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
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)
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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
Wednesday, October 9
Abbott Elementary - "Back to School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
The neighboring construction site of a new golf course is causing issues at Abbott, forcing the teachers to find creative solutions. An HR representative visits the school. Following their kiss, Janine and Gregory’s relationship status is revealed.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Cheat Codes" (Comedy Central, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Chris debates using a cheat code to win a free Nintendo.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Halloween" (Comedy Central, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Chris spends Halloween at a church event, hoping to hook up with Tasha.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)
Wednesday, October 9
- Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Watch Quinta on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She also talks about the new season of Abbott Elementary on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Rachel Sennott (Call Your Mother) - Rachel is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Michael Keaton (Report to Murphy/Working Stiffs/All's Fair) - E! News has an interview with Michael at 11pm on E!.
- Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - NBC's Today catches up with Ali in the 10am hour.
- Rita Wilson (Girls) - Rita stops by to talk about her new album on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Goldie Hawn (Good Morning World) - Goldie appears on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl Lee talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh talks about his new children's book PictureFace Lizzy and fatherhood on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jessica St. Clair (Avenue 5/Playing House/Best Friends Forever/In the Motherhood) - Jessica is sharing her breast cancer experience with Drew and Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz is talking about breast cancer diagnoses on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Abigail Spencer (Extended Family/Burning Love) - Abigail discusses her television series Shatter Belt on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Kim Matula (LA to Vegas) - Kim is a guest on PIX 11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:39am.
- Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) - Lea appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and 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 Ultra HD)
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)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
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
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