Saturday, March 30, 2013
Digital Digest: Possibilities for The New Dick Van Dyke Show on DVD?; The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies DVD Review
DIGITAL NEWS
"There are master-quality and clearance issues that need to be resolved, but the outlook is positive and a release likely at some point."
Original series have slowly been becoming a part of online streaming video websites lately, and Crackle has been finding success with this as well. This week, Crackle announced a second season of their original thriller series, Chosen. The first season stars Ventimiglia as a husband, father and lawyer who awakens one morning to discover a mysterious box on his doorstep containing a loaded gun and a photo of a stranger he is instructed to kill within the next three days. Production of the second season will begin this summer.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Of course, not all reunions can be perfect. The main cast of the series consisted of essentially six actors and actresses during the original run. By the time this movie came around, two of those cast members had died, one refused to participate, and one only minimally participated. In the end, Paul Henning (with his hands already tied by a writer's strike) ended up creating a movie focusing on Jed Clampett (Ebsen), Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp), and Jane Hathaway's new boss (Werner Klemperer).
No longer is Jane Hathaway the assistant at Beverly Hills Commerce Bank. She has moved up in the world... WAY up to the White House, where she now works for the government. Jed is no longer living in Beverly Hills (due to the budget being too low to afford to use the original mansion...), and has given all of his money to Jethro and Elly May, while he is back in the country. Granny (much like Irene Ryan) has passed away, but fear not, Granny's Maw (Imogene Coca) is now suddenly part of Jed Clampett's everyday life. The plot of the movie focuses on Jane Hathaway trying to get the recipe to Granny's moonshine due to the powers within it... specifically, the power to solve the country's energy crisis. The movie has a runtime of 1:35:59.
The DVD is packaged in a standard DVD case, with a cast photo on the cover (you'll notice that only three of the eight people pictured were original cast members). There are a few more photos on the back, along with a brief description of the movie and a list of special features. Inside, you'll find the disc, which has the same artwork as seen on the cover.
The main menu has the movie theme song playing in the background, along with options of Play, Play with Introduction, Special Features, and Episode Subtitles On/Off. Selecting Special Features brings up a menu where all of the special features are listed on one screen. Chapters are placed throughout the movie.
I really did expect the worst for the video and audio quality on this DVD, but actually it is pretty good. There is a little bit of grain in the picture, but the video quality is mostly pristine. There is a mono audio track that isn't extraordinary, but it certainly does the job. The movie contains English subtitles.
Of course, MPI is well known for their special features on their releases, and there are plenty of these on this DVD. Admittedly, though, most of these are "repeats" from MPI's previous releases of the series... but that isn't a huge deal. First, there is an introduction to the movie (11:01) where Linda Kaye Henning (daughter of Paul Henning) gives her introduction to the movie. "Paul Henning and the Hillbillies" (51:20) is a feature that talks about Paul Henning's life and the series, with interviews from those who knew him well (including Max Baer). Cast Commercials (10:05) gives a lot of cast commercials from the episodes of the first two seasons... but fans will notice that they only included the Kellogg's commercials here (none of the Winston Cigarette ones). Promo Spots (3:22) is a series of CBS commercials for the series, all of which are from the later seasons of the series (indicated by the promos pointing out that the series is in color). Finally, we have Elly's Critters Promotional Trailer (3:41). After watching this a few times, I'm still not quite sure what this is, but it seems to be some sort of pitch by Paul Henning (he narrates) to have Donna Douglas do a tour where she shows children different animals in nature.
I'm glad that MPI released this... seriously. But it would be outright dishonest for me to say that this was a good movie. In fact... and this is something that I rarely say... was an awful movie. Even in the introduction provided by Linda Kaye Henning, you could hear her admitting that the movie was a nice thought, but very poorly executed (her own father was a bit harsher three decades ago in criticizing his own product). This movie was plagued from the get-go. There was a writer's strike at the time which interfered with Paul Henning's ability to work with the script, Max Baer refused to take part in the movie, Imogene Coca was Granny's Maw (huh?), Werner Klemperer from Hogan's Heroes was (poorly) imitating Mr. Drysdale, and we didn't even get to see any interaction between any of the original members of Clampett family. This movie is an example of how everything can go wrong in a reunion movie of one of the greatest series of all time. But despite all of that, it is actually great to see this on DVD. I'd heard over the years how "awful" this movie was, but even so, I still wanted to see it for myself. Now, having seen it, I can fully disagree. But I still think that it complements the collection of any fan of The Beverly Hillbillies, which was one of the funniest sitcoms to ever air on TV, and as usual, MPI has put together an excellent DVD in spite of the flaws of the movie.
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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.
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
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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