June 2010 Archives

DVD DEALS: Warner Archive's big sale

June 28, 2010 5:07 PM

Talk about timing. Right after we post a column about direct-sale archive DVDs, big-daddy Warner Archive decides to celebrate the 4th of July with massive discounts -- buy $50 or more, get $15 off and free shipping.

That's a great deal on goodies that include TV-movie pilots, series sets, vintage feature films, hard-to-find cult faves, short subjects and more -- all manufactured when you order them (so you won't see them in stores).

Choose from nearly 600 items, ranging from 1920s silents to '90s feature films to last year's CBS series Eleventh Hour and TNT's Dark Blue.

You know you want Mamie Van Doren's 1957 prison flick Untamed Youth. (See her suffering behind bars above.)

Read more at our DVD page. Or click to go direct to Warner Archive.

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WATCH THIS: Lapping up 'Party Down'

June 24, 2010 9:02 PM

Okay, I'm going for broke on this one -- Party Down is TV's best current comedy. As it eavesdrops on a Hollywood cater crew full of wannabes waiting for their acting/singing/writing talents to be appreciated, this Starz show sketches a deliriously relatable world of indignity, disappointment, faux pas and, oh yeah, gut-busting hilarity.

Friday's second-season finale delivers on all counts, with an ace return appearance by Jane Lynch, the Glee fave who made an equally sharp mark on Party Down's first season as the bit player forever delivering sage "wisdom" to her younger compatriots (when not smoking dope in the restroom with old flame Ed Begley Jr.).

This time, her free-spirited Constance Carmell is the cateree, getting married to a bum-ticker millionaire (Alex Rocco) whose claws-out daughter (Jennifer Irwin) wants the pre-nup signed pronto. Which all sounds cliche, but -- as usual with Party Down -- turns out to be anything but.

For all this show's seeming stereotypes -- dim blond actor/singer/model, bitter "hard sci-fi" scripter, dejected actor unhappily recognized for a TV commercial catchphrase -- these characters live as wide a range of emotions as anybody on the air. We ride along as they're variously yearning to succeed, frantically attempting to network, playing pranks on each other, decrying their lots in life, killing time with various intoxicating substances, and embarrassing themselves with inappropriate behavior at unfortunate moments around all the wrong (right) people.

But while you're laughing at their foibles -- and these episodes are spontaneously, outrageously, choke-on-your-drink funny -- you're aching for their ambitions. Party Down loves, loves, loves these people, which far too many comedy shows, especially the "edgy" ones, ultimately don't. This show never makes fun of their efforts or aspirations, even when they seem seriously deluded. It's pulling for them to get what they want, even if it's a Soup'r Crackers franchise, the dream of the earnest "team leader" found at last season's porn convention with his pants down.

Dreams are not only indulged here, they're required to get through the dreariness of daily existence when everybody else seems to have everything they ever wanted. (But really don't.) They're the ballast of life in haven't-made-it-yet Hollywood.

And Party Down makes them tangible. Friday's season-ender leads us to wonder what Constance's marriage motivations are -- Money? Love? Something to do? -- but resolves it all in an emotionally honest way. And she's not the only one. Even sad-sack commercial "star" Henry (Adam Scott) may find a way to hit the accelerator on his stuck-in-neutral life.

Party Down takes delightful advantage of having a fresh situation slate every week, when the cater crew lands in a different location among another group of L.A. strangers -- young Republicans, porn conventions, backstage with rock stars, sweet sixteen parties, funerals, draft days, and, inevitably, Steve Guttenberg's birthday. The situations alone can make an episode worth watching, while providing particularized moments of both humor and heart. Watching the regulars bounce off so many kinds of others adds multiple shades of nuance to their souls.

And they're not repeating themselves, the way so many characters on other shows start to do. It helps that Party Down does 10-episode seasons, certainly, but these cater crew members viscerally live and breathe and evolve. The show doesn't sell them out for jokes, and it isn't constrained by network formatting (straightforward plots that end cleanly) or standards (which means: swearing, nudity, drug use, adult situations). Smart people here do dumb things, and simpletons can get complicated. Incidents start and end erratically, or simply stumble through. The party hounds around them are just as finely sketched by wonderfully deft guest actors. (Among them: J.K. Simmons, Jimmi Simpson, Thomas Lennon, Steven Weber, and Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell from producer Rob Thomas' cult gem Veronica Mars -- and this week's bombshell cameo by a star playing himself. Can't say who it is -- it's just too convulsive a surprise.)

Party Down lets us be the fly on the wall, but it doesn't make false moves for our benefit -- not like The Office, having its characters glance at the "documentary" camera, punctuating a joke to make sure we get it. This Starz show is a sublime slice of life going on with or without our presence, underplaying its humor, and trusting us to keep up with its wacky world.

(Party Down is also available via Starz On Demand on many cable systems. And the episodes are available for streaming via Netflix. You can also watch online.)

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FLICK PICKS: Movies not on DVD

June 24, 2010 6:58 PM

Two of my favorite not-available-on-DVD films are coming up on Turner Classic Movies in the next week. Hearts of the West (Saturday at noon ET, TCM) is 1975's warmhearted portrait of early western moviemaking, pairing naive Hollywood aspirant Jeff Bridges with delightfully mean cowboy star Andy Griffith. The Solid Gold Cadillac (Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, TCM) is the 1956 comedy gem starring the brilliantly effervescent Judy Holliday [photo below] as a little-guy stockholder who causes big trouble for a big corporation.

Also coming up on TCM but not DVD are such vintage favorites as 1938's Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald musical Sweethearts (Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET), 1949's Betty Hutton delight Red, Hot and Blue (late Tuesday at 1:45 a.m. ET), Tom Laughlin in young director Robert Altman's 1957 social drama The Delinquents (Thursday night at midnight ET), and Jack Benny's 1942 comedy with Ann Sheridan, George Washington Slept Here (late Friday, July 2 at 12:15 a.m. ET).

Yes, I know one or two of these actually did get released on DVD at some point. But they're not in print anymore. TCM used to have a scheduled "not on DVD" showcase, but now it's catch as catch can.

One way to make sure you don't miss something you need to record is to subscribe to TCM's Now Playing magazine (it's really more of a monthly schedule pamphlet), which not only lists films chronologically by airtime and alphabetically, but also spotlights the month's festivals, tributes and showcases like Sunday night silents. I wouldn't watch TCM without it.

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DOWNLOAD THIS: Free first episodes

June 23, 2010 2:37 PM

Looking for some good summer TV? First episodes available for free download at iTunes could get you hooked on quality shows like Friday Night Lights, Damages, Burn Notice, Rescue Me, Lie to Me, The Closer and more.

Not to be outdone, Amazon Video on Demand is offering its own first-ep freebies, including Breaking Bad, V, TV Land's new Hot in Cleveland, and AMC's upcoming Rubicon.

Free downloads are even available in HD. But subsequent episodes will cost you, of course.

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DVD UPDATE: Finally, goodies from the archives!

June 22, 2010 6:50 PM

You know how it is. The more there is to watch on TV -- the more channels, the more shows -- the harder it gets to find the little that's actually worth watching. But that problem is magnified on DVD. Either you can't find the quality shows worth buying, or those gems have such an "exclusive" (read: small) audience that they don't even get released on disc.

What's a discerning viewer to do?

Turn to the internet. That's where we here at TV Worth Watching try to point you toward the best viewing on TV and, increasingly, online. The web is also where more and more DVD distributors are selling obscure goodies and collectors' items direct to consumers, bypassing the retail middleman. That enables the studios to finally make their less commercially viable titles available to the connoisseurs chomping at the bit to to buy them.

Online is where you'll find not-in-stores DVD releases of classics like the pioneering '40s sitcom The Goldbergs and 1983's prescient hostage-coverage TV movie "news report" Special Bulletin. Recent series, too -- Rufus Sewell's Eleventh Hour and Dylan McDermott's Dark Blue. You'll find subsequent seasons of shows discontinued in stores, along with vintage TV movies and miniseries you thought you'd never see again.

Direct-to-consumer titles also range into Christmas specials, cartoons, and the old-time movies you've seen on Turner Classic Movies -- even the short subjects that often seem more delightful than the feature films they fill time between.

Below you'll find a rundown of the distributors now selling direct online. We hope you'll choose the convenient option to click on our links to buy. Then TV Worth Watching will share in a tiny slice of the revenue, to help us pay our bills and keep news like this coming your way.

WARNER ARCHIVE

Warner Archive is an online pioneer that now offers more than 500 titles direct to consumers. This venerable studio's TV output encompasses everything from last season's TNT drama Dark Blue to the '80s miniseries Lace (with its then-shocking, now-camp key line "Which one of you bitches is my mother?"). And Warner's unparallelled movie archive (also encompassing golden-age MGM product) reaches all the way back to Hollywood silents starring Greta Garbo.

The Archive discs are manufactured on demand, which means when you order, the studio burns a disc especially for you, onto the DVD-R discs used in home recorders (the ones with the purple recording surface). These MOD discs don't always play well with home recorders or computer drives, but mine have always worked on standard DVD/BD players. Most titles cost $15-$20 (via DVD and/or Windows Media download; sorry, no Mac), with some multi-disc sets costing more. But Archive goodies frequently go on sale.

I've viewed a half-dozen Warner Archive releases, and the quality is good. Source materials are generally not remastered for DVD, but the film prints are usually clean and, in some cases, indistinguishable from similar retail releases. (Warner's web site offers video excerpts to preview the video quality.) Though few special features are offered, the Archive titles have regular DVD menus and case packaging.

TV titles rescued for release by Warner Archive include Gene Roddenberry's two unsold post-Star Trek TV pilots Genesis II and Planet Earth. Also available are TV movie pilots you never thought you'd see again -- the Vietnam-era "find myself" motorcycle odyssey of Michael Parks in Then Came Bronson, the '60s Medical Center starter Operation Heartbeat with Chad Everett, and Patrick Duffy's 1977 pre-Dallas amphibean adventures in The Man From Atlantis.

Special Bulletin is a must-see -- the 1983 Emmy magnet with its stunning "breaking news" video recreation of a terrorist hostage situation, starring Ed Flanders (St. Elsewhere), David Clennon (thirtysomething) and David Rasche (Sledge Hammer). This searing original was made by the team soon to create thirtysomething, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, whose portrait of TV news isn't pretty but sure is sharp, right down to the "event" logos and catchphrases that package horrifying news like some tiltillating melodrama. (Special Bulletin is also available from Amazon.com, as are some other Warner Archive titles, generally at a higher price than direct purchase.)

Other vintage TV goodies showcase Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1981 docudrama Death of a Centerfold, Ann-Margret in the 1987 Dominick Dunne murder hit The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, and Gene Rowlands as the troubled First Lady of 1987's The Betty Ford Story. Or get more recent with Sewell's short-lived CBS suspenser Eleventh Hour and the first run of McDermott's TNT copfest Dark Blue, which starts its second cable season Aug. 4.

TCM addicts will love Warner Archive's range of movie releases. Silent films unavailable in stores include Garbo's Love and The Temptress, Norma Shearer's Lady of the Night, John Barrymore's Beau Brummel, and Marion Davies' The Patsy. There's also the early talkie all-star showcase Hollywood Revue of 1929, capturing the fascinating growing pains of an industry morphing almost overnight from artsy pantomime to spell-it-out dialogue.

Showbiz portraying showbiz is all over Warner Archive -- Will Rogers Jr. inhabits his folksy father in 1952's The Story of Will Rogers, Danny Thomas remakes Al Jolson in 1953's The Jazz Singer, and late-in-life Errol Flynn plays John Barrymore in 1958's lurid Hollywood biopic Too Much, Too Soon. There's also Chevy Chase riding herd on Munchkins in 1981's Under the Rainbow.

Other offerings range all the way into the 1990s, and you can use filters on the Warner Archive site to search by decade (or genre) to make browsing easier. More recent titles include Johnny Depp's weird 1994 sleeper Arizona Dream, 1989's Penn & Teller Get Killed, Timothy Hutton with then-wife Debra Winger in 1987's moody romance Made in Heaven, and 1980's comedy performance film Gilda Live.

Even more creative -- and more essential -- Warner Archive is packaging hard-to-find short subjects, which offer different windows on the worlds of both vintage Hollywood and mid-century America. TCM fans will recognize the channel's between-films fillers in the 6-disc Big Band, Jazz & Swing set of more than 60 shorts, featuring the likes of Cab Calloway, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, even erstwhile bandleaders Ozzie Nelson and Desi Arnaz (for just $50!).

To buy from Warner Archive, click here:

SHOUT SELECT

Shout Factory has long been the tubehead's best friend in the DVD biz. The pop culture lovers there specialize in preserving touchstones like Freaks and Geeks, Ozzie & Harriet, Peyton Place, SCTV, It's Garry Shandling's Show and thirtysomething in fun-packed sets that fans love finding on store shelves.

Now Shout is offering some shows online-only, especially those perceived to be less commercially viable and more collector-oriented. But Shout goes the full mile with these Shout Direct releases, producing smart booklets that explain historical context, plus as many on-disc extras as they can. In The Goldbergs, writer-producer-star Gertrude Berg virtually invents the TV sitcom, based on her longrunning radio show, and the extras explain that process as well as the social context of its urban immigrant Jewish perspective.

Subsequent seasons of shows that might otherwise remain stalled for distribution also make Shout Direct a wonderful resource. Here's the place to continue collecting not-in-stores seasons of Room 222, Ironside, My Two Dads, Small Wonder and the unsung 1969 teachercom The Bill Cosby Show, an early single-camera half-hour that never gets enough credit for its easygoing innovation. Shout Direct also offers children's content and animation like Bump in the Night and C.O.P.S.

Shout is putting a twist on its own factory store releases by partnering exclusively with Amazon.com on the fourth and final season of thirtysomething, due out Sept. 7.

Buy from Shout Factory Select.

MGM LIMITED EDITION COLLECTION

MGM's Limited Edition Collection is based at Amazon.com. While the studio's earlier output (1920s-1950s) is owned by Turner/Warner, later movies and TV shows not sold in stores are available to order online as manufactured-on-demand sets.

TV DVD sets from MGM include Luke Perry's Jeremiah Season 2 and Poltergeist: The Legacy Season 2, plus both versions of Flipper (the '60s original Season 2 and The New Adventures Season 1). Preorders are open for Broderick Crawford's no-nonsense '50s fave Highway Patrol.

Among MGM's feature titles are Dick Van Dyke big-screen vehicles Cold Turkey and Fitzwilly, the Henry Fonda political drama The Best Man, Rudolf Nureyev's Valentino, and the underappreciated '70s alternative newspaper tale Between the Lines, stuffed to the gills with stars-to-be (John Heard, Jeff Goldblum, Lindsay Crouse, Stephen Collins, Bruno Kirby and more).

Buy from MGM Limited Edition Collection.

MTV/VIACOM

Viacom-owned cable channels like MTV and Nickelodeon have also been unearthing treats to manufacture on demand via Amazon. Nick's kid-aimed MOD discs include season sets of Rugrats, Doug and Hey Arnold!

Fans of MTV's trashtastic Jersey Shore have been able to buy the uncensored Season 1 on Amazon exclusively since February, though it won't hit regular release till July 20. Other titles from MTV channels (including siblings like LOGO) include The Head, The Maxx, Coming Out Stories, Shirts & Skins, College Life, and 16 & Pregnant.

Buy from Amazon's MTV store.

UNIVERSAL VAULT

Universal has partnered with Amazon and Turner Classic Movies' Vault Collection to make available releases not sold in stores. Amazon is where you'll find Jack Webb's 1954 Dragnet movie and 1964's The Brass Bottle with Barbara Eden, which turned into her TV series I Dream of Jeannie (where Larry Hagman replaced the original film's Tony Randall).

Universal movie exclusives from Amazon include Ann-Margret's '60s campfest Kitten With a Whip, Lily Tomlin's The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and further back, Charles Laughton's '30s delight Ruggles of Red Gap.

Turner Classic Movies' web site offers its own Universal Vault titles. Collections spotlight teen musical queen Deanna Durbin and the early work of Cary Grant, plus cult horror treats like 1933's Murders in the Zoo and long-lost gems like Barbara Stanwyck's Christmas story Remember the Night. TCM Vault offerings include extras like intros by TCM host Robert Osborne, original publicity materials, and more.

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FLICK PICKS: Judy's 'Star Is Born' on TCM, Blu-ray

June 22, 2010 6:28 PM

The eye-popping new restoration of Judy Garland's 1954 Hollywood magnum opus A Star Is Born is all over the place this week, and it's a must-see.

Turner Classic Movies aired it as last week's entry in "The Essentials" (June 19 at 8 p.m. ET), the Movies 101 showcase hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne and cinephile Alec Baldwin.

Now comes the magnificent new DVD/Blu-ray release this Tuesday (June 22) -- a lavish multi-disc tribute that includes the restored movie (in high-def on Blu-ray), plus full discs of extras (1 in the BD set, 2 on DVD) that provide an enlightening look at the collaborative craft of moviemaking.

TCM's TV screening looked fine -- especially on TCM HD -- but the Blu-ray set is the ne plus ultra for this dramatic Garland comeback musical that gave us The Man That Got Away. I've screened the BD, and its super-widescreen Cinemascope Technicolor has been painstakingly reconditioned to the point where the film might look more vivid today in this pristine digital format than on the original scratch-prone 1950s theatrical film.

Perhaps more important for many modern viewers, the film's HD clarity, saturated colors and robust multichannel audio remix make this 56-year-old version of A Star Is Born feel as if it might have been made today. The physical clarity adds a fresh immediacy to the already intense emotions and Hollywood sausage factory evocation, helping younger viewers relate to the film's cavalcade of long-gone showbiz venues (like vaudeville and all-powerful movie studios).

The restoration process is explained in the bonus features, which truly go the extra mile. (Many are carried over from 2000's original standard-def DVD release.) Don't skip past the introduction that details the musical epic's filming process, locations, and the sadly eviscerating studio cuts ordered right after the movie's premiere to allow more theater showings per day.

Then sit back and enjoy the presentation of additional Cinemascope takes of Garland's classic The Man That Got Away jam, shot over the course of five months, spanning three costume changes, various set/lighting alternatives, and different performance choices by Garland (many beautifully presented in split-screen pairings for immediate comparison). There's even a fascinating look at an alternate cut of -- spoiler! -- James Mason's climactic suicide scene.

Newsreels and unused footage of the film's jaw-droppingly star-studded Hollywood premiere are joined by a truly delightful half-hour TV special, aired live in 1954 from the Pantages Theatre as a sort of prototype red carpet pre-show. The star parade is astonishing -- seems like everybody from golden-age Hollywood -- and the raw, ragged nature of early TV offers naked glimpses at the real personalities behind the famous facades.

The goodies go on and on -- audio-only archive recordings from rehearsals and interviews, the Bugs Bunny cartoon sendup A Star Is Bored, and trailers from all three Star Is Born productions (the 1937 original with Janet Gaynor, this 1954 remake, and Barbra Streisand's 1976 rock version).

Unless I missed it, though, there's no single how-we-reconstructed-it featurette, which feels sorely missed. Unaware viewers will be surprised to discover this lengthened version of A Star Is Born contains re-inserted sequences using still photos and grainy rehearsal footage over original audio tracks, subbing for excised footage the studio trashed in yet another example of filmdom's short-sightedness about its own artistic and historic worth.

But nevermind. This Star Is Born is just one big wow from beginning to end, anyway. And after all the hoopla over Garland's glorious comeback and Warner Bros.' no-expenses-spared production, the biggest revelation just may be James Mason's engagingly fearless performance. He's the one who anchors director George Cukor's unexpectedly clear-eyed adult approach for a '50s musical. (This was made the same year as White Christmas.)

Helping us savor it all in the Blu-ray package is a glued-in tribute book (a la Dr. Strangelove), packed with great photos and deeper information on the filming, trimming and rebirth of this all-American classic.

More info and purchase options for the 2010 Deluxe Edition here.

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DVD DEAL: 'Dick Van Dyke' complete!

June 22, 2010 4:24 PM

The entire run of The Dick Van Dyke Show on DVD for less than $75? Now that's a deal.

Sorry to be so late posting on it, but it's Tuesday's gold box goodie from Amazon.com, so grab it today only.

That's all five seasons of one of the tube's most enduring comedies, uncut in crystal clear '60s black-and-white, with gobs of great extras tenaciously assembled by ace DVD producer Paul Brownstein (The Twilight Zone) -- cast interviews, commentaries, the original unsold pilot (starring creator Carl Reiner instead of Van Dyke!), original cast commercials and Emmy footage, promos and more.

The list price for The Dick Van Dyke Show complete series is $250, and Amazon reports its regular price at more than $180 -- so grab it Tuesday while you can.

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SNEAK PEEKS: AMC's 'Rubicon,' plus new HBO shows

June 15, 2010 12:55 PM

Now that Breaking Bad has ended another astonishing season, and with Mad Men not back till July 25, fans of AMC dramas can bide their time by downloading a preview of the cabler's newest series -- Rubicon, a conspiracy thriller starring James Badge Dale (24) as an intelligence analyst who gets too inquisitive for his own safety.

Rubicon doesn't debut until Aug. 1, but AMC aired a pilot preview after Sunday's Breaking Bad finale, and now offers that same episode free via iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand and streaming at AMCtv.com.

More quality drama is on the way at HBO, which has posted video teasers for two avidly awaited projects -- Boardwalk Empire, the Terence Winter-Martin Scorsese series about Prohibition-era Atlantic City (video here), and Game of Thrones, the medieval epic based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy bestseller A Song of Ice and Fire (video here).

HBO says Boardwalk Empire is due this fall, with Game of Thrones scheduled for 2011.

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GOOD SPORTS: When sports really are metaphors for life

June 14, 2010 8:56 PM

Sports tend to be either ephemeral -- today's game is gone tomorrow -- or idealized, like the Boys of Summer. NFL Films fuses God, country and paralyzing tackles. As for steroidally super-sized home run sluggers, geez, baseball broadcasters never noticed.

ESPN can be one of the prime offenders. Remember how they canceled 2003's scripted football-team drama Playmakers so as not to offend the NFL with its unvarnished hardly-role-models portrait?

But now ESPN is taking a good long look -- a really, really good look -- back at memorable sports moments, issues and cultural reflections from throughout ESPN's 30-year history. Acclaimed filmmakers have delivered 30 labor-of-love documentaries now unreeling under the umbrella title 30 for 30. The films are so eye-opening and thought-provoking that they've been nominated in the news/information category for this year's Television Critics Association Awards.

Anyone over the age of 20 should be able to relate to this week's premiere of June 17, 1994 (Wednesday, June 16 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN). That's the night O.J. Simpson led Los Angeles police on the infamous "slow-speed chase" as he was being sought in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. But it wasn't the only sports-related happening that Friday. Also taking place were what the film's web site calls "firsts, lasts, triumphs and tragedy" -- the U.S.-hosted World Cup kickoff in Chicago, Arnold Palmer's final U.S. Open round, the New York Rangers parade celebrating their long-awaited Stanley Cup, and Patrick Ewing trying to conquer the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden.

Director Brett Morgen (On the Ropes, Nimrod Nation) distills all of that into "this great window into our own psyche," with so "many emotions wrapped into one day." His images tell the tale -- from slick SportsCenter highlights to searing personal close-ups to the ubiquitous chase coverage that kept the country glued to the tube that Friday night 16 years ago.

Next week's premiere is even more tightly wrapped in societal fabric -- The Two Escobars (June 22 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, after its Spanish-language ESPN Deportes debut June 21 at 9 p.m. ET) focuses on "narco-soccer," as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar helps bankroll his country's hopes to take the 1994 World Cup with a team led by ill-fated captain Andres Escobar.

Doesn't matter if you're not into sports. These are tales of human poignance and cultural imperatives, made mesmerizing by directors who speak to these subjects from their souls. Each film's web page includes a Personal Statement by its maker(s) that clarifies context, intent and significance. They address what they know and feel deeply about -- Ice Cube on the hip hop impact of the Oakland Raiders '80s L.A. sojourn (Straight Outta L.A.), Baltimore die-hard Barry Levinson on the impact of the Colts leaving town (The Band That Wouldn't Die), sports journalist Sean Pamphilon lucidly adding color to the black-and-white public image of iconoclast running back Ricky Williams (Run Ricky Run).

Check your cable/satellite on-demand options to see if the 14 previously premiered 30 for 30 films are available for viewing there. My Comcast system has Run Ricky Run available now, along with Without Bias, assessing the '80s sports/drugs/cautionary tale intersection of tragic basketballer Len Bias, and The 16th Man, in which South Africa's white rugby team in 1995 proves an unlikely uniter in a nation still torn by the consequences of apartheid.

ESPN Classic is encoring 30 for 30 films most Thursdays after July 1, starting anywhere from 10 p.m. to midnight. And there's a mini-marathon July 31 from noon to 5 p.m. But it's not nearly enough.

Where's the DVD set?

While we're waiting, read this breezy how-it-all-came-together tale from series brainstormer Bill Simmons.

Or watch this ESPN promo that beautifully conveys the project's emotional/cerebral tone:

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TIMELINE: Discovery at 25, 'Newhart' finale at 20

June 14, 2010 6:24 PM

Belated anniversary wishes to two of TV's most memorable developments:

First, to Discovery Channel -- If you caught Sunday night's 25 Years of Discovery special, you know cable's original full-time documentary showcase is celebrating its 25th anniversary all this week at 9 p.m. New specials are spotlighting some of Discovery's biggest attractions. Note that I say "biggest" rather than best or most memorable.

That's because Discovery's salute includes Dirty Jobs: The Dirty Truth (Monday at 9 p.m. ET), Deadliest Catch/After the Catch (Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET), and MythBusters Top 25 Moments (Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET), for starters -- see a pattern here? They're all recent/current shows, and they're all emotionally structured or intensely edited docusoaps/demonstrations, not the histories or documentary explorations that built the channel's respected reputation.

Nobody expects Discovery to stay stuck on the model of its launch on June 17, 1985, but a little more attention to the original concept would be nice. True, the infant channel back then ran pretty much whatever it could pick up on the cheap from anywhere in the world -- but I happen to like discovering the history of Danish cinema pre-1927. And I absolutely loved offbeat pickups like Jonathan Ross' brawny cinema odyssey The Incredibly Strange Film Show, a British tribute series examining such low-rent auteurs as cult horror king Sam Raimi, nudie moviemaker Doris Wishman, and Mexican masked wrestler/action hero El Santo.

You never knew what you'd find on The Discovery Channel when you tuned in back then. But the lineup has become increasingly predictable as Discovery has joined the parade of cable channels twisting their niche mandates into pretzels to pursue mainstream ratings growth. Sure, Discovery still lines up jaws every summer for Shark Week. And they'll (co)produce a Planet Earth or a Life every now and then for "event" glory -- but they'll slap on "star" narration by a Sigourney Weaver or Oprah Winfrey to replace the original track by a certified natural-world expert like David Attenborough (whose British accent is apparently considered too off-putting to the American masses; I think that's called talking down to your audience).

I know the bills have to be paid, and there certainly may be a wider audience for the family feuding of American Chopper or the editing-juiced action of a Deadliest Catch. But what about the loyal fans of the original and, dare I say, more thoughtful channel? Where do they go when it morphs into yet another emotion-pumping star-driven ratings-chasing chameleon? (Don't say its spinoff Science Channel, unless you think endless airings of the perfunctory How's It Made explain the entire universe.)

At least this column's second anniversary celebrant remains unchanged. Of course -- since it was filmed, aired and frozen in time 20 years ago, on May 21, 1990, when CBS ended its run of Newhart.

That sitcom finale's final scene may be one of the most inspired pieces of series punctuation ever concocted. The small Vermont town where Bob Newhart's innkeeper tried to stay sane among the loony locals has sold its entire self to the Japanese. (Who were then expected to take over the world. Today's buyers would come from China.) Bob wakes up restless in bed from a confused sleep. He turns to tell his wife about this daffy dream -- and his wife is Suzanne Pleshette, from his previous 1970s Bob Newhart Show!

The moment was half Wizard of Oz and half St. Elsewhere in its dislocation, but it was also deliriously original, anchoring its punchline in two different series linked only by their titular star.

Take a look at the Newhart farewell (online here), then recall what Lost left us with. Newhart's end was in keeping with the series' content and tone, yet dared to extend and twist it into pop culture bliss. No yanking shamelessly on the heartstrings, or bloating to claim existential importance, or selling out half its own soul by neglecting to explain, well, pretty much the entire plot.

Okay, not a fair comparison -- comedy vs. drama, closed-end vs. serial -- but Newhart remains the gold standard of how to end a series with style, surprise and satisfaction. To paraphrase the old Sara Lee commercial, nobody doesn't like the Newhart finale.

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DVD UPDATE: 'A-Team,' 'Family Matters,' 'Gold Monkey' and more

June 8, 2010 1:53 PM

Time really does make the heart grow fonder for vintage TV. Shows originally loathed by the critics and cool kids can morph into "classics" after decades of reruns and memories nurtured by those who grew up with them.

Gilligan's Island. Three's Company. And, of course, The A-Team, now so beloved that this '80s faux-actioner rates a full-series collectible DVD set, out this week from Universal.

Look for the commando crew's black van, shaped out of cardboard to hold five separate but matched season sets. True fans of Mr. T and Murdock may already have them, but they don't have them on single-sided discs in sturdy plastic cases like these. Yeah, yeah, the distributor is double-dipping, but you know the drill by now. Go for the cool new set if you want it, and sell the old ones online. (The only real extra in the new box is an interview with series creator Stephen J. Cannell.)

Another long-running crowdpleaser that got no respect joins it on shelves this week -- Family Matters, the Urkel-com that helped make ABC's Friday "TGIF" block must-see family TV in the '90s.

What's interesting about this Season 1 release is the dearth of Urkel, since Jaleel White only joined as a recurring character halfway through its first season as a Perfect Strangers spinoff (another element we'd forgotten). He was supposed to be merely a drop-in neighbor, but White's nasally nerdy annoyance proved Fonzie-style overpowering, and a season later, Urkel seemed like the series' reason for being. Just don't expect context like this to be provided on the set, which arrives without extras.

What's otherwise out June 8:

Tales of the Gold Monkey -- Stephen Collins goes all Indiana Jones in this exotic South Seas adventure series set in the 1930s. A plane, a dog, an eye patch, spies and Roddy McDowell are just the beginning of this breezy '80s romp from Don Bellisario (Quantum Leap, NCIS). Bonus features galore -- new interviews, audio commentaries, vintage promos and more.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7 -- The Seinfeld reunion and Michael Richards' comedy club race tirade fuel the most recent season. Extras include an interview with Larry David and the Seinfeld cast, plus a look at resurrecting the sets.

Nip/Tuck Season 6 -- The final season. Christian and Sean's adult adventures in plastic surgery, sex, drugs, murder and other lurid mayhem were concocted for FX by Ryan Murphy, who's now giving us Glee. Talk about two different shows . . .

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TRIBUTE: Dennis Hopper on TCM Tuesday night

June 8, 2010 10:11 AM

Dennis Hopper is remembered tonight on Turner Classic Movies with a five-film salute covering the earlier years of his half-century acting career. No Apocalypse Now or Blue Velvet here, no Speed or Colors, but a good selection of youthful supporting roles, lead turns and the directing debut of the Hollywood iconoclast who died May 29.

Two 1960s John Wayne westerns kick things off on TCM Tuesday night -- The Sons of Katie Elder (8 p.m. ET) and True Grit (10:15 p.m. ET) -- before we get to the best known titles of Hopper's youth.

Hopper was still a teen in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause (12:30 a.m. ET), one of James Dean's three '50s Hollywood vehicles (there's still debate over any friendship between Dean and Hopper), while 1969's Easy Rider (2:30 a.m. ET) was his true breakthrough -- a landmark of independent cinema and the hippie counterculture that Hopper also directed for producer-star Peter Fonda.

How weird is it that True Grit and Easy Rider arrived the same year? (Which explains 1969 in a nutshell.)

Wrapping up TCM's Hopper salute in the wee hours is a DVR-worthy sleeper, 1961's Night Tide (4:15 a.m. ET), the hallucinatory tale of a sailor and a mermaid, written and directed by drive-in movie master Curtis Harrington.

(The running order isn't ideal, but since TCM airs films uncut, it can't start the R-rated Easy Rider in prime time.)

By the way, Rebel repeats next Monday night, June 14 at 1:45 a.m. ET.

And if you miss Night Tide, it's available for free streaming or download at the Internet Archive.

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NEWS FLASH: 'Torchwood' to Starz

June 7, 2010 2:58 PM

Torchwood lives!

And not in the Americanized form that Fox was considering, either.

The juicy scifi-sex-comedy-drama-adventure sensation is returning in its original format seen here on BBC America -- but it's moving to Starz, which is eager to make noise in premium cable.

(And doing it these days with treats like Party Down and Spartacus.)

Ambisexual immortal anti-alien team leader/hottie John Barrowman is back in action (he was involved in the busted Fox try) as square-jawed Captain Jack Harkness, along with Eve Myles' key everywoman butt-kicker Gwen Cooper.

Not much of their team is otherwise left after last year's bloody good 5-hour miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth, which scared the bejesus out of even jaded TV critics with the tube's only viscerally terrifying portrayal of an alien invasion (without many onscreen aliens, to boot).

If you haven't seen Children of Earth, grab the DVD or Blu-ray, stream it from Netflix, download from Amazon or iTunes -- do what you must, but get ready to be riveted. This is adult drama at its finest.

(Catch other Torchwood episodes in a 6-episode mini-thon on BBC America next Monday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Starz said in Monday's press release that new Torchwood would arrive as a 10-episode weekly series next summer, when it also returns in the UK on the BBC. Back on board are series originator Russell T. Davies, who rebooted Doctor Who into the 21st century before spinning off Torchwood to address more adult themes, plus his right-hand producer Julie Gardner.

This is a smart move for Starz, coproducing an established cult fave that's got an audience rabid enough to drop the dough to subscribe to Starz for this show alone.

We'll see whether this means Torchwood will now get a premium channel budget. But the press release hints at filming in the U.S. and other locations, which seems to indicate a broader picture for the Cardiff-based series.

So we don't know if Wales film crews will get more work. But we do know we'll have more amazement to watch.

A year from now.

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DOWNLOAD THIS: Free kid shows from iTunes

June 6, 2010 6:39 PM

Give the kids something portable to watch by downloading free first episodes currently being offered at the iTunes Store.

Among them: the premieres of iCarly, Ben 10, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Bakugan, and the inevitable Hannah Montana.

Episodes can be watched on iPods, iPhones, laptops and other computers. (More about iTunes here.)

Of course, the iTunes folks hope you'll keep right on downloading further adventures that require shelling out money to purchase (they're offering entire seasons under $20).

But you aren't obligated to buy, so go ahead and grab more than 5 hours of free stuff.

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FLICK PICKS: Natalie Wood, 'Karate Kid,' Jacques Cousteau, 'Jaws'

June 4, 2010 1:16 PM

UPDATED -

Natalie Wood is June's Star of the Month at Turner Classic Movies, honored with 25 films unreeling Monday nights starting this week.

She started in Hollywood as a child, which is how TCM starts its salute, with early flicks including her first credited role in 1946's Tomorrow Is Forever (June 7 at 8 p.m. ET). Seven-year-old Natalie plays opposite Orson Welles in this three-hankie tale of a soldier mistakenly reported dead to his wife (Claudette Colbert), who moves on with her life. Natalie plays a young German war refugee.

June 7's slate shows the school-age actress getting the benefit of Hollywood's studio system at its about-to-fall zenith, learning her craft under such costars as Walter Brennan (The Green Promise, 10 p.m. ET), Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray (Never a Dull Moment, 11:30 p.m. ET), Margaret Sullavan (No Sad Songs for Me, 1:15 a.m. ET), Ann Blyth and Farley Granger (Our Very Own, 2:45 a.m. ET), and Bette Davis and Sterling Hayden (The Star, 4:30 a.m. ET).

(Sorry, fans -- no Miracle on 34th Street to be seen here.)

My favorite slate runs next week (June 14), featuring the almost-grown actress a decade later, holding her own in memorable dramas like Splendor in the Grass with Warren Beatty, Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean [photo at top], and The Searchers with John Wayne.

She's a major '60s star in the salute's final two weeks, doing big-time musicals (June 21's West Side Story and Gypsy) and the decade's all-star comedy epics (June 28's The Great Race). There's also Wood's final film, 1983's Brainstorm (the night of June 28 at 1 a.m. ET), released after her shocking death by drowning at the age of just 43.

TCM has lots more to explore in June. (And so do other channels -- look below.)

June's other TCM festivals:

Jacques Cousteau tribute -- Scuba diving pioneer Jacques Cousteau was also a documentary pioneer, regularly drawing big network TV ratings for his Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau travel adventures in the '60s and '70s. TCM salutes Cousteau's 100th birthday anniversary (he died in 1997) on Fridays this month. The 28-title festival features Cousteau's best TV hours, plus other sea-set cinema faves from 1929's The Mysterious Island to 1977's The Deep, and beyond. Our best bet comes this week. The 1986 bio-doc Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years tells his story June 11 at 6 p.m. ET, amid a 20-hour marathon of Cousteau's TV work exploring the wonders of the sea (sharks, dolphins, whales) and the "human plunder" to be found there (everything from pirate loot to Atlantis). Click here to peruse the other Cousteau/ocean offerings. Yes, there's even Don Knotts' The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

Family films on The Essentials Jr. Sunday nights -- John Lithgow is back for another summer, hosting a mad mix of treats including the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup (June 13 at 8 p.m. ET), and a 50th (Harper Lee book) anniversary salute to To Kill a Mockingbird (June 20 at 8 p.m. ET). Send your kids to TCM's slick Essentials Jr. site to get 'em pumped up.

Korean War 60th anniversary tribute on June 24 -- 15 titles, documentaries (This Is Korea!), director Samuel Fuller (The Steel Helmet), and more. We'll have to forgive TCM for its addition errors in all those online "50th anniversary" logos.

Other channels are stepping up with cinema treats, too. And some of them are channels you wouldn't expect. Sure pays to read those TV listings (and TVWorthWatching.com, of course).

More June movie mania --

Reelz, starting June 9 -- Burt Reynolds takes this movie-mad clipfest channel to feature-film length in a week of vintage '70s popcorn romps like Gator and White Lightning. (If you haven't checked out Reelz, be aware the channel also runs Carson's Comedy Classics and other surprises.)

Encore, June 11 -- The Karate Kid (1984) and its three sequels air from 5:50 p.m. ET to 1:40 a.m. ET, just as the new version hits theaters with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith taking over for Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio.

CNBC, June 11 -- CNBC Cinema hosts a summer slate of Friday night movies. Lead-off title The Last Days of Lehman Brothers stars James Cromwell. Other money-minded titles include The Thomas Crown Affair (June 18), The Player (June 25) and the original Wall Street (July 2).

Encore Westerns, June 20 -- War hero turned actor Audie Murphy gets a birthday "six gun salute" that includes The Red Badge of Courage.

Bio, June 16 -- Jaws: The Inside Story at 9 p.m. ET reminds us it's been 35 years since this surprising summer sensation changed the game for both movie blockbusters and young director Steven Spielberg. Jaws is where studios' summer movie strategy really took shape.

TV Land, June 26 -- Mike Nichols gets this year's American Film Institute Life Achievement Award at 9 p.m. ET. The ceremony airs amid a weekend festival of movie crowdpleasers. I have mixed feelings on the notion of this TV-centric channel running big-screen fare when it could be spotlighting little-seen tube treats. But you can't argue with the audience appeal of a weekend that includes the likes of 48 HRS, Ghostbusters and The Naked Gun.

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ORIGINAL POST -

From Life to Cousteau -- or maybe that should be the other way around. Scuba diving pioneer Jacques Cousteau was also a documentary pioneer, regularly drawing big network TV ratings for his Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau travel adventures in the '60s and '70s.

Cousteau's 100th birthday anniversary (he died in 1997) merits a 28-title salute from Turner Classic Movies through June. Fridays host not only a festival of Cousteau's best TV hours, but also sea-set cinema faves from 1929's The Mysterious Island to 1977's The Deep, and beyond.

Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years tells his story June 11 at 6 p.m. ET on TCM. This 1986 bio-doc highlights a 20-hour marathon of Cousteau's TV work exploring the wonders of the sea (sharks, dolphins, whales) and the "human plunder" to be found there (everything from pirate loot to Atlantis). Click here to peruse the other Cousteau/ocean offerings. Yes, there's even Don Knotts' The Incredible Mr. Limpet.

TCM has lots more to explore in June. (And so do other channels -- look below.)

June's TCM festivals:

Natalie Wood on Mondays -- 25 films for TCM's Star of the Month, including her child-star titles (June 7) and my favorite slate (June 14), spotlighting gems like Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause and The Searchers.

Family films on The Essentials Jr. Sunday nights -- John Lithgow is back for another summer, hosting a mad mix of treats like Old Yeller (June 6 at 8 p.m. ET), the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup (June 13 at 8 p.m. ET), and a 50th (Harper Lee book) anniversary salute to To Kill a Mockingbird (June 20 at 8 p.m. ET). Send your kids to TCM's slick Essentials Jr. site to get 'em pumped up.

Korean War 60th anniversary tribute on June 24 -- 15 titles, documentaries (This Is Korea!), director Samuel Fuller (The Steel Helmet), and more. We'll have to forgive TCM for its addition errors in all those online "50th anniversary" logos.

Keep tabs on special themes/tributes at TCM's June "This Month" page. Or watch the half-hour roundup Now Playing June on TCM Thursday, June 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Other channels are stepping up with cinema treats, too. And some of them are channels you wouldn't expect. Sure pays to read those TV listings (and TVWorthWatching.com, of course).

More June movie mania --

HBO, June 1 at 8 p.m. ET -- I Knew It Was You profiles John Cazale, the actor's actor who before his early death at 42 appeared in only five films -- all nominated as Oscar's best picture: The Godfather, The Godfather II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter. This 40-minute portrait is illuminating and moving, even hampered by almost no footage of the off-screen Cazale. The rendering is done by his on-screen presence and memories from intimates like Meryl Streep (his girlfriend at his 1978 death) and Al Pacino.

Reelz, starting June 9 -- Burt Reynolds takes this movie-mad clipfest channel to feature-film length in a week of vintage '70s popcorn romps like Gator and White Lightning. (If you haven't checked out Reelz, be aware the channel also runs Carson's Comedy Classics and other surprises.)

Encore, June 11 -- The Karate Kid (1984) and its three sequels air from 5:50 p.m. ET to 1:40 a.m. ET, just as the new version hits theaters with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith taking over for Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio.

CNBC, June 11 -- CNBC Cinema hosts a summer slate of Friday night movies. Lead-off title The Last Days of Lehman Brothers stars James Cromwell. Other money-minded titles include The Thomas Crown Affair (June 18), The Player (June 25) and the original Wall Street (July 2).

Encore Westerns, June 20 -- War hero turned actor Audie Murphy gets a birthday "six gun salute" that includes The Red Badge of Courage.

Bio, June 16 -- Jaws: The Inside Story at 9 p.m. ET reminds us it's been 35 years since this surprising summer sensation changed the game for both movie blockbusters and young director Steven Spielberg. Jaws is where studios' summer movie strategy really took shape.

TV Land, June 26 -- Mike Nichols gets this year's American Film Institute Life Achievement Award at 9 p.m. ET. The ceremony airs amid a weekend festival of movie crowdpleasers. I have mixed feelings on the notion of this TV-centric channel running big-screen fare when it could be spotlighting little-seen tube treats. But you can't argue with the audience appeal of a weekend that includes the likes of 48 HRS, Ghostbusters and The Naked Gun.

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TRIBUTE: Rue McClanahan gets sordid

June 4, 2010 10:02 AM

Let everybody else watch those Golden Girls marathons. We'll pay tribute to Rue McClanahan after her Thursday death by savoring the actress' most recent, and most raucous, series work.

Sordid Lives runs in marathon form on LOGO Sunday night 8 p.m.-2 a.m. ET -- all 12 episodes of the trailer park trashcom in which McClanahan plays matriarch to a screwy crew of drunks, pill poppers, closet gays, amputees, and male Tammy Wynette wannabes.

What's not to love?

Slumming alongside her are such delights as Bonnie Bedelia (her "good" but drugged-out daughter), Leslie Jordan (her Wynette-warbling son), Caroline Rhea (just a loony neighbor), and Olivia Newton-John (her ex-con bar singer pal).

Read up on Sordid Lives: The Series, watch Rue talk about the show, or check out the family tree in the series trailer. The entire series is also out on extras-laden DVD (here from Amazon.com, but cheaper here from Amazon.ca, which ships efficiently to the States).

McClanahan's work on The Golden Girls can be found all over the place, too, starting with June 4's Friday night marathon on WE (5 p.m.-1 a.m. ET). The girls air regularly on two channels -- on Hallmark weekdays 9 a.m.-11 a.m. ET and weeknights 11 p.m.-1 a.m. ET; and on WE weekdays 5-7 p.m. ET.

Both WE and Hallmark are collecting Rue recollections from fans online.

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DVD DEAL: James Bond on Blu-ray!

June 3, 2010 10:51 AM

his price is a definite wow -- 11 James Bond films on Blu-ray for $100!

Friday only at Amazon.com, this juicy bargain bundle is the deal of the day, down substantially from the online retailer's previous price of $270.

The movies included are Dr. No, Thunderball, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, The Man With the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, Licence to Kill, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Sure, these Bond/babes flicks seem to be on TV every other day. But with Father's Day coming up in two weeks . . .

Click here to buy or get more info.

PREVIOUS DAY'S POST --

Thursday brings a juicy discount on the complete-series box of The Wire at Amazon.com -- all 5 seasons on 23 discs for $90, down from the online retailer's usual $130 (and lots better than HBO's $250 list price).

Jump on it quick since it's Amazon's deal of the day Thursday only. More info here.

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