I’ll Take “TV Shows That Take Place in Ohio” for 100, Alex
Region 1 DVD Releases for April 24, 2007
I can’t believe I’m going to have to watch American Idol tonight. Anyway…
The Queen
Stephen Frears’ witty, insightful dissection of the Royal Family’s reaction to the death of Princess Diana earned Helen Mirren the most predictable Oscar since Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Capote the year before. Which is not to say she doesn’t earn every ounce of it. Michael Sheen also gives an Oscar-worthy performance (not that he was nominated) as a young, beloved Tony Blair (remember that?) trying to mediate between the public, the press and a seemingly oblivous monarchy.
Extras include commentary with Frears and writer Peter Morgan and a separate commentary track by Majesty author Robert Lacey
Night at the Museum (2-Disc Special Edition)
Ben Stiller struck Christmas gold again with this adaptation of the children’s book by Milan Trenc. Almost $250 million. For all that, critics never really took a shine but, then again, they weren’t too hot on Meet the Fockers, either (about $280 million). Disc 1 has two commentary tracks (director/writers) while Disc 2 offers loads of featurettes.
Deja Vu
Critics were more or less on board with this sci-fi time travel thriller which reunites Denzel Washington with director Tony Scott for the third time (Crimson Tide, Man on Fire). Also one of the first films to shoot in New Orleans after Katrina. Basically a bunch of featurettes for extras.
WKRP in Cincinnatti: The Complete First Season
I’m guessing a tangle of music licensing disputes kept this hilarious series off DVD for so long, but now it’s finally arrived and yes, this is the season with the Thanksgiving episode and yes, that’s reason enough to get the whole set. Extras include cast and creator commentary as well as brand new interviews with the cast.
The Drew Carey Show: The Complete First Season
One of the more underrated sitcoms, never achieving the high profile of a Seinfeld, Cheers or Friends while often being just as funny and creative. No surprise half the leads went on to Whose Line. Also had a kick-ass theme song by The Presidents of the United States, but that didn’t kick in until season three. I think there’s maybe like, one featurette and a spoof in the extras.
More here.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Actually, all reports say to avoid the WKRP box set like the plague, especially if you are/were a fan of the series. The music rights issue was never really resolved, except to say that when the show was put into second-run syndication, much of the original, proper rock music was stripped out in favor of a mix of licensed and public domain music, some of it matching the feel of the original, some wildly inappropriate. This was because back in the 70’s, no one thought about music rights & syndication, let alone home video sales.
The problem, unfortunately, is that the replacement music was either dubbed directly onto the vault copy of the episode, or the vault copy no longer exists, leaving only a version used by a station for the syndication package. And the overdubs weren’t done in multitrack format, so the replacement music and the dialog live on the same audio track. So even if MTM could work out all of the music clearances, the original audio no longer exists, and the overdub makes it near-impossible to isolate the dialog.
Which brings us to the present day. Yes, the series is on DVD. Except that the some of the replacement music is still in place. In some cases, tho, where the replacement music isn’t public domain, the DVD producers couldn’t get clearances. And because of the issues with the overdub I mentioned before, inserting new replacement music wasn’t an option. So some scenes were CUT ENTIRELY, rather than deal with the rights issues involving the stock music.
It’s a damn shame, because I loved WKRP as a kid - it made me want to be a DJ…for a period in my younger days, anyway - and I’d love to have a DVD version of the show that restored the original audio, or at the very least retained the episodes in their entirety as I remember them from 80’s syndication, but that’s not what you get here. This DVD set is a nostalgia trojan horse.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:55 am
That is sooo disappointing. That’s it. We’re building a time machine and going back and taping all the original eps as they first aired. Who’s with me?