Saturday, May 19, 2012
Digital Digest: Shout! Acquires Timeless Media Group; Fantasy Island - The Complete Second Season DVD Review
Sony announced a MOD offering this week which should give fans of virtually any series hope that their favorite series will indeed make it to DVD, with their announcement of Charlie's Angels (2011) - The Complete Series. The series was panned by critics and was canceled before all of the eight produced episodes could even be aired (one was left unaired), but those who did enjoy the series, this is the set for you. The availability date is not yet known, but typically, Sony's MOD releases come around the first Tuesday of each month.
CBS Home Entertainment has a release on August 14 of another half season of a classic '70s action series from the Spelling Entertainment library, with Vega$ - The Third Season, Volume 2. This release marks the final release of the series starring Robert Urich, completing the entire series on DVD. It isn't available to preorder on amazon.com just yet, but should be soon.
Before describing each of the episodes, we'll briefly go over the format of the series. Each episode features two alternating stories (in some of the longer episodes, there are three) about guests coming to the island to fulfill his or her fantasy, for "only" $50,000... or whatever he or she can afford if they don't have that. Rarely, though, does the fantasy that the person hopes to achieve turns out the way it was expected. With 25 episodes, containing a total of 52 stories, it would be difficult to describe every story, but we'll highlight a few of them.
A Vietnam vet who was presumed dead wants his remarried wife and son back in "The Homecoming." In "The Big Dipper," a pickpocket and his daughter post as vacationers to hide from authorities. An archaeologist wants to uncover the secrets of a cursed tomb in "Tomb." In "I Want to Get Married," a librarian comes to the island to get married, but doesn't come with a possible groom. A self-professed wimp comes to the island for strength in "The Toughest Man Alive." A doctor wants a large monetary grant to build a hospital in "The Appointment." In "The Flight of the Great Yellow Bird," a man is on the hunt for Sasquatch. In "Charlie's Cherubs," three girls want to solve a crime, by channeling their idols from Charlie's Angels. World War II vets are looking to recover stolen treasure in "Stalag 3."
In "Vampire," a method actor wants to become what he is about to play. A hypochondriac just wants a cure in "Substitute Wife," but for what? In "The Stripper," an heiress is trying to escape an arranged marriage. A young boxer wants one last opportunity to win, even if it will kill him, in "The Boxer." A TV reporter thinks she may be cursed when her relationships all seem to be dying in "Pentagram." In "A Little Ball," a young nun visits the island to live out her last fantasies before deciding to commit to the church. Two friends are given half a million dollars in "Spending Spree." In "Birthday Party," a woman wants to be reunited with her twins that she gave up for adoption several decades earlier. A gag writer lives out his dreams of being a comedian in "The Comic." Tattoo is kidnapped to get revenge on Roarke in "Cornelius and Alphonse." In "Bowling," a mediocre bowler just wants to be able to compete against professionals. A boy has a fantasy to operate an amusement park in "Amusement Park."
The episodes appear to be unedited, with most even retaining the original '70s Columbia Pictures Television "sunburst" logo at the end of each episode. As previously mentioned, you'll find many guest stars in the series, far too many to even list them in the episode descriptions, so we list them alongside the runtimes. Runtimes and guests are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. "The Sheikh/The Homecoming" (48:49) - David Birney, Georgia Engel, Cassandra Peterson
2. "Big Dipper/The Pirate" (48:52) - Sonny Bono, Diana Canova, Dan Rowan, Danny Wells
3. "The Beachcomber/The Last Whodunit" (48:43) - John Astin, Maurice Evans, Janis Paige
4. "The Best Seller/The Tomb" (48:46) - Desi Arnaz Jr., Shelley Fabares, Maureen McCormick, Jeannie Wilson
Disc 2:
5. "I Want to Get Married/The Jewel Thief" (48:39) - Ken Berry, Steve Forrest, Meredith MacRae, Henry Polic II
6. "The War Games/The Boston Bruisers" (48:45) - Mary Jo Catlett, Don DeFore, Jonathan Frakes, Anne Francis
7. "Let the Good Times Roll/Nightmare/The Tiger" (1:14:53) - Danny Bonaduce, Mary Ann Mobley
8. "Return/The Toughest Man Alive" (48:42) - Red Buttons
Disc 3:
9. "The Appointment/Mr. Tattoo" (48:42) - Barbi Benton, Bert Convy, Connie Stevens
10. "Island of the Lost Women/The Flight of the Great Yellow Bird" (48:43) - Peter Graves, Lisa Loring, Michelle Pfeiffer
11. "Carnival/The Vaudevillians" (48:42) - John Fielder, Phil Silvers
12. "Charlie's Cherubs/Stalag 3" (48:45) - Yvonne De Carlo
Disc 4:
13. "Vampire/The Lady and the Longhorn" (48:46) - Eva Gabor, Robert Reed, Julia Sommars
14. "Séance/The Treasure" (49:14) - Shelley Fabares, George Maharis, Leslie Nielsen, Eve Plumb
15. "Cowboy/Substitute Wife" (48:52)
16. "Photographs/Royal Flush" (49:15) - Mabel King, Michele Lee
Disc 5:
17. "The Stripper/The Boxer" (49:15) - Stacy Keach Sr., Maureen McCormick, Forrest Tucker
18. "Pentagram/A Little Ball/Casting Director" (1:14:08) - Lisa Hartman, Florence Henderson, Don Knotts, Cesar Romero, Abe Vigoda
19. "Spending Spree/The Hunted" (49:24) - Diana Canova
20. "The Birthday Party/Ghost Breaker" (49:17) - Ken Berry, Annette Funicello, Janet Leigh, Larry Storch
Disc 6:
21. "Yesterday's Love/Fountain of Youth" (49:15) - Lew Ayres
22. "The Comic/Golden Hour" (49:14)
23. "Cornelius and Alphonse/The Choice" (48:28) - Red Buttons, Juliet Mills, Mary Ann Mobley, Regis Philbin
24. "Bowling/Command Performance" (49:19) - Rue McClanahan, Roddy McDowall, Al Molinaro,
25. "Amusement Park/Rock Stars" (47:58) - Jimmy Baio, Scott Baio, William Boyett, Bernard Fox, Tracey Gold, Ted Lange
The set comes packaged in a standard sized Viva case. On the front, there is a picture of Mr. Roarke and Tattoo standing on the island, and on the back, there are a few more photos from the series. These will look familiar to those who have purchased Sony's release of the first season... Shout! used a lot of the same artwork. In fact, the cover art for this set was actually used on the back of the release for the first season! Inside the case, you'll find the six discs, all of which have the same shot of Mr. Roarke and Tattoo as on the cover, except with a green background. A listing of all of the episodes and guest stars is printed inside the case, but there are no descriptions. That is somewhat understandable since there are so many stories in the series, but descriptions were included for the release of the first season.
There are no special features on the set. What would have been nice to see would have been original episode teasers. After all, the first season actually DID have these! So apparently they exist, but I suppose it would have been more of a challenge for Shout! to include this since they merely sublicensed the episodes.
Magnum Mania is one of best--and actually, in my opinion, the best--website for the series. Unlike many websites which we feature, this one is relatively new, and began in 2006 by a loyal and dedicated fan of the series. But in those very short six years, it has grown into a site for everything related to the series. There is a very thorough episode guide (complete with notes and trivia), a music guide for all of the episodes, an expansive photo gallery, active message boards, PDFs of news articles from the original run (believe it or not, the series actually brought in a record breaking dollar amount for MCA Television when it first entered syndication!), and much more. There are even several pages dedicated to the real Robin's Nest, and everything you'd ever want to know about it. This is truly one of the most thorough and complete websites that I've seen for any series, and it is even more fascinating that it only continues to grow thanks to a dedicated webmaster, which makes this our Click of the Week.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Thursday, March 30
Young Sheldon - "A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Missy steals her dad’s truck and hits the road with her friend Paige (Mckenna Grace).
Ghosts - "Alberta's Descendant" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Alberta is thrilled when a living relative, Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley), visits Woodstone to learn more about her, but things take a turn when she hits it off with Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez Stoll), Sam’s podcast co-host. Also, Nigel uses his knowledge of Trevor and Hetty’s secret tryst to try to blackmail Hetty.
Animal Control - "Peacocks and Pumas" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria stake out a squawking peacock; Emily and Patel attend to Shred.
Call Me Kat - "Call Me Not Okurrr" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
In the heat of the moment, Zoey kisses Kat at karaoke night; when Randi discovers a secret hideaway in the condo, she hides it from Carter and makes it a place for her to unwind.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)
Thursday, March 30
- Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) - Catch Brett on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits-in with the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra and Kevin Bacon are guests on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. Kyra will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan (check your local listings) and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Animal Practice/Better with You/Reba) and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - JoAnna and Morris guest co-host The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
- Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Julie is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Larenz Tate (South Central/The Royal Family) - Larenz appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)
11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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