Big Little Lies: The Complete Second Season Big Little Lies The Complete Second Season (2019) (Warner Bros.-2020) When Big Little Lies debuted on HBO in 2017, it was proof positive – if more was needed – that television drama had surpassed film as the go-to destination for Hollywood’s creative community. Created by longtime television icon David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice), based on a hit novel by Liane Moriarty (who also contributed to the writing of the series) an

Supergirl – The Complete Fourth Season Supergirl The Complete Fourth Season (2018-2019) (Warner Bros.-2019) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow The Complete Fourth Season (2018-2019) (Warner Bros.-2019) The Greg Berlanti-fronted DC Universe of TV series has been going on for quite a while now as Arrow heads into its eighth and final season. The shows have mostly been relatively popular (based on the curve that many of them have run on the CW, which has low enough ratings in general to g

The Deuce – The Complete First Season The Deuce The Complete First Season (HBO Home Entertainment – 2018) New York City in the 70s was dirty, sleazy, violent and wild, but it also had a certain throbbing energy that the current Disney-ification of the city has pretty much defanged. Long before sky-high rents and massive chain stores turned the city into the world’s largest mega-mall, New York was America’s dangerous heartbeat; a throbbing, passionate netherworld of crime, mus

24: Legacy – Season One 24: Legacy Season One (2017) (Fox Home Video – 2017) It’s a little disorienting to return to the universe of 24 without Kiefer Sutherland’s scowling super-Fed Jack Bauer saving the world. However, Sutherland has left the role behind. He’s now saving the world as President in Designated Survivor. What is CTU going to do? This reboot of 24 is different from the original series in several ways, so the fact that they have a new lead role is not all that sh

Designated Survivor – The Complete First Season Designated Survivor The Complete First Season (2016-2017) (ABC Studios) It is sort of ironic that Designated Survivor is becoming so popular running during the Trump administration. In many ways, President Tom Kirkman (played by Kiefer Sutherland) is many things that Trump promised he would be on the campaign trail (and then he promptly broke all those promises when he was voted in): A non-partisan political outsider who is will

The Magicians – Season One The Magicians Season One (Universal Home Video) The Magicians is sort of like what Hogwarts Academy from the Harry Potter books would be like if it were visualized by MTV – lots of gorgeous college-aged students misbehaving and experimenting with spells, sex and bacchanalia. This new series, which debuted on SyFy Channel last December, is based on the trilogy of novels by Lev Grossman – The Magicians (2009), The Magician King (2011) and The Magician

The Dick Cavett Show – John & Yoko Collection The Dick Cavett Show John & Yoko Collection (Shout! Factory-2005) It’s 1971 and John Lennon is now thirtysomething. His life, finally, is getting interesting. Always on the cutting edge, this time he is on the verge of getting his peacenik ass thrown out of the United States, and not just because he is inflicting Yoko Ono on a nation who never asked for her. Facing deportation for drug possession (and other things that offend Pres

The Brady Bunch – The Complete Fourth Season The Brady Bunch The Complete Fourth Season 1972-1973 (Paramount Home Video-2005) Something suddenly came up, all right – it’s Season Four of The Bunch, just to boogie with you. The gang makes a group leap into adolescence, and the vibe is even more incestuous now that we have the maternal great-grandmother running off to Vegas with the paternal great-grandfather. As Marcia would observe, real mat-chur. You can dress ‘em up in the m

The Frank Sinatra Show – High Hopes The Frank Sinatra Show High Hopes (MVD-2005) The old and true adage that “it’s Frank Sinatra’s world – we just live in it” is best illustrated during his Rat Pack years, from the very late fifties until the early sixties. Here you see the Chairman of the Board in his glorious, power-pipe action, during one in a series of “spectaculars” for the struggling ABC network from 1957-1960 (culminating with his famous welcome-home-from-the-army for

The Ed Sullivan Show featuring The Beatles The Ed Sullivan Show Four Complete Historic Episodes featuring the Beatles (SOFA Entertainment-2003) Ironically, the Beatles’ impact on modern popular culture has been diluted and diminished thanks to the very thing they themselves hath wrought: their successors, wanna-be’s and imitators, wearing us down with forty years of excessive noise.  These trashy new neighbors have brought down the worth of the Beatles’ property value. Second

Candid Camera – Five Decades of Smiles Candid Camera Five Decades of Smiles (Rhino Video-2005) Candid Camera – the original reality show – began life on radio as Candid Microphone in 1947, at the dawn of the television age. Its creator, Allen Funt, would spend the rest of his life championing this can’t-miss concept, making it the longest-running entertainment program in history – with good reason. The idea of Candid Camera needs no explanation, but it sure did when it debute

Las Vegas – Season One – Uncut and Uncensored Las Vegas Season One – Uncut & Uncensored (Universal/NBC-2004) As glittery, fast-paced, fun and frantic as the city that inspires it, the series Las Vegas is an overwhelming triumph of style over substance. Full of greed, action, jackpots, neon lights and beautiful women and men, the show is as good an advertisement for the gambling capital as you can find. The fact that it’s actually a rather well-written, well-acted and enjoyabl

Dallas – The Complete First and Second Seasons Dallas The Complete First and Second Seasons (1978-1980) (Warner Home Video-2004) When Dallas premiered in early 1978, it was just what America’s doctor ordered. The previous decade had turned us wussy, and there seemed to be no cure for our malaise (even our president said so).  The United States had been reeling from the same old miserable mantra (Vietnam, Watergate, the oil embargo, inflation, Laverne and Shirley…). The countr

The Brady Bunch – The Complete Third Season The Brady Bunch The Complete Third Season 1971-1972 (Paramount Home Video-2005) There is so much more to Season Three than Greg’s tremendously awkward growth spurt. This is easily the best year of the series, encompassing everything from the clan’s wild escapade in Grand Canyon to Jan reaching out to us with the immortal phrase, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” Here, we also learn that apparently there aren’t enough days in the year to acc

Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids: The Original Animated Series – Volume 1 Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids The Original Animated Series – Volume 1 (Urban Works-2005) Hey! Hey! Hey! It’s Fat Albert! And it’s about time. Forget the recent lame Fat Albert feature film, a new 3-DVD collection, Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids – The Original Animated Series (Urban Works) is just the primer you need to enjoy the comical exploits of this musical gang of lovable misfits. Created by Bill Cosby, Fat

Disneyland USA Disneyland U.S.A. Walt Disney Treasures (Disney-2001) The Disney Company, in all its market-hogging magic, can trace its TV legacy back to the medium’s inception, in 1954. It was that year in which the fledgling, struggling ABC network invested millions of dollars in the construction of the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. In return, Walt Disney was forced to host a weekly children’s program called Disneyland. This devil’s bargain turned out to be

The Brady Bunch – The Complete Second Season The Brady Bunch The Complete Second Season 1970-1971 (Paramount Home Video-2005) The second season of The Brady Bunch is a letdown only in that there are absolutely no commentaries or extras – not even from its tireless promoter and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz – nor from any of its cast members, most of whom are always game for a Brady-related hoot. This is curious, being that this is the pivotal season that miraculously s

Fat Actress – The Complete First Season Fat Actress The Complete First Season (2005) (Showtime-2005) “She’s not the same chick from Cheers, is it?” a cop asks in awesome wonder when spotting Kirstie Alley outside her lavish California home. Not too long after that, a parking valet asks her, “When is the baby due?” A black NBC executive observes, “she has an LA face and the Oakland booty.” And when The King of Queens’ Leah Remini has gained a few pounds, she is overheard by Al

Dragnet 1967 Dragnet 1967 Season 1 (1967-1968) (Universal-2005) It’s easy to be hard on Dragnet 1967, with its obvious squareness, its sexlessness, its lack of (intentional) humor and its blatant modesty. However, the only real weak link in its chain is its obsessive need to deliver an easy, uninspiring payoff. Each cop-n-criminal tale is a success story – no cold cases here. There are never any surprises, which is – unsurprisingly – exactly what its ultra-conservative audien

Entourage – The Complete First Season Entourage The Complete First Season 2004 (HBO Video-2005) Entourage moves like an entourage – messy, aimlessly, shark-like, looking for trouble and always finding it. The next great HBO series screeches up next to you and dares you to jump in the ride. According to this savvy show, it seems that The New Hollywood is nothing new at all. Times may have changed, but sex and power drives have not. The clichés of making it in The Big Orange ar