Dallas: Ninth Season DVD Review (2008)

“Dallas: Complete Ninth Season”

Proves once again that where there's oil, there's drama.

The ninth season of "Dallas" features the usual doses of death, destruction, barbed tongues, backbiting, law suits, swift kicks to the groin, missing people, and the return of Bobby (Patrick Duffy), who bit the big one at the end of the last season but who nevertheless shows up in Pam’s shower at the end of this season.

Yes, this is the infamous dream season, which set pop culture ablaze back in the day.

Barbara Bel Geddes was out sick for the eighth season, but here, in her return as Miss Ellie, the one character who holds this entire show together, she once again sets herself on auto-pilot to grimace her way through the fireworks, the alcoholic benders and all those appealing little adulteries.

Grade: B

View a clip of the show here.

Official site.

Own it on DVD July 15, 2008.

ER: Season Nine DVD Review (2008)

“ER: Complete Ninth Season”

The melodrama escalates to a fever pitch, but then it had to, didn’t it?

This is the ninth season of "ER," and the producers aren't willing to allow fans to move away from the water cooler quietly.

As such, we get 22 episodes of chaos and disorder, with romance and broken hearts hurtling through the doors of Chicago's County General Hospital almost as frequently as the injured and the dying.

In this season, with Anthony Edwards’ Dr. Greene fully out of the picture after his death in the eighth season, the show now rests on Noah Wyle’s Dr. Carter. It’s a struggle--you can’t help but miss Greene--but Wyle does his best in spite of plot points (an African safari?) that pull hard at the show’s seams.

Grade: B-

View a clip of the show here.

Visit the official site here.

Own in on DVD now!

Hawaii Five-O: Fourth Season (2008)

“Hawaii Five-O: Fourth Season”

The challenge is obvious--how to make each episode as energetic as Morton Stevens' iconic theme song?  

For this fourth season of the long-running series, the good news is that most episodes come through.

Set in Hawaii, the show finds Jack Lord bringing back and the heat and the cool as Steve McGarrett, the pompadoured leader of an elite four-man police team that finds Kono Kalakaua (Zulu), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) and Danny "Danno" Williams (James McArthur) working to bring down the evil Chinese agent Wo Fat.

Among others.

Highlights include the episodes “Good Night, Baby, Time to Die” and “And I Want Some Candy and a Gun that Shoots.”

Grade: B+

Monsterquest: Complete Season One (2008, DVD)

“Monsterquest: Complete Season One”

The monsters are real! Well, no they’re not. Or maybe they are! But then again, maybe they’re not.  

Essentially, that’s how this reasonably entertaining series from the History Channel plays out, with real scientists and high-tech gadgetry hauled in to discern what might be living among us (don’t come seeking definitive answers).

The monsters in question include everything from the regulars--werewolves, Bigfoot--to such other oddities as Birdzilla, a giant squid, and some unidentifiable flying creatures.

Eye witness accounts abound, some humorous--all dead serious.

Grade: B

Rescue Me: Complete Fourth Season (2008, DVD)

"Rescue Me: Complete Fourth Season”

The strange, rambling hybrid that is Denis Leary turns out to be perfect for the strange, rambling hybrid that is “Rescue Me," a dramedy about firefighters that shouldn't work as well as it does, but it does. 

The plots are dense, chaotic and swift, every bit as wired as Leary himself. The show’s energy and its fearlessness are its hallmarks.

Here, as firefighter Tommy Gavin, a man with more problems than he or anyone around him can bear, Leary never has been better, particularly since in this season, his character is under investigation for the fire that ended the last season.

What that creates for Tommy isn’t just trouble, but oddly enough, also sexual impotency.

Grade: B

Weeds: Season Three: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2008)

“Weeds: Season Three” DVD, Blu-ray

What's a suburban mother to do when her husband drops dead and leaves her and their two sons saddled with debt? For Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), the answer is to pick herself up and to sell a little weed on the side.

Okay, a lot of weed on the side.

This smart, darkly comic Showtime series echoes "Six Feet Under" in that its grim comedy is laced with just enough drama to give it depth.

That’s particularly true in its third season, which might be the weakest of the lot, but which still feature enough sharp writing and particularly that very good cast, with Elizabeth Perkins especially noteworthy as Nancy's friend Celia, who is so cynical, she makes for one of the best desperate housewives on television.

Grade: B+

Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything (2008)

“Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything”

So far, the best boxed comedy set of the year.

Is there a brighter, dumber, sharper, looser and more spectacular mess than Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley)?

Unlikely.

These two pill-popping, booze-swilling, grass-smoking, youth-seeking former hippies turned style icons make for one of the funniest series ever created by the BBC, which is saying plenty given its pedigree.

Highlights include the episodes “Parralox,” in which Edina and Patsy experiment disastrously with a substance not unlike Botox; Eddy and Patsy joining Menopausals Anonymous in the life-changing “Menopause”; and the unforgettable trip each takes with poor, unwanted Saffy in “Morocco.”

It’s the rare television sitcom that consistently delivers through to the end, but that’s the case here--the series concluded while it was still hot, thus securing its spot in pop-culture’s revered canon of the best of the best.

As a bonus for the show’s hard-core female fans, the set comes sheathed in a silver-padded case that could, in a pinch, serve as a daytime purse.

Inside are nine discs, 36 episodes, three specials, and four hours of behind-the-scenes bonus material. And yes, every bit of it is fabulous. Absolutely everything.

Grade: A

View a bit of Menopausals Anonymous below:

Gunsmoke: Second Season, Vol. 2 (2008)

“Gunsmoke: Second Season, Vol. 2”

In Dodge City, Kansas, where smoking guns and shootouts are the order of the day, U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness, superb) is up to his arms in the chaos brimming along the new frontier.

This second season of the show, which appeared during the 1956 television season, isn’t as dark as what came before it, but within it, you nevertheless can see its influence reflected in other television shows, from “The Big Valley” straight up through “Deadwood.”

The series is an appealing throwback, with Dennis Weaver as Dillon’s sidekick Chester and Amanda Blake as the formidable Miss Kitty, owner of the lively Longbranch Saloon.

Blake is very good here--she’s tough and she's pretty--but once you’ve seen Joan Crawford’s saloonkeeper in the camp classic “Johnny Guitar” (add it to your Netflix queue), all others come second.

Grade: B+

All You Need is Love: DVD Review (2008)

“All You Need is Love”

That’s a nice thought, but truth be told, Tony Palmer’s sweeping television series about the history of popular music also suggests it might be good to have a measure of talent, a bit of luck, some rhythm, a voice and the right people behind you so you can share that love with the masses.  

This 17 episode, 5-disc set originally aired between 1976 and 1980, and it covers everything from vaudeville, country and ragtime to swing, rock and blues.

And there’s more, with Palmer predictably exploring such pop-music greats as Elvis, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra to The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.

If there’s a caveat, it’s in all that’s missing after 1980 and how what came before it influences what we hear now. Since Palmer is still actively working, an overview of what has occurred in pop music in the interim could have made this already terrific collection outstanding.

Grade: A-

Mission: Impossible--Fourth Season: DVD Review (2008)

"Mission: Impossible--Fourth Season"

Well, not impossible, though each mission certainly is a challenge.   

Since each show begins with the lighting of a fuse, it's up to the writers, the director and the cast to sustain the excitement and tension inherent within.

In the fourth season of this influential espionage show, that proves true once again, with the writing as tight and as inventive as ever.

Here, the world is reduced to the size of a postage stamp and we're all over it, with Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Barbara Bain and Peter Lupus smoothly washing their hands of their share of criminals.

Entertainment is key here--gadgets abound--but so is credibility. The show comes through with each.

Grade: B+

Beverly Hills 90210: Fourth Season

“Beverly Hills 90210: Fourth Season”

Takes humanity to new lows via the amusing wrecking ball that is Shannen Doherty's Brenda Walsh. Too bad her off-screen antics led to her being fired from the show at the end of this season.

Still, while she is here, there’s no question that she’s the star.

With high school out of the way and everyone now at college, more turmoil is allowed to boil in Beverly Hills. This is the season, after all, in which one character starts popping pills, others steal away for a secret wedding, and another is accused of date rape.

In between, there’s more gossip to fill a week’s worth of posts at PerezHilton.com, which is just how fans want it. On those terms, this fourth season succeeds.

Grade: B

Bewitched: Complete Sixth Season (2008)

"Bewitched: Complete Sixth Season"

Out with the old, in with the new--Darrin, that is.

With Dick York out, Dick Sergeant took over as Darrin in this sixth season of “Bewitched” and applied the necessary grease to smooth over what was a difficult transition.

For the most part, it worked, likely because this season also saw the distraction of Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) giving birth to their new son, Adam.

The rest is just what you expect--Endora (Agnes Moorehead), Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox), Tabitha (Diane Murphy) and Serena (Montgomery) creating their share of entertaining bombast.

Grade: B+

Beverly Hills 90210: Fourth Season DVD Review (2008)

“Beverly Hills 90210: Fourth Season”

Takes humanity to new lows via the amusing wrecking ball that is Shannen Doherty's Brenda Walsh.

Too bad her off-screen antics led to her being fired from the show at the end of this season. Still, while she is here, there’s no question that she’s the star.

With high school out of the way and everyone now at college, more turmoil is allowed to boil in Beverly Hills in one overflowing, poisonous froth.

This is the season, after all, in which one character starts popping pills, others steal away for a secret wedding, and another is accused of date rape. In between, there’s more gossip to fill a week’s worth of posts at PerezHilton.com, which is just how fans wanted it.

On those terms, this fourth season succeeds.

Grade: B

Intelligence: Season One DVD Review (2008)

“Intelligence: Season One”

This accomplished Canadian police drama boasts that “information is the most addictive drug of all.”

And the series is determined to prove it, too, in episodes that mainline a combination of sex, crime bosses, sleazy thugs, Russian pole dancers, cocaine-addicted mothers and corrupt officials all creating havoc in the shallow end of Vancouver’s gene pool.

The series’ key players are Ian Tracey’s Jimmy Reardon, a loving father and devoted drug smuggler, and Klea Scott’s ambitious Mary Spalding, who leads Vancouver’s Organized Crime Unit but who longs to be much more than that.

Together, these two join forces in dangerous ways meant to advance their careers, but at what cost? In this case, it’s worth finding out.

Grade: B

The Waltons: Complete Seventh Season DVD Review (2008)

“The Waltons: Complete Seventh Season”

Set mostly in Depression-era Virginia, this genial drama follows the Waltons through yet another season of hardships, the most notable of which is the fact that Will Greer (Grandpa) died during the hiatus between seasons six and seven.

Instead of offering a replacement, the show shrewdly begins with Grandpa quite dead and the Waltons grieving his loss.

With Richard Thomas’ John Boy also out of the picture (the actor had moved on), the show is left to grapple with other elements tugging at its plot strings, not the least of which is the bombing of Pearl Harbor, where Curt is stationed.

Troublesome tattoos, bouts of tuberculosis and time spent in sanitariums also spark the drama.

In the end, though, the show remains an acquired taste. It’s little more than an antiseptic balm of family highs and woes.

Grade: C

American Dad, Vol. 3: DVD Review (2008)

“American Dad, Vol. 3”

The CIA under direct fire.

The third season of “American Dad” follows CIA agent Stan Smith, whose life, shall we say, continues to be unconventional in ways that perhaps only animation can best underscore--the medium finds truth in the abstract, and this show is all about the abstract.

Highlights include the episodes “An Apocalypse to Remember” and “Bush Comes to Dinner,” in which the president is enthusiastically skewered.

Developed by the creators of “The Family Guy,” the show has yet to mine its predecessor’s potential, but with this season proving a vast improvement over what came before it, there's every indication that it will.

Grade: B

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- American Dad, Vol. 3 - Episodes 1-8

1. Main Titles/Bush Essay [5:47]
2. The Winner [4:03]
3. Off the Wagon [3:41]
4. The Drunken President [5:36]
5. Lost Cause/End Titles [2:40]
1. Main Titles/Unregistered [6:10]
2. Cele-Bear-Tions [3:44]
3. A Different Direction [3:33]
4. La Migra [2:52]
5. Country Roads End Titles [5:33]
1. Main Titles/The Bad Times [3:24]
2. Useless [4:54]
3. Saving Mr. Pibb [6:39]
4. Help! [2:40]
5. Going Home/End Titles [4:15]
1. Main Titles/Peanut Butter [4:38]
2. Find the Monocle [4:01]
3. The Illuminuti [4:30]
4. Following the Clues [3:29]
5. If Only../End Titles [5:14]
1. Main Titles/What a Boob [3:20]
2. Nuclear War [3:40]
3. First Date [3:54]
4. Mutants! [4:35]
5. Happily Ever../End Titles [6:21]
1. Main Titles/Nose Job [5:59]
2. Honed Reflexes [4:30]
3. Footloose [4:11]
4. Closure [4:12]
5. Redemption/End Titles [3:08]
1. Main Titles/Meaningless [5:35]
2. Addicted [5:29]
3. On Ice [3:00]
4. Honeymoon [4:26]
5. Just Sex/End Titles [3:21]
1. Main Titles/Highly Illegal [3:22]
2. An Honest Buck [3:37]
3. War On Terror [6:43]
4. All Alone [3:47]
5. Everyone/End Titles [4:22]

Disc #2 -- American Dad, Vol. 3 - Episodes 9-16

1. Main Titles/Soft [3:18]
2. A Man Never Quits [3:09]
3. The Prettiest [5:59]
4. Mad Cow [4:35]
5. Scratchfest/End Titles [4:48]
1. Main Titles/The Bounty [4:54]
2. Hiding On the Farm [3:45]
3. Lost [3:54]
4. The Gift [3:23]
5. Father Figure/End Titles [5:55]
1. Main Titles/Just a Memory [4:12]
2. Show Business [4:30]
3. In the Goo - Not! [4:02]
4. Hunted [5:11]
5. Bonding/End Titles [3:54]
1. Main Titles/Posing Nude [6:38]
2. It's Called Respect [3:43]
3. Paint Job [3:09]
4. Turned On [3:13]
5. Regular Schnook/End Titles [5:04]
1. Main Titles/Friendless [4:41]
2. Answered Prayer [2:38]
3. Irrefutable Proof [4:46]
4. Spiritual Crisis [4:33]
5. Awesome!/End Titles [5:09]
1. Main Titles/Adopted [7:15]
2. Fireproof [2:48]
3. How It's Supposed to Be [3:02]
4. Skeleton in the Trunk [2:33]
5. Monsters/End Titles [6:02]
1. Main Titles/Project Daycare [4:15]
2. Activated [3:07]
3. A Totally Different Person [5:05]
4. Lovely Wedding [3:01]
5. Unstoppable/End Titles [6:23]
1. Main Titles/Never? [5:24]
2. Killer of Truth [3:58]
3. Looking for the One [3:32]
4. Blueberries for Peace [2:51]
5. Stan's First/End Titles [5:57]

Disc #3 -- American Dad, Vol. 3 - Episodes 17-18

1. Main Titles/Severe Mistake [4:39]
2. Withholding the News [3:06]
3. Rumble [4:04]
4. You Can Do This [2:19]
5. Like Normal/End Titles [7:40]
1. Chapter 1 [6:13]
2. Chapter 2 [4:13]
3. Chapter 3 [4:07]
4. Chapter 4 [3:15]
5. Chapter 5 [3:53]

Melrose Place: Fourth Season DVD Review (2008)

“Melrose Place: Fourth Season”

Strife! Sex! Postmortem madness!

This fourth season of the popular, long-running series has nothing but ugliness in mind for the glossy residents of Melrose Place--which is just how fans want it, particularly after Kimberly (Marcia Cross) decided to blow up everyone (with mixed success) at the end of the third season.

The show offers just what you want from a nighttime soap opera--backbiting, infighting, greed, recklessness--and it does it well, at least as these things go, with one of the brighter high points being Heather Locklear’s conniving Amanda Woodward.

It's tough to go wrong with Locklear, who rarely disappoints, and it's fun to revisit Cross before she became Bee on "Desperate Housewives” and Kristen Davis before she switched gears and became sweet Charlotte on “Sex and the City.”

As a bonus for those who dig the D-list crowd, this season includes guest appearances by Chuck Woolery, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Priscilla Presley and Loni Anderson.

So, tart yourself up and go slumming.

Grade: B-

The Invisible Man: Season One DVD Review (2008)

“The Invisible Man: Season One”

From the Sci-Fi Channel, a series in which inprisoned thug Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca) is offered a deal he can’t refuse.

His brother will help bust him out of prison so long as Darien agrees to take an experimental drug called Quicksilver, which promotes invisibility.

Not wanting to remain in the pokey any longer than necessary, Darien decides to go for it, which leads to all sorts of complications when his brother is knocked off and Darien is left with something called “Quicksilver Madness.”

Strange times and invisibility ensue, and while it’s doubtful that H.W. Wells would recognize any of this, there’s no denying that this short-lived, well-written show had its moments.

Grade: B

Matlock: First Season DVD Review (2008)

“Matlock: First Season”

Andy Griffith’s career--reborn.

After years of slogging through such humiliating guest appearances on such shows as “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “Hotel,” Griffith took a cue from Raymond Burr’s “Perry Mason” and realized one of his greatest career successes in a similar show that ran from 1986-1995.

The first season includes the two-hour pilot, “Diary of a Perfect Murder,” as well as 23 additional episodes, most of which focus on one culprit, such as “The Stripper,” “The Cop,” “The Sisters,” etc.

Griffith’s easy Southern charm is in stark contrast to the grisly crime series pop culture now favors, but for many, that’s exactly what will sell it.

Grade: B+

That 70s Show Season 8: DVD Review (2008)

“That ‘70s Show: Season Eight”

The final season, the weakest season.

We’re back in Wisconsin and the kids, now young adults (Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderamma, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson), are more restless than ever.

So restless, in fact, that they struggle to compensate for the loss of Topher Grace’s Eric and Ashton Kutcher’s Kelso (each actor left to pursue film careers at the end of the seventh season, though they do appear fleetingly at the end of this season).

The highlights--or the lowlights, depending on whether you're a fan of the series and the era--include Hyde and Jackie splitting, Jackie and Fez coming together, and a guest appearance by Bruce Willis that’s memorable for a whole host of twisted reasons.

In the end--and it was time for this series to end--“That '70s Show" always was a crude, simple parody of an era, but one that for much of its run was more entertaining than some might expect.

Too bad that isn’t the case here.

Grade: C-