Saturday, July 19, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS/The CW, Day 2
The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (Universal Home Video, $14.98) tells the classic story of a child living in a new environment feeling homesick at Christmastime. The 1996 made-for-TV movie, based upon the classic TV series, begins with Eddie being bullied and picked on, because he is different. After all, he is a werewolf living among mortal children in Los Angeles. But the pain that Eddie feels becomes a bigger deal when it happens during the "most wonderful time of the year," so it is up to his family to do whatever it takes to cheer him up and get him in to the Christmas spirit. Everybody has their own ideas, from Lily's idea of getting Eddie involved in a Christmas decorating contest to Grandpa Munster's crazy experiments to Marilyn's plan to have a huge Munster family reunion just in time for Christmas. And to support it all, Herman is doing whatever he can do to make a buck, including nude modeling! In the end, it all comes together to create an old-fashioned Christmas that only a family from Transylvania could envision.
The video quality of the movie is fine for the most part, but the audio is very problematic. It is presented in full-screen, which is how it was presented when it originally aired. For some reason, the audio is out of sync with the video, so you see lips moving out of sync with the video. I don't know why this problem occurred on this DVD, as it is not a common problem wit h DVDs in my experience. It is somewhat obnoxious to see. The disc is lacking any special features, which isn't surprising, as this wasn't a big budget cinematic film or anything along those lines.
All in all, I think most observers wouldn't think of this is a great movie or anything like that, but rather just a mediocre movie based upon a great TV classic. It won't take too much of watching this movie to realize why it was a made-for-TV movie for Fox, as opposed to being a theatrical release or even one of the larger networks. There are some moments in the film that will SOMEWHAT remind fans of the hilarity of the original sitcom, but the overall plot of the movie is one of those plots that fans will find difficult to drag themselves into and fully enjoy. Still, if the DVD can be found cheap, fans may want to pick it up, just to check it out.
-- Reviewed by skees53
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The CW is up at the summer 2008 TCA press tour today as well as CBS's syndication division, CBS Television Distribution. Up at the panel for The CW this morning will be 90210, Privileged and Stylista, followed by the executive session. In the afternoon, we have the CBS Television Distribution series, starting off Inside Edition which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and new series The Doctors, and Judge Jeanine Pirro. Then tonight there is a WGA reception followed by the TCA Awards! We will give you the winners either tonight or tomorrow.
From The CW side, we learned that Shannen Doherty will return to the zip code that made her famous when she guest stars in multiple episodes of The CW's spin-off, 90210, premiering Tuesday, September 2. Doherty will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh, who was last seen headed to London to study acting. As previously announced, Jennie Garth returns as Kelly Taylor, now a West Beverly guidance counselor; Tori Spelling returns as Donna Martin, now owner of an upscale boutique, and Joe E. Tata returns as Nat, owner of The Peach Pit.
The CW announced premiere dates for their Mon-Fri schedule (and MRC Sunday block, below):
Monday, September 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl
9:00-10:00 p.m. One Tree Hill
Tuesday, September 2
8:00-10:00 p.m. 90210 (Two-Hour Premiere)
Wednesday, September 3
8:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Two-Hour Premiere)
Tuesday, September 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. Privileged
Thursday, September 18
8:00-9:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural
Friday, October 3
8:00-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
8:30-9:00 p.m. The Game
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Encore Presentation)
Wednesday, October 29
9:00-10:00 p.m. Stylista
Couple of notes on these premiere dates: Wednesdays at 9pm until Stylista premieres on Oct. 29 will be encores of 90210. Mid-season premiere dates and times for The CW's returning drama Reaper and new reality series 13 - Fear Is Real will be announced at a later time.
As for Sundays, the MRC (Media Rights Capital) programming block will launch on September 21. The block will begin at 7pm and end at 10pm. Then starting November 2, the block will start at 6:30pm.
Laurie Metcalf (Easy Money), Judge Reinhold (Easy Money), Bob Saget (Surviving Suburbia), Jaime Murray (Valentine), Autumn Reeser (Valentine), Kristopher Polaha (Valentine) and Jeff Hephner (Easy Money) will star in this Sunday Night Block.
In the sitcom Surviving Suburbia, MRC is proud to announce the casting of Bob Saget. It follows Keith (Saget) and Anne Stevers, a seemingly normal couple who has been married for 20 years, have two children and a cookie cutter house in the idyllic suburbs. Full casting will be announced in the next several weeks.
Here are the premiere dates for this MRC (Media Rights Capital) block on The CW Sundays:
Effective Sunday, September 21
7:00-8:00 p.m. In Harm's Way (reality)
8:00-9:00 p.m. Valentine (romantic comedy/drama)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Easy Money (family crime drama)
Effective Sunday, November 2
(changes listed only)
6:30-7:30 p.m. In Harm's Way (New Timeslot)
7:30-8:00 p.m. Surviving Suburbia (sitcom)
Programming for the 5:00-6:30 p.m. time slots will be announced soon.
More coming ...check back keep and refreshing.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, September 17
Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.
Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.
Abbott Elementary - "Rally" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava and the Abbott teachers go to the district to plead for Ava's job back; Gregory handles duties as interim principal.
Abbott Elementary - "Please Touch Museum" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Abbott Elementary goes on a schoolwide field trip to the Please Touch Museum, which has some of the older kids skeptical.
The Hospital - "Double or Nothing; Make a Wish" (BET, 11:00PM ET/PT)
Apparently the best spot to gamble during your shift, is in the morgue.
The Hospital - "Lyrical Surgery; Get It Poppin" (BET, 11:30PM ET/PT)
Dr. Do-It-To-Em's mixtape has more bars than a nursing student during finals week.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 15)
Wednesday, September 17
- Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Watch Wanda on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Jason appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Ron Howard (Arrested Development/Happy Days/The Andy Griffith Show) - Ron is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Brett Goldstein (Shrinking/Ted Lasso) - Brett stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Rob Reiner (All in the Family/Morton & Hayes) - Rob appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Paul and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about FX's Necaxa on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Marlon Wayans (Marlon/The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon talks about Him on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) - Eugene talks about The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Mark Duplass (Big Mouth/Togetherness/The Mindy Project/The League) - Mark talks about The Morning Show on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kristin Davis (And Just Like That.../Bad Teacher/Sex and the City) - Kristin dishes on the end of And Just Like That and surprises Drew with an item from the set of Sex and the City on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) - Jane talks about Fox's Celebrity Weakest Link on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Judy Reyes (Scrubs) - Judy is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
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)
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