DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 7

 

The seventh season of Baywatch aired during the 1996-1997 TV Season. This season would see yet more cast turnover with Donna D'Errico joining the cast (coming over from the series Baywatch Nights) and Traci Bingham, Jake Salano, and Nancy Valen all joining the cast as well.  Jasson Simmons and Alexandra Paul left as series regulars, although both would make several appearances during the season. And, Michael Newman, the only real lifeguard on the show would be promoted to a series regular. 

The show again was mostly a story-of-the-week procedural that occasionally referred back to prior storylines or episodes. There were some special episodes, including an MTV-themed episode in which MTV personalities, including Jenny McCarthy made an appearance, as well as an episode at Seaworld. The slate of guest stars was less prolific than the show had in the past, but Connie Stevens, Erik Estrada, Barbara Mandrell, Jay Leno, Denise Crosby, and wrestler Shawn Michaels, all guest-starred this season.

The acting and writing on the show this season were pretty much on par with what it had been. Most of the time, both were pretty bad, but occasionally, the writers would put out a decent script that gave the actors something to work with. The writers did try to do some character development, even with some of the established characters, to give them a bit more depth. Hasselhoff was still splitting time between the main show and Baywatch Nights, so while he did appear in every episode, there were some in which he was barely in. As has been the case in each of the prior seasons, not every cast member appears in every episode, not even Pamela Anderson who was still getting second billing behind Hasselhoff. 

Ultimately, if you do not expect the series to be more than it is, a kind of tongue-in-cheek primetime soap opera, it is enjoyable, even when it is dumb. I would not call it a show that is hard to stop watching, and while you can binge it, it is something that can easily be on in the background while you are doing other things and you will not miss much. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Nights: Season 1

 

Baywatch Nights was the first series that was spun off from the massively popular series, Baywatch. The first season aired during the 1995-1996 TV season and starred David Hasselhoff as Mitch Buchannan and Gregory Alan Williams (billed for some reason as GregAlan Williams in the credits) as Garner Elerbee reprising their characters from the main series, and Angie Harmon (in her first major series role) as Ryan McBride. Early in the season, Lisa Stahl was billed as a series regular, reprising her recurring character from the main series, Destiny. Lou Rawls was also billed as a series regular, playing a totally different character than he played in his guest-starring role in Baywatch. About 1/3 of the way into the season, Stahl left the series and Donna D'Errico and Eddie Cribrian joined as series regulars, playing Donna Marco and Griff Walker respectively.

The premise of the show is that Garner gets tired of being a cop and decides to become a private detective. Mitch is an investor in the business and ends up becoming a partner, along with Ryan. The first season is pretty much a straight crime-drama case-of-the-week procedural, with a different case that was solved by the end of the episode. I would say that the show was not as cheesy as the parent show, but it did have some cheesy moments. And, because it was still set during the events of the parent show with Hasselhoff splitting his time between the two series, the writers had to do things like coming up with excuses for why Hobie would never be home in any scenes set in Mitch's house. The series was mostly stand-alone from the main series, but there was a crossover episode in which Yasmine Bleeth appeared, and Newmie (Michael Newman) appeared in a couple of episodes. The series also brought back Billy Warlock, who was a regular in the first couple of seasons of Baywatch in a guest-starring role. Other notable guest stars this season included Jason Hervey (from The Wonder Years), Michael Winslow (from the Police Academy movies), Geraldo Rivera, Stephen Culp, Carmen Electra (in a totally different role than she would play when she joined the main series), Lisa Boyle, and Christopher Mayer (billed as Chip Mayer) who fans of the Dukes of Hazard will recognize as Vance Duke from "that" season.

This DVD set is a German import and will not play on Region-1 (US and Canada) DVD or Blu-Ray players. I do not believe it is available on DVD in Region-1, so if you want it, you have to get an imported set. You will need either a Region-2 or Region-Free player to watch this if you live in the US. The 22 episodes are spread over six discs, and the sixth disc has the extras. Those include trailers for each episode that would play at the end of each episode to tease what was going to be on the next week's episode, a promotional trailer for the series, and a promotional reel that was made to pitch the series which was narrated by Hasselhoff in character, and featured Hasselhoff, Williams, and Stahl (who was playing a character named Dana, which would eventually turn into Harmon's character). Some of the scenes from the promo reel did make it into one of the regular episodes. All of those extras are in English, and then there are a bunch of trailers for other movies and tv-series that are in German. The DVD menus are all in German (but easy to navigate), and the audio tracks on the episodes default to German, but you can switch to the English language track when you watch the first episode on the disc and it will stay on the English audio track for the rest of the episodes until you eject the disc.

Overall, the first season is okay, but not great. It definitely has the feel of the 90s show and some of the plots that it used would probably not be used in a series today (at least not in the way they were written back then). They also made the weird choice to air what should have been the pilot episode, which introduced the character of Ryan and set up how the group came together, as the 8th episode. 

TV Series Review: Heroes

 

++WARNING, there will be some spoilers from throughout the series in my review.++

Heroes was a show that aired on NBC from 2007 to 2010 (during its original airing) and had a true ensemble cast. The cast was made up of relatively unknown actors (at least when the series started) and the series served as the launching pad for the careers of cast members like Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Masi Oka, and Zachary Quinto. It did have some recognizable, but not superstar actors and actresses such as Greg Grunberg and Ali Larter. There was no superstar actor that everyone would recognize in the cast so the writers had to balance the storylines to involve all of the main cast members. As a result, there were always multiple storylines going on, and it was truly a show that you had to watch from the beginning to really understand what was happening.

The first and second seasons were very very good. The first season was excellent, and like nothing that had been on TV. You knew from the first episode what the characters were going to try to prevent, but there was no way of knowing how it was going to get there. Because of the time travel aspect, the story came in bits and pieces and sometimes out of order. They did not reveal too much about each character too soon. We never got to see Sylar (the main antagonist) until midway through the season, and HRG's (or as we would come to know him Noah Bennet) past and motivations were kept hidden until almost the end of the first season.

I think the series had a clear goal of where it was going in the first and second seasons. You could tell that it was meticulously planned out. However the writer's strike ended the second season midway through, and it had to be cut short. After that, there were some stories from that season that were just abandoned entirely, and I thought those should have been wrapped up before proceeding how they did. It felt like after the strike the writers never had a clear plan for the show. I did not like how the third season made Nathan into a villain. He had always had a grey moral compass, but it seemed that had gone away at the end of the first season and with the second. But then he did a complete 180 (almost anyway) then they decided to try to make him likable again by giving the impression that he was just in over his head.

I think the 4th season actually wrapped the series up very well. While it was not intended to be the end of the show (it was not canceled until after the season had ended), it tied up everyone's stories and left a lot to your own imagination. The reason I think the show declined, is that while the main "big" storylines changed every season, the individual stories within that got very repetitive. They kept too many characters around for too long and kept the characters going through the same conflicts and experiences over and over. While this did change somewhat by the 4th season, I think too many people had abandoned the show by then.

I definitely think it is better to see the series all at once. The stories do tend to flow a little better than when there were months between seasons. Plus it is just easier to follow with all the time jumps, flash-backs, and character arcs. If you were a fan of the show, it is definitely worth adding to your collection. The series looks great on blu ray, and there are a lot of entertaining extras.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 6

 

The sixth season of Baywatch aired during the 1995-1996 TV season. Yet again, the show had a lot of cast turnover with David Charvet mostly leaving the series (save for a few episodes), David Chokachi joining the cast as a new lifeguard and Olympic hopeful named Cody, and Gena Lee Nolan joining the cast taking over the role of Neely (continuing the storyline from the prior season). This season is the one in which the spinoff show, Baywatch Nights began, which took Gregory Alan Williams from the Baywatch cast and definitely reduced Hasselhoff's time on the main show. Although Hoff was still the lead actor, there were definitely episodes in which his screen time was very reduced or that he barely appeared in. This was also the season that Pamela Anderson became Pamela Lee after marrying Tommy Lee. The one notable absence is that this is the first season in which John Allen Nelson did not return as Court. 

The show did continue to get a good slate of guest stars. This season's guest stars included Mila Kunis (again) in a totally different role than she played in Season 5, The Beach Boys, Richard Moll (from Night Court), Ashley Gorell who played the young delinquent, Joey in the prior season, Hulk Hogan (and most of the mid-1990s WCW roster including Ric Flair, Macho Man, Vader, and Kevin Sullivan), Jenny McCarthy, Angie Harmon (who was a regular on Baywatch Nights), Heidi Mark (who was a 1995 Playboy Playmate), and Pamela Bach (who was Hoff's wife at the time). 

The show continued to be a prime-time soap opera that was a blend of story-of-the-week procedural and serial storytelling. It is mostly a drama but does mix some humor in as well (such as with an episode that is part spoof, part homage, to the show Charlie's Angels). Because the show aired in syndication, however, some episodes were clearly aired in a much different order than they were shot, so the storylines would be all over the place. For example, early in the season, Charvet's character Matt is essentially written out of the show, and then he shows up as a guest star about 1/3 of the way into the season. Then, at the end of the season, there is a two-part episode that was clearly supposed to be aired early in the season, if not be a two-part season premiere, in which Matt is basically a regular cast member again. And, as a result, CJ goes between dating (or pining over Matt) to dating Cody and back again. There is also a cancer storyline that starts in a couple of episodes, seems to get totally abandoned, then brought back. And, Caroline and Logan's relationship, which is hot and cold anyway, makes absolutely no sense this season.

Ultimately, by now you know what the show is and is not. It is a show with a ridiculously good-looking cast (making liberal use of music montages to show them off). The show definitely leans in on the hot cast at the total expense of good writing and storytelling. Because the writing is mostly bad, the acting is usually (but not always) pretty bad as well. If you can accept the show for what it is, it is entertaining, sometimes in a "so bad it is good" way. If you expect anything more than that, you will be sorely disappointed.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch: Season 5

 

The fifth season of Baywatch aired during the 1994-1995 TV season, and probably represented the height of the show's popularity. There were again more cast changes with Nicole Eggert leaving the show (the character of Summer was essentially written off during the two-part season premiere), and Yasmine Bleeth returning to the show as a series regular, playing Stephanie's sister, Caroline. Pamela Anderson was bumped up to second billing, behind Haslehoff, and they finally dropped using her middle name in the credits as she was probably the most famous cast member (at least in the US) in the entire show. They also added Jaason Simmons, to play Logan Fowler, a character very similar to Peter Phelps' character in season one. The character of Neely Capshaw was also introduced at the end of the season but was not played by the same actress who would take over the role the following season.

This season saw many very recognizable guest stars, including a very young Mila Kunis, Wendie Malick (reprising her role as Mitch's ex-wife), Charisma Carpenter (who was was 23 or 24, playing a love interest for Hobie). Jeremy Jackson was 13 or 14 in real life and got to kiss Carpenter, which was probably a high point for him. Carpenter actually looked about 16 or 17 (the age that Cordelia was supposed to be in Buffy, which Carpenter played when she was 27), but definitely did not look like a 13 or 14-year-old, and she was a head taller than Jeremy Jackson, so it was an interesting casting choice. Other notable guest stars included Geraldo (in a very silly role), John Allen Nelson (reprising Court in his yearly episode), Dr. Joyce Brothers, Mike Piazza, Richard Branson, Debbie Dunning (who played the tool girl on the series Tool Time after Pamela Anderson left that show), Little Richard, and Gladys Knight. 

This season the storylines on the show became much more of a blend of serial and procedural. There were definitely still stand-alone storylines, but the show often referenced things that happened in prior episodes (or seasons), and there were more multi-part episodes. And, there was a lot less of an extra being introduced as a great friend of one of the main characters, never to be seen again. The show did juggle the large cast very similar to the way it did in prior seasons, with some characters (even Anderson) being absent for multiple shows in a row. The writing was okay, but still not great. Even when the writers attempted to include more serious topics, they were not done very well, and the attempts at comedy could be very cheesy.

If you can accept the show for what it was, and don't expect more out of it than it gives you, namely a ridiculously good-looking cast on a show about lifeguards, it is entertaining. If you are expecting award-winning writing and acting, it will sorely disappoint you.

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 4

 

The fourth season of Baywatch aired during the 1993-1994 tv season. The show brought back most of the regular cast, although there was (again) a bit of a shakeup with Kelly Slater starting out as a series regular and then being downgraded to a guest star for a couple of episodes, and then eventually being written out (despite the clip of him surfing still being used in the opening credits). The show followed the same format as being a procedural drama/prime-time soap opera. For the most part, the episodes were stand-alone but there were a few two-part episodes during this season and a flashback episode that brought back some prior guest stars. Toward the end of the season, there is a great episode entitled "Rescue Bay" that pretty much breaks the fourth wall and makes fun of the series and the fact that it was canceled by NBC after its first season.

The show continued to get quite a few recognizable guest stars this season including Michelle Williams (in her first acting role), Wendie Malick, Mary Lou Retton (playing herself), Carrie Ann Moss (from the Matrix movies), Martina McBride, Kassie DePavia (who starred on the daytime soap One Life to Live for years). Old-school wrestling fans will also recognize Giant Gonzalez and Jimmy Hart, and this season would be the first appearance of Yasmeen Bleeth (who would eventually become a series regular), as Stephanie's sister. This season would also mark the final appearance of Richard Jaeckel, who was definitely experiencing health issues. John Allen Nelson also made his yearly appearance as Court, although the writers put him in a storyline that could end up writing the character out of the series.

The show is what it is. It is a very tongue-in-cheek drama. The actors and writers have no problem poking fun at themselves and not taking things too seriously. The show does an okay job juggling the large ensemble cast, but the episodes do generally tend to focus on one or two characters, and there are several episodes in which Pamela Anderson is absent and even an episode in which Hasselhoff does not appear I would classify most of the episodes as okay and a couple of really good episodes in which the acting and writing were done extremely well. And, there are a couple of really dumb episodes. So, it was a mix. But, we did get a clip of Hoff in concert when Mitch was daydreaming of being a rock star, so there is that. Ultimately, if you accept the show for what it is and what it is not, you will probably enjoy it, even the parts that are so bad they are good. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 3

 

Season three of Baywatch aired during the 1992-1993 TV season, and was another transitional season for the show. This was really the season that the show became a huge hit with Erika Elaniak, Billy Warlock, Tom McTigue, Monte Markham, and Richard Jaeckel leaving the show. Jaeckel did appear a couple of times toward the end of the season using a cane and seemed to be far less mobile than he was in season two. Elaniak and Warlock did appear in the two-part season premiere but then were written out of the show at the end of the second episode. Gregory Alan Williams was bumped back up to a series regular, and the big cast additions were Alexandra Paul, Nicole Eggert (best known for the series Charles in Charge up to that point), Kelly Slater, David Chokachi, and probably the biggest addition to the cast in the entire run of the series, Pamela Anderson as C.J. Parker.

The show continued to be a procedural drama with most of the episodes (with the exception of some two-part episodes) being self-contained and not tied into earlier episodes at all. The storylines could go from horribly bad and downright stupid to okay. It is not what I would call a well-written, award-winning masterpiece, and as a result, the acting could be pretty cheesy as well. The show still continued to use the music montages, which were again mostly to show off the ridiculously good-looking cast for a couple of minutes without any actual dialogue. The show did get some recognizable guest stars this season including a returning Danny Trejo (in a completely different role than he had in season two), Elizabeth Berkley, coming off her role on Saved by the Bell, and Lou Rawls. 

Ultimately, you know what you get with Baywatch (or Babewatch). About 45 minutes of a very good-looking cast, most of the time a dumb story, and a couple of what amount to music videos that interrupt the story. The show was not ever really interested in continuity, making a lot of sense (for example having Hasselhoff's character in the hospital nearly paralyzed in one episode and kickboxing in the next), or being an award-winning drama. If you can accept it for what it is, it can still be entertaining. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 2

 

The second season of Baywatch sees a lot of turnover for the show. First, it had been canceled after one season (the 1989-1990 tv season) on NBC and off the air for over a year. It was revived and aired in syndication starting in the 1991-1992 TV season with many cast departures including Parker Stephenson and Holly Gagnier (about 2/3 of the way through the season we find out that they moved out East and Craig returned to practicing law full time), as well as Brandon Coll. Jeremy Jackson was cast as Hobe and the character was de-aged from 13 years old to 10 years old. Gregory Alan Williams was brought back as a recurring character and John Allen Nelson basically left the show (making only a single appearance in season two). Tom McTigue and Richard Jaekel joined as series regulars and Monte Markham did return along with Billy Warlock and Erika Elaniak. And, of course, Hasselhoff returned as the lead and an Executive Producer.

Aside from the cast changes, the format of the show pretty much remained the same. It is the quintessential procedural drama with a weekly story (some were okay others were very bad) that was resolved by the end of the episode. There was very little continuity between the episodes with new characters coming in that the regulars were good friends with who were never previously mentioned and were never to be seen again and you really did not have to see a prior episode to know what was going on in the episode you were watching. 

The show did have many recognizable guest stars again this season including Vanessa Angel, Danny Trejo (in his first-ever acting role in which he still looked older than everyone else on the show), a young Nikki Cox (who would eventually go on to star in the show Unhappily Ever After), Shannon Tweed (who basically played a version of her 80s and 90s b-movie characters without showing her tits), and Wendy Malick (who returned as Mitch's ex-wife for an episode). Bob Denver and Dawn Mitchell also guest starred in a Gilligan's Island tribute episode playing Gilligan and Mary-Anne in a clever twist of writing.

Overall, you know what you get with the show. The writing is mostly bad, and a lot of what they did would never fly in 2023, and as a result, the acting is not all that great either. You still get the silly music montages that randomly spring up throughout the episodes that are mainly there to show off the good-looking cast members and extras. I did not watch the show when it was originally on the air, so I do not know what songs were used when it was broadcast, but given the age of the show, it is very likely that some of the music had to be replaced because of licensing issues. And, there are no extras, just the episodes themselves. Ultimately, if you do not expect award-winning material the show is entertaining, but if you are expecting it to be a well-written and well-acted drama, then you will probably be very disappointed. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Baywatch Season 1

 

The first season of Baywatch (or Babewatch as pretty much every teenage boy in the late 80s and early 90s called it) aired on NBC during the 1989-1990 season. It is basically a prime-time soap opera about a group of lifeguards in Southern California, led by Mitch Buchannan, played by David Hasselhoff.  Hasselhoff was a couple of years removed from the popular series Knight Rider, and was definitely the big star of the series, especially during the first couple of seasons. The main cast in the first season included Hasselhoff, Parker Stevenson, Shawn Weatherly, Billy Warlock, Erika Eleniak, Peter Phelps, Brandon Call, Holly Gagnier, and Monte Markham. Later in the season, John Allen Nelson would join as a series regular and Gregory Alan Williams would be promoted to a series regular. Eleniak and Weatherly were the first "babes" that would become what the show was known for, and Elaniak was actually the first member of the cast to pose for Playboy, although she did so shortly before the show aired. 

The show was pretty much a story-of-the-week procedural. In the first season, the stories were almost all laughably bad (like a group of hooligans using an illegal version of a jet ski to terrorize swimmers and boaters), and even when the show tried to tackle a deeper subject (like domestic violence) it was often cringe-inducing. And of course, there were the totally silly and often out of place (and out of nowhere) music montages that just spontaneously popped up once or twice an episode. The writers did try to balance the large ensemble cast, but there were many episodes in which some of the main cast members were totally absent, and Peter Phelps just disappeared in the second half of the season. 

The season did feature a lot of guest stars, many of whom would go on to be A-Listers, who basically got their start on the show as their first major role. Some of them included Mariska Hargitay (who would go on to be the lead on Law and Order SVU), David Spade, William Fichtner, Bryan Cranston (who would go on to be the lead on Breaking Bad), and Madchen Amick (who would be a series regular on Twin Peaks the next year). 

The first season was really about the show finding its footing and developing the main characters. It was definitely not a great show in terms of being an award-winning drama. It was a great show in terms of being so bad it was good, and of course, had a ridiculously good-looking cast. It will definitely be a nostalgic blast from the past for those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. There are some DVD sets out there that label Season 2 as Season 1. NBC actually canceled the show after Season 1, after which it aired in syndication for the rest of its run. So, make sure to pay attention to the description. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: House M.D., The Complete Collection

 

This is a region-free import of the complete series of House M.D. on blu-ray. As most fans of the show are aware (at least those who are also fans of physical media), in the United States, the first five seasons of House were released on DVD and the final three seasons were released on blu-ray. But, the older seasons of the show were never released on blu-ray and there was never a complete US series release on blu-ray. To my knowledge, this is the easiest and most cost-effective way to get the entire series on blu-ray. While it is an import from Japan, the discs do play in region 1 (US region) blu-ray players and it does have captions in English on the episodes, but not on the special features.

House was a hit medical drama that aired from 2004 through 2012 starring Hugh Laurie as Gregory House, a brilliant, acerbic diagnostician at a fictional hospital in New Jersey who was addicted to Vicodin, hated seeing patients, insulted them (and his team of doctors) mercilessly when he had to interact with them, and thought everyone is a lying idiot. His team (in the early seasons) included doctors Cameron (played by Jennifer Morrison), Chase (played by Jesse Spencer), and Foreman (played by Omar Epps). In Later seasons Olivia Wilde, Peter Jacobson, Kal Penn, Odette Annabele, and Charline Yi would also play members of House's diagnostics team. House's only friend is an oncologist named James Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard), and the hospital administrator, Lisa Cuddy, who is always butting heads with House is played by Lisa Edelstein. 

The show was mostly a case-of-the-week procedural drama in which the team was presented with a patient with some weird medical issue that no one else could diagnose. Intertwined within the weekly cases were serial arcs that sometimes involved House pissing off the wrong person, the lives of one or more of the team members, or the like. The first seven seasons of the show were great. Season 8 is not as good because a pot point from season seven never truly gets resolved in a satisfying way. That said, the series has a nearly perfect ending.

The blu ray set has 39 discs, all of which are in huge keep cases. They are, unfortunately, the kinds of cases that require two discs to be stacked on top of each other, and the discs can on some tabs come loose and fall off and on others be damn near impossible to get off. The blu-ray set does have all of the same special features, including interviews, commentary tracks, gag reels, deleted scenes, etc., that were released on the US DVD and blu-ray releases. The A/V transfer of the early seasons is okay, but not great. The final three seasons which got original blu-ray releases have a much better A/V quality. The blu-ray menus are very bare bones and are hard to navigate at first, and the titles of the episodes are not listed on the menus. The only change to the episodes themselves is that the theme that plays over the opening credits is different than the one that played in the US (it is the European version).

Overall, the show is great. It is probably the best medical drama after ER (which is the medical drama by which I compare all others) that I have seen. It was well-written and very well-acted. It could be suspenseful, sad, and funny, all within the same episode. The show also got a lot of great guest and recurring stars throughout its run, some of whom were very well-known (e.g., James Earl Jones, Candice Bergen, and Sela Ward), and some for whom the show was one of their big breaks (e.g., Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Amanda Seyfried, Michael B. Jordan, Elle Fanning, Jeremy Renner, etc.). If you are a fan of the show, this is definitely worth the pickup.

DVD/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior seasons, but no major giveaways from season six+++

The sixth season of Animal Kingdom aired during the summer of 2022, and consisted of 13 episodes. This season is all about reveals. It picks up sometime down the line from the discovery of Catherine's body by the police at the end of Season 5. The cops in Oceanside officially consider it a cold case, assuming either Baz or Smurf killed her, and with both of them being dead, were not looking too heavily into the case. That is until a new cop takes up the case and starts looking at Pope. 

The show jumps back and forth between the 1990s, where young Smurf, played by Lelia George, is completely fucking up the teenaged versions of Pope (played by Kevin Csolak, who mirrors Shawn Hatsoy's performance perfectly), Baz (played by Darren Mann), and Julia (played by Jasper Polish), and the present in which J is acting as the de-facto leader of the family. 

In the past, we see the events that led J to hate Smurf and the entire family, and in the present, it is revealed exactly how much he hates them. We also see the events that led to Pope being arrested for bank robbery, which was the crime he had just been released for in the show's first season. I won't say too much about how things play out, but the show does provide some closure, but some things are not tied up in nice bows. For example, we never get a concrete answer as to whether Smurf actually had an incestual relationship with any of the kids, but it is strongly hinted that she did at least with Pope. Of course, that is not something that they ever could have filmed in the flashbacks since the kids were supposed to be in their teens, but Lelia George played Smurf just as creepy and skeevy as Ellen Barkin did.

For those who get the DVD, it is mostly a MOD set with the 13 episodes spread across three discs. It does have one bonus feature, which is an 8-minute-long series retrospective that includes interviews with members of the cast and crew and has some behind-the-scenes footage from the final season. 

Overall, the season is good. I think the material in the flashbacks is a bit better than the material in the present day, but Shawn Hatsoy (who also directs another episode this season) carries every scene he is in. Lelia George really nails young Smurf and does a great job portraying an absolutely horrible character that ruined all of her kids' lives.  I cannot say that everyone will love how the series ends, but if you have been a fan of the show up to this point, it is definitely worth seeing how it plays out. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 8

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season of House, but no major giveaways from the final season+++

House's eighth and final season aired in the 2011-2012 TV season and consisted of the show's final 22 episodes. The show starts out almost a year after House drove his car into Cuddy's living room. He ultimately returned to New Jersey, was arrested, and has been in jail for three months (after representing himself at trial). Foreman is now the director of the hospital (with Lisa Edelstein leaving the show because of a contract dispute after season 7), Wilson hates his guts, and Chase and Taub have moved on (seemingly). The first episode, much like the season House was in the psychiatric hospital, is set in the last few days of House's stint in jail (we learn that Foreman got him early release on the condition that he can only go to the hospital or his apartment), assuming he makes it through the last week without getting killed or having his sentence extended. 

While in jail he meets Dr. Jessica Adams (played by Odette Annable, probably best known for her role in Cloverfield up to that point) who works in the prison infirmary, and who would become a new member of the team along with the character of Dr. Chi Park (played by Charline Yi) who was pawned off on House after she punched her attending. Of course, House gets out of jail, and once he does, the show continues with the case of the week format as well as having a couple of different serial arcs, including a fake marriage to a Ukranian model (played by Karolina Wydra) and a major storyline that ultimately wraps up the series. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, there are fewer extras for this release than in prior season releases. There are no commentary tracks or deleted scenes, but there are three making-of/behind-the-scenes featurettes, one about the episode that Hugh Laurie directed, one that serves as a behind-the-scenes/making-of the final episode and has footage of the series wrap party, and one that is basically a series retrospective. Between the three of them, you get over an hour of bonus content. 

Ultimately, season 8 is good, with some great moments, but feels incomplete because there is no real resolution to the House-Cuddy storyline. Basically, the show was brought back for an eighth season on a smaller budget, and the producers asked Lisa Edelstein to take a cut in pay, and she refused. So, Cuddy was written out and she did not appear, even in the final episode in which many of the former cast members (including Kal Penn, Sela Ward, Anne Dudek, Olivia Wilde, Amber Tamblyn, Andre Braugher, and Jennifer Morrison) returned for cameos. That said, I do think that the ending to the series was perfect for House. It gave the viewers closure but still left some things open to imagination. Even with the reduced budget, the show managed to get some good guest and recurring stars (some of whom were not huge stars at that point) including Jaleel White, Michael Masse, Wentworth Miller, Yaya DaCosta, Jeffrey Wright, David Anders, Rena Sofer, and Michael B. Jordan. So, while I do not think it is as good as the prior seasons, it is still very good, and for me, it was better after a second viewing.

Blu-Ray/TV-Series Review: Charmed - The Complete Series

 

This is the blu-ray box set of the original Charmed series that aired on the WB network from 1998 to 2006 and starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty (for the first three seasons), Rose McGowan (for the final four seasons), and in the final season, Kaley Cuoco (after she wrapped on the sitcom 8-Simple Rules and before starring on The Big Bang Theory). The show was set around three sisters in their twenties who also discover that they are witches who have to protect the world (at least San Fransico) from demons, werewolves, and all manner of supernatural beings. It was basically a prime-time soap opera that had a mix of action, drama, and campy comedy. At the beginning of the series, it was mostly a monster-of-the-week kind of show, much like the first season of Buffy was (and given that the two shows aired at the same time, there are a lot of guest stars on Charmed who also appeared on Buffy, and Charmed even did an episode that was a total spoof/homage to Buffy in the later seasons). Then, it began to incorporate larger story arcs that ran throughout the season to become a mix of a serial and procedural show. 

The biggest controversy involving the show was the purported feud between Doherty and Milano. Pretty much everyone involved acknowledged that there was tension between the two. There are rumors that Milano went to the showrunners and basically said "her or me" which Milano has always denied, but it is interesting that Doherty directed the final episode of season three and was gone by season four when Milano became one of the show's producers. In season four, Rose McGowan was brought into the show to essentially replace Doherty's character as a new (conveniently conceived) third sister to keep the "power of three" concept alive. Since the show has gone off the air, Milano and McGowan have feuded with each other on social media, and Combs has made comments that hint at the fact that Milano was more of a problem than either Doherty (who was and still is Combs' best friend) and McGowan (who has become batshit crazy as she has gotten older, if she was not always so) was behind-the-scenes. While the women of the show were the focus, the show had some great male stars as well, including Brian Krause, who played Leo, Piper's love interest throughout the series, Julian McMahon, who played Cole, a demon who became a love interest for Phoebe, and Dorian Gregory, who played inspector Daryl Morris, who was a cop whose cases the girls helped solve and/or cover-up the supernatural elements of the crimes. The show really did the character of Morris dirty, reducing his role so much over the course of time that he was barely in the show in seasons six and seven, and when he was, he rarely had anything productive (with some exceptions) to add. And, because of budget cuts in season 8, his character was written out of the show completely and only mentioned one time. And, while the character of Prue was mentioned after Doherty left the show, she was never brought back for a cameo appearance like other characters who left the series were from time to time.

It should be noted that this set is just a repackaging of the individual season blu-ray releases. They are the same season sets that you can buy individually, just packed in a decorative outer box. So, if you already purchased in the individual season blu-ray releases, you are not getting anything different by getting this set. Some of the descriptions make it seem like there are a bunch of bonus features that were newly included for this release, and that is not the case. Seasons 1-7 have no bonus content at all, and season 8 carries over the bonus content from the season 8 DVD release and one new interview (from 2021) with producer/director James Conway. There are no new cast/crew interviews, commentary tracks, etc., that were made for this set.

Overall, the show is good, but not as good as other shows in its genre like Buffy and Supernatural. It was definitely a more campy show than either of those two shows and never had the kind of special effects budgets that those shows had. It definitely had elements (like the various states of undress that Milano and McGowan were often in, including an entire episode in which Milano was topless with the exception of pasties over her nipples) that would probably not fly these days. And, it could definitely get a bit soap opera-like with the "I need a man" storylines for Paige and Phoebe. But, if you do not take it too seriously and just take it as a fun show that could be a bit silly but had good themes of family relationships and togetherness and a ridiculously good-looking cast, it is enjoyable. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed - Season 8

 

++++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from season 8++++

The eighth season of Charmed aired during the 2005-2006 TV season. The showrunners actually did not think that the show would be picked up for an eighth season, which is why the season seven finale was written as if it was a series finale, with the girls "dying" and taking up new identities in order to live normal lives. The show was brought back for what would be a final season on a shoestring budget which required a lot of changes to be made to the show. The biggest among those changes is that many of the recurring characters that have appeared throughout the series were written out, and Brian Krause was downgraded from a series regular to a recurring character. And, the show did not get as many of the big guest stars as they have had in years past, or as many musical acts. In fact, the only popular musical act this season was an appearance by Liz Phair. The big addition to the cast was the character of Billie, a witch who basically teaches herself magic (and ninja skills), played by Kaley Cuoco, who had just wrapped up the series 8-Simple Rules. 

This season had a much better serial arc and mostly dispensed with the monster-of-the-week format. The first third of the series was devoted to undoing the events of the season seven finale and figuring out how to have the girls go back to living their lives and not have to use two sets of actresses, as well as coming up with a way to sideline Leo for much of the rest of the season. The second third of the show sets up what would be the final battle, of course throwing some twists in the plotline, and the final third of the season wrapped up the series.

For those who get the blu-ray, like the prior seasons, this one has German and English language options. This is also the first of the blu-ray sets to have any bonus material, and there is a lot. There are commentary tracks on three episodes, and then over three hours of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that really span the history of the show, not just season 8. Most of them are ported over from the DVD releases and contain interviews with the cast, showrunners, and even fans of the show from around 2006 and 2007. There is one interview with one of the producer/directors of the show from 2021, which was created for the blu-ray release, but that is the only new bonus feature. There are no interviews with the cast members that were created specifically for the blu-ray release.

Overall, the season is good. I think it is better, on the whole, than season seven was, with a better "final battle" storyline, better bad guys, and a bit less campy. Unfortunately, because of the budget cuts, Dorian Gregory did not return (the character of Daryl was done dirty by the show for years, however), and Brian Krause was really only in the show for the first third of the season. And, Shannen Doherty was not brought back or did not come back for the finale. I have seen interviews in which she indicated that a pitch was made to bring her back, but the way in which they would do it made no sense. In the commentary track on the final episode, the showrunners only said that she could not be brought back for a number of reasons. Those reasons may have been money, they may have been because of her feud with Alyssa Milano, or a combination of each. But, the show was able to include some of the former stars here and there throughout the season including Finola Hughes, Scott Jaeck, Wes Ramsey, Drew Fuller, and Jennifer Rhodes. There was also another flashback episode in which we got to see Cole and some of Paige's other boyfriends. 

Ultimately, I think the show did a good job wrapping up the series. I do think the budget cuts hurt the show not only because of the characters that we did not get to see but because the special effects were closer to what they were when the show started in 1998 than what the technology would allow to be done in 2005 and 2006 had the show's budget been larger. And, they ditched the opening theme song that played over the opening credits from seasons 1-7, to the instrumental that played during the closing credits. So, while the season was not perfect, I think fans of the series will be satisfied with how it ended.  

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Bones: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from prior seasons but does not contain any spoilers from season 5+++

The fifth season of Bones aired during the 2009-2010 TV season and followed the same format that has made the show successful. That is, mostly being a case-of-the-week procedural crime-drama but also including some larger storylines that play out over the course of the season or get carried over from the prior season. In this season, one of the later examples is a continuation of the "gravedigger" storyline with the trial of Heather Taffet (played by Deiredra Lovejoy) and the team having to find concrete evidence to convict her. The season picks up with Booth returning to the FBI trying to figure out if his feelings for Brennan are real, or an after-effect of the brain injury that he suffered at the end of season four. The show does continue the tease of will Booth and Brennan get together, with the writers doing everything they can to keep them apart, which includes a season finale in which a more significant time jump going into season six is teased. This season also has the milestone 100th episode (which David Boreanez directed) that looks back on the history of the team members and allows for a way to incorporate Eric Millegan into the season. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds very good in HD, getting a nice (but not spectacular) blu-ray transfer. The 22 episodes are spread across four discs, as are the various special features. Those include commentary tracks on two episodes, a featurette on the 100th episode, two behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and extended versions of two episodes.

Overall, the series continues to be strong. By this season it found the formula that works and does not deviate much from that, while still managing to make the shows interesting and fresh. This season includes many good guest and recurring stars including Cyndi Lauper, Ryan O'Neal, Emily's sister Zooey Deschanel, who plays Brennan's cousin in an episode, and Billy Gibbons, who again plays Angela's father. The roles of the various interns are also expanded this season, with the show continuing to rotate the characters of Clark, Daisy, Wendell, Arastoo, Colin, and Vincent throughout the season. So, if you have liked the show (especially from season two forward) then you will probably like this season as well.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Gifted Season 1

 

The Gifted is a series that is set in the X-Men universe, but in a timeline (or just at a time) in which the X-Men have disappeared and those with mutant powers are shunned by society and are required to be registered (much like the plot of the original X-Men movies), and those who are not being hunted by an anti-mutant Sentinal Services agency (which is obviously based on the concept of the Nazi SS). The first season consisted of 13 episodes that aired during the 2017-2018 TV season and was set around the Strucker family, played by Stephen Moyer (from True Blood) who plays Reed Strucker, Angel alumn Amy Acker who plays Caitlin Strucker, and their children Lauren (played by Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (played by Percy Hynes White). Reed is a district attorney who prosecutes mutant cases and is forced to go on the run when Lauren and Andy both manifest mutant abilities. They are eventually helped (reluctantly) by a group of mutants who avoid Sentinal Services, and the lead agent Jace Turner (played by Burn Notice's Colby Bell) and Garrett Dallahunt's character Roderick Campbell, who wants to weaponize the Strucker Children's powers. The rest of the main cast includes Jamie Chung, Blair Redford, Emma Dumont, and Sean Teale. 

The DVD set is just a standard MOD set that just has the 13 episodes spread across three discs. There are no extras or bonus features. So, unless you really prefer physical media over streaming, you don't get anything extra by getting the DVDs.

Overall, the show is very good. It definitely has ties to the X-Men movies, some subtle and some not. Of course, Bryan Singer who directed many of the movies is a producer on the show and directed the pilot, so that is not surprising. It is not entirely clear, however, if this is set in a different universe from the movies where events played out differently, or is set after the bulk of the movies but before the events of the movie Logan. In a way that is good because it means that it can tell its own story while still having some tie-ins with the overall franchise. 

The acting and writing are both very good and the cast has a good mix of recognizable, established actors and relative newcomers. The show has a serial arc that plays out throughout the season, so you cannot really just jump in partway and get everything that is going on. The season ends on a pretty major cliffhanger that leaves the fate of several characters up in the air going into season two. So, if you are a fan of the X-Men movies, then this is definitely worth checking out.

 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 7

 

+++Warning this contains spoilers from the end of season six and a minor spoiler of the season seven plotline, but has no major season seven giveaways+++

The seventh season of House aired during the 2011/2012 television season. It would end up being the second to last season of the show and, in my opinion, the last very good to great season of the show. This season is all about the House/Cuddy romantic relationship that was teased (yet again) at the end of season six when Cuddy showed up to stop House from taking drugs. The big serial story arc that runs throughout the season is their relationship, its function, and dysfunction, whether House can be as good of a doctor when he is happy, and whether he will end up sabotaging the relationship. Then, the show also does the case-of-the-week procedural storylines that have been the backbone of the show for the first six seasons. The series undergoes more cast turnover with Olivia Wilde taking a leave of absence from the show to go shoot movies, which allowed the show to bring in former soap opera actress Amber Tamblyn for a multi-episode arc. And of course, Jennifer Morrison had completely left the show after season six. Wilde makes a very short appearance in the season premiere and then returns about 3/4 of the way into the season in what is one of the season's best episodes (and for me, one of the top five episodes of the entire series). The season ends with a relatively big moment that will have a major impact on season 8.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 23 episodes are spread across five discs. The show looks good, but not great in the HD format. Of course, it does not have a ton of special effects or CGI (although what is in the show does look good), and while the A/V quality is a step up from the DVDs, it is not huge. The extras include commentary tracks on three episodes, features on the characters of Thirteen, Cuddy, and Martha Masters (Tamblyn's character), and featurettes on the episodes Bombshells and The Dig, all of which are carried over from the DVD release. There are also some BD-live and U-Control extras that are specific to the blu-ray set.

Overall, the season is very good. It has a good blend of action, drama, and comedy, the latter mostly at Taub's expense. The storylines are well-written and the medical cases continue to be entertaining and interesting, and the acting is still top-notch. The show also continues to get a good slate of guest stars which this season include Candice Bergen, Cynthia Watros, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jack Coleman, Jennifer Gray, Donal Louge, and Matthew Lillard. If you have liked the show up to this point, this season is definitely worth watching. In some ways, it is really the payoff to seasons 1-6 much more than season eight is. I definitely recommend it. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 4

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from season 4+++

Season four of The Flash aired during the 2017-218 TV season. The show picks up six months down the line from the end of season three in which Barry exiled himself in the speed force to maintain balance after his defeat of Savatar. Iris is leading team Flash from Star Labs, with mixed results, and Cisco eventually finds a way to get Barry out of the Speed Force without destabilizing it. Of course, once Barry is back, not all is right with the world. This season finally moves away from the speedster "big bad" instead bringing in the character Devoe, who was mentioned by Savatar during season three. The show does still have a bit of the case/villain of the week procedural aspect to it, but it has become, like the other Arrowverse shows, a show with a serial story arc that spans throughout the course of the season. The big Arrowverse crossover, Crisis on Earth-X, occurs eight episodes into the season and includes episodes from Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends. The season ends on a huge cliffhanger reveal that will have a big impact on season 5.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is the same as it has been for the prior season releases and for the other WB/DC shows. The 23 episodes (plus the three other crossover episodes from the other shows) are spread across four discs, and there is no "play all" feature, so you cannot pick back up from where you stop. For extras, you get the episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of the crossover so you can watch it all at one time. Then there is a featurette on the crossover and the 2017 best of DC TV at Comic-Con that are common to all of the Arrowverse DVD and Blu-Ray releases from that season, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a handful of other featurettes specific to the show.

Overall, the season is strong. There are a lot of recognizable guest and recurring actors this season including Katee Sackhoff (from Battlestar), Jessica Parker Kennedy, Jessica Camacho, Kim Engelbrecht, Neil Sandilands, Bill Goldberg, and Danny Trejo. And, of course, actors from the other Arrowverse shows make appearances throughout the season. I do think it was nice to mix the main bad guy up a bit this year and not do another evil speedster storyline while still giving the team a challenge. So, if you have liked the show up to this point, it is definitely still worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Supergirl: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the second season, but no major spoilers from season three.+++

The third season of Supergirl aired during the 2017-2018 TV season. This season mostly does away with the villain of the week (as have the other Arrowverse shows) and basically has interweaving serial arcs. The season starts out with Kara still reeling from the loss of Mon-EL after the defeat of the Daxamites at the end of season two.  Kara has to deal with a new threat in the form of an industrialist named Morgan Edge (played by Heroes Adrian Padsar) who wants to take out Supergirl and buy Catco, which is being run by Jimmy since Cat is now the White House Press Secretary. Then, the series shifts to a threat from a rouge Kryptonian named Reign, who wants to take over Earth and form a new Krypton, and Kara learns a surprising truth about her mother Alura, now played by Erica Durance, who of course played Lois Lane in the series Smallville. Eight episodes into the season, the big Arrowverse crossover happens with episodes of Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends each devoted to the crossover. Supergirl's episode is the first episode of the crossover (Crisis on Earth-X), and more characters from Supergirl are included in the event this year than were included in the prior season's crossover. The season ends on a big reveal that sets up the storyline for the next season.

For those who get the blu ray set, the 23 episodes (plus the three other episodes from the other shows of the crossover event) are spread across four discs. The A/V quality is on par with the prior season releases, and the releases of the other Arrowverse shows. The extras include a featurette on the character Reign, a gag reel, and deleted scenes. Then, there is a featurette on the crossover event (which is the same one that was included in the release of the other Arrowverse shows from that season) and a best of DC TV at Comic-Con, which was included on all of the season releases for the DC TV shows. 

Overall, this is another strong season. There are more changes to the cast, some of which would be permanent and others that are not. This season's additions to the cast include Odette Annable, Andrea Brooks, Carl Lumby (from Alias), and Jessee Rath. This would be the last season with Jeremy Jordan as a series regular, and Floriana Lima had a reduced role this season. Helen Slater makes another appearance as Eliza Danvers, and Katie McGrath is upgraded to a series regular as Lena Luthor. Ultimately, if you liked the second season of the show (which is much different from season 1) then you will probably like this season. If you preferred season 1 of the show over season two, then you may not like this as much, but it is still good and fits better into the Arrowverse.  

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Gotham: Season 4

 

The fourth season of Gotham is the second to last season of the show and aired during the 2017-2018 season. It starts out some time down the line from the events that ended the last season, with the effects of the Tetch virus still affecting the city. This season has several different serial arcs going on as the show has pretty much done away with the bad-guy-of-the-week format combined with the serial arcs that the first couple of seasons had. This season really jumps between the different arcs, the plot lines of which overlap at certain points, and then come together at the end of the season. This season is really focused on who with get control of the criminal underworld with Oswald/Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) Lee (Morena Baccarin), who has taken over The Narrows with the help of Nygma/Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), and Barbara (Erin Richards) all battling for control, while Gordon (Ben Mackenzie) tries to keep the city together. In the middle of the season, there is a multi-episode arc involving the serial killer Professor Pyg, and toward the end of the season, Jerome (Cameron Monaghan; who the show is still teasing as maybe he is or maybe he is not The Joker) returns to cause even more mayhem. Bruce (David Mazouz) continues to have to deal with Ra's al Guhl (played by Alexander Siddig) while getting closer to taking up the mantle as the protector of Gotham.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 22 episodes are spread across 4 discs. The A/V quality is the same as it has been for the prior season releases, and the other DC shows such as Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, etc. The extras are definitely scaled back from prior releases, but there are a few featurettes specific to the show, including a "new" villain who appears this season, a featurette on The Sirens (basically all of the female villains on the show), deleted scenes, and The Best of DC TV's 2017 at Comic-Con, which the same featurette that was included on the other DC show season releases that year. 

The season continues to be good, and at times very good. The show is definitely trying to pack all the bad guys it can into the show and give as many as possible origin stories. It is still hard to buy that David Mazouz will eventually turn into Batman, because, while he has gotten taller over the course of the four seasons of the show, he is still not to the point where he has grown into his body and started putting on muscle, so he just looks like a taller, skinny kid. This is fine when they have him honing his detective skills, but not all that believable when he is fighting off a bunch of bad guys. The season ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger that will definitely set up the storyline for the final season. Ultimately, if you liked the first three seasons then you will probably like this one. If not, then this is probably not going to change your mind about the show.