series captures the summer of 1977 like never before. John Turturro stars as Yankees Manager Billy Martin, Oliver Platt as demanding owner of the Yankees George Steinbrenner, and Daniel Sanjata plays the slugger Reggie Jackson.
This set is nearly the same as original set that came out in September, except for the huge box, two discs worth of extras, 1977 championship photo, and a 1977 championship cap! So we won't cover anything that was covered before, so please refer to our past review for our review on the first three discs and the original packaging.
Packaging on this limited edition set has a huge outer box that holds the digipak case and the cap inside. In the original packaging we had an outer box but it was thin and similar to the case...and the case a snap case rather than digipak. The 1977 cap inside the box is very cool...it has the Yankee logo with 1977 Champions in red. Also the ESPN logo is on one of the sides. When we open the digipak, we see an insert for other ESPN products and also a very thin 1977 World Series Championship photo of the Yankee team. It isn't really anything major and it like a piece of paper, rather than a high quality photograph. Oh well, better than nothing. As for the digipak, it has three sections...the first section all the way on the left holds disc one, discs two & three are in the middle section, and discs four & five are on the right section. Same artwork for the first three discs are used from the original set...same contents of course, too. Discs four and five are new and both have artwork of pinstripes and a white color scheme.
I will only talk about discs four and five. The menu screen design and navigation is the same as the first three discs, which is very high class and cool. Now if you all remember, on the original set we already had a lot of extras...now we get two full discs more of them!
On disc four we have something sports fans will love...actual highlights and a game from the past. We get highlights for each game of the 1977 World Series. All 6 games feature long highlights from the original ABC broadcast featuring Keith Jackson, Howard Cossell, and Tom Seaver. In addition, we get to relive the entire original game 6 broadcast from ABC which the Yankees clinched the 1977 championship as Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs! 2 great hours worth of a classic game!
Finally, on disc five we get more interviews and back stories. First up is "The Bronx is Burning Anecdotes," these are 38:47 worth of interviews from the actual people from that era. ESPN interviewed stars like Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Fran Healy and more! These are in like 33 short interview clips each last like 1-2 minutes each. Next up we have classic news features titled, "Archival News Features." The first one is about Reggie Jackson Signing with the Yankees...that runs 1:35. The next one is about the Reggie Jackson Handshake Controversy...that runs 2:56. The final one is a sad one, the Therman Munson Tragedy...that runs 10:42. The final piece of extras are under the "More Stories of '77" title. We had some of these on disc three, but now we get more! The stories features are: Mr. October (6:25), Son of Sam (15:37), The Mayoral Race (6:56), and The Blackout (6:12).
I highly recommend this mini-series and DVD. If you have the original set, then you might want to get this one, too...for the extras and cap. If you're a Yankee fan, then this is a must, otherwise you can just keep the original set. If you have not bought the original set, then try and get this one, as it has more goodies. The Yankees overcame a lot in '77 and so did the city of New York. While this is entertaining, it was also a true story. I urge you all to watch this, especially if you are a fan of sports. Reg-gie! Reg-gie! Reg-gie!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Official Website
The Bronx is Burning TV.com Page


Solomon's Weekly Rant
Saturday, December 29, 2007
"Special Treatment for Drew Carey on ION; Celebrity Apprentice?; Terrible Bryant Gumbel"
By Solomon Davis

The Drew Carey Show has been added to ION Television for 2008 and for some reason it will get very special treatment on December 31. It will get treatment that other shows like Alice and Who's the Boss? never received which is confusing because I thought all shows added to the schedule would get the same treatment. Instead, ION will air a marathon of The Drew Carey Show on New Year's Eve and they never did this in 2007 for Alice or Who's the Boss. So I guess those programmers at ION are HUGE fans of The Drew Carey Show. But it is really not surprising at all that the "Incredibly Odd Network" would end the year of 2007 on such an "odd note."

NBC has completely destroyed The Apprentice this season with this new celebrity crap. Why change it into a Celebrity Apprentice when the appeal of the show was seeing young professionals working hard to get hired by Mr. Trump? So what will be the fun part of The Apprentice now since it's all celebrities? If Trump fires a celebrity it won't be the same because that person will still be famous. So what is NBC trying to accomplish with this stupid idea? I will tell you that the one thing they accomplished was losing me as a fan because I no longer have the desire to watch this new garbage NBC has thrown together. NBC has put the nail on the coffin for this series. The show would have just been better off in the same pile with the other 2007 TV show failures.

Bryant Gumbel's style of play-by-play announcing on the NFL Network sounds like he is reading from a script. He is extra dry, dull, and doesn't have a excitable bone in his body. He should only be allowed to do play by play if PBS started airing NFL games next season. I am going to barf tonight when he announces the Patriots/Giants game, in which the Pats will go for the 16-0 record. Please Gumbel go back to morning TV shows like The Early Show and leave sports announcing to the real professionals...even your brother Greg Gumbel is better.

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, October 16

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Tie Breaker and a Huge Mistake" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Tensions rise in the tire store when new co-owners Georgie and Ruben realize they can’t agree on anything, and Jim struggles to find his purpose now that he’s retired.

Ghosts - "Soul Custody" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Sam, Jay and the ghosts attempt to extricate Jay from his deal with Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh), the devil. Also, Isaac helps Patience (Mary Holland) through a crisis of confidence and Pete and Alberta navigate the fallout from their kiss.

English Teacher - "Lock In" (FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The teachers oversee the school's overnight lock-in.

English Teacher - "Graduation" (FX, 9:30PM ET/PT)
The teachers try to prevent a student prank from ruining graduation.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)

Thursday, October 16

  • Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Forever/Up All Night) - Catch Maya on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Roy Wood Jr. (Sullivan & Son) - Roy is a guest Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick appers on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. NBC's Today catches up with Nick in the 9am hour. He also talks about Little Woodchucks with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Billy Gardell (Bob Hearts Abishola/Mike & Molly/Yes, Dear) - Billy is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Bette Midler (Bette) - Andy Cohen interviews Bette on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
  • Laurence Fishburne (black-ish) - Laurence talks about The Witcher with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Jeremy on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Janet Hubert (Demascus/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Janet discusses her new Tubi series Demascus on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Lil Rel Howery (Rel/The Carmichael Show) - Lil Rel and Tabitha Brown discuss their film Unexpected Christmas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Aziz tells Drew about his new movie Good Fortune on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

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

10/15 - ABC Wednesday Comedies Premiere Strong; Sebastian Maniscalco's Hulu Comedy Special Date
10/14 - Tubi's Breaking Bear Premieres March 2026; NBC's Stumble Trailer
10/13 - Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Final Season; Bat-Fam Premieres November 10 on Prime Video
10/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 13, 2025)
10/11 - SitcomsOnline Digest: First Look at Upcoming Paramount+ Sitcom Crutch; Yellowjackets to End After Upcoming Season
10/10 - Prime Video Releases Trailer for The Mighty Nein; Season 2 Premiere Date for Cross
10/09 - Rachel Sennott's I Love LA Comedy Series Trailer; Kaley Cuoco Heads to MGM+
10/08 - Prime Video's Kevin Details; Trailer for Crutch with Tracy Morgan
10/07 - The CW's TV We Love Docuseries; Happy's Place Season 2 Trailer
10/06 - Dancing with the Stars Surging in Viewership, Especially Among Younger Viewers; Remembering Kimberly Hébert Gregory of Vice Principals
10/05 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 6, 2025)
10/04 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Cancels The Great North; Everybody Loves Raymond Cast Set to Reunite for 30 Year Anniversary
10/03 - MeTV Acquires Everybody Loves Raymond; Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Trailer
10/02 - CBS Presents Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion; Apple TV+ Renews Peanuts Specials Through 2030
10/01 - The CW's Six Brand New Movies Starting November 16; Hulu's Family Guy Halloween Special Details
09/30 - Sarah Sherman HBO Comedy Special in December; Huluween Programming for 2025
09/29 - Netflix Renews Haunted Hotel for Season 2; Christmas Comedy Series Sicilia Express
09/28 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 29, 2025)
09/27 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Scrubs Cast Comes Together for First Table Read for Reboot; Monopoly Game Show Moving Ahead
09/26 - Netflix Adds to Cast for Running Point Season 2; Stiller & Meara Apple TV+ Documentary
09/25 - Adam Pally HBO Comedy Special; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Returns with Huge Ratings
09/24 - Weigel's Newest Diginet WEST Launches Monday, September 29; New Baywatch Coming to Fox in 2026-27
09/23 - DMV Trailer for CBS; Mo Amer Returns to Netflix
09/22 - SNL Season 51 Guests for First Episodes; Prime Video's Bat-Fam Series
09/21 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 22, 2025)
09/20 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Paper to Get Linear Run on NBC; Saturday Night Live Announces New Hosts
09/19 - NBC Schedules The Paper and Stumble in November; Remembering Patricia (Pat) Crowley of Please Don't Eat the Daisies
09/18 - UPtv Acquires The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Camp Rock 3 Coming Soon to Disney
09/17 - FETV Acquires The Munsters Effective September 29; Apple TV+ The Morning Show Renewed for Season 5
09/16 - Disney's SuperKitties Adds to Voice Cast; Netflix Renews The Hunting Wives for Season 2
09/15 - 77th Primetime Emmy Award Winners; Letterman TV Adds Late Night with David Letterman