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Published on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - 1:59am |
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Season-Boxes Denied You 2!!Herc
Not much in the way of TV DVD coming out on the heels of the holiday week. Far more compelling, once again, is what we crave.
Two weeks ago in this space I moaned about the absence of season-sets for “Chicago Hope,” “Cupid,” “Ed,” “Gideon’s Crossing,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” “Line of Fire,” “Maverick,” “Now and Again,” “The Rockford Files,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Tenspeed and Brownshoe,” “The Venture Bros.” and “The Wild Wild West,” as well as a dearth of latter seasons for “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Murder One,” “Twin Peaks” and “Wiseguy.” Then I saw the talkbacks, and immediately seconded the emotions of those who wanted to see these released on season-box:
1) Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Every episode, I believe, made me laugh aloud, but the third – with Andy’s gorgeous anti-Semite girlfriend – was so funny it made me poop my pants a little. Nineteen half-hours were produced. Five apparently never aired.
2) Buffalo Bill. It starred Dabney Coleman (“You’ve Got Mail”), Geena Davis (the “Stuart Little” movies), Max Wright (“The Norm Show”) and Joanna Cassidy (“Six Feet Under) in an ahead-of-its-time sitcom about a mean-spirited and thoroughly self-involved talk-show host. They made 26 half-hours. Eleven aired during the summer of 1983. Fourteen aired early the next year. One never aired at all. And guess what? Lions Gate announced this week that all 26 episodes are coming to DVD on Sept. 6 - with an SRP of less than $30.
3) Clone High. A silly but witty, well-considered animated half-hour with a surprising amount of character development, it boasted one of the catchiest theme songs in the history of history. One episode saw Principal Scudworth endure a perfectly hi-larious roadrunnery feud with a devious skunk. Joan of Arc and Cleopatra pursued pillowy bedroom antics. And if you’re inclined to indulge tasteless humor, make sure it’s as funny as a line like “Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys!” Has anyone here seen Abraham, Gandhi and John?
4) Daria. “I am not going to pierce my bellybutton. It never did anything to me.” MTV cranked out 65 episodes over five seasons between 1997 and 2001. How many are on DVD? None! Daria, Jane and Trent all watched a show called “Sick Sad World” and mocked everything in their orbits. I miss Morgendorfer.
5) Eyes. Right up there with “Rockford Files,” “Moonlighting” and “Veronica Mars” as one of the best private-eye series ever aired. Created by John McNamera, who earlier created “Profit” (alongside “Angel” creator David Greenwalt). Genuinely funny. Great characters. Nine episodes shot. Only five aired, earlier this year.
6) Mission: Impossible. A highly addictive cold war adventure hourlong about a supersecret squad of black ops agents who foil with elaborate ruses high-level mobsters and Iron Curtain communists. The series, which ran from 1966 to 1973, exists in one of those “Brazil” universes; the Impossible Missions Force hadn’t quite figured out microcassette recorders and VCRs, but employed technology that still doesn’t exist in 2005 (like tiny telescopes that can enhance the resolution of videotape images – and those famous pull-off masks that can make anyone look exactly like anyone else). The fifth season might be especially fun to own: Not only was it Leonard Nimoy’s second year, but a 26-yar-old mustache-free Sam Elliott (“The Big Lebowski,” “Hulk”) and a 24-year-old Leslie Ann Warren (“The Limey”) both joined the IMF. (And it’s eerily appropriate that J.J. Abrams wound up directing the third “Impossible” movie, since no other series more resembles “Alias.”)
7) My So-Called Life. The teen adventures of Angela Chase, Brian Krakow and Rayanne Graff has already been issued on DVD, but the show cries out for a reissue. Used DVD copies (the ones containing all 19 episodes) are going for between $198 and $250. New sets are now going for $320 to $350.
8) Pasadena. In 2001, after Mike White wrote on “Freaks and Geeks” - but before he wrote the screenplays for “Orange County,” “The Good Girl” and “School of Rock” - he created a darkly comedic primetime soap about a publishing dynasty with criminal ties. It was easily 100 times smarter and funnier than “Desperate Housewives.” Thirteen hours were shot; Fox only aired four, two of them less than a month after 9/11. It starred Alison Lohman (“Matchstick Men,” “Big Fish”), Natasha Gregson Wagner (“High Fidelity,” “The 4400”), Balthazar Getty (“Lost Highway”), Mark Valley (“Keen Eddie,” “Boston Legal”), Martin Donovan (“The Opposite of Sex”), Dana Delany (“China Beach”), Chris Marquette (“Joan of Arcadia”), Nicole Paggi (“Hope & Faith”) and Philip Baker Hall (“In Good Company,” “The Amityville Horror”).
9) Relativity. The series the great Jason Katims created between his writing stint on “My So-Called Life” and his creation of “Roswell,” it was about two L.A. families – one blue-collar and Jewish, the other not – that intersect when their twentysomething kids meet and connect in Italy. It starred Kimberly Williams (“According to Jim”), David Conrad (“Miss Match”), Jane Adams (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Poppy Montgomery (“Without A Trace”), Lisa Edelstein (“House”), Devon Gummersall (“My So-Called Life,” “Roswell,” “The L Word”) and Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”). Seventeen episodes aired in 1996 and 1997.
10) The Tick. Long before he created the peepee demon on “Angel,” Ben Edlund created a comic book, a Saturday-morning cartoon series and a live action sitcom, all about a strange, slow-witted superman. There were supervillains and sidekicks and other superheroes, and it’s all very entertaining. The entire live-action series has been on DVD for a spell, but none of the 36 animated half hours that ran on Fox between 1994 and 1996.
Future TV on DVD:
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Reader Talkback
Those bastards pulled "Ed" out
of syndication
by Ribbons | Jul 5th, 2005
02:15:01 AM | Help get "Daria" on DVD ...
by MaryPoppinsWrath | Jul 5th, 2005
02:35:14 AM | Bakersfield P.D.
by L Ron Hubbard | Jul 5th, 2005
02:40:06 AM | "Way way back in the 1980s ...
da da da da da da da dum..
made a
by Tall_Boy | Jul 5th, 2005
02:40:34 AM | What about The Adventures of
Brisco County Jr???
by PacinoHatersGoHo | Jul 5th, 2005
02:49:55 AM | The Tick back on TV
by Bungion Boy | Jul 5th, 2005
02:57:43 AM | Where's my Dream On
Seasons 3 & 4?
by prisonerksc2303 | Jul 5th, 2005
02:58:09 AM | Four words: LEAVE... IT...
TO... BEAVER!
by 3D-Man | Jul 5th, 2005
03:26:16 AM | Where is the pre-moustache
Steve Austin?
by brezzel | Jul 5th, 2005
03:28:37 AM | Mildly excited about
WildC.A.T.S., how about the
animated DUNGEO
by 3D-Man | Jul 5th, 2005
03:28:50 AM | The Paula Marshall Collection
by Hell's Cigarette | Jul 5th, 2005
03:47:40 AM | Ed is Dead
by Incomplete Gamer | Jul 5th, 2005
03:52:54 AM | Eyes was brilliant
by Krangelus | Jul 5th, 2005
04:43:43 AM | Some more you've
forgotten!
by Deaks100 | Jul 5th, 2005
04:55:51 AM | I second Bakersfield PD
by Jazza2 | Jul 5th, 2005
06:44:50 AM | Bakerfield P.D is very special
by John-Locke | Jul 5th, 2005
07:18:08 AM | Maximum Bob
by John-Locke | Jul 5th, 2005
07:21:27 AM | The 90s Spiderman cartoon
by Rapmaster C | Jul 5th, 2005
07:26:40 AM | SALVAGE 1 with Andy Griffith!
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:44:28 AM | CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? Where
are you??
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:46:24 AM | CBS's Beauty and The Beast
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:50:28 AM | QUARK with Richard Benjamin
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:52:21 AM | One word: LUCAN
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:54:29 AM | IT'S ABOUT TIME with Joe
E. Ross
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
07:57:55 AM | Ooooooh!!! X-files
Colonization...
by Yeti | Jul 5th, 2005
08:01:25 AM | BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!!!!!
by ntypryz | Jul 5th, 2005
08:32:05 AM | I second Six Million Dollar
man... HURRY before Hollywood
ruins
by BurlIvesLeftNut | Jul 5th, 2005
08:41:07 AM | Finally! Some Daria and
Michael Palin love on this
site!
by chrth | Jul 5th, 2005
08:44:13 AM | GIMMIE GIMMIE
by WILPOWER | Jul 5th, 2005
09:04:59 AM | Duckman
by DanielKurland | Jul 5th, 2005
09:17:11 AM | David E. Kelley should be shot
by natedogg103 | Jul 5th, 2005
09:33:32 AM | www.tvshowsondvd.com
by bluebottle | Jul 5th, 2005
11:27:47 AM | Hey what happened to my posts?
by John-Locke | Jul 5th, 2005
11:53:03 AM |
by foreignerbelt | Jul 5th, 2005
12:08:23 PM | Deadwood??
by SickPuppy | Jul 5th, 2005
12:17:22 PM | Syncronize SWATCHES
by SamBlackChvrch21 | Jul 5th, 2005
12:48:48 PM | You are certainly missing a
few...
by Doran | Jul 5th, 2005
01:10:37 PM | There was nothing remotely
great about Eyes...
by ryLRci | Jul 5th, 2005
01:42:19 PM | Where the hell is GvsE on
DVD??!!!???
by boast | Jul 5th, 2005
01:43:41 PM | Good stuff, but once again I
say... MISFITS OF SCIENCE!!!
by robogeek.com | Jul 5th, 2005
02:02:59 PM | first!
by Hercules | Jul 5th, 2005
02:43:00 PM | The Days and Nights of Molly
Dodd
by matrix69 | Jul 5th, 2005
03:01:40 PM | Growing Pains
by yanksno1 | Jul 5th, 2005
03:10:03 PM | oh, and of course E-Z STREETS
by matrix69 | Jul 5th, 2005
03:48:53 PM | Taboo?
by Pageiv | Jul 5th, 2005
05:41:51 PM | Herskovitz and Zwick
by nny777 | Jul 5th, 2005
09:14:50 PM | police squad!
by nny777 | Jul 5th, 2005
09:23:52 PM | TV on DVD part doh!
by Darkman | Jul 5th, 2005
09:30:08 PM | This week on ACCORDING TO
JIM...
by Uncle Stan | Jul 5th, 2005
09:41:44 PM | I'm still waiting for
by Silverhour | Jul 5th, 2005
10:46:10 PM | We need all of the Disney
Afternoon cartoon shows on
DVD.
by Osmosis Jones | Jul 5th, 2005
10:54:14 PM | Sliders 4.x?
by Silverhour | Jul 5th, 2005
11:07:05 PM | Sliders 4.x?
by Silverhour | Jul 5th, 2005
11:11:00 PM | THIS SUMMER
Space:Above&Beyond!!!!!!!
by DarthTaterSalad | Jul 5th, 2005
11:18:36 PM | How about...
by johncage | Jul 5th, 2005
11:27:04 PM | Whoops, you forgot Brisco
again...
by Hamtaro_Hentai | Jul 6th, 2005
12:56:10 AM | MSCL has been on DVD for what
- nearly 2 years now?
by elab49 | Jul 6th, 2005
02:52:56 AM | Relativity was a good one
by cromulent | Jul 6th, 2005
04:16:48 AM | THAT'S MY BUSH
by UES | Jul 6th, 2005
10:06:04 AM | TALES OF THE GOLDEN MONKEY!
POWERS OF MATTHEW STAR!
AUTOMAN! STA
by superhero | Jul 6th, 2005
10:44:24 AM | Well, that's
embarassing...
by Silverhour | Jul 6th, 2005
11:28:00 AM | Push, Nevada.
by octavis | Jul 6th, 2005
02:14:11 PM | Arrested Development season 2
by cornstalkwalker | Jul 6th, 2005
02:48:33 PM | Wow, talk about short term
memory...
by Ardee-El | Jul 6th, 2005
02:54:24 PM | Max Headroom. Brimstone.
Police Squad!
by Logo Lou | Jul 6th, 2005
09:55:03 PM | Silverhour....
by DarthTaterSalad | Jul 6th, 2005
11:42:57 PM | Star Fleet!
by gigaloff | Jul 7th, 2005
02:41:10 AM | Seaquest or bust...
by Andruin | Jul 7th, 2005
04:42:59 PM | You have forgotten the
obvious:
by Grape Ape | Jul 7th, 2005
11:48:12 PM | CLONE HIGH DVD
by Freecajunlove | Jul 9th, 2005
12:33:25 AM | Oh another show
by Freecajunlove | Jul 9th, 2005
12:34:21 AM | SOAP and THE RIFLEMAN
by jhpiii | Jul 9th, 2005
12:57:58 PM | Those who loved Ed deserve it
to themselves...
by Chicken2nite | Jul 9th, 2005
03:21:52 PM |
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