Category Archives: television

“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” Season 1 & 2

episodic, family, legend, television,

Watch the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: Season 1 and 2 as four-DVD sets from MPI Media Group. The collections contain 39 episodes, representing the complete first two seasons, 78 episodes.

The TV series was a long-running sitcom ranked high on some of the top lists of television. MPI Media Group has restored the entire library of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from the original 35mm picture and sound elements in association with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which preserves the aspects on behalf of the Nelson family.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet lasted 14 record-breaking seasons, totaling 435 episodes. It aired on ABC-TV from 1952 through 1966 as a positive, wholesome series epitomizing an idyllic American 1950s lifestyle.

Its gentle humor came to the screen through the real-life Nelson family, which included Ozzie and his wife Harriet with their sons, David and Rick. They portrayed themselves in a trendsetting blend of fact-meets-fiction comedy decades before semi-reality-based shows like Seinfeld.

The series humorously chronicled the daily lives of the Nelsons as David and Ricky grew up before millions of weekly viewers. Besides Ozzie Nelson being a real-life bandleader and Harriet Nelson, a singer, the series would help launch the musical career of their younger son, Ricky, who would become a teen idol with such enduring hits as “Travelin’ Man” and “Hello Mary Lou.”

The longest-running live-action sitcom in U.S. television history until It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia surpassed it on December 1, 2021, when the FXX series debuted its 15th season.

Still, Ozzie and Harriet hold the record for most episodes produced, totaling 435. Among its Emmy nominations and many other accolades, TV Guide placed Ozzie Nelson at number 21 on its list of “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time.” Others on the list include Andy Taylor, Ben Cartwright and Steve Douglas.

And now, for the very first time, in association with the Nelson family, the entire series arrives digitally restored for its 70th Anniversary with complete episodes from the original film negatives for superior picture quality. 

Viewing these restored episodes, I am amazed by the picture and sound quality.  

I watched season one, which contains all 39 complete, fun-filled episodes on four DVDs, starting with the premiere show and other rare adventures not seen on television in decades. The humor seems dated, but it’s clean and trouble-free.

I saw Don DeFore (Hazel) as Ozzie’s neighbor, pal Thorny. Others included guest stars from classic television and films, including Hal Smith (The Andy Griffith Show), Ellen Corby (The Waltons), Janet Waldo (The Jetsons), Joseph Kearns (Dennis the Menace), Frank Nelson (I Love Lucy) and other familiar faces. 

Season two also contains 39 episodes — with more lost moments appearing for the first time since broadcast initially — on four discs and features such guest stars as Frank Cady (Petticoat Junction), John Carradine (The Munsters) and Lurene Tuttle (Psycho).

It’s hard to believe Ozzie and Harriet started visiting us on television in 1952, making this vintage series binge-worthy  

Showtime’s “Billions” Season 5

drama, episodic, television, ,

The fifth season of the machinations of Billions is full of double-crosses, complex and shifting alliances and too many gut punches. Ultimately, the viewers know they’ll get a significant reset in the sixth season at the end of the season.

The most noteworthy plot thread in season 5 was the gradual move of Axelrod or Axe, played by Damian Lewis, and Wendy Roades, played by Maggie Siff, acting on their long, and otherwise unstated desire to be together. When we thought it would happen, the season ended, and it was not the happy ending we hoped to experience. We also know Axe is no longer on the show when season six arrives.

According to the showrunners and Variety, Axe leaving started about three years ago. They knew Wendy and Axe would struggle with love, but it would never flourish. If you remember the season finale, Axe is leaving for Europe, running away. He asks Wendy to join him, and she turns him down.

With an unfulfilled relationship ending, other complex plotlines develop with double-crosses, wordplays, and shifting alliances. Van Halen fans appreciated the character reciting his lyrics from “Antic Punk.”

Since rival billionaire Mike Prince, played by Corey Stoll, outmaneuvers Axe in his constant jousts in the marketplace. Prince comes across as kinder, gentle, and socially more appealing compared to Axe. At the end of the season, Axe is tricked by the marijuana kingpin, played by Janeane Garofalo, who moves both contraband and legal weed, which places Axe in a vulnerable posting of money laundering charges.

Taylor Mason, played by Aisa Kate Dillon, holds the cards as the analytical genius but grapples with her conscience and wealth accumulation. A newcomer, Rian, played by Eva Victor, challenges her idealism. Taylor wants to take down Axe and helps Chuck Rhoades, played by Paul Giamatti, bring criminal charges against him. But, in the end, Taylor feels sorry rather than victorious.

As Billions showrunner and co-creator Brian Koppelman explained to Variety, “The central theme of the show has always been can anybody resist the temptation of that level of money and power? Can anybody remain even close to their true selves when that much money is at hand?”

“The Honeymooners: A Christmas Carol”

comedy, family, holiday, television, , ,

“To the moon, Alice” is a familiar phrase of Jackie Gleason, as Ralph would say to his wife, played by Audrey Meadows. The Honeymooners was one of the first situation comedies of the 1950s. A half-hour show began as a segment on Cavalcade of Stars, then emerged even better on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955.

The show developed with cast leavings, cast changes, and edited versions of close to 70 incarnations of what we call The Honeymooners. The series ended in 1971. If you look over the show’s history, you’ll realize it wasn’t a show, but it had stamina — popularity that people still recognize. So, it became a TV Sitcom.

Between 1976 and 1978, Jackie Gleason and his co-stars, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Jane Kean, were filmed in color with a live audience. Four shows were produced and filmed in Miami, Florida. The Honeymooners: A Christmas Carol was the second one made. It’s now available for your Christmas movie library.

The show opens with Ralph boasting about taking a trip to Miami with Alice as a Christmas vacation. Until his boss, played by Gale Gordon, asks Ralph to find a director for his wife’s Christmas charity play. The money raised gives homeless cats in New York City a feline Merry Christmas.

Ralph has concerns that the guy who takes the director’s job gets bumped up to the traffic manager. So, he accepts the task and tries to convince Alice that the charity play is more important than going to Miami. Charles Dickens’ play, A Christmas Carol, comes to mind, and Ralph rewrites the classic. The result is hilarious as it’s nothing like the original when Ed takes on the job as the inexperienced director. The best scene is when Ed plays both Scrooge and Tiny Tim.

Bonus features include an interview with Jane Kean and an extra episode from the 1960s sitcom.

The release gives the younger generation a chance to see how clean and straightforward a television show is possible. The Honeymooners: A Christmas Carol is everything you’d expect from a live television show of the 1960s. But this 1977 most likely will not garner fans. But if you are familiar with the show, you are in for a special treat. “Recapture my youth? If I keep this up, I’ll lose my old age!”

James Patterson’s Zoo: Third & Last Season

book, drama, television, thriller, , ,

Zoo: Third Season from CBS is the last season for the drama series based on the novel written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwige.  The story takes a jump forward and is set 10 years after the animals were cured and humanity was left sterile.

The season follows Abraham, played by Nonso Anozie, who is now a doctor and is helping Clementine, played by Gracie Dzienny, find her father Mitch, played by Billy Burke. The huge plot point is Mitch is being held in suspended animation in a secretive location.

The year is now 2027 and the world has reached a tipping point. The human population continues to dwindle due to a sterility problem and devastating threat rises in the form of the hybrids. These hybrids are an army of unstoppable lab-made creatures who are hell-bent on destroying mankind. Although the team has become estranged over the past decade, they are forced to overcome their differences and reunite when they learn that Mitch is alive. As the planet’s future hangs in the balance, the team must race to stop the hybrids and their creator – a shadowy figure with a startling connection to the team’s past.

Another change of events is Jamie, played by Kristen Connolly, is now a successful author trying to find “The Falco” and what is left of the Shepherds. Still, there is Jackson, played by James Wolk, and Logan, played by Josh Salatin. Both are trying to hold the hybrids at bay. As I went through the DVS I discovered that all the characters work super hard to overpower and wipe out the hybrids. At the same time, they are an urgency to find a cure for sterility.

The third season DVD arrives with deleted scenes and a gag reel that complements the whole package as the final season of a series that started off like a rocket ride and slowly fizzled as the storyline became scattered.

Casual: Season One

comedy, drama, television, , ,

CAS1_DVD_OCard_3DSkewDirected by Jason Reitman, Valerie and her 16-year-old daughter Laura move in with Valerie’s brother, Alex, a bachelor for eternity and maestro of casual relationships. Together, they coach each other through the world of dating while raising her teenage daughter.

Casual: Season One is for the arrival for contemporary minds, and it received a Golden Globe nominee for Best Comedy Television Series. My copy came with Digital Plus, and I popped it into my player and behold.

I find out it is a Hulu original that follows Alex, played by Tommy Dewey, and his sister, Valerie, played by Michaela Watkins, as they manage to live with one another while attempting to keep Valerie’s teenage daughter, Laura, played by Tara Lynne Barr, on the right track. Several episodes prove that both Alex and Valerie are weak on the point of keeping her on track.

If is obvious Alex and Valerie hardly set a good example for Laura with a house full of one-night stands, bizarre encounters, and attempts to master the art of dating. The series is a drama as well as comedy with bittersweet notes and sugary laughter.

With Reitman being an Oscar-nominated director for Juno and Up in the Air, which both are worth watching, the series is high on a pedestal as a comedy that explores the funny and awkward dynamics of modern families and relationships.  With that, I am curious by whose standards are “funny and awkward dynamics.”

The DVD includes all 10 episodes plus the “Creating Casual” behind-the-scenes featurette.

Perry Mason Movie Collection Volume 5

drama, family, legend, movies, mystery, police drama, television,

perrymasonV5Perry Mason Movie Collection Volume 5 continues to satisfy my viewer palate and is the final collection released by CBS Video. For a couple years now, CBS Video has been releasing the entire program of the Perry Mason TV series and movies.  That equals 271 episodes and 30 post series movies for television.

Growing up, Perry Mason was one of my family’s favorite television series to watch every week, and we were never disappointed by the stories because the writing never lets us down. The acting is first-class. There were no handheld camera shots or tight shots of beautiful women.  The series was pure plot-driven.  Perry Mason always found the real killer.

Some of you may have purchased the other Perry Mason Movie Collection Volumes, so you know what I am talking about. I hope you intend to purchase this final volume as well.  They are not cheap, but worth the value of good drama and priceless productions.

I was fortunate to be given a copy of Perry Mason Movie Collection: Volume 5.  The DVDs are in top quality condition with six wonderful and brilliant movies. Burr’s other co-star, Barbara Hale, had such wonderful rapport with him that can’t be reproduced in any other television show I have ever seen.

It can’t go without mentioning that Raymond Burr played a prosecutor in A Place in the Sun with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.  I guess, he was meant to be in the courtroom, though in Perry Mason he is on the other side of the court.

Below is the list of the final Perry Mason movies. The last four are without Raymond Burr and do not give the legendary series justice, but if you are going to collect these, you might as well have them all.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host (starring Raymond Burr)

Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss (starring Raymond Burr)

A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives (starring Paul Sorvino)

A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle (starring Hal Holbrook)

A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (starring Hal Holbrook)

A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Jealous Jokester (starring Hal Holbrook)

Grace and Frankie

comedy, drama, family, television, , , ,

Grace and FrankieGrace and Frankie airs on Netflix and stars four legendary actors worth watching until it is obvious they have run out of material. Homosexually is not uncommon anymore. Nobody has to be in the closet because it is excepted now. I just wish the series moved forward more quickly with the story handling other situations that are funnier and not so sad.

Grace, played believably by Jane Fonda, is straight-laced and a former owner of a cosmetics company. Frankie, played over-the-top by Lilly Tomlin, is an open-minded hippie who tries to generate good vibes no matter if her life is falling apart.

The point to the series is these two women in their early 70s have nothing in common until their husbands, played by Sam Waterson and Martine Sheen, declare their love for each other and are leaving them to live as homosexuals.

All due respect, they are bisexuals and Waterson’s character clearly shows his attraction to his former wife, Frankie.

The series is a comedy with serious undertones, but it would have been much better in the 1980s with the issue a hot topic. Today, this is old news. Though husbands leaving a 40-year-old marriage for another man is not common, the idea is not shocking anymore nor is it funny.  Still the series has funny moments with more slow and off-beat situations.

The cast is what makes the series. They bring a lot of charm, verve and truth to their characters.  Sheen and Waterston are cast against type because they are not your usual eye-candies. Tomlin is as funny as ever as the flaky hippie, and Fonda timing is beautiful but a bit crusty.

I just wish the four of them would get on with their lives and deal with situations that are more entertaining for this day and age.

“Gangland Undercover” Season One

drama, history, police drama, television, ,

ganglandHistory Channel produced an excellent series when they captured the life of an undercover informant who was brave enough to sneak into three outlaw biker gangs. The fact that he lived to relate his story to the world is awe-inspiring as well. Charles Falco, the author of Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws, goes from convict to infiltrator as he secretly documents the Vagos’ illegal activities and ultimately brings them to justice.

History Channel transports Falco’s story to real life in this fact-based series that sees him work as an informant for the Feds on a covert mission inside the dangerous Vagos world of violence, murder, and drug trafficking. Having climbed the gang’s ranks while facilitating 62 arrests, Charles Falco exposes how he crippled the criminal enterprise from the core of the biker underworld in this mind-blowing true story.

The series is by no means the same old thing about biker gangs but rises above the other motorcycle gang TV shows and movies.  Gangland is nothing like Son’s of Anarchy, so I will not bother to compare them.

Gangland will ring true for those who are familiar with bikers in the 70s. History Channel avoids soap opera characters and sensationalism. Instead, the show hits on the truth and scores a strong fan base.

Ari Cohen’s acting is good, and the writing is even good. What is interesting about this true story is that Falco was a meth cook, and he had a choice of jail or being an informant, which makes him an anti-hero in real life, but History Channel doesn’t depict him that way. That is Hollywood. The trailer below doesn’t do the television series justice.

The Royals Season 2

television,

The RoyalsS2The Royals is a great TV show, and I reviewed season 1 last year, I believe. In general, the series is great. Elizabeth Hurley is the big star of the show and really brings a lot to the storyline. The entertaining aspect about the storyline is the fact that it is not real.

The overall story is completely dramatized and over the top.  The Royals has everything to make it a great series with mystery, murder, scandal, and love. You just enjoy it and not take it seriously. Set back watch the royal family and all their fictitious tittle-tattles.

The first season I didn’t notice the soundtrack, but season 2 the soundtrack is rather entertaining. The artists are new and worth looking into like Midnight (Giorgio Moroder Remix) – Coldplay, Sirocco – Terry Blankenship, and Ragamuffin – Silversun Pickups. The music is pretty much Techno and Remixes.

Season 2 has cast changes, which might cause some fans to frown with Sophie Colquhoun and Hatty Preston gone from the show. Still, the Liam and Ophelia relationship spins still back and forth – will they ever get together.

Alas, there are only 10 episodes, so milk it for all it’s worth because it is so much fun to watch.

Shaun the Sheep: Season 2

animals, animation, children, comedy, family, television,

shaurnsheep2I was going to post this review in the Kids section of Movie Roar since it really is safe for kids to watch and is really silly.  I changed my mind when I realized it really is funnier from an adult’s point of view.

Shaun the Sheep: Season 2 is hilarious. The short episodes are not too long nor too short – about 7 minutes. They are just right for any rainy afternoon or boring evening with nothing to do. My favorite one is about the bagpipe. The sheep and dog think it is a goose. I have never laughed so hard in such a short amount of time.

The package comes with two DVDs. If you have a free moment or two, just pop in the DVD and peruse the menu for an episode that catches your eye. The set has a total of 40 episodes. There are plenty of choices.

Let’s face it. These cute little sheep and the dog are hilarious. Each episode has no dialogue, just music and some grunts here and there. It is produced so well that I didn’t even think about the fact there was no dialogue.

Another funny aspect about the storyline is the dog and sheep try to steer clear of the farmer, who is as blind as anyone with a pair of opaque eyeglasses.  I just laugh thinking about it.

I recommend the DVD set for the whole family. Any age will enjoy these short stories. Just thinking about the sheep, the dog, and the farmer puts a smile on my face.