Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS/The CW, Day 2

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS/The CW, Day 2

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the mini-DVD review. We also have The CW's portion of the TCA press tour below, so don't miss that either. But first it is the mini-DVD review. It's Christmas in July, as we take a look today at Universal Home Video's The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas. The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas is the 1996 TV-movie featuring the scary family during the holiday season. See skees53's mini-DVD review of The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas:

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

(3/5 stars)

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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

Wednesday, February 26

The Goldbergs - "Body Swap" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Adam is torn between following Beverly’s rules when it comes to off-campus lunch or going to the mall food court with his friends. Meanwhile, after using Barry’s college ID to get food at the dorm, Geoff goes overboard and becomes the “student” Barry wishes he could be.

The Goldbergs - "WrestleMania" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Murray decides to buy WrestleMania tickets to spend time with Barry and Adam, but he buys fake tickets so they can’t get in. Meanwhile, Beverly forms her own neighborhood watch group when the Frentas decide neighbor Jane Bales will be the Watch Captain and not her.

Modern Family - "The Prescott" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Alex’s new company is putting her up at a new luxury apartment with full amenities and a list of high-profile residents that the family is eager to take advantage of, without her knowing. Phil is on a mission to review the restaurant’s famous sliders for his food blog, while Mitch and Cam sneak in separately to meet its most famous resident, David Beckham. Meanwhile, Luke and Manny head straight for the gym to try and pick up on older women and end up in some hot water with a few of the residents.

Single Parents - "Untz, Untz, Untz" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Angie uses Sophie as bait to get time with her crush Colin by setting up Sophie and Percy, Colin’s son, on a playdate at Angie’s house. Meanwhile, Poppy and Douglas navigate Douglas’ first night sleeping at Poppy’s house, which doesn’t go as expected; and Graham and Will go on a bro-date of their own to the pizza parlor.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)

Wednesday, February 26

Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother/Undeclared) - Watch Jason on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Nick appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Finesse stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Beth Behrs (The Neighborhood/2 Broke Girls) and Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) - Beth and Tichina are guests on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Wanda Sykes (The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Michael Rapaport (Atypical/The War at Home) - Michael stops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
William Shatner ($h*! My Dad Says) - William appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa drops by The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - Soleil appears on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Bobby Cannavale (Angie Tribeca/Nurse Jackie) - Bobby talks about The Jesus Rolls on NBC's Today in the 9am hour and on the BUILD Series at 12pm.
Mark Addy (Still Standing) - Mark talks about Hangmen on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Jason Ritter (The Class) - Jason is a guest on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.