This week on DVD…(06/17/07)…

Updated on July 17, 2007 By Ken Begg 9 Comments

Mostly TV shows this week, with a nice smattering of good shows from different eras.

The longest-running dramatic network series ever (20-plus years) was Gunsmoke, and following previous releases of some ‘best of’ sets, we now get the entirely first season on six discs.  When the show started it was a black and white half-hour program, but it is best remembered as the color hour-long show it later became.  See how it all started.

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio collects the entire Saturday morning cartoon run of that show, and is fun, goofy stuff.  Now if they would just put Herculoids out.

The Incredible Hulk Season 2 continues the tale of Bill Bixby’s Dr. David Banner and his emerald alter-ego.

Martin & Lewis: The Best of the Colgate Comedy Hour should please nostalgia and old variety show buffs.  30 hours of stuff!

My Favorite Martian Season One.  Although listed in some places as a “Best of Season 1” this does seem to be the complete season set. 

The Rookies Season One:  A nice mix of a pretty good show with a soupcan of ’70s camp with-it-ness for flavor.

Voyagers was a fun, short-lived kid’s sci-fi fantasy show mostly remembered now for the tragic death of its star, Jon-Erik Hexum, just a year or two later.  Comparing Hexum to Bruce Campbell would be a bit much, but he had a similarly fun vibe.  Collects all 20 episodes.

 

 

As for movies:

The fine folks at Criterion brings up Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, with Kirk Douglas as an unscrupulous reporter exploiting a tragic story for his own career gain.  It’s a pretty terrific, if not exactly uplifting, film.  This would make a terrific double bill with A Face in the Crowd, I’d think. 

MGM has thoughtfully collected all three movies into the Happy HookerTrilogy.  Thanks, MGM!  One of the few characters, you’d think, played by both Lynn Redgrave and Joey Heatherton.

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  • Fox Cutter

    I remeber “Voyagers!” and rather liked the series. I’m going to have to rent the DVDs soon.

  • I definately recall it to be a fun show as well. Hopefully it holds up.

  • Ed Richardson

    Friday nights meant The Hulk and Wonder Woman; then my mom took over the tv for Dallas. The Hulk was a really good show for its day. When you were 9 or 10 the transformation scene held a lot of drama for you.

    Who would have thought then that Marvel characters would be raking in hundreds of millions in just 20 odd years? We went from Lou Ferrigno getting spraypainted to the character being binary code. That’s pretty wild.

    A Wonder Woman movie would be very wicked. Carter would have to cameo as the Amazon queen or something. I know who I would get to be Diana – Rose McGowan. Charlize Theron has the height and legs for the amazon, but McGowan has the hair and look of the comic book and has a cool toughness. CGI could bring off the invisible jet scenes. I can already imagine a cool dogfight set piece where McGowan is the only thing visible in the air but when the invisible jet banks hard or when it tears through clouds the water vapor shows its outline. Yeah!

  • I know Joss Whedon was attatched to a Wonder Woman movie for a while, but it feel through. Given how well Spider-Man did this year, and since I think Iron Man and the Hulk and Batman sequels should do very well next summer (unless one or more of them sucks, although I don’t expect that), I think DC will start pushing the idea again.

    Assuming Iron Man and the Hulk both do well, and given that they are actually being made by Marvel, expect a veritable flood of Marvel-produced movies (Captain America, Thor, the Avengers, etc.) kicked into production by the end of 2008.

    I have to say, though, I’m pretty disappointed with the Marvel / Lionsgate animated movies. They just haven’t gone anywhere. The Hellboy animated films are *much* better.

  • El Santo

    If you are talking about Ultimate Avengers 1 & 2, I agree. I thought they should’ve either stuck closer to the grittiness of the of the Ultimates or gone with the more upbeat tone of the pre-Civil War New Avengers. The result didn’t do much for me. I actually rank it lower than the X-Men animated series from the 90’s; sure, the animation of UA was better, but it lacked soul.

    Also, I haven’t seen the Invincible Iron Man totally, but I did see snippets when it aired on the Cartoon Network. It was the scene where Tony Stark was … ahem … starkers in the hot tub with a fine young lady. And it aired early evening (around 6 pm, I think). I remember my brother and I looking at each other, and me saying, “Wait a minute. They’re allowed to show that on the Cartoon Network? This early?”

    How times have changed. It used to be you could turn on the TV and relax to cleaner fare, like watching the Powerpuff Girls beat the pulp out of a drag-queen Satan. Good times….

  • Ed Richardson

    I have yet to catch the Marvel animated series, although like most of us I was a HUGE fan of the early 80’s Spiderman cartoon. Again, Friday was the day – right after I got off the bus I got hooked up with a snack and then it came on.

    Speaking of cartoons, you guys will never guess what VHS I picked up for one dollar in a flea market the other day.

    Fire and Ice

    I never saw it but read a little about in Starlog or something when I was a kid.

  • David

    This is probably the worst place to put this question, because it’s totally unrelated to this post. On the other hand, I’ve never been accused of being particulaly bright, so you get what you get.

    I’ve never commented here before, because anything I might have to say is generally articulated better and more promptly by somebody else. I do truly enjoy this site, though, and I believe that the least I could do as a regular reader is contribute a modest sum towards your hosting and DVD costs, pursuant to your unofficial anniversary fund-drive thingy (and whenever else in the future I think of it).

    Which leads me (finally) to my question. How the heck do I do it? I’ve looked this site over extensively and can’t seem to find an Amazon or Paypal button, or any other sort of link or donation instructions.

    It’s entirely possible that I’m an idiot who’s missed something obvious, so if you could spell out the procedure using very small words I’d appreciate it.

  • David —

    Sorry! We never installed a tip jar here because it’s not like we generally get a lot of tips. (I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m bitching, because I’m not.) There is one on the front page of the Jabootu.com site, though. It’s on the left-hand tool bar. I’ll probaby mention the tip jar thing to Chris and we’ll eventually put one here, too.

    Thanks for thinking of us, whether you donate or not.

  • The Rev. D.D.

    Birdman and the Galaxy Trio? I’m there (when I can afford it)!

    I really need to see those animated Hellboy cartoons as well. I caught part of the one with the vampires (“Blood and Iron”?) and it looked great, but I REALLY want to see that first one, with the Japanese critters in it. I love the less well-known mythologies like that…