Saturday, May 25, 2013

Digital Digest: Growing Pains and Inspector Gadget on DVD; Rookie Blue - The Complete Third Season DVD Review

Happy Memorial Day weekend, and welcome to Digital Digest! Before you get that barbecue going, stick with us for a little bit for our news and features, along with a review of Rookie Blue - The Complete Third Season. Let's get started!


DIGITAL NEWS

Warner Archive always brings us big surprises every few weeks, and they had a big one for us this week as they released Growing Pains - The Complete Third Season. The first two seasons, of course, were released by Warner Home Video, and the series always seemed to have difficulty getting a go of it on DVD... but hopefully we'll see a steady stream of releases of this series now, and "the best is ready to begin!"

TVShowsOnDVD.com discovered some preorder listings that fans of a classic '80s animated series are sure to love, as Inspector Gadget not only comes to DVD again, but it appears that fans will get the entire series on DVD now! They'll all be released on the same day, but it'll be in separate releases, as they bring fans three volumes of season 1 (volume 1, volume 2, and volume 3) and season 2.

There are eight million stores in the Naked City, and not all of them have been on DVD... that is, not yet... but they're coming! A preorder listing appeared on amazon.com this week for Naked City - The Complete Series. No release date has been given for this series so far.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW 

Tuesday (May 28) has no sitcom releases, but there are several other releases TV related releases of interest, including Covert Affairs - Season Three, Beetlejuice - The Complete Series, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season Two, Volume Two.

Of course, one of the "biggest" things coming next week is not a DVD at all... instead, it is the debut of the new (and final... maybe) episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix. All 15 new episodes will debut on Sunday morning at 3:00 AM ET!


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: Rookie Blue - The Complete Third Season (Entertainment One, $39.98)
by Pavan

The hit ABC summer primetime cop show Rookie Blue returns for its third season on DVD, but this time there is no Blu-ray release for some reason. That's not a big deal to us because we reviewed the DVD releases for the previous two seasons. Be careful what you wish for...with two years under their belt, the rookies of 15 Division are well on their way to becoming seasoned cops, but experience isn't everything...and the boundary between job and personal life is no longer as black and white as it one seemed. The drama is produced in Canada and is a Canadian production and also airs on Global in Canada.

We have all 13 episodes from the third season on a nice four-disc set from eOne! The series stars Missy Peregrym as Andy McNally, Enuka Okuma as Traci Nash, Gregory Smith as Dov Epstein, Travis Milne as Chris Diaz, Charlotte Sullivan as Gail Peck, Peter Mooney as Nick Collins, Matt Gordon as Oliver Shaw, Melanie Nicholls-King as Noelle Williams, Lyriq Bent as Sergeant Frank Best, and Ben Bass as Sam Swarek. Noam Jenkins as Jerry Barber and Eric Johnson as Luke Callaghan recur. Guest stars include William Shatner!

The third season has 13 episodes just like the first two seasons. Among the memorable episodes is the season premiere "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," where after her three-month suspension, McNally faces an official hearing which will decide if she should be reinstated back onto the force, however upon returning, she and Swarek are accidentally involved in a missing child case when a drunk driver (William Shatner) collides with a van and finds a teenage girl in the back, while Peck gets a shock when a new rookie, ex-soldier Nick Collins (Peter Mooney), arrives for his first day at 15 Division. In "A Good Shoot," Dov's world explodes into chaos when he walks in on a convenience store robbery in progress and shoots a young black teenager, who may or may not have been armed and the tight-knit community erupts in outrage, as the ensuing investigation calls into question whether Dov used excessive force or acted too quickly. In the first of a two-part episode, "The Girlfriend Experience," a grad student's disappearance leads Andy and Nick to discover the woman's double life as a high-end escort, but when a pattern of missing women emerges, Gail, who is physically similar to the victims, is sent in on an undercover sting operation. In the conclusion, "Out of Time," the same night the officers of 15 Division are forced to release a suspected predator for lack of evidence, Andy and Gail are violently assaulted in Andy's loft -- and Gail is abducted, as Detective Luke Callaghan is brought in to oversee the case that very well may be the work of a serial murderer. In "Cold Comforts," the officers of 15 Division struggle to come to terms with their fallen colleague and get back to work patrolling the streets and when they discover that a police laptop containing sensitive information has been stolen they set off on a hunt to recover the computer and prevent any dangerous fallout. On the season finale, "I Never," when a violent child abductor escapes from an emergency hospital visit, the officers of 15 Division try to track him down before he takes another young victim, while Chris' family obligations have him contemplating a transfer, and Traci and Gail each face monumental decisions regarding their respective careers. We get all 13 unedited episodes on this DVD. Runtimes for each episode follow:

Disc One
1. The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (43:00)
2. Class Dismissed (42:50)
3. A Good Shoot (42:59)
4. Girls' Night Out (42:12)

Disc Two
5. Messy Houses (43:02)
6. Coming Home (42:44)
7. Leap of Faith (43:02)
8. The Girlfriend Experience (42:46)

Disc Three
9. Out of Time (42:56)
10. Cold Comforts (42:59)
11. The Rules (41:55)
12. Every Man (43:00)

Disc Four
13. I Never (43:00)

Moving on to the packaging, the set this time doesn't have an outer thin box holding the case. We just have the case itself. The cover of the case in blue (fitting!) and has the series logo towards the bottom following a nice cast photo of the five original rookies and the complete second third mention is above them. The back of the case has info on the set and series, with a nice quote from the L.A. Times. We have a nice cast photo of the rookies with Swarek as well, along with five episodic images (one includes William Shatner!). There is a little box showcasing the bonus features as well. Inside the case we have nice artwork of a Metropolitan Police car on the left panel and McNally and Swarek on the right panel itself. There is also a disc-by-disc breakdown on the left panel listing episode episode title per disc and bonus features. The discs themselves are on two little plastic holders that you can flip like a page in a book, similar to the previous sets. Each disc is in the blue design with the series logo and the Metropolitan Police badge in the background and the disc number on top. Disc one holds episodes 1-4, disc two holds episodes 5-8, disc three holds episodes 9-12 and disc four has episode 13 and all the bonus features. We don't get an Entertainment One booklet showcasing other DVDs this time. Most of this section is very similar to the first two seasons, though.

The menu design is great again and has moving video clips playing in the background while we listen to the closing music from the show. The series logo is also placed on the main menu. We have an Episodes menu this time, as previously we just had the numbers/titles listed right on the main menu itself below the video clips that were playing. The main menu options are Play All, Episode and Set-Up. In Episodes, it's simple...we have the episode number and title and you can choose from that. In Set-up, we can choose either English 5.1 Digital Dolby audio or 2.0 Stereo. English SDH subtitles can also be turned on. Special Features option is on disc four only. There are no auto trailers on disc one before the main menu this time.

Video and audio quality are both outstanding once again on this DVD. There is no Blu-ray version this time, so this is the way to go. This set is superb. You can turn on the 5.1 surround sound and watch the series in great audio quality as well. Each episode has 8 chapter stops (up from the 7 from the previous set), so it is easy to jump through an episode if you are looking for something in particular like McNally in a dress or her in bed with Swarek. This is a hot cast!

There are some special features on this set as well! They are all on disc four again and are decently produced again. First up, we have "Season 3: Be Careful What You Wish For" (1:58) where we look at the relationships from this season. Interviewed are Travis Milne, Missy Peregrym, Ben Bass, Gregory Smith, Enuka Okuma, and Charlotte Sullivan. Next we have, "Crash Course: Inside the Season Premiere" (8:05) where we are on location for the season premiere and have interviews on the spot from Gregory Smith, Enuka Okuma, William Shatner, Missy Peregrym, and Ben Bass, along with some behind the scenes shots. Then we have "The New Rookie" (2:15) where we look at Nick Collins the new rookie, with interviews with Matt Gordon, Peter Rooney, Charlotte Sullivan, Missy Peregrym, and Ben Bass. The next featurette is "New Detective" (1:35), which talks about Traci being promoted and has interviews with Enuka Okuma, Missy Peregrym, and Charlotte Sullivan. Then we go "behind the Camera" (2:05) which is about Gregory Smith directing episode #311 and has interviews with Travis Milne, Gregory Smith, Enuka Okuma, Missy Peregrym, Peter Mooney, and Ben Bass. Then we have "Travis Tours" (3:15), which is Travis Milne giving us a set tour of the set. Moving on, we have "Mooney Moments" (2:03), as we get the fun side of Mooney with Missy, Charlotte and Travis. We also have "On-Set Camera Interviews," as this looks like a Global production. We have Travis Milne and Gregory Smith (4:18), Enuka Okuma (3:51), and Ben Bass (4:07). Finally we have "Split Screen Behind-the-Scenes Footage" for the episodes Messy Houses (3:52) and Every Man (3:14). This is actually showing us the way it looks on the set compared to what we really see in the finished product. Wow, that finished product looks really good compared to what it actually looks. That was a very unique special feature and we got a taste of it on the season 2 set!

Once again, I think Entertainment One did a good job with this set. It's another great season for this great show and the episodes just get better and better. As usual, the finale is a must-see and we have a nice two-part episode. The menus, packaging and bonus features are all good as well. I think the special features quantity went up from season two, so that is good news, too. Not sure why we don't have a Blu-ray release this season, but maybe it will come later? This is a summer series, so we only have 13 episodes each season. Wish it was more, but quality over quantity, right? Missy Peregrym is just stunning and is great as the lead. ABC/Global will air 13 more episodes this summer, as the fourth season premiere was this past Thursday at 10|9 central. Watch every Thursday at 10|9c all summer-long! But if you need to catch-up, start, or just to have this in your DVD collection, then click the order link below! Don't screw up! And finally, catch Missy Peregrym on Good Morning America this Tuesday promoting the season!

(4/5 stars)

To purchase Rookie Blue - The Complete Third Season on DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Rookie Blue on TV.com


FOLLOW ME 

Who to Follow: Roseanne Barr (Twitter), @TheRealRoseanne
Claim to Fame: Roseanne is a woman of many last names (she typically uses Barr, the one under which she became famous), and she got her start as a stand-up comedian. She became well known, though, in 1988, when her self-titled series Roseanne debuted on ABC. The series ran for nine seasons, and she won many awards and was the second highest paid female in entertainment at the time. Since the end of that series, she has made a few more attempts at success, including a 2012 run for president... where she came in sixth place. Most recently, she made appearances on some of the final episodes of the NBC series The Office.
Why You Should Follow Her: Roseanne is a great actress and comedian that many of us watched all throughout the '90s. Even though she hasn't had a hit TV series since Roseanne, we have a feeling that she'll be back eventually (she's still young) with some new and exciting project that will succeed. She is very active on Twitter (even though most of her tweets are by no means politically correct), and even takes the time to respond to her fans at times. In between some of her rants and other things (right now, she is in attack mode on Jerry Lewis), she takes time to look back at her career. And, despite her persona as being in an eternal bad mood (which sometimes it seems like she is on Twitter), you'll see that she actually is a nice person underneath it all.
Pick of the Tweets: "i used to hear cybil and other women crying in the alley behind the roseanne sound stage. I knew that chuck lorre had destroyed their logos." (May 21, 2013)

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


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, December 5

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Regular Samaritan" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie joins a church to sell tires to the congregation and Mandy worries there is more to it than that.

Ghosts - "The Primary Source" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Sam’s book publisher requires source material for her biography on Isaac, she and Jay take a field trip to find a diary he claims he hid when he was alive.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 2)

Thursday, December 5

  • Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Catch Billy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Molly Shannon (I Love That for You/The Other Two/Divorce/Kath & Kim/Craking Up) - Molly appears on a repeat ofLate Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Carmen Christopher (English Teacher) - Carmen is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Fortune Feimster (Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune stops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11:30pm on Bravo.
  • Mikey Madison (Better Things) - Mikey talks about Anora on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Margo Martindale (The Sticky/The Millers) - NBC's Today catches up with Margo in the 9am hour.
  • Stephanie Hsu (Laid) - Stephanie talks about Laid on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Ariana Grande (Sam & Cat/Victorious) - Ariana is joining Drew to chat all about her role in the iconic new musical Wicked on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Jurnee Smollett (On Our Own) - Jurnee talks about her new film The Order on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • The Cast of The Sex Lives of College Girls - Pauline Chalamet, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, Mia Rodgers and Gracie Lawrence are guests on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken previews his film A Great Divide on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Wyatt Yang (A Man on the Inside) - Wyatt talks about Netflix's A Man on the Inside on Acess Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This/Burning Love) and Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This/HouseBroken/Veep) - Adam and Timothy can be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD) Young Sheldon - The Complete Series Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
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
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (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)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

12/05 - Marlon Wayans to Guest Star on Poppa's House on CBS; Mo Returning to Netflix
12/04 - STARZ Comedy Thriller Sweetpea Renewed for Season 2; Bel-Air to End After Next Season
12/03 - Pluto TV Holiday Schedule; SNL December Hosts and Musical Performers
12/02 - Scripps Networks (Laff, Bounce, ION) Holiday Schedule; First Look at Watson on CBS
12/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of December 2, 2024)
11/30 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Desperate Housewives Creator Has Prequel Idea; Finale Date Set for The Talk
11/29 - Abbott Elementary Aces the Test on Multi-Platform; Dancing with the Stars' Resurgence
11/28 - 2024 Thanksgiving TV Marathons
11/27 - Henry Danger The Movie Premieres in January; Dexter: Original Sin Trailer
11/26 - The Way Home Returns for Season 3; Matthew Broderick and Son to Guest Star on Elsbeth
11/25 - Peacock's Laid Premieres December 19; Jon Hamm Drama Gets Season 2 Before Series Premiere
11/24 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 25, 2024)
11/23 - SitcomsOnline Digest: HBO Renews It's Florida, Man; Simpsons Voice Actor Announces Retirement
11/22 - NBC's Happy's Place Gets Full Season; HBO Renews It's Florida, Man for Another Zany Season
11/21 - The CW Midseason 2025 Schedule; Voice of Milhouse Leaving The Simpsons
11/20 - NBC Midseason 2025 Schedule; Apple TV+ Announces The Studio
11/19 - Antenna TV's Thanksgiving on the Eastside: The Jeffersons Marathon; Fox Midseason 2025 Schedule
11/18 - Conan O'Brien to Host Oscars for First Time; Celebs for Season 3 of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test
11/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 18, 2024)
11/16 - SitcomsOnline Digest: HBO Orders Kaley Cuoco Comedy from Hacks Creators; Reboot of Friday Night Lights in the Works
11/15 - Bookie Season 2 Premieres December 12 on Max; Apple TV+ Mythic Quest Is Back in January
11/14 - CBS Midseason 2025 Schedule; Reasonable Doubt Renewed for Season 3 on Hulu
11/13 - Harlem Season 3 Drops in January; James Acaster HBO Comedy Special
11/12 - ABC Midseason 2025 Schedule; Jim Gaffigan Gets First Hulu Comedy Special
11/11 - We Got Time Today, A New Tubi Talk Show; Bill Maher Gets 13th HBO Special
11/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 11, 2024)
11/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Two New Sitcoms in the Works at CBS; The CW Adds Bob ♥ Abishola to Lineup
11/08 - CBS Orders Full Season for Poppa's House; The CW Acquires Bob ♥ Abishola Reruns; Remembering Alan Rachins of Dharma & Greg
11/07 - A Very Merry MeTV 2024 Schedule; Stranger Things Final Season in 2025
11/06 - Outer Banks to End with Season 5; Nothing to See Here Season 2 on Netflix
11/05 - ABC Holiday Schedule for 2024; NBC Holiday Schedule for 2024