Saturday, August 11, 2012

Digital Digest: New MOD Offerings from CBS, Sony, and Warner Archive; Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1 DVD Review

Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly source of news and reviews of all things digital in the world of sitcoms! This week, we have a review Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. Let's get going!


DIGITAL NEWS

CBS has recently picked up the once thought to be abandoned series The Streets of San Francisco and releasing it at an amazing pace lately. In fact, we saw season 3 in July and we'll see season 4 later this month... after waiting several years following the release of season 2. Now, it gets even better! The series will be completed on DVD on October 30 with the release of both volumes of the fifth season, in The Streets of San Francisco - Season 5 (Volume 1 and Volume 2). It is always great to see a series completed, but especially in record time like this.

A listing appeared on amazon.com recently which demonstrates that CBS is moving into releasing some of their much older series as MOD products, and it appears that Cannon - Season Three will be the first of these. CBS has been releasing some more recent (as in '90s and later) stuff on MOD, but this marks the first time that a much older series like this has been released as a MOD product. It is worth noting that the first two seasons, when released as a standard release, happened to be among the few CBS releases to make it to stores without having video and audio quality restored to HD quality... so we really expect the same again.

A few weeks ago, word began spreading of the second season of Fantasy Island coming from Sony as a MOD product in September. We were a bit skeptical of this announcement and didn't discuss it here (we assumed it was an error) since Shout! released Fantasy Island - The Complete Second Season (Shout!) in May, but as it turns out, it looks as if Sony will in fact be releasing their own Fantasy Island - The Complete Second Season (Sony). It is a bit strange that Sony is releasing something which they've already licensed out to Shout! (and it isn't as if Shout! has lost the rights to the series, because they are in fact releasing Fantasy Island - The Complete Third Season on October 23), but it appears that is in fact what will happen. The Sony set has different artwork from the Shout! set and contains five discs rather than six discs as the Shout! set had, so it looks like it will be a much different release. That isn't all that is different. The MOD set will come at a MSRP that is about a dollar less than the pressed set that Shout! Factory already put out... but keep in mind, a traditionally released pressed set almost always sells for a price much lower than the MSRP while the MOD prices are set by the distributor and rarely fluctuate... so the Shout! set is a better quality pressed set at a lower price. But if you really want the Sony MOD product... it is out there.

Warner Archive is going deep into their archives once again this Tuesday, as they release the first season of the original Ruby-Spears Heathcliff series. It isn't available to order yet, but the release will bring all 13 episodes of The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show to DVD.

HBO announced this week that Entourage will be coming to DVD in complete series form on November 6 with Entourage - The Complete Series (DVD). But that isn't all... they will also be offering the entire series on Blu-ray with Entourage - The Complete Series (Blu-ray). The DVD will come at a $249.99 MSRP, while the Blu-ray will come in at $299.99.

Finally, there are some new offerings on Hulu in recent weeks, but two of them are only available for Hulu+ subscribers and one is only one episode of a series that everybody wants to see more of. For the paid Hulu+ subscribers, you can now watch every episode of the two ALF cartoons, with ALF: The Animated Series and ALF Tales. There is new free content from Fox, as they've added the series Boston Public to the service... but unfortunately, that comes with a huge caveat. They've put up only one episode of the series (Chapter 4), which guest starred Joanna García-Swisher. Hopefully, though, if fans show interest in this one episode, we may see more... I know that I would certainly love to see the whole series available!


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 14) brings Community - The Complete Third Season to DVD. We received our review copy of this today, and will have a review posted very soon. Fans of the classic Robert Urich series Vega$ get to see the series come to an end with Vega$ - The Third Season, Volume 2 (review). Additionally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes to an end with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Complete Final Season (Season 10). We'll have a review of this set next weekend. Finally, it isn't exactly a Tuesday release, but Time-Life will begin shipping their megaset, The Carol Burnett Show - The Ultimate Collection on Monday.


BLOG DVD REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1 (CBS DVD, $49.99)
by skees53 

Here comes Perry Mason for the defense in Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. The four disc set brings 15 more episodes of murder suspects who have all of the odds stacked up against them with the case put together by the DA. But never under-estimate Mason, because he will win the case... almost always (there is episode in this collection which shows otherwise, though).

The seventh season begins with "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew," where a con man tries to swindle two aging aunts out of a fortune... but things get worse once he changes his plan. Perry is defeated in "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," and the client is sentenced to death... so can he get her off the hook before it is too late? In "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox," a man may have gotten away with the perfect robbery... or so it seems. Perry finds himself embroiled in a case involving fraud, gold, and murder in "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito." Perry is involved in a murder case involving a dean of students in "The Case of the Decadent Dean." In "The Case of the Reluctant Model," an art student entangled in a case of art robbery is about to find things getting a lot worse. Infidelity leads to murder in "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse." In "The Case of the Floating Stones," a girl's search for her grandfather's missing stash of diamonds turns her into a murder suspect.

In "The Case of the Festive Felon," a matriarch leaves her riches to a private nurse... and the family attorney suddenly winds up dead. A liquor store robbery takes a fatal turn in "The Case of the Devious Delinquent." A real estate swindle turns to murder in "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang." In "The Case of the Badgered Brother," a family fight between brothers ends with one being stabbed in the back... literally. A woman tries to help her husband who she believes was wrongly convicted of murder after he is out on parole in "The Case of the Wednesday Woman," but things aren't going so well for him when he is accused of a new crime. A man suspects his boss and father-in-law of embezzlement in "The Case of the Accosted Accountant," but when the boss turns up dead, you know who the main suspect will be. In "The Case of the Capering Camera," a fashion model is accused of shooting a photographer who has been blackmailing her sister.

The runtimes for each episode are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew" (50:38)
2. "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (50:44)
3. "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" (50:38)
4. "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito" (50:37)

Disc 2:
5. "The Case of the Decadent Dean" (50:39)
6. "The Case of the Reluctant Model" (50:39)
7. "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse" (50:36)
8. "The Case of the Floating Stones" (50:36)

Disc 3:
9. "The Case of the Festive Felon" (50:38)
10. "The Case of the Devious Delinquent" (50:38)
11. "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang" (50:35)
12. "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (50:35)

Disc 4:
13. "The Case of the Wednesday Woman" (50:37)
14. "The Case of the Accosted Accountant" (50:38)
15. "The Case of the Capering Camera" (50:25)

The DVD comes packaged just like all of the previous seasons, in a standard Viva case. The cover has a color photo of Perry, along with smaller photos of other cast members above him. On the back, there are a few black and white snapshots, along with a brief description of the series and the episodes on the set. Inside, there are four discs. Discs 1-3 contain four episodes each, while Disc 4 contains three episodes. The disc artwork just has the logo from the cover art on a gray background, with all of the episodes listed on the disc. There are also episode descriptions and original airdates printed inside the case.

The menus on the set are basic and plain, as they typically have been for this series. The main menu just has a still photo of Perry, along with a listing of the episodes, and a Play All and Subtitles option. They're all pretty self-explanatory. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

There is really nothing to complain about at all with the video and audio quality of the episodes. There IS a bit of grain and debris, but CBS has been cleaning up this series pretty well for DVD. There is occasional crackle in the audio, but it is pretty loud and clear as well. Each episode contains English subtitles.

There are no special features on this set at all. Considering that this is the thirteenth half-season release of the series with no special features, and there are only five more left to bring the series to completion, I think it is safe to say that we probably won't see any on any of the remaining season sets.

I don't really know what else to say about this series at this point. Beginning with the first DVD set released over five years ago, we've consistently had decent quality (but barebones) releases of this series, with no bumps in the road along the way. Ironically, the series was kind of the same way... it always followed a consistent formula and didn't really have any low points at any point in the series, and consistently remained a well-written and produced legal drama. Of course, I guess it may have gotten a bit old knowing that the accused is going to be innocent (and they'll be proven innocent one way or another as long as Perry Mason is on their side), but that is kind of the fun thing about this series. You know how each episode will end, you just have to follow the details to find out why it ends that way. If you've been collecting the series on DVD up to this point, there is no point in stopping here. In fact, it is likely that the remaining five half-seasons will be just as enjoyable as this (even if there are no special features), giving CBS a not guilty verdict on most charges of this being anything but another stellar release of the series... but the jury is deliberating on that whole "lack of special features" charge.

(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Perry Mason on TV.com


CLICK OF THE WEEK 

Southern Media's News Music Search Archive (www.southernmedia-nmsa.com) - We'll admit, as we wrap up these last few weeks of our Click of the Week feature, this is probably one of the most idiosyncratic websites that we've featured here... but it is an interesting one that many people in the United States can relate to. We all watch our local news and we recognize the music and transitional effects used on the news, but there is really a lot more to these than a lot of us realize. These music packages are composed and purchased by the station, typically from one of a handful of people who make a living off of this type of thing, and often used at TV stations across the nation.

Southern Media's News Music Archive places all of the information about this music, audio files of the music (when you click on the music note next to the theme), and dates that the music was used for TV stations in nearly every market in the US. And they aren't just the most recent ones. You can go back to listen to the music packages used by your local stations in the past, in some case going back several decades. Have you ever wondered which other stations have used the same music packages? You can find that information with just a click as well. It is a bit of an unusual website, but it is nice to know that there is a place to find all of these with a "one stop" approach.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 29

St. Denis Medical - "This Place Is Our Everything" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A storm causes chaos in the Emergency Department; Alex is torn between an obligation to her husband and her co-workers' needs; Joyce goes on a spending spree with found money.

Night Court - "Blood Moonstruck" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
On the night of the blood moon, Abby and Gurgs help Julianne with a surprising romantic prospect; Wyatt finds himself in hot water when he fills in as Dan's replacement.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Adjust Your Crown, Sis" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Ella sponsors the membership of the new wife of a longtime dea-con into her social club, Incomparable Crowns, she begins to suspect something may be going on behind closed doors in the new marriage.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Ay-Bay-Bay" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Leah wants to try for another baby, but when Jeremy plays hard to get, Leah hatches a plan to seduce him; Mr. Brown has to babysit Kimberly's grandson who appears to be the perfect angel, until he reveals himself to be a mischievous handful.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 28)

Tuesday, April 29

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Watching Ellie/Seinfeld/Day by Day) - Catch Julia on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Mo Amer (Mo/Ramy) - Mo is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Mary Lynn Rajskub (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/How to Be a Gentleman/Veronica's Closet/The Larry Sanders Show) - Mary appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Tina Fey (The Four Seasons/Only Murders in the Building/30 Rock) - Tina stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • Tim Bagley (The Great North/Teachers/Grace and Frankie/Web Therapy/Stril Mall) and Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Tim and Andy are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Paul Feig (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/The Louie Show/The Jackie Thomas Show/Dirty Dancing) - Paul talks about Another Simple Favor on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda talks about the Wanda Sykes: Please & Thank You Tour on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) - Ed talks about SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. He will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Essence joins Tamron Hall for a candid conversation on everything from her recent abstinence journey to her career longevity as a working mom, so check your local listings.
  • Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill will be on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley drops by Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel talks about his CBS game show, Flip Side, and shares stories from his memoir, Growing Up Urkel, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Erika Alexander (Run the World/Living Single/The Cosby Show) and Kim Coles (Living Single/The Geena Davis Show) - Erika and Kim join Sherri to discuss their latest projects, so check your local listings.
  • Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - NBC's Today catches up with Joe in the 9am hour.
  • Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) and Erika Henningsen (The Four Seasons) - Will and Erika talk about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Harry Hamlin (Movie Stars) - Harry appears on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

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)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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