China
Beach: Season One
(1988/Time Life/StarVista DVDs)/The
Courtship Of Eddie's Father: Season One
(1969 – 1970) +
Season Two
(1970 – 1971/MGM/Warner Archive DVD Sets)/The
Hollow Crown: The Complete Series
(2013/Universal DVD Set)/Leverage:
The Final Season (aka
Season Five/2012/Fox
DVDs)/The Mentalist: The
Complete Fifth Season
(2012 – 2013/Warner DVDs)/Nichols:
The Complete Series (1971
– 1972/Warner Archive DVD Set)/2
Broke Girls: The Complete Second Season
(2012 – 2013/Warner DVD Set)
Picture:
C/C+/C/C+/C/C+/C+ Sound: C+/C/C+/B-/C+/C+/C+ Extras:
C+/D/C+/C/C-/D/C Episodes: B-/B-/B/C/C-/C+/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Courtship Of Eddie's Father
and Nichols
DVD sets are only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the links below
The
TV shows on DVD just keep on coming and here is yet another group you
should know about...
China
Beach: Season One (1988) is being issued separately after
StarVista and Time Life issued an elaborate DVD box set of the entire
series that we reviewed at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12190/China+Beach
Not
as much of a fan, I understood its appeal, the first show about women
dealing with combat, a show that covered the Vietnam fiasco in a
different way, an attempt to do a more serious variant of M*A*S*H
and offer a feminist text of sorts. However, the reason the show
never caught on big is because it was too restrained in dealing with
what happened to the point that it was self-censoring and at its
worst, implying we could have “won the war” when our
reasons there were a much larger mess than this show admits.
I
give it points for a fine cast, looking and feeling like the period
and being intelligent, but it tends to lean right-of-center more than
it should and to some, that will be more obvious now than when it
first arrived. Still, it is more effective and ambitious than most
broadcast network dramas we get today and that is reason enough to
revisit it, especially in its debut season complete with TV movie
pilot.
Extras
from that box set include an illustrated booklet on the series film
with an introduction by star Dana Delaney, episode guide and essay by
Co-Creator/Writer William Broyles, Jr., while the DVDs add a feature
length audio commentary track for the pilot recorded in 2003,
separate on camera interviews with Delaney and Chloe Webb and two
featurettes: China Beach: How It
All Began and
Highlights From The 25th
Anniversary Cast Reunion, December 12, 2012.
The
Courtship Of Eddie's Father: Season One
(1969 – 1970) + Season Two (1970 – 1971)
was a big hit for MGM Television and Bill Bixby's second huge TV hit
after My Favorite Martian (reviewed elsewhere on this site)
sporting a theme song by the late, great Harry Nilsson and great
chemistry between Bixby and a young Brandon Cruz is totally
convincing in a show that was part of a cycle of new comedies with
drama that spoke to a new, liberated America with Civil Rights and a
diverse cast.
Producer
James Womack (later producer of Welcome Back, Kotter) was also
a co-star with Miyoshi Umeki as Mrs. Livingston, Kristina Holland
(Wait Til Your Father Gets Home, both Warner-released shows
reviewed elsewhere on this site) as Tina Rickles (both helping out
our widower Tom (Bixby) and each show starts out with the son and
father talking about life before the theme song kicks in.
Interestingly, the credits changed more often than on most shows.
The big ongoing joke is that Eddie is always trying to get his father
remarried.
The
show was always charming and smart, but the pleasant surprise is how
well the show has held up, how good everyone in it is, how solid the
teleplays are and how much better this is than just about any show
about father-son relationships on TV this is since TV became
regressive in the 1980s. Some jokes may have dated, but many others
have not and the central truth about relationships remains as
relevant as ever. If you have not seen the show in a while, it is
worth revisiting and makes for great family entertainment, but if you
have never seen the show, consider it a must-see. It has hardly any
equivalents on TV today and that is very unfortunate. Look for Jodie
Foster as a semi-regular and Suzanne Pleshette among the guest stars.
There
are unfortunately no extras, though the order website has podcasts
with Cruz that really should be on one of these sets, but they have
one left, so we'll see.
For
all the Shakespeare we have covered over the last decade, it is
shocking what we have missed. The Hollow Crown: The Complete
Series (2013) is a highly underseen series with Ben Wishlaw in
Henry II (also starring Rory Kinnear, David Suchet, David
Morrissey, James Purefoy, Lindsay Duncan and Patrick Stewart (!),
Jeremy Irons in Henry IV (also starring Simon Russell Beale,
Tom Hiddleston (Loki in Thor and Marvel Avengers),
Geoffrey Palmer and Julie Walters) in two parts and Tom Hiddleston in
Henry V (also starring Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Freeman, Anton
Lesser, Julie Walters and the late Richard Griffiths in one of his
last roles.
That
is a powerhouse collection and the fact that it was not widely seen
or promoted is nearly criminal because the audience for these
excellent adaptations is much larger than I think even Universal
realized, so I it great that the whole set is on DVD for everyone to
see. Shakespeare on TV was much more common not that long ago and a
revival is long overdue. Even scholars of The Bard will be
impressed!
Extras
include Making Of featurettes for all three plays and a fourth
featurette: The Making Of A King.
Now
we revisit two action show we have not seen in a while, including one
that is quitting while it is ahead.
Leverage:
The Final Season (aka Season Five/2012) has Timothy Hutton
(after the success of his Nero Wolfe revival) coming to an
end. The slick con job show has had a good run of it, but old
nemesis and new ones as well as inner conflict bring things to a
head. If you are unfamiliar with the show, here are the links to the
initial seasons we reviewed a while ago:
One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8762/Leverage
Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9959/Leverage
Though
I know I was missing out on some things having skipped two season, I
can say that the show actually (finally!?!) got better and can ta
least say it is peaking in its final set of shows (15 episodes over 4
DVDs). Too bad it was not this good to begin with, but the cast is
tighter, teleplays more consistent and guest stars like Treat
Williams, Cary Elwes and Mark Sheppard and even Matthew Lillard are
good here. If I were you, I would start at the beginning if you are
going to watch the show, but you'll have to have some patience if you
get through all fiver seasons because those early episodes still
dragged for me. Cheers to Hutton for having another hit TV show and
at least they went out on top.
Extras
include a Gag Reel, Deleted Scenes and audio commentary tracks on all
episodes.
The
Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season (2012 – 2013) is not
going out on top and is not finished yet, but despite the appeal of
star Simon Baker, his psychic powers have taken a back seat by this
time to some evil criminal mastermind in what seems a desperate
attempt by the show to find new life. However, I was not a fan of
the early seasons, as these links to my coverage of those early
season will confirm:
One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9024/The+Mentalist
Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10454/Jonah+Hex+(2010)+++The+Mentalist
Baker
has become the character more so as the show reaches 100 episodes
already (we get 22 episodes over 5 DVDs) but he seems a bit worn and
the writing for him has shaved off some of his character's edge and
potential edge, so the storyline surrenders sadly to what we get in
the too-many police procedurals out there today. Guess the show was
not strong enough as I felt to sustain itself on its initial premise,
but it has enough fans and we'll see how much longer they can go on
with this one. Robin Tunney continues to be the de facto female lead
and guest stars include Malcolm McDowell, taking a break from
Franklin & Bash.
Extras
include a foldout episode guide inside the DVD case, while the discs
add two Behind The Scenes featurettes: The
Artistry Of Action: From Script To Screen
and Arresting Excitement:
Keeping It Real with The CBI.
Nichols:
The Complete Series (1971 – 1972) was Warner TV's attempt
to put James Garner in another hit Western that was not a Maverick
revival. He plays a man who goes back to the town his family was
named after to be the law against his will after too much time in at
war. It is now 1914 and he gets to settle in with the townfolk
(including up and coming Margot Kidder as a barmaid) and while it is
a well made and well written show, audiences simply did not want to
see him play in a Western show other than his previously noted hit
and the genre was in decline as other shows of the time (Pistols &
Petticoats, The Barbary Coast) proved by also failing to
find an audience.
Created
by Frank A. Pierson (1976's A Star Is Born, King Of The
Gypsies (directed both), Dog Day Afternoon, Cool Hand
Luke (wrote both); all reviewed elsewhere on this site) did try
to make a show with a difference and it has its moments, plus the
cast (also including Neva Patterson and Stuart Margolin) was trying
to take the genre into more naturalistic territory, but the decline
had already begun and it was too late. They still made a season's
worth of shows and 24 episodes (here on 6 DVDs) did get made
including a final show with some fun and interesting twists for the
time. Those who are fans of the genre and/or its stars should check
out this set.
Guest
stars include M. Emmet Walsh in several shows, William Christopher in
almost as many, Alice Ghostley, Charles McGraw, Richard Stahl, Val
Avery, Ricardo Montalban, Michael Tolan, John Rubenstein, Joyce Van
Patten, Ray Danton, Henry Beckman, Alan Oppenheimer, Din Pedro
Colley, Steve Forrest, Tom Skerritt, Gerald O'Loughlin, Scatman
Crothers, Eric Laneuville, Barry Cahill, Mark Lawrence, Strother
Martin, Regis Cordic, Noam Pitlik, Bo Hopkins, Jack Elman, Vincent
Van Patten, Ed Flanders, Ray Young, Olan Soule and Ramon Bieri.
There
are unfortunately no extras.
Finally
we have the hit sitcom 2 Broke Girls: The Complete Second Season
(2012 – 2013) with Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs as a pair of
waitresses and best friends trying to make it with something to make
their lives better while keeping their jobs at a Brooklyn diner. The
scripts are not that good and have not improved since the show
launched, but the leads are very attractive, play this up, have
characters that are dysfunctional & only so bright and so when
they say dumb funny things, we should laugh?
Though
the show is far from anti-feminist, it is too formulaic for its own
good, but has found a way to make that appealing enough that it is
yet another Warner hit at CBS (what would CBS do without Warner
Television right now?) and at best, it is
leave-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment that has found an audience
but could be better if it wanted to be. We'll see if the weekly TV
grind make the writers expand the show's true possibilities.
Extras
include Unaired Scenes, a Gag Reel, 2 Broke Girls at PaleyFest
2013 and two Behind The Scenes featurettes: Max's Homemade
Cupcakes and 2 Broke Girrllss! with Sophie Kachinsky.
The
1.33 X 1 image on Beach is on the soft side and a disclaimer
warns us of the quality, as the show was shot on 35mm film, but
finished on analog NTSC videotape. Sings of this include the ghost
of a “place commercial here” tag between the end of the
opening credits and first scene of an episode and videotape-produced
reminder that the show was available in stereo, a rare & new
thing at that time for TV. New HD masters would be nice down the
line for this one. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 images on
Crown and Mentalist are so stylized and soft that it
ties the show for the poorest performer on the list, but in Crown's
case, it at least makes sense to be aged in the way the look and
design of the show is, so it would definitely benefit from an HD
presentation.
The
best playback on the list can be found on the anamorphically enhanced
1.78 X 1 images on Leverage because they switched from a plain
old RED ONE camera to a RED EPIC for their final season and the
improvements are so good that it is the visual champ and a big
surprise and Mentalist simply looks narrowly better than it did.
That does not mean it gets a higher letter grade. Girls is
presented in the same anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image frame
and even has good color, but it also is soft more than I would have
liked.
That
leaves the 1.33 X 1 color, filmed image on episodes of Courtship
(in MetroColor) and Nichols
(in DeLuxe Color) both well produced on 35mm film and having good
print material, though Nichols
is more consistent for its single season, where Courtship
can have more wildly different color and show more age in some prints
and even scenes than others. However, I will not fault it too much
as it is not a moire serious issue.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on Crown,
Leverage,
Mentalist
and Girls
would usually tie as the sonic champs, but Leverage
is the sonic champ, has the best sound mix and it made me want to
hear a lossless version of the soundtracks. Crown
is dialogue-based and quiet, but that holds it back more than
expected, though I bet ambiance and some fine detail is lost in the
compression here, so a lossless version would reveal more and
Mentalist
is too much towards the front channels for its own good, so it is
poor.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Beach
ties Crown
and Mentalist
for poorest sound performance, but its issue is that it is a
noticeable generation down more than anything on this list. The
lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono on Father
and Nichols
actually sound better and surprisingly so for their age, so someone
took care of those soundtracks and transferred them correctly.
To
order The
Courtship Of Eddie's Father
and Nichols
DVD sets, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
