Saturday, May 11, 2013
Digital Digest: Family Ties Season 7 Coming Soon; The Roman Holidays - The Complete Series DVD Review
DIGITAL NEWS
Several months ago, we mentioned that Shout! Factory had obtained the rights to the series Fridays, and would be releasing it on DVD. At the time, though, there was no word on exact plans... but now there is a confirmed release for the series! On August 6, Shout! will release The Best of Fridays, a five disc collection that will include 16 episodes of the series.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Blog DVD Review: The Roman Holidays - The Complete Series (Warner Archive, $24.95)
The series begins with "Double Date," where Gus heads to the prom (in disguise of a teenager). Somebody in the house is being a bit of a mooch in "The Lion's Share." The family goes to a concert in "Star for a Day," but what they see on stage may not be quite what they expected. Gus and Laurie are forced to do a bit of cross-dressing to save Gus' job in "Switch is Which?" The family takes a little vacation in "Hectic Holiday." In "The Big Split-Up," Hap faces an upset in his romantic life when she thinks that he is dating a beautiful lion (except she doesn't know it is a lion). Gus has to decide whether to go to a bowling tournament or attend his daughter's drum recital on the same night in "Double Dilemma," but his ultimate plan is the set up for the typical disaster in these situations. The family could be losing their freeloading laugh lion in "That's Show Biz." In "Father of the Year," there is a lot at stake when Gus and Mr. Evictus compete against each other for a coveted award. The series ends with a take on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac tale (even though he didn't live until about 1600 years later...) in "Cyrano de Happius."
Disc 1:
1. "Double Date" (22:18)
2. "The Lion's Share" (22:18)
3. "Star for a Day" (22:13)
4. "Hero-Sandwiched" (22:14)
5. "Switch is Which?" (22:12)
6. "Hectic Holiday" (22:07)
7. "The Big Split-Up" (22:08)
8. "Buried Treasure" (22:09)
9. "Double Dilemma" (22:10)
Disc 2:
10. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Chariot Wash" (22:02)
11. "That's Show Biz" (22:11)
12. "Father of the Year" (22:15)
13. "Cyrano de Happius" (22:10)
The packaging for this set is in a standard Amaray case, with an extra tray inside to hold the extra disc. On the cover, there is a picture of the entire family in a Chariot (being driven by Brutus), and on the back, there is a photo of the family at the zoo. Inside, the two discs have the same photo of the family as seen on the cover. Also, it is important to note that these are true MOD (DVD-R) discs, and not pressed DVDs.
The menus on the set are very basic, but at least they look nice. Each menu has the picture of the family at the zoo, with Brutus playing the guitar. All of the episodes are listed, along with a Play All option. Once you select an episode, it plays immediately. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.
The video and audio quality of the series on DVD is actually pretty decent. I was expecting the worst, since this is one of the more "rare" cartoons in the Hanna-Barbera library, but everything looks and sound pretty clear (aside from the choppy animation, which is almost like an artistic trademark of any Hanna-Barbera cartoon). Unfortunately, there are no subtitles or closed-captioning.
Like most Warner Archive releases, there are no special features.
This really is a fun series, and I enjoyed watching it. However, I can understand why it didn't go over too well. The Flintstones took place in the very distant past and The Jetsons took place in the very distant future, and everything on those series made plenty of sense to people... one had to improvise everything, and the other had all of the technology that they needed. This series, however, takes place somewhere around the middle of those, in the days of the ancient Romans, and it almost requires a bit of history knowledge to really understand that. On top of that, this series was targeted towards kids. But it is important to reiterate that this actually is a good show, and it is just another example of the great work of Hanna-Barbera. As for the DVD set itself, Warner Archive did a fine job with everything, and there are no real complaints. I'm just glad that the program exists, because we probably would have never seen this series otherwise.
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That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
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)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
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