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THUNDERBIRDS!! ER!! AVATAR!! TORCHWOOD!! ALIEN NATION!! ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS!! SWAMP THING!! HercVault!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
I’ve somehow managed to get though my entire life until this week without seeing a single episode of “Thunderbirds,”
the 1965-66 series now most famous perhaps as the inspiration for “Team America: World Police,” and for me the new complete-series set provides revelation. Its wildly abundant effects work is wildly uneven in quality but the production design on this futuristic Tomorrowland marionette toy universe is impossibly cool and expensive-looking, like something out of “The Incredibles” or “The Venture Bros.” Its bug-eyed characters live in a 21st century world full of hoverbikes and spaceships and superjets and monorails and robots and giant walking armored transports and six-wheeled Rolls Royces and 20-foot mutant alligators. Because there are no human actor bodies to risk, the 32-hour series is stunt-crazy and action-packed.
For the many (like me) who missed the 2004 Bill Paxton movie (which hit cinemas only months before “Team America”) as well as the TV version, the series follows the adventures of the Tracy family, which operates secretly the independent International Rescue squad. American patriarch Jeff Tracy, millionaire and astronaut, was the first man on the moon. He still lives with his mother and named all his sons – Alan, Virgil, John, Scott and Gordon – after the original Mercury astronauts. Jeff’s manservant, Kyrano, is the half-brother of The Hood, the squad’s never-named archnemesis -- who has Professor X-like mental powers. Kyrano’s daughter Tintin (played in 2004 by “High School Musical” icon Vanessa Hudgens!) clearly wants to bone Alan. They all live together on uncharted Tracy Island in the Pacific and have a British socialite accomplice, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, who operates out of her mansion in Kent.
The new set’s bonus disc includes:
* The “Pit of Peril” episode with pop-up text-commentary, carrying a 2002 copyright. Learn that the puppet heads are all 1/3 bigger than they should be and that puppet sweat was created by flicking a wet toothbrush. Learn that, unlike earlier Gerry Anderson marionette series like “Supercar” and “Fireball XL5,” “Thunderbirds” was geared to adult audiences as well as children. Learn that nine half-hour episodes had to be expanded to an hour after ITC chief Lew Grade decided he wanted “Thunderbirds” to be an hourlong series. Learn that “Fireball XL5,” bought by NBC, was the only one of Anderson’s 17 series to air on a U.S. network. Learn that British and Australian voice actors affected American accents in hope of attracting a U.S. network; when “Thunderbirds” failed to land a deal with NBC, CBS or ABC, the show was abandoned six episodes into its second season.
* “The Making of Thunderbirds” (9:21) In glorious black and white, writer-producer Sylvia Anderson explains why creating actors is better than hiring them. Effects man Derek Meddings refuses to reveal how the wires are hidden in flying shots but does note that water must be shot at 72 frames per second to achieve realism in scale. Gerry Anderson, who would go on to “UFO” (1970) and “Space: 1999” (1975) confesses he would like to move on to using stringless actors in his productions at some point.
* “The Brains Behind Thunderbirds” (54:18) In this not-behind-the-scenes minidoc copyrighted 2000, stammering supporting character Brains is videotaped discussing the capabilities of International Rescue’s amazing gear, gadgets and personnel. It teems with action highlight clips.
* “Interview With Gerry Anderson” (40:57) carries a 2006 copyright. The “Thunderbirds” creator, in the United States, discusses his impoverished background, his start as a sound editor, his first producing job (which involved producing a 15-minute episode of “The Adventures of Twizzle” per day), his hairy first stab at special effects, the incredible expense of his puppet shows, how he used crew “upgrades” to stretch his money, his frightening first pitch to British showbiz titan Lew Grade, his pioneering efforts in merchandizing, why his puppet heads so big before “Captain Scarletand the Mysterons,” his excitement over the introduction of Eastmancolor, how scientists helped him create robot voices, the pros and cons of his switch to non-puppet projects, and why Robert Culp (whom Anderson does not mention by name) did not become the star of “Space 1999.” He also has a great story about a chance meeting with astronaut Jim Lovell.
This new 40th Anniversary Edition complete-series edition is only $90.99, more than $50 less than the $143.99 series-set issued six years ago.
The “Banacek” mystery-movie series was one of the best things ever, depicting as it did the adventures of supersmart Bostonian who became very rich solving thefts no one else could solve. A post-“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” pre-“A-Team” George Peppard proved exceedingly likeable as the cultured and easygoing immigrant’s son Thomas Banacek, always quick with a quip or one of his dad’s Polish proverbs.
I’m also a big fan of the show’s supporting cast, which featured 23-year-old Christine Belford as the superhot rival investigator Banacek often bedded and always outwitted, and Murray Matheson as Felix Mulholland, a rare-book dealer who could be relied upon to know the few things Banacek did not.
The series sported a fabulous title theme too.
This second and final 1973-74 season featured as guest-stars a pre-“Graffiti” Candy Clark, a post-“2001” Gary Lockwood, a post-“Strangelove” Sterling Hayden, a pre-“Rockford” Gretchen Corbett, a post-“Forbidden Planet” Anne Francis, a post-“Batman” Cesar Romero, and a pre-“Dallas” Victoria Principal. Also? Anne Baxter, Richard Jordan, John Saxon and Linda Evans.
The best news is the second-season set is said to contain “Detour To Nowhere,” the show’s 1972 pilot inexplicably not included on the season-one set, and $19.99 is a pretty sweet price for nine movies.
ER’s eighth season was the last for Mark Greene, and the season’s penultimate episode, “On The Beach,” is regarded by many as the best of the series’ 14 seasons. I’d submit “Beach” as “ER’s” second-best hour to date, behind only season six’s “All In The Family.”
“Torchwood,” which launched last September on BCC America, is a British drama from Russell Davies (“Queer As Folk,” “Doctor Who”) about a team charged with containing alien threats. Note that “Torchwood” is an anagram of “Doctor Who.” Fun!
The critics were generally enthusiastic:
TV Guide says:
… imagine my surprise to be hooked on Torchwood, a cheeky and often startlingly adult spin-off. … But the big mystery among Torchwood's rank and file: Is Captain Jack gay? "Paramilitary is not the dress code of a straight man," quips one of the team. …
The New York Times says:
… It’s possible the space-time rift isn’t the problem, though. I’d do bad things in Cardiff too, mostly because it is lighted here to look like Studio 54 in the mid-1970s. … “Torchwood” is a world I wouldn’t mind seeing erased.
The Chicago Tribune says:
… Part of that appeal stems from the retro good looks of Harkness, a mysterious space adventurer clad in the sweeping greatcoat of a World War II hero. This is just my two cents, but the blue-eyed, square-jawed, energetic Capt. Jack makes Tom Cruise look like a tired old hag. Harkness, who's played by John Barrowman, now has his own show, "Torchwood", and you don't need to know a thing about "Doctor Who" to enjoy this cheeky, sexy sci-fi romp. If you like brisk, escapist alien adventures mixed with a bit of wisecracking and some surprising forays into emotionally charged terrain, this is the show for you.…
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:
… Surrounded by a team of geeks with no lives beyond hunting down aliens and collecting otherworldly technology, Harkness grants Saturday night's stay-in crowd reason to camp out on the couch and not sacrifice any cool. Or at least convince yourself that's the case.…
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… Suffice it to say, if you're a fan of that other Capt. Jack, played with a fey swagger by Johnny Depp in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, you may be equally intrigued by the ambiguous Capt. Jack of "Torchwood." He's a mystery to his team, which argues over whether he's gay or straight (evidently he's bisexual). …
Variety says:
… yields "X-Files"-ish charms with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" bite -- a smart, occasionally salacious hour wryly populated by cheesy monsters. Built around another one of those crack teams assigned to protect the Earth, the quirky interaction within the group (which loses members here and there) elevates the material, as does John Barrowman's "Who"-originated perf as intrepid and mysterious Yank leader Capt. Jack Harkness. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… so good and unsettling and creepy that even grumps like myself can't help but be in its thrall. The genius of the hour from creator/executive producer/writer Russell T Davies ("Doctor Who" and "Queer as Folk") is the way it takes the audience's natural skepticism and stands it on its head as we watch all manner of outrageousness unfold through the eyes of a disbelieving cop. It also doesn't hurt that the male lead, the mega-intense John Barrowman, is a near dead-ringer for the young Tom Cruise. He even sounds like Cruise. This in itself is a form of science fiction come to life. …
To anticipate the question, the second season of “Torchwood” arrives stateside on Saturday via BBC America.
TV-on-DVD Calendar
Last Week
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: Six Crystals
Alex Haley's Queen
All Creatures Great & Small: Complete Collection
'Allo 'Allo 7.x
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown: Deluxe Edition
Bump: Northeastern USA
Bump! Southern California
Extras: The Complete Series Gift Set
Family Guy: Blue Harvest
Family Guy: Blue Harvest Special Edition
Medabots 1.x
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Rockford Files 5.x
Royle Family 2.x
Sabrina The Teenage Witch 3.x
Storm Hawks: Hawks Rise Again
Storm Hawks: Tales From The Atmos
This Week
Avatar 3.x Vol. 2
Banacek 2.x
Barney Miller 2.x
Criss Angel Mindfreak 3.x
Edge of Darkness: The Complete Miniseries
ER 8.x
The Girls Next Door 3.x
Hawaii Five-0 3.x
Hustle 4.x
The Jeff Corwin Experience 1.x
Make Room For Daddy 6.x
The Odd Couple 3.x
The Simple Life 5.x
Swamp Thing 1.x
Thunderbirds: The Complete Series
Torchwood 1.x
January 29
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 5
Blue Murder Vol. 2
Chancer 2.x
Curb Your Enthusiasm 6.x
Damages 1.x
Damages 1.x [Blu-ray]
Emergency 4.x
Hannah Montana: One In A Million
JAG 5.x
Pioneers of Television
SpongeBob SquarePants: To Love A Patty
February 5
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Vol. 2
Beauty and the Beast 3.x
Brotherhood 2.x
Charlie & Lola Vol. 7
Dirty Jobs: Vol. 2 <--- NEW!!
The DL Chronicles 1.x
Jerry Springer: Undressed, Unleashed And Uncensored Vol. 1
Jerry Springer: Undressed, Unleashed And Uncensored Vol. 2
Jerry Springer: Undressed, Unleashed And Uncensored Vol. 3
Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2
McLeod's Daughters 5.x
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 10.2
Perfect Strangers 1.x/2.x
Rides 4.x Vol. 2
Rosemary & Thyme: The Complete Series
Route 66 1.x Vol. 2
Slings & Arrows: The Complete Series
Soul Food 3.x
Strictly Confidential: The Complete Series
Third Watch 1.x
The Whitest Kids U Know 1.x
Wire in the Blood 4.x
February 12
Academy Award Animation Collection: 15 Winners
Academy Award Animation Collection: Winners & Nominees
The Beatrix Potter Collection
Blade: The Complete Series
Bump! Florida
Bump! Gold Coast North America
Chris & John To The Rescue 1.x
Chris & John To The Rescue 2.x
Dallas 8.x
The Equalizer
Family Ties 3.x
General Hospital: Night Shift
George of the Jungle: The Complete Series
Girlfriends 3.x
Hotel Babylon 1.x
Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive Vol. 4
Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive Vol. 5
Tell Me You Love Me 1.x
This Is Tom Jones Vol. 2
February 19
Coach 3.x
Cops: 20th Anniversary Edition
Dragonball Z 4.x
Father Ted: The Complete Series
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Vol. 1 (2002)
It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown: Deluxe Edition
Lillie: The Complete Miniseries
Rides 4.x Vol. 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.x Vol. 1
Walker: Texas Ranger 4.x
February 26
B.L. Stryker 1.x
Comanche Moon: The Complete Miniseries <--- NEW!!
The Color Honeymooners Vol. 2
Dark Shadows: The Beginning Vol. 3
Extras: Finale Special
Family Affair 5.x
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are go... again.
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Gets more gay as it goes along. i have no problem with having a gay lead, i think its one of the few daring right moves the bbc has done in a while... but why is it now one of the main topics of every episode? theres only one straight guy in the series and hes a scumbag. makes it hard for many people to relate. and while this is all happening the women have nothing to do except watch and look a bit jealous.
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Anyone else curious over the sudden drops in price of HD-DVD systems. Maybe Warners turn to Blue-Ray has the manufacturers of HD-DVD desperate. I'm glad I'm holding pat to see how this turns out before I invest. The thing that stinks though is I'm still buying films in the standard format; I could be getting them in HD. I already avoid non-HD channels on my TV. It's like watching EP on a video tape compared to DVD now. Once you turn there's no going back.
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Uh... did you mean STARGATE?
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damn, it might not seem possible but watching Team America is even funnier if you've ever seen Thunderbirds (or Stingray, Joe 90 or Captain Scarlett).
p.s. the 2004 film was an abortion. i watched 20 minutes and gave up. -
BOUT FOOKING TIME YOU SLOPPY CUNTS!!!!!!!!
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That was Robot Chicken: Star Wars
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...gets 3 of the 5 "Best Song" nominations. That pleases me. However, even though 'Happy Working Song' and 'So Close' are great songs... 'Thats How You Know' is the easy standout.
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That sure makes a nice option for your dvd collection, no matter WHAT happens with the HD format war. Sweeeeeet!
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Yup, you can say that again. I picked one up at Costco for $129, with 300 and Bourne discs, and HDMI cable. So figure about $30 per disc, and a 6 foot HDMI cable for say $40 bucks, thats an upconverting HD DVD player for 30 bucks...and the upconverting works like a charm.
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Worth a watch
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How many times to have to ask this?
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Ah. Thanks!!
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Is there some other Torchwood than the crappy mess that was BBC's Torchwood series one? The first episode of series 2 is a much better start than series 1 combined.
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It's been available overseas for awhile now.
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Yeah, I know. It'll never see a DVD release. Shame because it's some of Steven Collins' early work (ala Indiana Jones). I just loved that show as a kid. (Hell, I love just about anything with 'monkey' in the title!)
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to jump on the Indy bandwagon.
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But I've heard rumors like that before and it hasn't happened yet. But, yeah, the Indy release would be the prefect time for it, if ever. Maybe something good WILL come out of Lucas dipping into a dried up well. LOL
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But then, I'm not a homophobe, so I'm fine with all the pansexuality on the show. It's fun. It's not meant to be serious SciFi. It's a romp in the Who-niverse, and I enjoy it for what it is.
Besides, I kinda like Eve Myles. She has a lovely, sexy Welsh voice, and a nice ass.
That will of course be completely ignored when Freema Agyeman gets on the show for her run-- Ahh, Freema. The second or third most gorgeous woman in the world, in my book. -
There is one, the Camp Crystal to Manhattan one dontcha know?
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like i said, i think its great that Torchwood has a gay lead character in an action show. my problem with it is they remind us of the fact rather than getting on with it. Capn Jack doesnt need to suck the face off every male character just so we remember hes gay. Its part of his character, and it should be played like every other romance in a show like this; slow and understated. Its almost is if they're milking it for shock value. besides, theres nothing cooler than a hero whos hurting; who doesnt get what he wants. Jack Bauer never gets the girl, Dr Who gets to watch his relationships fall apart constantly... jack should be the same. right now the strongest sub plot is that he wants a girl he cant have.... but this is subverted by him getting off with anyone he find along the way. i really dont have a problem with realistic gay relationships in any kind of show... i more have a problem with the fact that the guy we're supposed to care about is a massive tart who'll sleep with anyone or anything.
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The first series was a mess and focused far too heavily on the sexuality of the characters, the second series has got off to good start but we'll see if it disapears up it's own ass by the end!
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and Jimbo is working on it right now!!!!
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But Swamp Thing the comic when Moore, Tottleben, and Bisset were on it is some of the best comic action ever. The American Gothic storyline was amazing!
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Great Job indeed, can't wait for this dvd.
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My bad. Neither were what I thought (or hoped. I feel a bit let down.). Just goes to show that when you put those words into your header, you get ppl's interest. Mine especially. Next time I will read the header much more carefully.
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Started out a little awkward and then was really powerful by the end. Worthy of purchase.
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Although it would make sense to cash in on Indy Jones by releasing Tales of the Gold Monkey, I doubt it's going to happen for one reason: Hell only freezes over once! The reason I say that is that Universal apparently has announced that they will FINALLY re-release the old Mystery Science Theater 300:The Movie DVD that has been out of print for so long. :P
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Offended me in an entirely different way, mainly the amount of abuse innocent family's took. they managed to make an action pack 45 minutes that was so damn depressing that i was hoping for some light-hearted guy on guy just to lift the mood a bit. It was a doctor who foray into Eli Roth terratory....
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I don't get it sometimes
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While i am sure some people disliked Torchwood due to homophobia, a much better reason is that the first season was mostly shite. The last coupleof episodes were good, but the rest was pretty weak.
Second season is good so far tho -
...they keep referring to it as "fun". Jeez, were they watching series one? Or does series two begin with this "fun" they speak of, maintain the fun and that's what they were watching? Because watching the main characters screw up their primary relationships with each other and their significant others (or destroy innnocent lives as Obscura mnetioned) or having only Capt. Jack and the ladies have one-off gay relationships (and in the ladies case it was because they were being manipulated by the alien of the week)... excuse me, where's the fun?
Still it has joined my list of "Compulsively-watchable-but-depressing-want-to-slit-your-wrists-shows of 2007" with only AMC's Mad Men beating it for sheer man's inhumanity to man drama. -
"One of the funniest police comedies ever," the box says. Like there were so many of those. "Car 54," "Police Squad"... uh... Rowan's "Thin Blue Line"... uh... "Keystone Cops"? How many other "police comedies" WERE there?
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It's a blatant excuse for the Beeb to ram PC platitudes down the throats of the sci-fi fans (or "homophobes" as ZeroCorpse and other TW fans like to refer to those who dislike the show) and consider such things as plot, writing, tone as secondary. It doesn't make sense for a second. Last week (first episode of the second season in the UK) Captain Jack entered an office with Ianto, then went into a line about how offices seem exotic to him, therefore they turn him on. Offices turn Captain Jack on.
Funniest fucking thing I've heard all week.
Yes, you can take it as a non-serious titillating (if you get off on watching men snog men, or indeed women snog women) silly sci-fi show, and possibly enjoy it. What pisses me off is this idea that it's a serious, dark, edgy, adult spin-off companion show to DOCTOR WHO, when plainly it's a gay cross between SCOOBY-DOO and BUCK ROGERS. I'm not kidding, the FLASH GORDON movie feels like the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in comparison to TORCHWOOD. It's amazing how bad this is.
Cards on the table, people: Of all you TORCHWOOD fans, how many of you are supporting it because it's the only sci-fi show out there right now putting homo/bisexuality up there with the main characters, and how many of you watch it for the riveting stories, the nuanced and solid acting and the complex, though-provoking plots?
Some of us TW haters aren't homophobes. We're badly-written, craply-acted, poorly-plotted, pointless-show phobes. And it don't come more pointless than TORCHWOOD. -
Is mighty fine. Big step up from the dog's breakfast of series one.
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you make yourself sound homophobic when you waffle bullshit about political correctness conspiracies just because homosexuality in it. Yeah that was awkwardly crowbarred in, but not due to political correctness, but because it was done badly!
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Star Trek The Animated Series is "vastly encheapened", will ya?
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