Category Archives: Television

Jan 17 2014
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Pop Culture, Television

Defensive Tackle

Perry Mason returns to the job in box set of TV movies

PerryMason_MovieCollectionV1

Perry Mason Movie Collection

DVD ($58.99, Paramount Home Video)

When the TV courtroom closed in 1966 after nine contentious seasons, Hollywood’s unflappable defense attorney went on hiatus for actor Raymond Burr to guest-star in other TV shows and movies, and even play another attorney in Ironsides (1967-75). But he eventually returned to the role that made him famous. A bit more grizzled than he was back in the black-and-white days, Perry nonetheless still has the stuff as he represent his former secretary (Barbara Hale) when she’s accused of murder (!) and digs into five other keep-you-guessing, cloak-and-dagger cases in this roundup of full-length TV movies from the mid-’80s.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Dec 30 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Urkel Works It

By season four, his nerd-next-door was the star of ‘Family Matters’

Family Matters Season 4

Family Matters: The Complete Fourth Season

DVD ($29.98, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

Part of ABC-TV’s Friday-night lineup for nine seasons between 1989 and 1998, this hit comedy series revolved around a suburban Chicago family and their nerdy next-door neighbor, Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who became the most popular character on the show. In this three-disc roundup of all 24 episodes from 1992-93, Urkel gets an accordion-playing girlfriend, takes driving lessons, competes on TV’s American Gladiators, camps out on a rooftop to woo a sweetie, has a superglue mishap and performs an accidental striptease, among other sitcom hijinks.

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Dec 26 2013
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Pop Culture, Television

Just B. Cos

Bill Cosby returns to the stage for first TV special in 30 years

Bill Cosby_FarFromFinished

 

Bill Cosby: Far From Finished

DVD $16.99 / Blu-ray $19.99 (Paramount Home Video / Comedy Central)

The legendary funnyman, 76, returns to the TV stage for his first comedy special in almost 30 years, riffing in front of a live audience in his easygoing, storytelling way on love, marriage, family, kids and the little speed bumps he’s encountered on the road of life—and making it all sound hilarious. Directed with cinematic smoothness by Hollywood actor-director-producer Robert Townsend, it’s a laugh-filled 90 minutes with an old friend, whose rubbery, riotous facial expressions make the words coming out of his mouth even funnier. Bonus features include an interview with Cosby, a behind-the-scenes look at the taping, and comments from fans.

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Dec 16 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

One of the Good Guys

Box set collection celebrates Gene Autry’s 1950s television show

TheGeneAutryShow_CompleteTVSeries

The Gene Autry Show: The Complete Television Series

DVD ($79.99, Timeless Media Group)

The most successful singing cowboy of them all, Autry’s multi-media empire spanned radio, music, movies, television and live performance—he’s the only entertainer with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for each. This deluxe 15-disc roundup of his 1950-1956 TV series also includes a corral full of bonus content: TV commercials, episodes of his Melody Ranch radio show, film trailers, photos, and segments from some of his other television shows. But what’s really cool is watching the parade of guest stars, a Who’s Who of ’the 50s West: Denver Pyle, Clayton Lone Ranger Moore, Alan Hale Jr., Lee Van Cleef, Chill Wills and many others, dustin’ it up with one of Hollywood’s all-time good guys.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 28 2013
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Books, Television

Remembering JFK

First-person reflections on the day a hopeful nation was ripped apart in grief

WhereWereYou-JFK-1Where Were You?

By Gus Russo & Harry Moses

Hardcover, 408 pages ($29.95, Lyons Press/Globe Pequot)

A companion book to the NBC special airing Nov. 22 on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, this handsome compilation of first-person stories features contributions from Jimmy Carter, Robert De Niro, John Glenn, Tom Hanks, Jay Leno, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Judy Collins and more than 30 other heads of state, journalists, public figures, performers and ordinary citizens swept up in the extraordinary circumstances of that fateful day. Through reflections on the many ways Kennedy’s death represented a hopeful nation suddenly ripped apart in grief and loss, it’s a portrait of a people forever changed, as remembered by a diverse group united by the experience of having lived through it.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 17 2013
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Books, Pop Culture, Television

An ‘Abbey’ Companion

What makes the popular PBS British period drama tick

Behind The Scenes At Downton AbbeyBehind the Scenes at Downton Abbey

By Emma Rowley

Hardcover, 280 pages ($29.99, St. Martins Press)

Fans of the popular PBS TV series will delight to the hundreds of color photos and the inside info in this dandy, richly detailed companion book, which goes behind the scenes of the scripts, music, sets, props, costumes and other gears that have to turn to bring the award-winning British period drama to life. The author, a journalist for Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper, includes interviews with numerous members of the cast and crew, and a foreword by the show’s executive producer, Gareth Neame, notes how the successful show, popular on both sides of the Atlantic, reminds “us there is still an appetite for a drama that the whole family can sit down to [watch] together.”

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 14 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Beam Me Up!

New Star Trek collection connects fans with series’ beginnings

StarTrekOriginalSeriesOrigins2Star Trek: The Original Series—Origins

Blu-ray $26.99 (CBS Home Entertainment/Paramount Home Entertainment)

Since it debuted on TV in 1966, it’s crossed the pop-culture universe to conquer comic books, novels, video games and movies. Now lifelong Trekkies and newer fans alike can reconnect with how it all began with this collection of origin episodes featuring first appearances of significant characters from the seminal Star Trek: The Original Series, including Spock, the super-villain Khan, and the alien Klingons; the cute but troublesome Tribbles; and both pilot episodes of the iconic series, “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which gave the show its memorable catchphrase.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Sep 24 2013
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Books, Pop Culture, Television

Understanding the ‘Superstooge’

New bio gets inside the zany bald head of Curly

CurlyCurly: An Illustrated Biography of the Superstooge

By Joan Howard Maurer

Softcover, 400 pages ($19.95, Chicago Review Press)

Three Stooges fans will flip over this official biography of Jerome “Curly” Howard, the zaniest member of the slapstick trio whose high-pitched voice, shaven head and “nyuk-nyuk-nyuks” made him a comedy icon. Written by his niece (the daughter of head Stooge Moe Howard) and packed with more than 300 photos, it’s a treasure trove of rare information and insight into the career, family life and psychology of one of the most enduringly popular “knuckleheads” to ever stand in the Stooge spotlight.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 11 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

How Norman Got ‘Psycho’

TV’s ‘Bates Motel’ serves up a creepy-cool contemporary prequel

BatesMotelS1Bates Motel: Season One

$49.98 Blu-ray / $44.98 DVD (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Even if you’ve never seen Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho, you can still get appreciate the deep, darkly chilling vibes of this modern-day prequel set in a creepy old manor above a motor inn where very bad things just keep happening to teenage Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore), his clingy mom (Vera Farmiga) and the people around them. Last season’s critically acclaimed hit TV series, a moody mix of scares, suspense and twisty surprises, comes with deleted scenes and a panel discussion with the cast and creative team.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Aug 29 2013
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Television

Getting The Weekend Started

ABC’s 1980s late-night answer to ‘Saturday Night Live’

Best of Fridays

 

The Best of Fridays

DVD $34.99 (Shout! Factory)

 

Launched as ABC’s weekend counterpart to NBC’s runaway hit Saturday Night Live, this 1980-82 series proved that the weekend was big enough—at least for a while—for two edgy sketch-comedy variety shows. Though relative short-lived, Fridays featured a parade of hip musical acts like Devo, The Cars and The Clash, and kept audiences laughing into the wee hours with the antics of a talented ensemble cast that included Larry David and Michael Richards, who’d both later shine as the co-creator and one of the stars of Seinfeld. This bonus-packed collection includes 16 full episodes, a cast and writers’ reunion, and other goodies.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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