THE FACTS OF LIFE SEASON 4 (1982-1983) DVD Review

THE FACTS OF LIFE was one of the most popular TV sitcoms of the 1980's. Maybe not in the ratings (it never broke out of the top 25-30 range), but it had a long life in syndication. It was regularly on afternoon television. NBC even aired it during the day for much of the 1980's. And, I watched it more than most sitcoms from the era.

I still remember that first Molly Ringwald season when it premiered in 1979. I was there through the years of Mrs Garrett's Edna's Edibles and even the later years with George Clooney and Cloris Leachman helping to run the Over Our Heads gift store.

The series was last seen on DVD when Sony released Season Three in late 2006. They then moved away from TV on DVD and the series seemed to be stalled.

I'm happy to say it is back on track. Season Four is now being released by Shout! Factory.

Season 4 was the 1982 to 1983 season. This was Jo and Blair's final year at Eastland before heading off with Mrs. Garrett to open up Edna's Edibles.

The season opened up with the two hour movie THE FACTS OF LIFE GO TO PARIS. This was a popular gimmick for many series. FAMILY TIES went to London a couple years later. It was always strange to see a shot on videotape sitcom appear on location in an episode on film.

Watching the series again, I was struck by how the 1980's seem to treat issues in a different way. For example, there is an early episode where Natalie writes an article in the school paper about a student who has an abortion. There is really no discussion about abortion in political terms. In fact, it is more about journalist ethics than anything else. I don't think this type of episode could air today without protests from both sides, or being so sanitized that it can't offend anyone.

Not that this was a political show. This was FACTS OF LIFE after all.

This is a 4 DVD set. The episodes in this season are:

THE FACTS OF LIFE GO TO PARIS (9/25/82) - The two hour film.

AIN'T MISS BEHOLDEN (9/29/82) - Jo may need financial help from Blair.

THE SOURCE (10/6/82) - Natalie writes an article about abortion.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE (10/27/82) - Tootie has hearing problems.

THE OLDEST LIVING GRADUATE (11/3/82) - An elderly woman wants to leave money to Eastland.

DIFFERENT DRUMMER (11/10/82) - Blair tutors a mentally challenged man.

DEAREST MOMMIE (11/17/82) - Natalie learns the name of her birth mother.

A WOMAN'S PLACE (11/24/82) - Jo gets promoted, over her boyfriend.

DADDY'S GIRL (12/1/82) - Blair gets audited.

THE BIG FIGHT (12/8/82) - In this pilot for a proposed spin off, Natalie visits a military school.

FOR THE ASKING (12/15/82) - Natalie plans to boycott a dance.

SEPTEMBER SONG (12/22/82) - Mrs Garrett gets a marriage proposal.

A ROYAL PAIN (1/5/83) - Royalty enrolls at Eastland.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1/12/83) - Jo is worried about the boy Blair is dating.

UNDER PRESSURE (1/19/83) - Mrs Garrett suffers from high blood pressure.

TEACHER'S PET (1/26/83) - Jo's favorite teacher is dying.

LET'S PARTY (2/9/83) - A special episode about drinking and driving

BEST SISTER: Part 1 (2/16/83) Part 2 (2/23/83) - Blair sister (THE BRADY BUNCH's Eve Plumb) wants to become a nun.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (3/9/83) - Mrs. Garrett's cooking instructor from Paris comes to visit.

WHO'S ON FIRST (3/30/83) - Tootie is jealous of Natalie's new boyfriend.

HELP FROM HOME (4/6/83) - Jo once again may need financial help from Blair.

TAKE MY FINALS, PLEASE (4/27/83) - The girls study for finals.

GRADUATION: Part 1 (5/4/83) Part 2 (5/4/83) - Blair and Jo graduate.

The DVD also includes a 15 question trivia game. I got an A, with two wrong.

SHOULD I BUY IT?

If you are a fan, please buy it. After four years, it is great to see this series continue. Lets hope we see the rest of the episodes (it ran for nine seasons) on DVD.

THE FACTS OF LIFE SEASON FOUR will be available on DVD May 4, 2010 from Shout! Factory.

NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS (1958) DVD Review

NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS began as a popular book in 1954, written by Mac Hyman. In 1955, it was turned into a TV film starring Andy Griffith. Later that year, it made it to Broadway, also starring Griffith. It ran for two years.

In 1958, it was adapted to a film, once again with Griffith. And that film is now on DVD.

NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS features Griffith as Will Stockdale, the quintessential “country bumpkin”, living on a farm when he is hauled in (by Dub Taylor) for dodging the draft, a draft he wasn’t even aware of. He is sent to the Air Force.

The film follows his misadventures on the base. He takes particular delight in cleaning the latrines, a chore meant as punishment. He goes through a series of psychological tests, administered by Griffith’s future TV parter Don Knotts.

NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS still holds up quite well, thanks to Griffith’s winning performance. How can you not love Andy Griffith? This isn’t Sheriff Andy Taylor here. Griffith plays a character closer to Gomer Pyle (whose spin off GOMER PYLE USMC owes a lot to this film).

The film has some big laughs. The scene with the toilet lids is worth a rental alone for. Myron McCormick, Nick Adams and Murray Hamilton also star.

Interestingly enough, the material was also turned into a TV series very briefly in 1964 where it is said to have aired opposite THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. It did not last long.

Warner Home Video’s release has a very nice black and white transfer. There are no extras. It would have been nice to include the TV version, but that is already available on Criterion’s "Golden Age of Television" DVD.

SHOULD I BUY IT?



For fans of Andy Griffith, this should be a must buy.

MARCUS WELBY M.D. SEASON ONE (1969-1970) DVD Review

MARCUS WELBY M.D. ran on ABC from 1969 to 1976. It followed the adventures of a family physician (played by Robert Young). James Brolin played Dr. Steven Kiley, his partner.

With today’s talk of health care, the show seems like out of another world. “Doctor’s making house calls? Dr. Welby carrying around a little black bag and diagnosing people at will without worrying about insurance? What kind of socialized conspiracy are we seeing here?”

The show had enough of a following that in its day it was one of the most popular shows. In its second season, it was the highest rated show on television.

It is now being released in a seven DVD set from Shout! Factory.

This set features all 26 episodes from the the 1969 to 1970 season. What should make this of particular interest for film fans is that one of the episodes was directed by Steven Spielberg.

The set opens with A MATTER OF HUMANITIES, the 2 hour pilot TV movie that set up the series, with Welby hiring Kiley to run his practice with him. This aired on March 26, 1969. The show would begin in September of 1969 and run for the next seven years.

The episodes are:

A MATTER OF HUMANITIES (3/26/69) - The pilot film.

HELLO, GOODBYE, HELLO (9/23/69) - A woman has only a few months left to live.

THE FOAL (9/30/69) - Welby helps an autistic child.

DON’T IGNORE THE MIRACLES (10/7/69) - A woman wants to have an abortion after finding out her husband is cheating on her.

SILKEN THREADS AND SILVER HOOKS (10/14/69) - A man wants to film a documentary on his wife who has had a stroke.

ALL FLAGS FLYING (10/21/69) - A veteran wants to take a life threatening voyage.

ECHO OF A BABY’S LAUGH (10/28/69) - A woman has a difficult pregnancy.

THE WHITE CANE 911/14/69) - A blind man gets his sight back.

THE VRAHNA’S DEMON (11/11/69) - A diver learns he has emphysema.

MADONNA WITH KNAPSACK AND FLUTE (11/18/69) - A pregnant woman has mono.

HOMECOMING (11/25/69) - The doctors treat an LSD user.

LET ERNEST COME OVER (12/9/69) - A policeman wants to keep his condition quiet.

THE CHEMISTRY OF HOPE (12/16/69) - A boy with leukemia doesn’t know of his condition due to his parents waning to keep it secret.

NEITHER PUNCH NOR JUDY (12/23/69) - A priest has asthma.

DIAGNOSIS: FEAR (12/30/69) - A man goes to a faith healer rather than a doctor.

THE SOFT PHRASE OF PEACE (1/6/70) - A man is injured in a demonstration.

FUN AND GAMES AND MICHAEL AMBROSE (1/13/70) - A diabetic refuses to take insulin.

THE LEGACY (1/27/70) - A woman has a tumor and has to deal with her roommate, a heart patient.

DANCE TO NO MUSIC (2/3/70) - A scientist may have a hereditary disease.

GO GET ‘EM TIGER (2/10/70) - Dr. Kiley has to give a physical to a friend.

NOBODY WANTS A FAT JOCKEY (2/17/70) - A jockey has to lose weight.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHART (2/24/70) - Dr. Kiley has chicken pox.

THE MERELY SYNDROME (3/3/70) - A woman has seizures.

SEA OF SECURITY (3/10/70) - An oceanography student is told not to dive.

THE DAREDEVIL GESTURE (3/17/70) - Dr. Welby is told to keep a hemophiliac’s condition a secret. This is the episode directed by Steven Spielberg.

ENID (3/24/70) - A woman may be addicted to prescription drugs.

THE REBEL DOCTOR (4/14/70) - A doctor tries to keep his clinic open.

The only extra is a very nice booklet with an episode breakdown.

SHOULD I BUY IT?



While it may be dated by today’s standards, for those with memories of the show, this is a very nice set.

SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS: THE 1980's Volume 1

Warner Brothers SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS series has been one of the more entertaining sets in the past few years. Each 2 DVD set features several hours of cartoons from a different decade. There have been two volumes of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Now, they are entering the 1980’s, the decade I knew the best.  The cartoons are mostly from the Hanna Barbera / Ruby Spears library.

In the 1980's, the cartoons moved away from the well known characters of earlier decades. It wasn't so much Yogi Bear and friends as it was more action oriented cartoons. Many of the lighter cartoons were blatant product promotions.

The majority of the cartoons here are from the mid to late 80's, when I had grown out of Saturday Morning Cartoons. There were a few I saw an episode or two of, but there were others that I have no memory of whatsoever.

That said, others are sure to remember them. And even if you didn’t, the set is once again a lot of fun. While some may hope for complete series sets of some of the series here, for many, would you really want them?

The episodes on the set are:

Disc One (Total Run Time: 2:15:34)

GOLDIE GOLD AND ACTION JACK -  This is a sort of a futuristic female version of Richie Rich in an adventure show. Released in 1981, I have no memory of this.

CHUCK NORRIS KARATE KOMMANDOS - Introduced by a live action Chuck Norris, this Ruby Spears series from 1986 is another adventure series with Norris, along with his ninja and sumo fighter friends fighting evil. Aparently only five episodes were made.

THE COMPLETELY MENTAL MISADVENTURES OF ED GRIMLEY - Martin Short's character from SCTV and SNL got his own series in 1988. It features the voices of most of the SCTV gang (Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara and Dave Thomas) as well as Jonathan Winters, Rene Auberjonois and Arte Johnson. The cartoon also features live action segments with another SCTV character, Joe Flaherty as Count Floyd.

THE FLINSTONE KIDS - From 1986 is this reworking of the Flinstones characters. I remember the Captain Caveman cartoons more than the Flinstone Kids..

MR. T - Much like the Chuck Norris cartoon, this 1983 cartoon features live action introductions with the star of THE A-TEAM (who really deserves a comeback). Like Chuck Norris, Mr. T and a group try to save the world from evil.



Disc Two (Total Runtime 2:09:40)

THE BISKITTS - A cartoon about a group of miniature dogs living in medieval times from 1983.

MONCHHICHIS - I remember the Monchhichi dolls, my sister had them. Yet this 1983 cartoon based on the little monkey like creatures that live in a tree, I have little memory of.

GALTAR AND THE GOLDEN LANCE- A Conan like cartoon from 1985, with wizards and spaceships and dragons. Again, zero memory of this, but Helen Hunt is billed as one of the voices.

DRAGON’S LAIR - A 1984 cartoon based on the laser disc video game that was quite popular in the arcades in the mid 80’s. The cartoon has a bit of the “What do you choose” aspect of the video game.

THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN - A fairly popular 1980 cartoon of a futuristic world (caused by a worldwide catastrophe in 1994).  One of the creators calls is Tarzan in outer space.

THE KWICKY KOALA SHOW - A throwback to the earlier days of Saturday morning animation, with wacky animals, this 1981 cartoon may be best known as the final cartoon of the great Tex Avery who passed away during the prodcution.

EXTRAS

There is also a documentary on Disc One, LORDS OF LIGHT - THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN (18:30). This is an overview of the series, with new interviews with the Joe Ruby and Ken Spears.

SHOULD I BUY IT?

Absolutely. While this may not be the golden age of Saturday Morning Cartoons, they sure are fun to watch. Let us hope for a Volume 2 with more recognizable cartons (anyone else want to see PAC MAN again?)

THE WIRE - One Of The Greatest TV Series Of All Time

One of the reviews of THE WIRE stated it very simply. There are two opinions of THE WIRE. There are those that think it is one of the greatest TV series of all time. And, there are those that have never seen it.

I’ve now finished watching the series.

It is indeed one of the greatest TV series of all time. It is easily the greatest of the past decade.

And the thing is, I didn’t expect to feel this way. When I first started watching it, it was only out of obligation. But, I was quickly hooked and didn’t want it to end. I was at times going through four episodes a night, like a great novel.

If you haven’t seen the show, and please believe me, you should see it, I will keep this spoiler free, not even talking about what characters appear after the first season.

Here is a brief overview of the series.

SEASON ONE - The Major Crimes Unit in the Baltimore Police Department is created, made up of a group of unwanted detectives and officers from around the Department. Dominic West plays Jimmy McNulty, Wendell Pierce is Bunk, Sonja Sohn is Kima, Seth Gilliam is Carver, Domenick Lombardozzi is Herc, Clarke Peters is Freamon, Jim True-Frost is Prez and Lance Reddick is Daniels.

Their target is the Barksdale Organization, a drug dealing operation from a set of inner city apartments run by Stringer Bell (Idris Elba).

This is one of the best seasons in that it is the most focused, the smallest. You really get to know the characters, and the locations. The courtyard where the characters congregate becomes a character of its own.

SEASON TWO - This season focuses on the dock workers, and their union, while continuing the storylines from the first.

This is another fabulous season, arguably the best in that it takes an almost Dickensian scope, with all the new characters and storylines. Amy Ryan, who would go on to be nominated for an Oscar for GONE BABY GONE, joined the cast as a cop. Chris Bauer (now on TRUE BLOOD) is fantastic as Frank Sobotka, head of the dock workers union.

SEASON THREE - Here it expands to the political aspect of Baltimore, with the Mayor and City Council playing a big role. Aidan Gillen joins the series as Tommy Carcetti, a politically ambitious city councilman.

Season three may have one of the most interesting segments, as far as the sociological aspects of the show, with a storyline devoted to the attempt at decriminalizing drugs. Season three also introduces “Cutty” (Chad Coleman), who is just released from prison and tries to create a new life. Will he go straight? Get back into the game?

SEASON FOUR - This time, we look at the schools and how the “corner kids” are created. Without giving anything away, one character, who I wish I could write more about because he gives a truly excellent performance, goes into teaching.

Another season candidate for the series best. This time, it is a lot more personal season, focusing on the home lives of the kids and what the influence of family and education is on their decision making.

SEASON FIVE - In the final season, they introduced the media into the series, this time showing the Baltimore Sun and their reporters covering the city.

As much as I hate to say it, I had a lot of problems with this season. The central police storyline involves a character doing something STUPID. Their reasons are right, and many of the characters are opposed to it, that doesn’t stop it from continuing the whole season. Also, the newspaper storyline was a bit too “ripped from today’s headlines” like a LAW AND ORDER episode. Not that it doesn’t work, but it was a bit predictable, something THE WIRE usually isn’t.

That said, this is still a very good season. The secondary characters are again interesting. Clark Johnson is excellent as the newspaper city editor. And I just noticed that Tom McCarthy, who played a reporter, is the same Tom McCarthy who wrote and directed two amazing films, THE STATION AGENT and THE VISITOR.

The good thing about season five, with it being the final season, it does wrap things up well. There isn’t a SOPRANOS like stunt ending. There is closure. Some of the characters get happy endings. Some are tragic. But, there is an ending here, not an annoying cut to black.

The entire series is interesting because it never plays by the regular rules of TV. It expects its audience to be intelligent. While most TV shows will show Scene A which leads to Scene B which leads to Scene C, here, they might eliminate Scene B, maybe even Scene A, and expect that the audience knows what happened just from showing Scene C.

It also doesn’t play things in black or white. Some of the drug dealers are portrayed in very real, human terms. These aren’t just bad people, even though they are at times doing horrible things. We get to understand why they are that way, what society has done to them. They all play by their own rules.

All the secondary characters are fully developed. From Bubblies (Andre Royo), the junkie informant, to the feared Omar (Micheal K. Williams), and the hit man and woman team of Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Snoop (Felicia Pearson). No less than Stephen King has called Snoop one of the scariest female characters ever. Hard to argue that.

There is also Michael Potts as Brother Mouzone, the bowtied assassin who is more interested in his reading material than anything else around him. And I have to mention Dukie (Jermain Crawford), Poot (Tray Chaney), Proposition Joe (Robert Chew), Clay “Sheeeeeeee-it” Davis (Isiah Whitlcok Jr) and the excellent J.D. WIlliams as Bodie. I could go on and one but I won’t.

THE WIRE demands you pay close attention. Characters from previous seasons appear in little scenes that you might not even pick up on. For example, in Season five, a character, unseen since season two, pops up to yell at a character. Unless you saw season two, and remembered him, you may not know why he was yelling.

In listening to part of the commentary to one episode, I was told that the character on the screen, an ex-junkie in a meeting, had appeared in two previous episodes. I didn’t recognize her without the commentary, but as soon as they mentioned it, I immediately did.

Plus, in one season, you see a character sitting in a gay bar. It is only a less than five second shot, that I actually had to rewind the see if it was really him. No mention of this is ever made again, but it adds to the background and the audience’s understanding of the character.

Honestly, I don’t know how the show worked as a weekly series. It is so rich, with so much going on, it demands to be watched all together. Unlike many hour long series, it holds up as a full story, and doesn’t feel like so many series today that it is being made up as it goes along.

Again, if you have never seen THE WIRE, please do so. I will go so far as to say no film in the past decade is as rich, as socially relevant, than this series.

It is truly one of the greatest TV series of all time.

LOCAL HERO Director Bill Forsyth Returns to Pennan Scotland

If you can't already tell from the image currently on this site's title screen, Bill Forsyth's LOCAL HERO is one of my favorite films of all time.

On Youtube yesterday, I happened to find this video.



BBC Film Critic Mark Kermode (who seems to love the film as much as I do) returned to Pennan, Scotland where the film was shot, bringing along Forsyth. It was his first time there since filming 25 years before.

The two even host a screening for the town (where only six residents live year round). Through it, Forsyth gives a bit of director's commentary.

A wonderful tribute to one of the greatest films ever made.

Also in Forsyth news, yesterday, the New York Times had a bit on Forsyth in the US hosting a screening of some of his work.

And, his last film to receive any type of release in the US, BEING HUMAN with Robin Williams, will soon be available through the Warner Archive.

Now Warner, please issue LOCAL HERO in Blu-Ray!

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986) "Mystery in The Mist" DVD Review

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

A version of the Sherlock Holmes story, only with mice. Basil searches for a kidnapped toymaker. Vincent Price voices the evil Professor Ratigan.

WHO MADE IT?

Based on the “Basil of Baker Street” books, the film was adapted by ten writers, most part of the Disney stable of animation writers (who also worked on OLIVER AND COMPANY and THE BLACK CAULDRON among others)

It was directed by the team of Ron Clements and John Musker(who would both go on to direct THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN and the recent THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG), Burny Mattinson (MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL) as well as Disney writer Dave Michener.

IS IT ANY GOOD?

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE came about at the beginning of a rebuilding time for the Disney studios. Walt had been gone for over a decade and the studio was struggling. They had recently begun releasing PG rated films through their Touchstone label. And, Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, and Jeffrey Katzenberg had recently taken over the studio.

While well received by critics, the film isn’t quite as well known as THE LITTLE MERMAID and some of the animated films from later in the decades. For me, it was originally released when I had “outgrown” Disney animated cartoons, but I did see it theatrically during its rerelease in 1992.

At 74 minutes, this is a very fast paced film. It is one of the first Disney animated films to use computer animation. While the music may not be as memorable as later Disney films, this is more of an adventure story. And, its a pretty good one at that.

WHAT IS ON THE DVD?

Previously released in 2002, this is the new “Mystery in the Mist Edition”. While I don’t have the previous DVD, the new version claims to be an all new digital restoration. It does look quite good, clean and with bright colors.

It appears that most of the extras are the same, with the exception of two Donald Duck cartoons. The two, “Clock Cleaners” (which was shown theatrically with the 1986 release) and “Donald’s Crime” are on the Chronological Donald DVDs (which are sadly out of print).

Also on the DVD are:

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SLEUTH (4:42) - A history of detectives. Geared to younger audiences.

THE MAKING OF THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVES (7:53) - A making of featurette, featuring interviews with Vincent Price, Roy Disney and others. Taken from the original DVD

“The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” SING-ALONG SONG (2:00) - A sing along version of the song, with text on the screen to sing along with.

There are also the recent promotional extras for digital files and Blu-Ray.

SHOULD I BUY IT?

If you don’t already own the film, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE is worth adding to your animation library.