Saturday, November 03, 2012
Digital Digest: Even More Alice On the Way?; In the Heat of the Night - Season One DVD Review
Last season, CBS aired a sitcom called Rob, which many people have probably already forgotten about. But for those who liked the series, there will be a chance to relive it on DVD (in MOD format) with Rob - The DVD Edition! There don't seem to be any details on this set just yet, not even any information on when it'll be released, but we'll let you know more later.
TVShowsOnDVD.com passed along a bit of information this week regarding Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and how the sixth season of the classic suspense series is said to be on the way from Universal. While it is sparse on details (just like every other piece of news we have this week, unfortunately), it does appear that Universal will be moving ahead with the series, and this particular release will leave only one season of the half hour episodes unreleased.
DVD Review: In the Heat of the Night - The First Season (TGG, $6.95)
by skees53
In the '70s (and even into the early '80s), Carroll O'Connor entertained Americans as Archie Bunker, the loudmouthed and hateful (yet somehow loveable) bigot who had trouble adapting to modern society in Queens. A decade later, Carroll O'Connor made his return to TV as Bill Gillespie, but it was a little different this time. Now, he is a sheriff in the deep south, in a town where even Archie Bunker would be seen as "too progressive," trying to solve crime in a backwoods southern town where racial tensions run high. Everything becomes even more complex when he gets a new chief of detectives (even though the department doesn't even have any detectives) from Philadelphia, Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins), who happens to be black, and not exactly gaining the respect of the town from the start. For the first time ever on DVD, TGG quietly released the first season of this classic series a few months ago, under license from MGM and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
The first season was an abbreviated season, with only seven episodes. It begins with the double-length "Pilot," where there Tibbs arrives in town for the first time ever, and it just so happens to come at the same time that a white woman is found murdered... and the department is holding a black man for the murder without a whole lot of evidence. In "Road Kill," gun shots are being fired, and affairs are being had... and eventually somebody is dead. An affluent white woman is having an affair with a black businessman from New York in "Fate." In the two-part episode "Blind Spot," it is made very clear that cocaine trafficking isn't just a problem in urban coastal cities. In "A Necessary Evil," accusations of bigamy turn to polygamy, but how much does any of that matter when it eventually turns into murder? The season ends with "... And Then You Die," where Tibbs' own wife is put into the middle of the deadly crime spree of a convict and his girlfriend
Disc 1:
1. "Pilot" (1:36:11)
2. "Road Kill" (47:47)
3. "Fate" (48:18)
Disc 2:
4. "Blind Spot (Part 1)" (47:16)
The packaging for this set is basic, but perfectly functional. The cover art has a cast photo, along with a listing of all of the cast members at the top of the case. On the back, there is a VERY brief description of the series, and a listing of all of the episodes on the set. Inside the case, you'll find the two discs, which have a large photo of O'Connor on both of them. The set uses one of those annoying Viva Eco-Box's with those recycling logo cutouts, but honestly, this is much better than some of those low budget cases we see on a lot of sets like this.
The video and audio quality of the episodes on this set is excellent. The episodes do show some age, of course, but I honestly do feel that they look and sound as good as anybody could possibly expect. Unfortunately, the set is lacking on subtitles or closed-captioning.
This release is, by all means, one of the most mysterious releases that we've ever reviewed. For starters, we're not really sure why TGG released this under the radar, directly to the "bargain bins," without so much as even an announcement that it would be coming to DVD. We're also not sure why this DVD has been so hard to find. As of the time that this blog is being posted, it is in stock at amazon.com, but that hasn't been the case every time that we have checked over the past month. It hasn't shown up in any stores except for the Walmart bargain bin, and good luck finding it in there. And when TGG followed up with In the Heat of the Night - 24 Hour Marathon recently (which we were hoping and planning to review this week, but couldn't since we couldn't find any way to contact TGG or find a place that was not out of stock on the item), we ended up with a set that was even harder to find. Regardless of all of this, though, we think fans will be very pleased with one (or both) of these releases if they can find them, and they're definitely worth picking up. I actually never knew that such high quality could be obtained on a DVD set sent straight to the bargain bin, and this set certainly demonstrates that. I'm hoping that we'll see more seasons of this series come soon, and it would be even nicer if they were actually in stock.
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SitcomsOnline.com Main Reviews Page
In the Heat of the Night TV.com Page
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Claim to Fame: Plays Kevin Malone, the dimwitted accountant on The Office.
Why You Should Follow Him: Anybody who has ever watched The Office knows all about Kevin Malone. Dunder-Mifflin is filled with a diverse crowd of employees, but among them, there are none even nearly as, well, stupid as Kevin Malone, the character that Baumgartner plays. On the series, Kevin is presented as the guy who applied for a meaningless job in the warehouse, but was just given a job as an accountant because his boss, Michael Scott, "just had a feeling." Baumgartner's portrayal of his character on The Office is just incredibly convincing. When you see his character, the first thing that may come to mind is that he is a complete moron. Of course, that is pretty far from the truth, and in reality, Baumgartner is actually very intelligent and nothing like Kevin as demonstrated by his Twitter feed. On Twitter, you can follow "Kevin," but the Kevin that you follow is nothing like the guy that you see on TV, as he discusses any topic that comes to mind (whether it be The Office, politics, sports, or whatever) in ways that you could never even remotely imagine Kevin discussing them. And it really is fun seeing a different side of Baumgartner here.
Pick of the Tweets: "It is more difficult to pretend it is Scranton in October when it is LA in August than one might think. " (August 8, 2012)
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, September 7
Johnson - "Bahama Breeze" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Naomi is impressed with Omar's growth; Antionette makes Jarvis a proposal at a much-needed time; Greg reconnects with Jada; Omar, Keith and Jarvis hit the club.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 2)
Friday, September 6
- Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Watch Kumail on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Michael Keaton (Report to Murphy/Working Stiffs/All's Fair) - Michael appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Conner O'Malley (Shrill) - Conner is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Edie Falco (Bupkis/Nurse Jackie) - Edie talks about her film I'll Be Right There on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh is joining Drew and telling her about getting denied from his college's musical theater program and making his return to Broadway after eleven years with bestie Andrew Rannells on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Diane Farr (Splitting Together/Like Family/The Job) - Diane discusses the CBS drama series Fire Country on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
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06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
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
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