Saturday, May 04, 2013

Digital Digest: More Eight is Enough on DVD; Private Practice - The Complete Sixth and Final Season DVD Review

Welcome to Digital Digest! This weekend, we've got a review of Private Practice - The Complete Sixth and Final Season, along with all of your other regular features. Let's get going!


DIGITAL NEWS

It took years for the classic series Eight is Enough to appear on DVD, but once it finally did come, it seems that it started to fall into a rather steady release pattern. And that pattern holds again, as Warner Archive released Eight is Enough - The Complete Third Season on Tuesday. Although it is divided into two "volumes," the DVDs are only available to be purchased together at a $49.95 MSRP. We hope to have a review of this set very soon.

It was discovered this week by TVShowsOnDVD.com that a pre-order listing recently popped up on amazon.com for Perry Mason - Season 9, Volume 2. While no release date has been given yet, this set will mark the end (the 18th release, to be precise) of the long running series on DVD. We anticipate, though, that the release shouldn't be too far off.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (May 7) is a busier than usual day for releases. These begin with the end of two series, with Private Practice - The Complete Sixth and Final Season and 30 Rock - Season 7. The Dick Van Dyke Show continues on Blu-ray with The Dick Van Dyke Show - Season Two (Blu-ray). Finally, from eOne, we have Rookie Blue - The Complete Third Season.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

Blog DVD Review: Private Practice - The Complete Sixth and Final Season (ABC, $39.99)
by Pavan

From the creators of Grey's Anatomy comes the sixth and final season of ABC's emotional, sexy medical drama, Private Practice. Addison and the practice are faced with challenges, joys, and heartaches when loved ones are lost and new life begins. The team at Seaside Health and Wellness have gathered together for the final round of laughter, tears, and unexpected moments in the most no holds barred season yet. Relive all the excitement, tragedies, and triumphs in this 3-disc collection featuring all 13 episodes!

The sixth season stars Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Neonatal Surgery/Obstetrics & Gynecology), Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman (Pediatrics), KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King (Urology & Sexology, Chief of Staff at the nearby hospital), Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd (Neurosurgery), Brian Benben as Dr. Sheldon Wallace (Psychiatry), Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett (Internal Medicine/Cardiothoracic Surgery), with Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner (Psychiatry) and Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jake Reilly (Obstetrics and Gynecology/Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.
Among the recurring stars are Griffin Gluck as Mason Warner, Matt Long as James Petersen, and Justina Machado as Stephanie. Among the special guests this year are Alfre Woodard, Alex Rocco, Mackenzie Astin, Marisol Nichols, Diane Farr, and Audra McDonald.

The sixth season is unique and different from what we expect from this series. There are a lot of different style episodes this season, but I'm not sure if fans like that or not. The season was still very well written once again. Anyway, as for season six, some memorable episodes include the season premiere, "Aftershock," where Addison's choice is revealed to be Jake, while Sam has started a new relationship with a nurse, and Violet believes that Pete has skipped out on bail until she gets a phone call from Pete's phone, from a man, telling her that Pete had a fatal heart attack while he was on his run. In "Good Grief," Addison continues to grieve over Mark's death, and doesn't know if she should talk to Jake about it or not, but eventually decides to tell him everything about her past; this prompts Sam to tell everything to his new girlfriend so that he can't start of everything new. In "You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone," Charlotte hires a new ER attending, Dr. James Peterson to replace Pete, promising him a quiet ER only to have a rainy night in LA, while Addison has to deal with a pregnant woman having her fourth child, and her husband who seems to always have the same symptoms as her only to find out the husband has an infection in his spinal cord, so Amelia and the new ER doctor race to save the man's life. In "The Next Episode," after Sam is asked to be shot in a reality show pilot for revolving around his life, he is followed around for days to see what his life is really about, as Sam's mom comes into town, and sees Addison with an awkward encounter as she knows everything, with her boss and his husband when he needs heart surgery, after giving him the bad news, Sam finds out that his mother and her boss have been having an affair for forty years.

In "I'm Fine," after Sheldon tells his ex-wife about his cancer and she decides to leave him, he begins going to chemotherapy and therapy to help him through the rough time, while he's going to chemo and going to therapy the search for the missing little girl is continuing and Sheldon believes that his patient has taken her and is fighting to get him to confess. In "Georgia on My Mind," after Charlotte is put on bed rest, she hopes to go two days without having any contractions so that she can get out of the Trendelenburg position, while Cooper continues to stay in the NICU to make sure that no one misses anything with the new born baby girl. In "Full Release," as Charlotte goes into labor with the other two babies everyone begins to pick out baby names that they think should be the babies names, until Charlotte comes out saying that only Mason and Cooper are picking them with her. In the series finale, "In Which We Say Goodbye," Naomi returns to stand by Addison's side on her wedding day, while Cooper struggles with the hardships of being a stay-at-home father, and Violet begins a new project close to her heart.

The episodes run usually close to 43 minutes, unedited of course with all the great music intact. There are about 7 chapter stops per episode. View the episode runtimes:

Disc 1:
1. "Aftershock" (42:59)
2. "Mourning Sickness" (43:01)
3. "Good Grief" (43:01)
4. "You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone" (42:59)
5. "The Next Episode" (43:00)

Disc 2:
6. "Apron Strings" (43:01)
7. "The World According to Jake" (43:00)
8. "Life Support" (43:00)
9. "I'm Fine" (43:01)
10. "Georgia on My Mind" (43:00)

Disc 3:
11. "Good Fries Are Hard to Come By" (43:00)
12. "Full Release" (43:01)
13. "In Which We Say Goodbye" (43:00)

Like the last few seasons, packaging has an outer box that you can remove from the top or bottom then you'll see the keep case inside. For seasons one and two, we had a digipak, but ABC Studios changed it to a keep case starting with season three. Both the outer box and keep case have the same cover, a cast photo of them at the beach, with everyone standing but Addison and Jake. The show logo is on the top in white wording in a blue background. The back of the box and keep case has that blue background with information on the set and has head shots that feature all eight of our stars plus Mason (Griffin Gluck). There is also a section detailing the bonus features box with technical specifications also. This is very similar to the previous release. Opening the case, on the left and right panels itself we have a disc-by-disc breakdown with episode titles and bonus features and nice episodic photos. We have a little plastic holder, that we can flip like a page on a book. The holder holds disc one in the front and disc two in the back. Disc three is on the right panel itself. Each disc matches the set's color scheme, that blue background and the discs have nice character artwork. Disc one has episodes 1-5 with artwork of Sam, Addison & Jake. Disc two has episodes 6-10 and has artwork of Violet, Charlotte & Cooper. Disc three has episodes 11-13 plus bonus features and has artwork of Amelia & Sheldon.

The menu screen has clips playing in the background with the closing music from the series playing audio wise, similar to previous sets. It's a nice sunny style menu. The options on the main menu are Play All, Episode Selection, Set Up, Bonus Features (disc three), and Sneak Peeks (disc three). But before the main menu screen comes on disc one, we get some auto sneak peeks: Once Upon a Time Season 2 and the classic The Muppet Movie on Blu-ray. Sneak Peeks option is only found on disc three on the main menu and has the same previews as the ones popping up before disc one's menu. Set Up section has the option of subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese or Thai and how you can register your DVD. The Episodes option gives us the episode number, title and a screenshot. Bonus Features option is only on disc three and it has all the extras listed. All of the sub-menus have different background music once again. Consistent with its previous releases, but that is good!

The video is digitally mastered and is in widescreen and looks very good! It is just as good as the previous releases, if not better. The audio is also great and sounds very good, as it is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This is from the just completed 2012-13 season, so it had better be good and it is. Crystal clear. The series is over and will be missed.

Moving on the bonus features. All of the extras are on the final disc again, this season that is disc three. However, we don't have much this time. Only Deleted Scenes and Bloopers. If my counting skills are correct, we have about 21 deleted scenes, up nine from the previous DVD! There are five episodes that have deleted scenes. "Mourning Sickness" (1:35, 0:45, and 1:20), "Good Grief" (0:59 and 0:38), "The Next Episode" (0:38, 1:13, 0:52, 0:52, and 0:46), "Full Release" (0:25, 1:09, 1:06 and 1:18) and "In Which We Say Goodbye" (0:56, 1:10, 0:49, 1:18, 1:20, 1:16 and 0:31). Finally, we have some "Bloopers" (3:00)...yes, always great to see bloopers! See all the goofs and play on the set! The timing is down less than a minute from the last set, but that's fine. Wish we had more extra, but this is better than nothing at all.

And the show is now over. It's a good set with less bonus material and episodes, but everything else is similar to previous sets. There was supposed to be a featurette on this set, but not sure what happened? It's certainly not on here. The packaging is good and consistent to some of the previous sets. This season was unique and different, where we had a lot of character centric episodes. Shonda Rhimes always likes to freshen things up and usually it always works. All fans should definitely buy this set. I mean if you have the previous five sets, why wouldn't you get this one? See how the show ends and continue your collection with the last piece of the puzzle!

(4/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Private Practice on TV.com


FOLLOW ME 


Who to Follow: Tichina Arnold (Twitter), "It's nice 2 B IMPORTANT but it's more important 2 B NICE! Live your life 2 the fullest. I do!"
Claim to Fame: Tichina Arnold is one of those people who could be described as a "queen of sitcoms." Although her earliest "regular role" was in the soap opera Ryan's Hope, she has since had major roles in sitcoms such as Martin, Everybody Hates Chris, and most recently Happily Divorced.
Why You Should Follow Her: We love sitcom stars, and even more, we love those who appear in multiple sitcoms. Tichina Arnold has, at this point in her life, established herself as an actress that we will see in sitcoms for years to come. What I like most about her, though, is that it seems that she hasn't been typecast as any particular sort of character, and has played characters that have a wide range of personalities. She maintains a very active presence on Twitter (and Instagram, while we're at it), and seems to have a very positive outlook on life and her family... although she does get a bit worked up at times about issues important to her personally.
Pick of the Tweets: "2day is last tape day of season on #HappilyDivorced @tvland Its been a gr8 run! Thnx 4all ur support. Now Pray 4a 3rd season! Lol!" (January 25, 2013)

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


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, November 1

Animal Control - "Bugs and Rabid Dogs" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Frank goes undercover at Roman's new privatized animal control company, Pax Romana.

Universal Basic Guys - "La Gloire Du Bouffon" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark learns to play a new instrument; Tammy confronts her fear of clowns.

The Simpsons - "Testing 1-2-3" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
In what she argues is not an attempt to get extra time on tests, Lisa has herself evaluated for three types of neurodiversity -- which remind her of behaviors she's witnessed in Principal Skinner, Comic Boy and Homer.

Animal Control - "Sled Dogs and Kitty Litter" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Victoria balances pig parenting with a hot date.

Universal Basic Guys - "Termination: Salvation" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mark teaches Andrea how to live the post-work lifestyle; Hank helps a robot find joy.

Grimsburg - "CrimeShare" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
The precinct goes on an office retreat.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 26)

Friday, October 30

  • Kate Berlant (Ghosted/Search Party) - Watch Kate on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This/Central Park/The Good Place) - Kristen appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Joe Manganiello (Mythic Quest/How I Met Your Mother) - Joe is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Natasha Leggero (Broke/Dice/Another Period/Free Agents) and Tommy Davidson (The Varnell Hill Show/The Proud Family/Malcolm & Eddie/Between Brothers) - Natasha and Tommy will be on a repeat of Funny You Should Ask at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Watching Ellie/Seinfeld/Day by Day) and Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Julia and Allison talk about Broadway's Other Desert Cities on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Do Not Disturb/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Sophia Bush (Partners) - Sophia talks about And I Will Tell You Mine: Notes from a Life in Progress on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri talks about Broadway's Aladdin on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Karyn Parsons (The Job/Lush Life/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Karyn discusses her new novel, Blue Beach, and her iconic role as Hilary Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Marilu Henner (Taxi/Evening Shade) - Marilu is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD) The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray) The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray) Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/20/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (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

10/31 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Criminal Minds Coming to an End; Baywatch Premiere Date Set
10/30 - VH1 to Bring Back America's Funniest People Starring Ms. Pat; Remembering Barbara Barrie and Patrick Stewart
10/29 - Peacock's Dig Trailer and Artwork; The CW 2026 Holiday Programming with A Very Brady Christmas, A Flintstone Christmas and More
10/28 - ABC 2026 Holiday Programming; Remembering Susan Saint James of Kate & Allie
10/27 - Fox's Baywatch Premieres January 6; aspireTV's First Sitcom Premieres January 7
10/26 - COZI TV's Halloween Schedule with Roseanne, George Lopez, The Munsters and More; Chloe Radcliffe: Eyes Down Here Stand-up Special
10/25 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 26, 2026)
10/24 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Reboots in the Works for Coach and Glee; Saturday Night Live Sets November Hosts
10/23 - Prime Video Renews Carrie for Season 2; Remembering Richard Riehle of Grounded for Life
10/22 - Abbott Elementary Returns Big After 7 Day Viewing; BET Renews ComicView: Rooftop Series
10/21 - Charmed Joining Hulu This Huluween; Prime Video's Comedy Variety Series Hosted by Nick Kroll
10/20 - Hulu's Phony Premieres Today; Janelle James Netflix Comedy Special Drops November 10
10/19 - Lil Kev Season 2 Premieres December 9; It's a Wonderful Lifetime 2026 Schedule
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10/17 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Hulu Picks Up Reboot for The X-Files; Roseanne Self-Produces New Sitcom
10/16 - Christa B. Allen in Night of January 16th Play Through Sunday; Remembering Sitcom Writer and Producer Bernie Orenstein
10/15 - Guest Stars for Peacock's Comedy Dig; Apple TV Renews Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed for Season 2
10/14 - HBO Brings Back Girls for 5 Episodes; Hulu's The X-Files Picked Up to Series
10/13 - Full Cast for Three's Company Live Reading in New York City; High Potential to Air After Super Bowl on ABC
10/12 - Bob's Burgers Holiday Special on Hulu; The Rookie and The Rookie: North Wednesdays on ABC in January
10/11 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 12, 2026)
10/10 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Colin Jost and Danny Chun to Launch Free Streaming Comedy; Paramount/Warner Merger Completed
10/09 - Apple TV Comedy Stick Returns November 4; News from New York Comic Con 2026 Day One
10/08 - FETV Acquires I Dream of Jeannie and The Bionic Woman; Netflix Renews The Hunting Wives for Season 3, Before Season 2 Launch
10/07 - More Live Three's Company Readings; Lucy Hale is Scarlett Holmes for Roku in 2027
10/06 - NBC's Happy Place Season 3 Trailer; Apple TV's Imperfect Women Renewed for Season 2
10/05 - A Different World to Return for Season 2 on Netflix; Prime Video's Barbershop Comedy Series Premieres February 10
10/04 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 5, 2026)
10/03 - SitcomsOnline Digest: A Different World Renewed for Second Season; A First Look at Ted: The Animated Series
10/02 - Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head Season 4 Launch; Anthony Anderson Returns to Soul Train Awards
10/01 - Ted: The Animated Series Premieres December 17 on Peacock; Trailer for Apple TV's Small Prophets