Saturday, August 06, 2011
Digital Digest: Rocko's Modern Life - Season One DVD Review; The Smurfs - A Magical Smurf Adventure DVD Review
DVD Review - Rocko's Modern Life - Season One
by skees53
Rocko's Modern Life - Season One (Shout!, $19.99) collects the first 13 episodes of the classic Nickelodeon series about a wallaby just trying to make it in America in a two disc set. Along with his loyal canine, Spunky, and dim-witted best friend and neighbor, Heffer, Rocko tries his hardest to confront the trials and tribulations of, well, modern life. The series has been released before through CreateSpace on Amazon.com, but this is the first time the series has been on an actual pressed DVD.
(4/5 stars)
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Rocko's Modern Life on TV.com
In the '80s, one of the most popular animated series was The Smurfs. Join them on a DVD magical "smurf" adventure, just in time for the new feature film, that has done big at the box office already! Here is our review of "The Smurfs: A Magical Smurf Adventure."
DVD Review - The Smurfs: A Magical Smurf Adventure
by Pavan
The Smurfs: A Magical Smurf Adventure (Warner, $14.98) brings us ten more episodes from the second season on DVD of the classic Saturday morning animated series that lasted nearly a decade. Handy, Hefty, Grouchy, Brainy, Jokey, Clumsy, Lazy, Dreamy, Smurfette, Papa Smurf and more of your favorite little blue people bring you the greatest show on Smurf are all back in more fun "magical" adventures. For some reason they have gone away from the season sets the past few releases of The Smurfs. The previous three sets were single disc sets of five episodes each from season two. This time they have upped it to two discs with ten episodes. So it is getting better at least! So get your 'smurf on' for The Smurfs!
The first two releases we ever had were a season set of the first season, split into two volumes. Then the next three releases were "volume" releases for season two with five episodes each. For this set we have ten episodes. They are not in any order it seems...just five randomly picked episodes from season two again. The Smurfs was a half-hour series and most of the episodes consisted of two fifteen minute episodes. So, on this set we don't get the full episode, just one of those fifteen minute episodes. There were some half-hours that just had one full half-hour episode and we have some of those on here as well. Each episode on this set has the opening and closing credits even if the other fifteen minute episode is missing from this set. Oh well. Some of the episodes even have a 15-25 second preview of the episode before the opening credits. On this set among the stories see are that Lazy is tricked by the other Smurfs into believing he has slept his life away. A bunch of disgruntled Smurfs try to get even with a human army that has rampaged the village. Johan, Peewit, and the Smurfs search for the magic fountain to energize an enslaved people. Lazy is led to believe that he has only a few days left to live, encouraging him to do some physical feats he hasn't thought of doing before. The Smurfs find a way to douse the flames of a fire-breathing dragon being used by an evil master to capture slaves for his diamond mine.
Here are the episodes and runtimes:
Disc 1
1. Smurf Van Winkle (14:11)
2. Revenge of the Smurfs (14:11)
3. The Magic Fountain (26:04)
4. Smurf Me No Flowers (13:48)
5. The Cursed Country (22:00)
Disc 2
6. The Blue Plague (24:05)
7. The Ring of Castellac (25:43)
8. A Mere Truffle (24:19)
9. Gormandizing Greedy (14:05)
10. Sister Smurf (12:07))
Let's now move on to the packaging. We have a very thin movie-style keep case. The front cover has Papa Smurf and some of the other Smurfs around him as they battle a dragon on the grass. The title of the show is on the top, with a mention below that that this is "A Magical Smurf Adventure." To the back of the case we go, we get a nice synopsis of the series and set, along with a list of episodes and special features. We see five Smurfs, including Smurfette on the green grass at their mushroom houses. When we open the case, on the right side we see the discs. The first disc is in a black little holder that we can flip like a page in a book. The second disc is on the right panel itself. There is no artwork on the panels. Disc artwork is plain gray with green lettering and a Smurf drawn in green.
The menu screens are very nice in white background. On the main menu, we see the Papa Smurf with two little mushrooms. The catchy theme is playing in the background. Auto trailes play before the main menu comes on disc one only with trailers for Scooby Doo and Snoopy. Options for the main menu are: Play, Episodes, Special Features, and Languages. Languages has an option to turn on English subtitles. Episodes have a list of episodes obviously. And Special Features list the two featurettes and trailers for some Leggo thing.
The video and audio is OK...it is not as good as the first season sets to me. They have cheapened these single disc and two-disc sets ever since they went away from the season set. The packaging doesn't state that the episodes are remastered like they were with the first season sets. I am still disappointed, since the first season sets were remastered. One good thing they have added on this set are chapter stops, but only for the episodes that were the full half-hours. We have five or six chapter stops for those episodes. See the runtimes over 22 minutes above to see which episodes have chapter stops. That 22 minute episodes might be edited as the other full episodes are a few minutes longer. But I'm not 100% sure.
As for special features, we get two featurettes. "Smurf Speak" (2:17) is a comical featurette on how the word "smurf" is used so much in the Smurfs vocabulary. Smurf to it. What the smurf. You can use the word in any sentence. We have clips and a nice narration. It is more fun than informative. The second featurette is "Smurftastic Moments" (4:59) and on this we are again given the same narrator as the previous featurette. On this one though they are counting down the top ten "smurftastic moments." How smurfy!
I do recommend this set for any Smurfs fan, but I just wish we get full season sets instead of these. The set is not Smurftastic, as the first season sets but this set is a little better than the previous three "volume" releases. I hope they are just marketing this for non-fans or casual fans and continue with the season sets soon. I doubt it though since season two episodes are only being put into these best-of sets. The special features are better than the past few releases, but still needs more. I wasn't too pleased with the episode situation being split in two volumes for season one, but now I will take that back in a heartbeat. The episodes on this set are of course great but some don't look or sound great. However, some look and sound really good. I hope the full season two is out very soon, even if it is in two releases, as I'll take two volumes anyway over this best-of releases. So get your smurf on and buy this set to see ten smurftastic episodes! It's pure smurftainment!
(3/5 stars)
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, November 11
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Great Beyond" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Butlers and Johnsons receive shocking news about their neighbor that changes their outlook on life.
Poppa's House - "School Days" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Junior and Nina turn to their parents for help paying tuition when their son gets accepted into a prestigious private school. While Poppa believes the kids will be just fine at public school, his ex-wife, Catherine (Wendy Raquel Robinson), and Nina’s father, JJ (Geoffrey Owens), try to convince him that his grandson’s education is worth the investment.
The Conners - "Three Ring Circus" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ben and Darlene are excited to share their good news with the family, but Neville, Jackie, Aldo and Harris share some very similar news of their own.
The Conners - "A Judge and a Priest Walk into a Living Room..." (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Conners gear up for a megawedding; Jackie and Neville, Darlene and Ben, and Harris and Aldo are planning for a shared big day, but along the way, they discover that some of the couples may not be on the same page about their happily ever afters.
What We Do in the Shadows - "Laszlo's Father" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Laszlo's father's ghost returns to make amends; Nadja and Nandor deal with the shapeshifters who have moved in next door.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 11)
Monday, November 11
- William Stanford Davis (Abbott Elementary) - Watch William on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He will also be on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Jim is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Wendi McClendon-Covey (St. Denis Medical/The Goldbergs/Rules of Engagement/Reno 911!) - Wendi stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about St. Denis Medical on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Milana Vayntrub (Other Space), Jessica Lowe (Wrecked) and Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) - Milana, Jessica and Jason are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kyle Richards (Down to Earth) - E! News has an interview with Kyle at 11pm on E!. She will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin talks about Our Little Secret on NBC's Today some time between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
- Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/Catastrophe) - NBC's Today catches up with Sharon in the 9am hour. Sharon and Eve Hewson talk about Bad Sisters on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl joins Kelly and Mark in Greater Palm Springs to talk about the new season of ABC's hit show Abbott Elementary on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair joins the Tam Fam to talk about his new series Celebrity Crime Files on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Donna Mills (The Good Life) and Joan Van Ark (We've Got Each Other/Temperatures Rising) - Donna, Joan and Michele Lee chat about the 45th anniversary of Knots Landing on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Paul Scheer (Black Monday/Fresh Off the Boat/The League) - Paul talks about his new book Joyful Recollections of Trauma and his upcoming How Did This Get Made tour on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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