Those Really Were the Days
A classic comedy series, two popular syndicated fantasy series and several plays adapted for the small screen arrive this week on DVD and VHS.
Columbia TriStar is releasing the first complete season of Norman Lear’s groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family,” on a three-disc DVD set ($25) chronicling the antics of the late Carroll O’Connor as the outspoken Archie Bunker; Jean Stapleton as his sweet wife, Edith; Sally Struthers as their daughter, Gloria; and Rob Reiner as their son-in-law, Mike, known as Meathead.
The good news is that the series is just as funny and perceptive today as when it premiered on CBS in 1971. The bad news: There are no extras, save for English and Spanish subtitles and episode selections. This set cries out for commentary from Lear and the three surviving stars or even a documentary catching up with the creative team today.
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Paramount is on a one-year mission to release the entire “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series on DVD. The first season landed in stores this week as a seven-disc collector’s set (no suggested retail price), containing all 26 episodes from the 1987-88 premiere season, plus four informative documentaries created for the DVD. Paramount will release subsequent seasons every other month.
The new documentaries featured on the collector’s set:
* “The Beginning,” which looks at the challenges of creating the new series. Included are vintage interviews with creator Gene Roddenberry (who discusses the genesis of the project and why he did the show for syndication instead of for network TV), stars Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn and Denise Crosby.
* “Selected Crew Analysis” features interviews with the cast, both during the first season and after the series ended.
* “The Making of the Legend” focuses on the production staff members, including Michael Westmore (makeup), Herman Zimmerman (production designer), Mike Okuda (scenic artist) and Dan Curry (visual effects).
“Memorable Missions” features the reminiscences of cast and crew regarding specific episodes from the first season.
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Like “The Next Generation,” “Xena: Warrior Princess” also found great success in syndication. During its seven-season run, the adventures of the fearless warrior princess (Lucy Lawless) and her sidekick Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) were seen in more than 115 countries. USA is offering the two-hour finale, “A Friend in Need,” on video ($15) and DVD ($25).
The digital edition includes a photo gallery, a rather ho-hum behind-the-scenes featurette and passable commentary from executive producer-director Rob Tapert, Lawless (who is married to Tapert) and O’Connor.
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Kultur Video has partnered with the Broadway Theatre Archives to present 20 titles from the archives’ series of vintage plays produced for television ($25 for DVD and VHS).
Included in the first five titles being released this week is “Awake and Sing!,” a 1972 PBS adaptation of Clifford Odets’ seminal 1935 Broadway play about a Jewish family living in a tenement in the Bronx during the Depression. Staged by Norman Lloyd, the drama stars a superb Walter Matthau as a cynical boarder who lost his leg in World War I. Ruth Storey, Felicia Farr, Ron Rifkin, Robert Lipton, Martin Ritt and Milton Seltzer also star.
From 1966 is “The Human Voice,” an ABC adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s searing one-character drama about a middle-aged woman trying to win back her ex-lover during a phone conversation. Ingrid Bergman is a revelation as the woman who discovers her ex is calling from his young fiancee’s home.
Also from 1966 is the PBS production of “Journey of the Fifth Horse,” by Ronald Ribman. A pre-”The Graduate” Dustin Hoffman re-creates his award-winning off-Broadway role as a nebbish worker in a publishing house. Charlotte Rae, Michael Tolan and Susan Anspach are also in the cast.
The other two releases are CBS’ Emmy Award-winning production of “Death of a Salesman,” with Lee J. Cobb and the musical “June Moon” with Jack Cassidy, featuring a cameo by composer Stephen Sondheim.
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The box cover of the digital edition of “Conspiracy” (HBO, $25) advertises that the disc includes audio commentary from director Frank Pierson. However, there is no commentary to be found on the DVD of the award-winning fact-based drama about the 1942 clandestine meeting about the Nazi high command that finalized the plans for Adolf Hitler’s “final solution.” The disc does include two short but interesting mini-documentaries featuring interviews with stars Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth and director Pierson.
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Universal may have made an error releasing “Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice” ($27 for DVD; VHS priced for rental) the same week as “Slap Shot: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition” ($27). Written by Nancy Dowd and directed by George Roy Hill, 1977’s “Slap Shot” is a rude, crude and very funny sports comedy starring Paul Newman as the aging player-coach of a dreadful hockey team. “Slap Shot 2,” which stars Stephen Baldwin and Gary Busey, is rude, crude and witless.
The only things the two have in common are the Hanson Brothers (Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson and David Hanson), who play the down-and-dirty bespectacled hockey brothers. Unfortunately, they appear only intermittently in “Slap Shot 2.”
The DVD of “Slap Shot” features classic scenes with the Hansons, an interview with the Hansons and commentary by the Hansons. Let’s just say the disc is a bit too Hanson-heavy. The digital edition of “Slap Shot 2” includes a standard making-of mini-documentary, production notes and even more interviews with the Hansons.
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Also new from Universal is the digital edition of the fantasy drama “K-Pax” ($27), starring Kevin Spacey as a mental patient who claims he’s from a distant planet and Jeff Bridges as his understanding shrink. The serviceable digital edition includes several deleted scenes (mostly featuring Bridges), a passable behind-the-scenes documentary, atmospheric black-and-white photos that Bridges shot during production and decent commentary from the film’s soft-spoken director, the aptly named Iain Softley.
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MGM is releasing on DVD both the R-rated theatrical version and the unrated director’s cut of the overheated melodrama “Original Sin” ($27), starring Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie. This tale of love, lust and murder is based on a Cornell Woolrich novel and was filmed before as “The Mississippi Mermaid” by Francois Truffaut.
The unrated version contains the very steamy love scene between Banderas and Jolie that had been trimmed significantly from the released version to get an R rating. In his audio commentary, writer-director Michael Cristofer goes into detail on how the nude love scene was filmed and how “brave” the actors were in doing such an intimate scene on camera.
The digital edition of the unrated version includes a photo gallery, trailer and a music video by Gloria Estefan. The R-rated DVD does not include audio commentary.
