Saturday, August 24, 2013

Digital Digest: Mama's Family Complete Series Limited Edition DVD Contest; The Adventures of Superboy - The Complete Third Season DVD Review


Welcome to Digital Digest! This week, we've got all of our regular features along with a review of The Adventures of Superboy - The Complete Third Season. Let's get going!


DIGITAL NEWS

This week has been a slow news week, and the only "new" item announced this week is really just an old item. But it is definitely a favorite of many fans out there! It appears that on October 15, Fox will be releasing Arrested Development - The Three Original Series, a set that compiles all of the first three seasons of the series (i.e. the ones that aired on Fox) in on set. No word yet on when we'll see DVDs of the Netflix episodes (we undoubtedly will, I'm sure), but we'll let you know when we know more about that.

Although it may be a slow news week, we've got something big for one of our fans! As most of you know, StarVista Entertainment is releasing Mama's Family - The Complete Series on DVD soon. You can purchase the DVD set for $199.95 (a great value considering the content!), and you can also purchase one of 500 limited edition sets autographed by Vicki Lawrence for $299.95. Or better yet, you could enter our contest where we are giving away a prize of the limited edition set! Complete contest details, including how to enter and rules, can be found here. We will have a review of this set (which we anticipate will be one of our favorite ones ever) in the upcoming weeks.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 27) is not a very busy release date, but ABC has Grey's Anatomy - The Complete Ninth Season. A full review will be posted for this set soon.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: The Adventures of Superboy - The Complete Third Season (Warner Archive, $29.95)
by Pavan 

Rocketed from a distant planet to a bold new destiny on Earth...it's Superboy on DVD! There was a six and a half year wait for Superboy on DVD between seasons one and two, now we only had to wait about six month for this third season from Warner Archive! The Boy of Steel's third season ushered in more changes as the show redefined itself for a new decade. Most prominently, the show was now named The Adventures of Superboy, linking Superman's TV past to Superboy's TV future. Leaving Shuster U behind, Clark (Gerard Christopher) and Lana (Stacy Haiduk) take on internships at The Bureau of Extra-Normal Matters in Capitol City, a government agency dedicated to investigating aliens and the paranormal (years before anyone put their "X" on a file!). Working alongside fellow bureau member Matt Ritter (Peter Jay Fernandez) and under bureau chief C. Dennis Jackson (Robert Levine), Clark and Lana delve ever deep into the unknown as the show ups the action and style to cook up a comic-flavored confection of SciFi Noir. Fans will want to keep their eyes peeled for a pair of special guest stars in this 26-Episode, 3-Disc Collection - Stuart Whitman as Jonathan Kent and Ron Ely as...Superman!

The series was a half-hour weekly series that aired in first-run syndication for four seasons. I remember watching it on Saturday afternoons on WWOR locally, and I just loved it. As I mentioned before in past reviews, I have not seen this series in such a long time so most of it seems so new to me. Some memorable episodes include the two-part season premiere "The Bride of Bizarro," as Clark and Lana begin their internship at the Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters, Bizarro returns from deep space to announce on a talk show that he wants a mate. In the second part, after Luthor threatens to create explosive Bizarro duplicates of everyone in the city if Superboy doesn't appear at his lair by midnight, Bizarro once again agrees to kill Superboy in exchange for a Bizarro-bride. In "Carnival," a carnival appears out of thin air, and its owner steals the spirits of some of the carnival-goers, and tests Superboy to break his moral spirit. In "Superboy...Lost," when Superboy tries to intercept a meteor that is approaching Earth, he is injured, resulting in amnesia. Before there was Wife Swap on TV, there was this episode called "Body Swap," where Superboy is tricked into swapping bodies with Lex Luthor, which causes confusion for everyone involved in their lives. In the two-part episode "Rebirth," Clark decides to give up being Superboy and using his powers after a man dies, supposedly as a result of Superboy's actions. And in the conclusion, Lana sets out to clear Superboy's name, so he can be vindicated of the town's condemnation. And on the two-part season finale "The Road to Hell," Superboy is taken to an alternate world where he as a child is living in the jungle and must be saved from being captured, while a run-in with an alternate Lex Luthor creates complications.

The episodes appear to be unedited. Most episodes are just over 21:30. Last season, most episodes ran a bit longer (in the 21:50s) because they had a preview of next week's episode before the closing credits. We don't get those on this set, so maybe they stopped doing that originally? Runtimes are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "The Bride of Bizarro, Part 1" (21:33)
2. "The Bride of Bizarro, Part 2" (21:33)
3. "The Lair" (21:33)
4. "Neila" (21:34)
5. "Roads Not Taken, Part 1" (21:31)
6. "Roads Not Taken, Part 2" (21:35)
7. "The Sons of Icarus" (21:33)
8. "Carnival" (21:31)

Disc 2:
9. "Test of Time" (21:31)
10. "Mindscape" (21:38)
11. "Superboy... Lost" (21:37)
12. "Special Effects" (21:35)
13. "Neila and the Beast" (21:38)
14. "The Golem" (21:33)
15. "A Day in the Double Life" (21:32)
16. "Body Swap" (21:32)
17. "Rebirth, Part 1" (21:35)

Disc 3:
18. "Rebirth, Part 2" (21:36)
19. "Werewolf" (21:38)
20. "People vs. Metallo" (21:36)
21. "Jackson and Hyde" (21:36)
22. "Mine Games" (21:31)
23. "Wish for Armageddon" (21:33)
24. "Standoff" (21:34)
25. "The Road to Hell, Part 1" (21:34)
26. "The Road to Hell, Part 2" (21:33)

The packaging feels like a Superman type release. The cover is styled like a comic book--a nice shot of Superboy in the middle with the Superboy logo on top and a light brown/tan comic book style background -- all similar to the previous seasons. The back of the case has another shot of Superboy, with synopsis of the series and set. We also have four episodic photos and credits are listed below them. We just have a case holding three discs. There is no artwork on the panels but the discs have artwork. Each disc has the same shot of Superboy from the cover art and the same brown/tan style background. Discs one and two are on a little plastic holder that you can flip like a page in a book, with disc one on the front, and two disc on the back. Disc three is on the right panel itself. Disc one holds episodes 1-8, disc two holds episodes 9-17, and disc three holds episodes 18-26.

The main menu has the light comic book style brown/tan background and the same photo of Superboy from the cover art. We have the choice of Play All or choose an episode title right on the main menu, similar to all Warner Archive releases. There are no subtitles and there are five chapter stops per episode.

The video is decent, but not spectacular, as expected. The audio is crisp and not too low. If you have the first two seasons on DVD, it is just about the same as that in audio and video. As mentioned, each episode runs about 21:30. The episodes are unedited because this series was aired in first-run syndication, so no need to worry about edits here, I think. Less than 22 minutes is not a problem here. As I mentioned, chapter stops are available and we get five of them per episode. We also have the Viacom logo after the closing credits. The one that says "Viacom" out loud. Be scared ! And each two-part episode has a "to be continued..." tag at the end of part one and a "previously on" tag after the opening credits in part two.

The first season set was loaded with special features because it was a Warner Home Video set, but on this set and the previous set we have nothing. That was expected though since this is a Warner Archive made on-demand set. View our first season set review for details on the special features that were on there. Nothing here, but oh well...we get the episodes at least!

I'm so glad Warner Archive decided to continue this series on DVD after Warner Home Video abandoned it after one season. The DVDs are pressed versions right now, so hurry before and get your copy before they turn into DVD-R's. We have just one more season left and I'm sure Warner Archive will give it to us, so continue or start your collection by getting the first three seasons. I thought I'd never see it again on DVD, so thank you Warner Archive. It was fun to watch. This is a great show for fans of the Superman franchise. It's different and focuses on Clark as a boy, so you'll want to see what happens! Found by a Kansas family and raised as Clark Kent, he learned he possessed the strength of steel, the speed of light, and the desire to help all mankind. He is Superboy!

(3.5/5 stars)

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

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Superboy on TV.com


FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Allison Janney (Twitter)
Claim to Fame: Janney got her start in screen acting with a lot of small parts in movies and roles on two soap operas (As the World Turns and Guiding Light), but now her first major role in primetime television was on the NBC series The West Wing. While she has had many guest starring roles in sitcoms, she wasn't cast as a regular in any sitcom until the 2011 series Mr. Sunshine (which didn't go over so well). But now, she is getting a second chance at sitcom fame with the Chuck Lorre created series Mom.
Why You Should Follow Her: To be honest, I never fully knew who Allison Janney was until recently. I knew her name and recognized her face, but since I never really watched any of the series that she played in before, I wasn't exactly familiar with her. Of course, as CBS has been heavily promoting their fall lineup and her series Mom, I began to find out more about her, and realized that she is an accomplished actress than is loved by many, which makes me anxious to know more about her and to see her new series. With that being said, her Twitter activity has been very much lacking. Even though she has over 30,000 followers on her verified account, she has only had 23 Tweets, and despite the fact that she has interacted with her fans three times the past two weeks, she went nearly 3 1/2 years without Tweeting before that. So, we're hopeful that she actually is back up and running on Twitter, and fans can enjoy following her!
Pick of the Tweets: "Thanks to @Larakate and the twitter help page I am finally up and tweeting.... Here we go..." (August 13, 2013)

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


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, September 8

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Sting" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Calvin and Marty send Courtney on a mission to find out information about Fuse Box’s impressive new rival. Meanwhile, Malcolm attends an event for his creative writing program at USC, where he scores a meeting with a book agent, Lisa (Angelique Cabral).

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Your Own Medicine" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Dave’s disastrous attempt to dunk a basketball, Calvin takes care of his injured neighbor. Also, Gemma befriends a cool mom group while babysitting Daphne.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 8)

Monday, September 8

  • Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel (Family Tree/Morton & Hayes), Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins (Laverne & Shirley), Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls (The Simpsons) and Rob Reiner as Marty DiBergi (All in the Family/Morton & Hayes) - Watch Spinal Tap on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Langston Kerman (English Teacher/Bust Down/South Side/Bless This Mess) - Langston is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building/Mulaney/I'm a Big Girl Now/The Associates) - Steve and Martin are guests on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Charlie Sheen (Anger Management/Two and a Half Men) - ABC's Good Morning America has part two of Michael Strahan's interview with Charlie sometime between 7-9am.
  • Marilu Henner (Evening Shade/Taxi) - Marilu talks about A Husband to Die For: The Lisa Aguilar Story on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie and Jamie Ray Newman talk about the summer's most talked about show The Hunting Wives on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Rainn Wilson (The Office) - Rainn talks about Code 3 on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Drew will be on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Oscar Nuñez (The Paper/The Office), Alex Edelman (The Paper) and Gbemisola Ikumelo (The Paper) - Oscar, Alex and Gbemisola talk about Peacock's The Paper on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Like Family/Love, Inc.) - NBC's Today catches up with Holly in the 9am hour.
  • Malin Akerman (Dollface/Sin City Saints/Trophy Wife/Childrens Hospital) - Malin talks about Netflix's The Hunting Wives on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle is celebrating aging helping a viewer over 50 achieve a glow up look on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original 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

09/07 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 8, 2025)
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09/03 - Live Staged Reading of Three's Company Episode; Freeform Acquires According to Jim for October
09/02 - Hulu's Chad Powers Trailer; BET's The Hospital Premieres September 10
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08/31 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 1, 2025)
08/30 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Saturday Night Live Cast Changes Loom; NBC Renews Password for Third Season
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08/28 - NBC's Password Renewed for Season 3 for 2026; Pluto TV Streaming CBS Shows Ahead of Fall Season
08/27 - Hulu's Deli Boys Renewed for Season 2 with Fred Armisen; HBO's I Love LA Premieres November 2
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08/25 - Doc Season 2 Trailer for Fox; Remembering David Ketchum and Jerry Adler
08/24 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 25, 2025)
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08/20 - Welcome Back, Kotter 50th Anniversary Marathon on Rewind TV; Apple TV+ Palm Royale Season 2 Premieres November 12
08/19 - Antenna TV's Archie Bunker's Place Labor Day Marathon; Larry the Cable Guy Prime Video Special
08/18 - Nobody Wants This Season 2 Premieres October 23; HGTV and Retta Continue Partnership
08/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 18, 2025)
08/16 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Paramount Plans Retool of Cable Networks; King of the Hill Revival Scores Big Ratings
08/15 - Catchy Comedy Acquires Hot in Cleveland; Netflix's Animated Comedy Strip Law Premieres in 2026
08/14 - Dan Levy's Netflix Comedy Series Cast; Betty la Fea: La Historia ContinĂșa Season 2 Premieres Friday
08/13 - Remembering Danielle Spencer of What's Happening!!; Trailer for Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building
08/12 - Netflix's Comedy Kiss or Die Premieres September 9; Lori Harvey Joins Reasonable Doubt
08/11 - Roku Originals Books a Return Trip with Season 2 Renewal of Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross; Netflix's Fixed Trailer
08/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 11, 2025)
08/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Trailer Released for The Paper; ABC Gives Pilot Order to Do You Want Kids?
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08/07 - Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 4 Celebs; Sweetpea Season 2 Stars