SUPERMAN!! MYTHBUSTERS!! GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION!! SARAH SILVERMAN!! SOPRANOS Blu!! HercVault!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Published on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - 7:25pm

SUPERMAN!! MYTHBUSTERS!! GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION!! SARAH SILVERMAN!! SOPRANOS Blu!! HercVault!!

I am – Hercules!!

Superman: The Complete Animated Series is not only the best of the many animated series featuring the Man of Steel, I deem it better than any live-actor TV series about the character. At $36.99 for all 54 episodes, it averages out to less than $9.25 per season.

For $34.99, The Golden Age of Television: Criterion Collection provides kinescopes of eight live productions:

* “Marty” (1953) Written by Paddy Chayefsky (“The Americanization of Emily,” “The Hospital,” “Network,” “Altered States”) for NBC’s “Goodyear Television Playhouse.” A homely Bronx butcher contemplates a romance with a schoolteacher against the advice of his friends and live-in mother. With Rod Steiger (“On The Waterfront,” “The Pawnbroker,” “In The Heat of the Night”) and Nancy Marchand (“Lou Grant,” “The Sopranos”).

* “Patterns” (1955) Written by Rod Serling (“Twilight Zone,” “Planet of the Apes”) for ABC’s “United States Steel Hour.” A young exec thinks he sees his future in a bullied, aging middle-manager. With Richard Kiley (“Blackboard Jungle”), Ed Begley (“12 Angry Men,” “Inherit The Wind”) and Everett Sloane (“Citizen Kane”).

* “No Time for Sergeants” (1955) Adapted by novelist/playwright Ira Levin (“Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Stepford Wives,” “Deathtrap”) from the novel by Mac Hyman for ABC’s “United States Steel Hour.” A country boy finds himself contending with more worldly superiors after he’s drafted into the Army Air Corps during World War II. Andy Griffith (“The Andy Griffith Show”) made his first television appearance here opposite Harry Clark (“The Phil Silvers Show”).

* “A Wind from the South” (1955) Written by James Costigan (“The Hunger,” “Mr. North”) for CBS’ “United States Steel Hour.” An Irish country innkeeper falls for a troubled tourist. With Julie Harris (“East of Eden,” “The Haunting”), Donald Woods (“Tammy”) and Merv Griffin.

* “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (1956) Written by Serling for CBS’ “Playhouse 90.” A slow-witted fighter tries to figure out what to do with himself after his boxing career ends. With Jack Palance (“Shane,” “The Professionals,” “City Slickers”), Keenan Wynn (“Dr. Strangelove,” “Herbie Rides Again”) and Ed Wynn (“Mary Poppins”).

* “Bang the Drum Slowly” (1956) Adapted by Arnold Schulman (“Goodbye, Columbus,” “A Chorus Line,” “Tucker: A Man and His Dream”) from the novel by Mark Harris for CBS’ “United States Steel Hour.” A star pitcher in the major leagues tries to help his terminally ill bumpkin catcher get through one last season. With Paul Newman (“Exodus,” “Road To Perdition”), Albert Salmi (“Daniel Boone,” “Petrocelli”) and George Peppard (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Banacek,” “The A-Team”).

* “The Comedian” (1957) Written by Serling for CBS’ “Playhouse 90.” An ill-behaved TV star makes life hell for his brother, wife and writer. With Mickey Rooney (“Boys Town,” “Night at the Museum”), Mel Torme (“Land of No Return”), Kim Hunter (“A Steetcar Named Desire,” “Planet of the Apes”) and Edmund O'Brien (“White Heat,” “The Wild Bunch”).

“Days of Wine and Roses” (1958) Written by J.P. Miller (“Helter Skelter”) for CBS’ “Playhouse 90.” An ad exec and a secretary fall in love with each other and too much cheap liquor. With Cliff Robertson (“Gidget,” “Charly,” “Spider-Man”) and Piper Laurie (“The Hustler,” “Carrie,” “Twin Peaks”).

Extras include:

* Commentaries by directors John Frankenheimer, Delbert Mann, Ralph Nelson, and Daniel Petrie.

* Interviews with Frankenheimer, Griffith, Harris, Hunter, Kiley, Laurie, Marchand, Palance, Robertson, Rooney, Steiger, Torme and Carol Serling.

* A booklet featuring an essay and liner notes on each program by Paley Center curator Ron Simon.

In 1965 you could you sell a laughtrack sitcom to CBS depicting Nazis as harmless nincompoops! Extras on Hogan's Heroes: The Complete Series:

* An alternate, extended version of the series’ original pilot (33:30) It’s in black and white, and it’s introduced by CBS sitcom stars Fred MacMurray (“My Three Sons”) and Bob Denver and Alan Hale (in costume from “Gilligan’s Island”).

* A clip from CBS’ 1965 fall preview show “Seven Wonderful Nights” (5:33) Essentially a very lengthy promo utilizing a big hunk of the show’s pilot.

* Audio of star Bob Crane’s band playing the theme from the show (2:36). Crane plays the drums.

* Mad Magazine parody “Hokum’s Heroes.” It eventually devolves into a spinoff called “Hochman’s Heroes,” an even more popular show about a bunch of fun-loving Jews awaiting execution at Buchenwald!

* Richard Dawson Remembers The Early Days (15:11) Learn the half-American Dawson, now 77 and looking a lot like Merv Griffin, auditioned for the role of Hogan. Learn Dawson did a Liverpool accent in the original pilot but looped the lines with a Cockney accent following a conversation with a displeased CBS exec. Learn Dawson’s sons loved “Hogan’s Heroes” when they were kids. Learn Dawson was a big Jack Benny fan.

* Richard Dawson Remembers The Cast (16:25) Learn Werner Klemperer’s father Otto was a famous orchestra conductor. Learn Larry Hovis became Dawson’s best friend. Learn Robert Clary (birth name: Robert Max Widerman) was interned by the Nazis at Dachau. Learn the actors who played Klink, Schultz and Burkhalter were, like Clary, Jews. 1992’s “Auto Focus,” in which Dawson was portrayed by Scottish “American Dreams” regular Micahel Rodgers, goes undiscussed.

* Richard Dawson Remembers Fond Memories (13:02) Learn John Banner liked to sleep a lot between shots. Learn that the entire cast bought a racehorse together. Learn Dawson’s favorite episode was the one with the chimp dressed as LeBeau.

* A conversation with series co-creator Albert S. Ruddy (11:55). Learn the first draft of the “Hogan’s Heroes” pilot was set in a white-collar American prison where the prisoners were in charge, but no advertiser wanted to sponsor a sitcom about prison. Learn that Ruddy and his friends created the show with zero writing experience. Learn William S. Paley told his CBS underlings that he found the idea of portraying Nazis as comic characters “totally reprehensible.” Learn that following “Hogan’s” success, Ruddy was invited to a meeting with Robert Evans and Peter Bart at Paramount, where he pitched his 15-page treatment for 1974’s “The Longest Yard” and his idea for “Little Fauss and Big Halsy,” and walked away with a three-picture deal. Learn the writers of “Stalag 17” sued CBS over “Hogan’s” while Ruddy was in New York producing “The Godfather.”

* Alternative season-one episode from Germany, in German with English subtitles (25:29) with an introduction (4:29) by Ruddy. Ruddy explains that no German broadcasters wanted to buy the show despite its popularity in other foreign markets until somebody decided to give the show a new German dialogue that sometimes departed dramatically from the original English-language script. The reworked show, which joked about such contemporary matters as the Berlin Wall, became a big hit in the fatherland.

* “Hollywood Palace” clip featuring the cast (4:50). Series owner Bing Crosby does the introduction. Schultz and Klink chase the five main POWs to Hollywood and make topical jokes involving hippies and “F-Troop.”

* Black and white Footage of the 1968 “outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series” Emmy victory for Werner Klemperer (1:28) Klemperer does not thank Don Knotts for leaving “The Andy Griffith Show.” Receiving the ’68 award, presented by Steve Allen, Klemperer thanks the show’s five writers by name.

* Color footage of the 1969 “outstanding supporting actor” (I guess the categories for comedy and drama were combined that year?) Emmy victory for Werner Klemperer (1:50) Klemperer’s competition here was Greg Morris (for “Mission: Impossible”) and Leonard Nimoy (for “Star Trek”). Receiving the ’69 award, presented by Goldie Hawn and Knotts, Klemperer thanks producer-director Edward Feldman and all his castmates by name. Interestingly, the Emmys were apparently held that year simultaneously in venues in Los Angeles (where Hawn and Knotts were presenting) and New York (where Klemperer accepted).

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