Mork & Mindy: The Third Season

Written by Hombre Divertido

One cannot ignore the talent of Robin Williams, and after introducing the character of Mork on an episode of Happy Days, it was quite evident why ABC rushed to create a show for him. Most comedians cannot carry a show on their own, but we all know that Robin Williams is far from “most comedians.” Unfortunately, even he was not enough to carry this show through its entire run, and it clearly started to show in the third season.

Some of the episodes are cute, but there is simply no supporting cast around Mork. Mindy (Pam Dawber) plays an attractive straight man to the comedic team, but it was clear that the writers did not know how to write anything other than “Robin makes this funny.” To have Tom Poston (as neighbor Mr. Bickley) on the cast list and not be able to incorporate his talents into comedic scripts is simply tragic. Also listed in the cast but rarely seen were Jay Thomas and Gina Hecht as brother and sister owners of a local restaurant, Jim Staahl as Mindy’s cousin, and of course Conrad Janis as Mindy’s father who served as the voice of reason in most episodes.

In season four, Jonathan Winters would be added to the cast as Mearth, the son of Mork and Mindy, and though he clearly brought more comedic genius to the show, it was too late, and the show ended in 1982 after four seasons and ninety-five episodes.

When viewing the third season, though Williams is still funny, he appears to be struggling to make comedy out of the weak plots. Fundamentally the season is highlighted by episodes featuring strong supporting performances by guests. In “Mork in Never Never Land” Mork meets his pen pal who lives in an asylum and thinks he is Peter Pan. The lighthearted performance of David Spielberg makes this an enjoyable outing. In “Mork the Prankster” we are introduced to Todd Norman Taylor (TNT) portrayed by Bill Kirchenbauer who made such a lasting impression, that he is brought back in future episodes.

Any appearance by semi-regular Robert Donner as the local town nut job Exidor is fun, and there is also a pre-Mearth appearance by Jonathan Winters as Mindy’s uncle in “Mork and the Family Reunion”. You can also see a young Corey Feldman appearing in several episodes.

No extras in this set which is disappointing.

Recommendation: There are a few fun episodes, and it is enjoyable looking for stars of that era such as Foster Brooks, Ross Martin, and Lyle Waggoner, but the show just looks tired by the third season. Perhaps some insightful extras would have made this collection worth recommending, but without any bonus material, the first season is a far better reflection of the true comedic nature of this venture.

Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

What an intimidating task. Star Trek is the franchise by which all other franchises are measured. Since Star Trek: The Original Series debuted in 1966, there's been five other series and ten movies (with the eleventh in production). That doesn't even take into account the number of books, games, comics, theme park rides, college courses and conventions that this series launched. The Star Trek franchise has always been on the cutting edge of technology - making their product available on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and now HD-DVD, ahead of other competitors. This new package is impressive but it's expensive too. Does it "boldly go" where no previous release has gone before?

In the interest of full disclosure, I first caught Star Trek during syndication runs of the original series in the ‘70s. It was a Sunday night staple for me on our local CBS station. It laid the groundwork for my future fandom of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. I've been a casual fan of all the succeeding TV series and the films. But I've always moved forward with the series, rarely taking time to revisit the past. This release let me take a look at the series through eyes that have seen the characters and themes age 40 years.

What strikes me most is how little "sci-fi" that most of the Season One episodes are in this "sci-fi" series. Or should I say, how little "space" is involved in this "space drama." I think that's the core strength of any successful drama - the characters take precedence over the setting. This first season is not merely a "Monster Of The Week" show. That type of show is only as good as the "Monster/Alien" and as this show devolved into that towards the end of Season Three, it lost its heart.

Many of the Season One episodes have the feel of Twilight Zone episodes, a series that ended in 1964. The idea of a Twilight Zone series with a dramatic thread connecting the episodes isn't far from set-up of the series. The series has one static setting, The Enterprise, each week and a fluid setting, whatever planet they are exploring. That consistency of characters interacting with new characters allows a depth that true anthology series can't approach.

In "The Naked Time", we see all the elements come together effectively. The crew is set to pick up scientists from a planet that is about to explode. The exploding planet sets a time constraint on the episode. The scientists are found dead on the planet but crewman Joe carelessly becomes contaminated on the planet with a strange liquid (a plot device that The X-Files would lift directly from this series). Once back aboard the Enterprise, Joe acts irrationally and after infecting Lt. Sulu and other crewmembers, he is relegated to sickbay. One of the infected crewmembers, Lt. Keven Reilly declares himself the Captain and storms the Engineering room, locks everyone else out and starts pushing buttons randomly.

The dramatic line is perfectly paced. As more of the crew is becoming infected and acting irrationally, the deadline before the planet explodes is speeding up. The ship is caught in the gravitational pull of the planet, the planet is going to explode in 15 minutes but the engines have been turned off and need 30 minutes to restart. The infection serves a metaphorical purpose also. It causes the infected person to show their hidden personality and to not be in control of their emotions. For the younger crewmembers, it illustrates the older generations fear of the Baby Boomers generation in the 60s. For our two lead characters, Capt. Kirk and Spock, we see a bittersweet side to them. Spock cries because he cannot tell his mother he loves her. Kirk expresses his sorrow about his love life, exclaiming that the only "female" in his like is the Enterprise.

Dr. McCoy is able to form an antidote to cure everyone but there's still the matter of the exploding planet. The crew attempts an unproven procedure to restart the engine. At the last second, the engine is started and the crew saved. But the result is a time warp taking the crew 71 hours back in time. So, not only has the crew solved the problem of escaping an exploding planet, but this development of time warp opens story possibilities for future episodes.

This is where the series is at its best. In "The Enemy Within", it's a time constraint of escaping a freezing planet and Kirk is the typical Twilight Zone innocent character accused of heinous behavior that he didn't commit. Shatner's narration as Capt. Kirk makes his Captain’s Log entries is a perfect Rod Serling to the show. Much like another Desilu production, The Untouchables, the narration consistently sets us in time/date/location at the beginning of the show and summarizes our situation as a scene break throughout the show.

This new release is a HD DVD Combo Format. This means you get both HD and regular DVD versions of the episodes and some of the extra features are in DVD format. There are special deluxe HD features that delve deeper into 7 of the key episodes and an interactive tour of the Enterprise on HD. The best of the over 80 minutes of featurettes is "The Birth Of A Timeless Legacy" that compares the two pilot episodes (not included here) and the development of the core crew characters.

I must balance all this goodness with just a small wet blanket (at least for some of you). These episodes are remastered and in the vernacular of the day, they are "enhanced". At first glance, these are the best looking Star Trek: TOS episodes I have ever seen. Even in their first runs through syndication, I remember grainy prints with scratches. These feature crisp colors and contrast.

I'm not sure that the other changes stay within the style of the original series. The Enterprise effect shots have been redone along with all space SPFX shots. Planets now look more realistic and phasers have a more powerful looking blast. In "Tomorrow's Yesterday", the slingshot around the Sun is so well done that it looks like an effect from a current film and seems out of place with the acting and scenery in the rest of the show. As does the rerecording of the theme. The other musical cues sound great, but the recreation of the opening theme with a crisp track of Shatner's narration seems awkward at best and doesn't bring me back to those days of staying up to watch it in syndication on Sunday nights.

If the HD-DVD format is around to stay, then this will be a benchmark for everyone's HD-DVD collection. If there's another format after Blu-Ray (still awaiting a Star Trek release) and HD-DVD, you can be sure that Star Trek will be exploring those strange new worlds. I enjoyed revisiting Star Trek's past as much as I know I'll enjoy the next movie. If you haven't had time to enjoy this series lately, you'll find a lot to like about Season One. Brilliant pieces like "Space Seed" and the best episode of the series, "The City On The Edge Of Forever" make this a worthy addition to the Star Trek franchise.

The Wild Wild West: The Third Season

Written by Fantasma el Rey

Guns roaring, fists flying, bombs (large and small) exploding everywhere, this is the far-fetched, sci-fi classic The Wild Wild West: The Third Season. Continuing, and not much has changed, the adventures of U.S. Secret Service agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) who serve under President Grant. As in the previous two seasons every episode is titled “Night Of The…” followed by a hint at what’s to come. As started in season two all 24 “action packed” installments are in glorious color, bringing to bright life Jim West’s beautiful blue suit, which appears to fit a bit more snug this time through.

The plot lines remain much the same from season to season with different villains plugged in. The stories usually go thusly: dashing, dead-shot, brave, courageous and bold Jim and Artie the man of a hundred faces, ride into a new town on a mission or are just passing through when for some reason they become involved in a heap of trouble, mostly involving a madman’s (or evil doctor, greedy businessman, etc., etc) evil plot and must thwart said ne'er-do-well. Jim investigates on his own while Artie goes in disguise to find out more from the dangerous element. They reconvene some time after Artie follows Jim or rescues him, and they head off to foil the mad plot and save the day. Fans may be disappointed that regular nemesis Dr. Miguelito Loveless only appears in one episode “The Night Dr. Loveless Died,” but it’s a good one as we meet his German uncle, Dr. Leibknict.

No matter if they be in Mexico, Canada, or someplace in the American West the song remains the same for our heroes; whether they are pitted against Samurai warriors, Mexican banditos, or anyone else, that’s the way it goes down. To their credit though the show is always action packed, in fact that’s why the show was supposedly ended. Rather than cave to negative pressure and change what was working to tone down the violence, the network simply pulled the plug and WWW went out with a bang and on top of its game.

The violent action, I must say, really plays out like the Batman television series without the ZAP, SOK, BANG, and BAFFO comic-book pop-ups. I will also add here that Robert Conrad is in top physical condition and looks believable in the action sequences. Yes, female fans you get to see Jim sans shirt. That’s right, topless. Hubba, hubba. I’m sure that only led to more outrage from old folk calling for decency on television. Ah, the old days when this show was considered too much.

You can start The Wild Wild West: The Third Season just about anywhere on the set and get a feel for the show. Each episode lives on its own and feels complete. There are no extras on this six-disc set; all the punch so far was packed into the first season. If its interviews and such ye want, ye won’t find ‘em here. I did have fun watching and every title begs me to watch with that “Night Of” business and the chemistry between Conrad and Martin makes the stories a bit better, but I am content to catch it periodically on my local cable station. Die-hard fans will definitely want to own Season Three to see whom Jim and Artie meet and how they defeat all-comers in this third installment of the sci-fi western with a twist that is The Wild Wild West.

BEE MOVIE

Written by Fumo Verde

So I had my two little nephews over for Thanksgiving Weekend and decided to take them to see Bee Movie, figuring it would be funny and I love Jerry Seinfeld, so why not, right? So after dropping a wad of cash to get in and get my boys their snacks, I sat down ready to enjoy a little light comedy. Be-lieve me when I say I should have saved the money and taken the boys to the arcade room. The kids liked the flick; as for me not so much. Don’t get me wrong, I love animated movies, especially now since they’re all done in CGI. It’s just with all the comedy power packed into this film, I was expecting more.

The cast includes Seinfeld who plays Barry B. Benson, a recent graduate who has no intention of doing just one job for the rest of his life. He decides to go outside the hive where he meets Renee Zellweger’s character Vanessa. Bee law prohibits Barry from speaking to humans, but Vanessa saved him so he had to say something. You could say that he and Vanessa start dating.

When she takes him to the supermarket, Barry flips out when he sees honey in jars and on the shelves for humans to buy. He sues the honey manufactures, not for money, but to stop them from making honey. The bees win the lawsuit and get all the supermarket honey turned over to them. With the bees not having to work since they now have so much honey, they don’t pollinate anything anymore, causing the flowers and fruits to fade away. Vanessa, being a florist, has to leave NYC to go to Pasadena to see the last Rose Parade ever. When Barry asks her why, she shows him how the planet is changing without the bees to pollinate the flora. With a little bee ingenuity Barry and his hive save the world and put the bees back to work.

This one’s decent for the kids. It holds their attention and the story is cute but for the adults in the seats next to them, there’s not much entertainment. One of the funniest scenes comes with Chris Rock as a mosquito. Life on the windshield would have been a better one for adults. Other stars include John Goodman, Eddie Izzard, Matthew Broderick, and Oprah Winfrey, who all do a fine job and help the story move along. Seinfeld is fantastic and you can picture him in a bee-suit doing some of this shtick on HBO or something. He had some funny lines.

DreamWorks Animation deserves maximum respect for the magic they pulled off here. I would rent it on DVD before loosening the purse strings, though. The little ones will dig it with all its colors and motion. I asked my nephews if they liked it they said “yes.” I give credit to Jerry Seinfeld for doing this because it did keep the ankle biters occupied and they were excited to see it; I just wish there was a little more adult “funny” in it.

HEARTS OF DARKNESS

Written by El Conquistadorko

With the possible exception of Les Blank's amazing Burden of Dreams, which chronicled German director Werner Herzog's Sisyphean jungle adventure during the filming of Fitzcarraldo, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is the best documentary ever made about directing a movie. Directed by Felix Bahr and George Hickenlooper, the film emerged from months of on-location footage and highly personal interviews shot by Eleanor Coppola of her husband, director Francis Ford Coppola, at work on his Vietnam War masterpiece Apocalypse Now.

The first shot of the film is of Coppola bragging to a French audience at the Cannes Film Festival that his movie isn't about Vietnam, it is Vietnam, and although Coppola would regret the pretentiousness of his claim—an embarassment that as it turns out, explains why it took more than 15 years to see this film released on DVD—he wasn't exactly exaggerating. Although miraculously nobody died in the production of the movie, lead actor Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack and most of the rest of the cast and Coppola himself came close to losing their minds in the process.

Many of the actors were drunk or high on LSD, marijuana, or speed during the filming of the movie, Marlon Brando was overweight and half-nuts, Dennis Hopper was completely nuts, and Coppola himself had no idea how his movie was going to end until he finished filming it. The film was completed after more than 200 days of production, nearly bankrupting Coppola, survived a massive typhoon that killed 200 people, and was shot with the cooperation of the Filipino military which let the director borrow several helicopters that frequently flew off-camera to strafe local Marxist rebels.

Originally, Coppola invited his wife to accompany him to the Philippines because he wanted to keep his family with him for what he knew would be an extended overseas trip. But because she was an artist who knew how to hold a camera, and because United Artists wanted a five-minute publicity trailer to show on television, he asked her to do the job. He didn't mind that Eleanor envisioned making a longer film of the production, but wasn't aware that, among other things, his wife was secretly recording his conversations, the most embarrassing of which involves him reacting to Martin Sheen's near-fatal heart attack by telling his Hollywood backers that all he cared about was how quickly he could get his leading man back on the set.

To his credit, Coppola agreed to let the footage shot by his wife become a full-length documentary and never told directors Bahr and Hickenlooper (who took over the project and re-interviewed most of the key players shortly before the film's 1991 release) that they couldn't include unflattering scenes. But as we discover from the DVD commentary, which features both Francis and Eleanor Coppola but seems to have been edited together from separate narrations, he only agreed to that because he thought the film would be shown on television twice before disappearing forever.

Thankfully, although it's been far too long, and this documentary should have been included in Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier as a bonus feature, that didn't happen. Besides that, the only legitimate criticisms that can be made about this long-awaited DVD release is that the audio commentary is spectacularly superfluous, adding little information that wasn't already included on Coppola's commentary for The Complete Dossier. And although it does have a lot of talking by Eleanor Coppola, she doesn't have much to add to what she already says in her narration of the documentary itself.

If you're a fan of Apocalypse Now and haven't already seen Hearts of Darkness, you're not really a fan and must buy this now. Just don't expect too many audio commentary revelations and plan on skipping the only other bonus feature, a totally irrelevant making-of documentary by Eleanor of hubby Francis at work on his latest film, Youth Without Youth.

HAPPY DAYS: The Third Season

Written by Hombre Divertido

Is it possible that the series that literally jumped the shark actually did so before the storyline played out? Since the series aired for eleven seasons from 1974 until 1984, it would be tough to say that the third season was the beginning of the end, but it certainly reflected a drastic change in the focus of the show.

Season Three is simply when it became Fonzie’s (Henry Winkler) show. When Happy Days premiered in 1974 after having its pilot run on Love American Style, it was a coming-of-age show revolving around Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his exploits with pals Potsie (Anson Williams) and Ralph (Donny Most). Fonzie was relegated to a supporting character.

Ironically the title of the first episode of Season Three is “Fonzie Moves In,” and that is exactly what he does in more ways than one. Fonzie rents the apartment above the Cunningham’s garage, which allows for the character to be involved in more storylines. Though not the complete end of the original format of the show; the writing was clearly on the bathroom wall.

Though Season Three still has some fun episodes, there are more stories revolving around the Fonz, than in the two previous seasons combined. What makes this season work more than those yet to come on DVD is that Fonzie is still just the local tough guy and mentor to Richie, and not yet the all-powerful superhero that he would eventually evolve into.

With legendary television director Jerry Paris at the helm for all but three of this season’s episodes, they all have a solid pace and a nostalgic feel to them. Some of the episodes are a bit too contrived such as “Two Angry Men” which has Mr. Cunningham (Tom Bosley) and Fonzie squaring off in court over a collapsed roof, but there are some gems here. In “Richie Fights Back” we see some of the best comedy generated by Ron Howard in his seven seasons on the series, and in “A Date with Fonzie” we are introduced to Laverne and Shirley.

There are actually no extras in this set, though they are listing the “second anniversary” episode as a special feature. Unfortunately it is nothing more than a contrived thirty-minute episode that revolves around a surprise birthday party for the Fonz where the regulars sit at Arnold’s and reminisce while clips from the previous two seasons are shown.

Recommendation: Get it while it is still good. Some bonus features would have been nice, but this is a must-have for the true fan, because it’s pretty much downhill from here.

ENCHANTED

Written by Hombre Divertido

Though poorly marketed, Disney proved with Meet the Robinsons that they could still make a movie that would be enjoyable for children, and entertaining for adults.

Like a bright shiny new toy, Enchanted is sure to keep children busy for the one hour and forty-seven minutes it is on the screen, but adults will get bored with it quite quickly. At its core, Enchanted is nothing more than a poorly explored "fish out of water" concept. The story lacks depth and continuity and most of the performances are one-dimensional.

The Disney fairytale meets romantic comedy written by Bill Kelly and directed by Kevin Lima features Amy Adams and James Marsden as a Princess and Prince who find themselves transported from their perfect animated lives to the live action of New York City. Adams hits all right beats as Giselle, and though she is sure to join the Disney Princess club, it takes far too long for the character of Giselle to get where we all know she is going. Marsden manages to give the best performance and generates the most laughs.

The biggest disappointment has to be the performance of Patrick Dempsey as the divorce lawyer who comes to the aid of Giselle. Dempsey shows no range and the audience is left to count the amount of times his hairstyle changes within each scene.

Also in the cast is Susan Sarandon who is horribly underutilized as the evil queen. Though her motivation is muddled, her performance is fun, and the film needed more of her and less of Timothy Spall, who, though he looks the part of the queen’s flunky, gives a forced performance.

This film had a great opening weekend, and it will always play well to the young, but the plot will leave adults asking far too many questions, and fundamentally this new toy is not as bright and shiny as it should be. The animated sequences are not as vibrant as they should be, and the live action sequences are visually awkward and seem thrown together.

Disney created a fun movie for kids, but they could have easily filled out the story and utilized more opportunities presented by the concept, and created a more well-rounded film.

Recommendation: There are just too many unanswered questions and unexplored opportunities here. Take the kids and leave your brain in the car, or just wait for the DVD and head for the other room when the kids cue it up.

LIONS FOR LAMBS

Written by Hombre Divertido

Yes, Hollywood can still make dialogue-driven films that will keep you entertained for ninety-two minutes. Robert Redford stars in, directs, and co-produces, a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan that results in a well-crafted play on film that is subtle in its brilliance.

The film also features Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise as a television journalist and a senator respectively, who interact in an interview within the Senator’s office in one of three scenarios that loosely tie together to make up Lions for Lambs. Streep is engaging as the reporter who is in conflict with what to do with the information she is receiving from the Senator, and though Cruise gives a charming performance, he simply looks too young for the role.

Story two of the three features Redford as an aging but still energetic and optimistic political-science professor who engages in a debate/counseling session with a brilliant but cynical student portrayed by Andrew Garfield. Redford displays his well-honed acting chops here and still has charisma oozing from every pore, but Garfield seems intimidated and gives a forced performance in the story that takes the longest to develop and tie into the other two.

The final piece of the puzzle features Derek Luke and Michael Pena as two soldiers injured and trapped on a snowy mountain ledge in Afghanistan as Taliban forces close in. Certainly the most action filled of the three stories, and as this segment develops, the audience is left wanting for more each time we break away.

The political views displayed in this film are heavy-handed and quite possibly will turn off those with opposing perspectives, and sometimes the dialogue does seem to contain a lot of hot air, but the characters and performances are solid enough to make this an enjoyable tale to watch develop.

The details of how all these pieces come together to form this piece of art won’t be revealed here, because watching it happen is a huge part of the fun.

Recommendation: Not since Glengarry Glen Ross has a play on film been so enjoyable to watch. The performances for the most part are first rate, and it is great to see Redford at work again. Worth your money at the theatre or on DVD.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Complete Seventh Season

Written by Senora Bicho

CSI is currently in its Eighth Season and shows no signs of slowing down. The show and characters continue to mature and improve. The Seventh Season was extremely well done and is one of the best in its history.

Anthony E. Zuiker created CSI at the request of Jerry Bruckheimer who was looking for an idea for a television show. Based on a suggestion from his wife, Zuiker pursued the idea of a forensic crime show and the rest is history. CSI follows a Las Vegas crime scene investigative team headed up by Dr. Gil Grissom (William Petersen) that uses science to capture the bad guys. One thing that sets CSI apart from other crime dramas is its look and feel. Fundamentally, it is a well-written show with thought-out cases and interesting characters but being set in Las Vegas adds another layer to the show. The writers fully exploit the aspects of the city. For example, in the season premiere one of the murders occurs in one of the Cirque Du Soleil theaters. They also visit casinos, hotels, and brothels.

The colors of the city also come to life and play off of the inherent darkness of the show. Perhaps my love of Vegas enhances my love of the show but the amazing shots of The Strip really helps to set the stage for the terrible things that happen in every episode. The first time I watched CSI in high definition on a big screen I was memorized. The picture looks incredible; this is one show that really benefits from HD and I couldn’t imagine watching it any other way. There is also an intentional use of color for different scenes to set the mood, for example there is a blue hue in the lab and in the morgue that creates a creepy atmosphere. The special effects are also top notch, especially their signature visual explanations of fatal wounds. In addition to the great look of the show, the sounds are equally good. I have discovered a lot of terrific songs thanks to the show and the score selected always matches the tone of the scene perfectly.

Season Seven continues the formula that makes CSI so successful while adding in some new ideas. For the first time in the shows history, there is a season long arc. In the season opener, we are introduced to the miniature killer and the hunt continues until the finale. While the show is extremely dark and intense, there are also moments of light and fun. “Toe Tags” is one of my favorite episodes of the season and it really highlights the cleverness of the show. It tells the tales of four crimes all from the eyes of the murdered people while they sit in the morgue. “Lab Rats (aka While the Cat’s Away)” is another amusing episode where lab technician David Hodges (Wallace Langham) gathers all of the lab techs together to try and solve the miniature killer murders.

A new character is introduced for part of this season. Petersen requested time off to return to the theater, so they needed someone to fill that space. Liev Schreiber was the perfect addition as Mike Keppler, a crime scene investigator from Baltimore. Keppler is an interesting character with an intriguing storyline. He also brought a different dynamic and friction to the group; I was sorry to see him go after only four episodes. There are many other great guest stars in Season Seven including Roger Daltrey (it is very appropriate that he finally makes an appearance since his vocals have covered the opening credits since the debut of the show with The Who’s “Who Are You?”), John Mayer, Ned Betty, Ally Sheedy, Kevin Federline and Danny Bonaduce to name a few.

The crimes are always at the forefront but there are intimate moments with the characters that further their development and continue to form a bond with the viewer. The romance between Grissom and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) continues and is finally unveiled to the rest of the team. What I like about the show if that they give you a glimmer of the characters personal lives but it doesn’t become like a soap opera. The main characters are never completely free from harm, which makes them vulnerable. In the season opener, Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) is slipped a date-rape drug and ends up naked in a run-down hotel room. Later in the season Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) is brutally attacked by a group of thugs and in the finale Sidle is pinned under a car thanks to the miniature killer.

Numerous commentary tracks are provided in the season collection. Naren Shankar, Executive Producer and Co-Writer, and Ken Fink, Co-Executive Producer and Director, discuss “Built to Kill, Part I”, “Sweet Jane,” and “Living Doll;” Richard Lewis, Director, and Dustin Lee Abraham cover “Fannysmackin;” Martha Coolidge, Director and Matthew Mungle, Make-up Effects Artist, walk through “Living Legend;” Richard Catalani, Writer and Technical Adviser, and Lewis dissect “Law of Gravity;” and Brad Tanenbaum, Director, and Sarah Goldfinder, Writer, along with all of the lab techs chat about “Lab Rats”. All of these commentaries are extremely production heavy and provide the thoughts and ideas behind the scenes and storylines.

The other special features include “Inside ‘Built to Kill’” a making-of featurette that showcases all of the production work that went into shooting in the Cirque Du Soleil theater. “Miniature Murders” discusses the origin and development of the “miniature killer” storyline along with information on the construction of the miniatures, both of which are really interesting. “Who are You? Inside ‘Living Legend’” is about the creative process behind that episode. “Las Vegas: The Real Crime Solvers” is pretty self explanatory, Dr. Albert Robbins (Robert David Hall), the head coroner on the show, visits the real Las Vegas crime lab and talks with the people that work there. It is definitely nowhere near as glamorous as the lab on TV. “The Evolution of CSI: Season 7” talks about how the show has progressed over its history. “Smoke and Mirrors: Directing Feature Television” highlights the directorial efforts behind the series and provides interviews with some of the directors from Season Seven.

CSI is deeper than a simple crime drama and Season Seven raises the bar even higher. It is intricate and smart. There is a lot going on at any one time with characters and storylines that continue to evolve. The writing, directing and acting combine to create something unique. It is hands down the best forensic crime drama on television and sets the standard for all others to try and live up to.

Love American Style: Season 1, Volume 1

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

Although the air dates for Love American Style: Season 1, Volume 1 run from September 29, 1969 to December 22, 1969, this show is pure early Seventies. It's certainly our memory of the early Seventies, looking back almost 40 years later. The bright colors, the hip, quick cuts, the corny jokes and the quirky Herb Alpert-ish score. But 38 years later, what this really represents is an important transition to the core ABC shows that would dominate the ratings for the better part of the Seventies and early Eighties.

Love American Style represents a genre that really doesn't exist anymore - the anthology show and more specifically the comedic anthology show. The formula is basic but really it's brilliant. The hour-long shows consist of anywhere from two to four stories. These separate stories are surround by short filler gags heavily influenced by Laugh-In. These "short attention span" gags were unrelated to each other and usually starred a core group of actors, "The Love American Style Players." The theme song is sung by The Cowsills (best known for Hair) and it's catchy happiness along with the fireworks and red, white and blue heart tell the viewer that this is going to be a light-hearted party. The flexibility of this formula was perfect for syndication (where I first encountered the show at Noon-time just before The Hollywood Squares in the late Seventies). The filler jokes allowed the shows to be edited to 30 minutes by filling out the 20-minute stories.

Because the only criteria for this show is to be about "love", there's a variety of stories that can be adapted for the show. One is the extended joke. In "Love and the Hustler," Flip Wilson plays Red, a Muhammad Ali of the pool-hustling world. The extended skit has Red boasting about his skills until the final reveal when the hustler gets hustled. Only the final line of the piece brings the piece back to a "love" theme. Same for "Love and the Pill" where two parents are first concerned that their daughter may be having sex with her boyfriend and then concerned that something might be wrong because she isn't. These single-scene pieces are cheap to film, usually taking place all in one location and in one time period, like a Saturday Night Live skit.

The second type of story is what I call the "One Man Play". In this type, the set-up is very simple and allows one actor to showcase their comedic talents, including physical humor. In "Love and the Living Doll", Arte Johnson plays a Woody Allen-ish character trying to make his neighbor jealous. The clever episode allows Arte to show off his physical talent by wrestling and dancing with a blow up doll and later letting him try to explain his way out of an accusation of murder when a nosy neighbor sees him disposing of the doll. My favorite of this set is "Love and Who?" featuring TV veteran Sid Caesar. Sid wakes up in a hotel room in Vegas unsure of what happened the night before when he started at a party in L.A. The story showcases Caesar's comedic timing as he finds out that he got married (he's already married!), and starts to try to piece together what this new bride might look like. His one-sided phone conversations with the party host in L.A. and the wedding chapel are worthy of Bob Newhart's best.

The last type of story is the "Pilot" piece. Many of the longer stories feel like rejected pilots or try-outs for a pilot. In fact, Season Three will spin-off both Happy Days and Wait Until Your Father Gets Home. The episode, "Love and the Phone Booth" is a well-acted, well-written story that lasts about forty minutes. There's great chemistry between the actors and it would be easy to see an ongoing story between the lovable nerd from Indiana and the free-spirited naive girl from San Francisco.

This genre works well because of its variety. Stick around and you'll find something to latch onto in almost every episode. There's great writing, quality TV directors like Jerry Paris and a bevy of upcoming actors and established film actors. Volume 1 features Regis Philbin, Shari Lewis, Morey Amsterdam, Harrison Ford, Norman Fell, Robert Reed, Ozzie Nelson, Broderick Crawford, Phyllis Diller, Larry Storch, Bill Bixby and Connie Stevens along with tons of other TV regulars from the Seventies.

The format spawned ABC's biggest hit of the Seventies, Happy Days, a show that spawned other ABC hits in Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, shows that helped anchor Tuesday nights for almost a decade. The format itself was perfected a few years later with The Love Boat and Fantasy Island - two shows that would conquer Saturday nights for ABC, a tradition that would last into the late Eighties. The Love Boat would take essentially the same format and add a compelling permanent cast around which the weekly stories (three or four usually) could be told. This anchor of an appealing cast is just what Love American Style is missing, ultimately. There's no host (ala Ricardo Montalban) to lead us through the stories each week. Viewers like that steady character to comment on the storylines.

The first release is a bare bones set. You get 12 episodes on three discs and no extras. Some of these episodes must have a helluva background story and I'd love to hear some commentary from these TV icons. You don't get TV shows like this anymore, so keep bringing these out on DVD.