TELEVISION
LEAVE IT TO STU'S SHOW!
Blog, TV
Posted on Jul 17 2010 by Greg
The big news this year isn't the "latest thing" in Hollywood, it's one of the greatest things in classic TV: Leave it to Beaver. The long awaited for complete series is finally on DVD. Only two seasons had been released for many years, but now Shout! Factory is issuing Season Three through Six individually, with One and Two to follow, as well as the new complete series deluxe boxed set. The Complete Series box contains an bonus disc with the unaired pilot (which did not feature Tony Dow or Hugh Beaumont and included a young Harry Shearer), a public service film, promos, a vintage board game and two new documentaries: one feature length that focuses on the principals and the show's history and another at featurette length about the supporting cast, particularly Eddie and Lumpy. The feature video is documentary-style, fairly straightforward and benefits greatly from the presence of Barbara Billingsley, Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow, the latter two being involved behind the scenes as well (Mathers' brother Jimmy directed). The second video, produced and directed by Shostak, takes a more whimsical approach. What fan of "Leave it to Beaver" wouldn't want to see Ken "Eddie" Osmond and Frank "Lumpy" Bank give each other "the business?" If they just talked "straight" through, it would not have been as true to the two characters and the actors who, as evidenced on the "Stu's Show" interviews included on the individual discs. The clips in this segment are exactly the best clips to showcase Eddie and Lumpy. To someone who loves the show, like I do, as soon as each clip came on I laughed, "Oh! I love that episode!" It struck just the right chords. [Perhaps no other single broadcast has been able to contribute more material to a classic TV series DVD collection than Stu's Show on shokus internet radio. You can also hear Alan Young and Connie Hines, the latter in her last interview in the bonus features of Mister Ed (Young on Season One; Young and Hines on Season Two).] "Leave it to Beaver" is a landmark show in pop culture history, not because it broke new ground or was particularly innovative, but because it honed in on the life of kids, their relationships with adults and the odd moments of life that still and will always resound, regardless of changing styles and technical inroads. If you remember it, revisit it afresh. If you have kids, by all means make it part of their lives too. If you don't have kids, it will strike a chord with the kid inside. There's something special about it.
LIT-TLE TINY POINTS ABOUT "THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW"
Blog, TV
Posted on Jul 07 2010 by Greg
One of our favorite TV sitcoms when I was a kid was The Mothers in Law starring the wondrous Eve Arden ( Our Miss Brooks, The Strongest Man in the World, Grease) and the wondrous Kaye Ballard ( Freaky Friday, The Muppet Show, Alice in Wonderland). The entire two-year run in finally on DVD and it's now on amazon, probably for a limited time.  produced the series, which was very much an I Love Lucy with kids and grandkids just as Laverne & Shirley was an I Love Lucy with single ladies. It's broad and brassy comedy in front of a live audience, served up to perfection by the skilled cast, whicj includes Herbert Rudley, Roger C. "Harry Mudd" Carmel (replaced by Richard "Mel Cooley" Deacon and Deborah Walley (Summer Magic, Beach Blanket Bingo). I have a particular soft spot for the legendary Ms. Ballard, having grown up and fully memorized Columbia Records' "Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Peanuts album she recorded with longtime creative partner Arthur Siegel. (If you've heard this album, you might chuckle at the reference above to "LIT-tle tiny points.") It was the very first time the Peanuts characters were performed (directly from comic strips) and it inspired the musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, five years later. The music on this 1962 album, which has not yet been released on CD, was created by Fred Karlin (sadly, Mr. Siegel's songs were not used by renowned jazz producer John Hammond). Karlin, an Oscar winner, put together a very odd orchestra of real toys, a concept much imitated afterward. The tune on the first cut was used for a cat food commercial in 1972. Kaye Ballard talks at length about this album, The Mothers in Law and her amazing career in one of the most entertaining audio versions of an autobiography I have ever heard, My Life in My Own Words, with My Own Mouth. It can only be purchased here on her website and is well worth having. This is one very resilient and highly talented lady.
A BRIGHT COMEDIC DAY FOR KNIGHT IN "STARSTRUCK"
Blog, TV
Posted on Jun 09 2010 by Greg
We recently watched a classic episode of the iconic TV series That Girl in which Ann and Donald go on a car trip to meet her parents and encounter comical mishaps along the way. It was carried off brilliantly, in the tradition of film and TV buddy/road comedies that feature a bickering couple. It worked on That Girl and it worked to legendary proportions in I t Happened One Night. It also works, Disney Channel style, in StarStruck, a romantic comedy with pop music starring Sterling Knight of the Channel's series Sonny With a Chance and Danielle Campbell of Disney XD's Zeke and Luther. The basic story is another wish fulfillment tale for youngsters: a young girl accidentally meets a rock star. There's a fair amount of misunderstanding and teen angst, but the heart of the film is the "two for the road" sequence in which the two stars share mishaps and begin to care for each other. It's surefire when you have a duo with chemistry. Fortunately these two have it. Campbell is a capable young actress with a lot of potential as a lead who can clearly carry a film, but Knight steals every scene in a role that he apparently won by default (he replaced the errant Cody Lynley). Knight -- who revealed in a Bonnie Hunt Show interview that he got his name from Disney and Hollywood legend Sterling Holloway -- has a true flair for playing the spoiled jerk who you can't dislike, a knowing self-parody of the pretty boy showbiz idol. As he does on Sonny With a Chance, Knight makes the comedy count in a way reminiscent of Michael J. Fox when he became the center of Family Ties. It will be interesting to see where his talent takes him, The songs are, of course, loaded with appealing hooks that cement them into your head as they were skillfully designed to do. And it's also worth mentioning that the score was by David Lawrence, who also did the High School Musical films and is the son of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. The DVD is available with or without a CD soundtrack (a nice option) but is not overloaded with extras other than a few music videos. An audio commentary with these talented young stars would be most welcome.
SUPER POWERS, SUPER PROBLEMS
Blog, TV
Posted on May 13 2010 by Greg
Among the reasons that so many Marvel comic book characters make a successful transition to film and TV is that the viewer can live vicariously through their super feats yet feel reassured that having super powers isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Television's longest running Marvel series is X-Men, and with the new Volume 5 of X-Men the Animated Series, fans can now own all 76 episodes by completing their library with this 14-episode, 2-disc set. And they can hear a slightly different version of the oh-so-cool theme song. Four episodes are two-parters ("The Phalanx Covenant" and "Storm Front"). The others are self-contained and their are quite a few gems. The challenge with a long running series is keeping the stories fresh and avoiding repetition and this collection is some of both. "No Mutant is an Island" focuses on the tormenting social and family issues of Nightcrawler. Being an outcast is at the core of being an X-Man or X-Woman. For changes of pace, look for Wolverine fighting in WWII with Captain America in "Old Soldiers," or Jubilee telling a once-upon-a-time super story to children. The oddest episode is perhaps "Descent," a Victorian era combination of Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde and...evolutionary theorism? Yes, an animated Charles Darwin has a guest role in this story about an experiment gone mad and resulting in lots of misunderstood mutants. it does not come as a total surprise to see him, since the premise of X-Men is about mutation, genetics and socio-political dynamics, but imagine if he was on The Flintstones! How would he explain Fred and Wilma, much less The Way-Outs?
"IRON MAN" GETS ANIMATED -- AND SO DOES BILL CLINTON?
Blog, TV
Posted on May 10 2010 by Greg
The second time Marvel's Iron Man was adapted for a TV cartoon (the first being the kind of cheesy 1966 version), was in this two-season syndicated series that premiered in 1994 as part of The Marvel Action Hour. Stan Lee appeared onscreen as host, and though these intros are not included on the new DVD, Iron Man: The Complete Animated Series, the end credits mention it. This is actually, in effect, two series with the same actor, Robert Hays, as the voice of Iron Man. The first season was produced by Rainbow Animation with scripts largely by Ron Friedman. The animation is a sort of lower budget ThunderCats, with recycled action and somewhat limited scope. The stories are a bit overloaded with characters so numerous they weigh down the chance to develop them. There are also plenty of pop culture references ( David Letterman?) and Bill Clinton himself is depicted rather than a generic President (voiced by none other than Jim Cummings, the voice of Tigger, Pooh, Darkwing Duck and many more including Ray, the beloved firefly in The Princess and the Frog). This set of episodes also allows you to see the origins of Iron Man and his arch nemesis, Mandarin and his henchman, MODOK (also Cummings). Once you hit episode 14, there is a distinct difference in style and a totally different theme song. This season was produced by Koko Animation and written by such comic book veterans as Len Wein. The animation is more elaborate but what is particularly noticeable is the dialogue. While there is a lot of action, an effort seems to have been made to flesh out the personalities, conflicts and, most of all the inner turmoils that are the Marvel trademark. The cast, by and large, provides outstanding performances of what could potentially be campy. Robert Hays is given the opportunity as the voice of Iron Man to deliver more depth and complexity than many of his best-known characters in TV shows like Angie and the movie Airplane!Most of the voices were recast in the two series. James Rhodes (aka War Machine) is played by James Avery in season 1 and by Dorian Harewood in season 2. Ed Gilbert (Baloo in Disney's TaleSpin) as Mandarin is recast with Robert Ito ( Quincy). In season 2, when the Incredible Hulk appears in an episode, Ron Perlman (of the Bill Bixby live action series), voices the Hulk and Dr. Banner. Also this season, Wanda/Spider Woman is voiced by Jennifer Hale, who is the current voice of Disney's Cinderella. The episodes look and sound great on the three discs. It would be nice if there was a printed episode guide in the package. I know budgets are an issue, but surely one panel of the enclosed Blu-Ray flyer could be used. That way, it's less likely to be tossed away!
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