"Truthiness," justice and the American Way

I feel sorry for the people who had to choose what to leave out of "The Best of the Colbert Report" (Paramount). You want it to be so much longer!
Even at almost three hours long, the single disc compilation, released Nov. 5, barely covers the reasons why "The Colbert Report" is one of the sharpest and funniest shows on TV.
Colbert, by his own admission, owes much to Bill O'Reilly, "Papa Bear," as he called him (to his face) in a fantastic interview Colbert did on the Fox News Channel last year. O'Reilly's guest spot on "The Report" is on the DVD.
But Colbert, in addition to lampooning O'Reilly's overblown sense of self-importance,
has a keen sense of comedy. His "Know Your District" series, in which he profiles all of the members of the House of Representatives, aren't composed of your usual political interviews. In his interview with Massachusetts' Barney Frank, he steps around the usual subject of interviews with Frank and says, "You like .... dogs?"
And the guy is hip, too. The final segments on the disc feature a "Rock and Awe" competition where Stephen shows his (somewhat) musical chops. He has a lot of fun lampooning both politics and rock here. (He manages to get Henry Kissinger, of all people, to kick off the competition. Amazing!)
One of the best sections of the disc is the appearance of Barry Manilow on his show. You wouldn't think a guy like Manilow would even be in the same room as Colbert, but apparently the two have a genuine friendship. Even funnier is the fact that Manilow won (Colbert likes to say "stole") the Emmy that Colbert was nominated for. When Manilow came on the show, Colbert managed to get Manilow to sign a "peace treaty" (duly notarized) in which the two would share custody of the Emmy and even sings Manilow's trademark "I Write the Songs" with him.
And when Willie Nelson comes on the show, Colbert lampoons him for Nelson's Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor competing with his. When Willie sings, "On the Road Again" at the end, Stephen, of course, joins in. Is a music CD next?
"The Best of the Colbert Report" was put out to capitalize on the current white-hot popularity of the show.
And unlike most TV compilations these days, it's very moderately priced. Colbert obviously knows his audience. And they certainly know him.

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Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Five continues the tradition of the first four volumes and shows once more why these cartoons aren't just for kids. ("The Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Vol. 5," released at the same time, condenses the Golden Collection to cartoons aimed at children.)
In the four-disc set, the first features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, the second features Looney Tunes versions of fairy tales, the third spotlights the work of Bob Clampett and the fourth features vintage shorts. The special features include some of the brilliant music-only tracks that were Looney Tunes trademarks, tributes to Chuck Jones and Robert McKimson and vault rarities, including Private Snafu.
What's great about these sets is you don't have to feel guilty anymore about liking these cartoons. That's fine with us.
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"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Films) is the most recent film breakdown of the buildup to the war in Iraq by the Bush Administration. The film clearly and distinctly shows how faulty reasoning played an immense part in toppling Saddam Hussein and invading Iraq. One of the most surprising, but maybe not shocking reasons, given the current situation there, is that those in the Bush administration lacking military experience pushed for the invasion and the only ones that had it -- Colin Powell and Richard Armitage -- had reservations.
"No End in Sight" comes at a time when the majority of Americans are disillusioned by the war. As a result, it probably won't change a lot of minds. But a little education can't hurt.


DVDs

Give Netflix a try

After pondering the idea for some time, we decided to give Netflix's free trial a go. (Click through the banner at the top if you want to try.)
For those who haven't tried it, they have plans starting at $4.99 a month. We chose the $8.99 plan, which allows you to get one DVD at a time, plus watch 19 hours of movies on line a month.
So far, we've gotten "Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends" and "The Best of the Colbert Report." We like the convenience, especially watching DVDs (stuff that's just been released, too) without leaving home.
And the queue, which you set up to decide which films you'll get, is pretty unique and a nice idea. You never have to tell them to send you something. They send you what's in your queue automatically when you return the previous one you've rented.
If you're a Netflix subscriber, add your comments.

Wanted on DVD!

The list of most wanted on DVD gets smaller and smaller all the time. Still, there's a few things we'd love to see out on DVD. Here they are in no particular order:

1) "American Hot Wax" -- Great 1978 rock film starring Tim McIntyre as legendary disc jockey Allen Freed and co-starring Jay Leno, Fran Dreschler, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. Why this one isn't on DVD is anyone's guess, but we suspect it has to do with music rights.

2) "The Devil and Miss Jones" -- No, this isn't the porn film, but the 1941 comedy starring Charles Coburn, Jean Arthur, Spring Byington and Bob Cummings. It was originally released on VHS, but has yet to appear on DVD. Why? (It happens to be one of our favorite old films, too.) (Note: "The More the Merrier," which re-teamed Arthur and Coburn two years later, is on DVD and available through Amazon.com.)

3) "Let It Be" -- This 1970 Beatles film may never show up on DVD if the rumors we've heard are correct. This was not a favorite film of the four Beatles. And even though two of them aren't around to prevent it, their widows want to respect their wishes. Still, we've heard that the film has been restored and maybe, just maybe it'll get released. But for now, don't hold your breath.

4) "Batman" -- That's the Adam West-Burt Ward TV series we're referring to. It has yet to show up, though the 1966 feature film, which isn't as good as the series, has been on DVD for several years and priced very inexpensively. West was asked about this possibility a few years ago and said he knew nothing about it happening. A shame.

5) "The Green Hornet" -- The companion TV series is also not on DVD. A great show. Why isn't it there?

6) "Quick Draw McGraw" -- Hanna Barbera has released many of its core cartoon characters on DVD, but not Quick Draw and Baba Louie (or our fave, El Kabong).

7) "Dr. Syn Alias the Scarecrow" -- Patrick McGoohan starred as Dr. Syn in this 1964 Disney adaptation, shown on "Wonderful World of Color" and separately. McGoohan's character gave us nightmares as a young boy. We'd love to see this one released.

8) "The Monkey's Uncle" -- Released on VHS, the 1965 film starred Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk and featured a great theme song featuring Walt Disney's teen star Annette and the Beach Boys. We'll guess again it's music rights, but this one needs to be out. Walt would have wanted it.

Know of any DVDs you'd like released? Let us know and we'll feature them in an upcoming column.

And if you're interested in discussing this or other DVD issues, join our Yahoo DVD Watch discussion group.

Click to join dvdwatch

Things to come

Here are highlights of what's coming down the pipeline:

11/6: The Best of the Colbert Report (Paramount)
11/6: Help! (The Beatles)
11/6: Up the Down Staircase (WB)
11/6: The Cosby Show: Season 5 (Universal)
11/6: Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials (Rhino)
11/13: Ocean's Thirteen (WB)
11/13: Paul McCartney: The McCartney Years (Rhino)
11/13: Ravi Shankar: Concert for World Peace
11/13: Perry Mason: The Second Season, Vol. 2 (Paramount)
11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition (WB) 11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Limited (WB)
11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (WB) 11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Limited Edition (WB)
11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Edition (WB) 11/13: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Limited Edition (WB)
11/13: Johnny Cash Christmas Specials from 1976 and 1977 (Shout Factory)
11/13: Shrek the Third (Paramount)
11/20: Mission Impossible: The Complete Third Season (Paramount)
11/20: Love American Style: Season 1, Vol. 1 (Paramount)
11/20: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Seventh Season (Paramount)
11/20: Hairspray (WB)
11/20: Bill Maher: The Decider (HBO)
11/20: Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same Special Edition (also Limited Collector's Edition)
11/20: Santa Clause III: The Escape Clause (Buena Vista)
11/20: The Wild Wild West: The Complete Third Season (Paramount)
11/27: Happy Days: The Complete Third Season (Paramount)
11/27: Laverne and Shirley: The Complete Third Season (Paramount)
11/27: Mork and Mindy: The Complete Third Season (Paramount)
11/27: The 2007 World Series (Shout Factory)
12/4: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
12/4: Best of Gallagher, Vol. 3
12/4: Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Third Season
12/11: High School Musical 2 (Disney)
12/11: Walt Disney Treasures: Chronological Donald Vol. 3, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic
12/11: Gomer Pyle: The Third Season (Paramount)
12/11: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (WB)
12/14: Emergency: Season Three (Universal)
12/14: Murder She Wrote: The Complete Third Season (Universal)
12/14: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit - The Third Year (Universal)
12/18: Stardust (Paramount)
12/18: Rawhide: Season two, Volume 2 (Paramount)
12/18: Mod Squad: Season One, Volume 1 (Paramount)
1/8/08: The Waltons, the Complete Sixth Season
1/15/08: Alex Haley's Queen
1/22/08: ER, the Complete Eighth Season
1/22/08: Hawaii Five-0, the Third Season (Paramount)
1/22/08: The Odd Couple: the Third Season (Paramount)
2/5/08: Beauty and the Beast: The Third Season (Paramount)
2/5/08: You've Got Mail: Deluxe Edition (Warner Home Video)
2/12/08: Joan Crawford Collection Vol. 2 (Includes A Woman’s Face, Flamingo Road, Sadie McKee, Strange Cargo, Torch Song)
2/12/08: Dallas: The Complete Eighth Season (WB)
2/26/08: The Smurfs, Season 1, Volume 1 (WB)

America's favorite family

By now, it all seems a bit remote. But back in the 1950s, the Nelson family -- Ozzie, Harriet, David and Ricky (later Rick) -- were the type of family we all wanted to be.
They seemed to have it all -- a nice house in a respectable neighborhood, a husband and head of the household who spent a lot of time at home (and was never was seen going to work), a wife who was a dedicated homemaker and mother, and two sons, well-behaved boys who respected their elders.
They weren't the Ricardos with the crazy redhead. Or the Cleavers with the goofy, mischievous kid. Or the Brady Bunch with the rambunctious family.
They were the cool, calm and collected Nelsons. They were a comfort zone for TV fans of that decade.
That becomes very clear when watching "The Nelson Family Presents The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (Shout Factory) and "The Essential Ozzie & Harriet Collection" (Mill Creek Entertainment), two recent releases spotlighting the venerable series.
Fans will want to pick up both, and for different reasons.
"The Nelson Family Presents The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" from Shout Factory is the first authorized release of shows from the series. The four-disc set features 24 of the show's 435 episodes in chronological order taken from the show's masters. The set includes commentary on a few episodes by David Nelson, the only member of the televised family still living, and Sam Nelson, a member of the Nelsons rock group and the son of the late Rick Nelson. It also includes some Nelson home movies, a trivia quiz and a documentary on the family.

What it doesn't include, though, is the full length versions of the shows with commercials. That's where "The Essential Ozzie & Harriet Collection" (Mill Creek Entertainment) comes in. This charming set rounds up 100 shows, almost a quarter of the series, on 12 discs. Unlike the Shout Factory set, the shows are complete and many include the original commercials, some of them done by the Nelson family members themselves. (Hearing Harriet rave about Aunt Jemima Pancakes or Kodak now-vintage cameras is wonderfully charming and adds an interesting historic perspective since, in the case of the Kodak cameras, those cameras have long been abandoned by more modern cameras.)
While the Shout Factory release is authorized and is the better quality of the two, the Mill Creek set is very watchable, with only occasional rough glitches. The overall difference in quality between the two overall is minimal.
The dilemmas faced by the Nelsons were never more earth-shaking than Ozzie trying to remember if he had to go bowling that night or trying to hide a present from Harriet.
Still, in the cool, calm and relatively collected '50s, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" reflected what we all wanted to be. That dream would be shattered in the turbulent '60s, but at least while Ozzie and Harriet were on the screen, all was right in the world.
In 2007, it seems like a fairy tale or life in a fantasy land. And maybe that's what keeps the series still enjoyable, even though we know life will never be that simple again. It was once upon a time -- or at least this series made it seem that way.

We're back: We've been away from doing this for a few months. Life intervened, so to speak. But we're back and have several reviews in the works we hope you'll enjoy. We'll try to post something at least every two weeks and maybe more often. We hope you'll keep us in your favorites and add your comments on reviews. We'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Serials for breakfast

We've been getting into serials of late. Their age makes them curios, but they're a lot of fun, too.
The one that's been holding our interest of late is Holt of the Secret Service. It stars Jack Holt, a steel-jawed character actor with a long resume from Shirley Temple ("The Littlest Rebel") to Gable's "San Francisco" to Bogie (a bit part in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"). Here he plays a Secret Service agent who goes undercover to catch a group of counterfeiters. Evelyn Brent plays a fellow agent who poses as his hard-edged wife. The 15-part serial throws a bit of humor in, as well.
But the crown jewel of serials is Flash Gordon. And the set to get is Flash Gordon: Box Set (Space Soldiers/Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars/Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe) (3DVD), a triple-DVD set that just dropped $20 to the price of a single DVD. All three Flash Gordon serials with Buster Crabbe are included here and they are an incredible kick. Charles Middleton is outstanding as Ming the Merciless, who you'll sneer at from your living room. This one's a no brainer to get and we highly recommend it.

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Here are highlights of upcoming interesting releases:

July 17 - "Gunsmoke - The First Season" (Paramount)
July 17 - "The Incredible Hulk - The Complete Second Season" (Universal)
July 24 - "That Girl: Season 3" (Shout Factory)
July 24 - "Woody Woodpecker and Friends (Universal)
July 24 - "Zodiac" (Paramount)
July 31 - "Game Shows Of The 50s: Beat The Clock / I've Got A Secret" (Alpha)
July 31 - "Hawaii Five-O: The Second Season" (Paramount)
July 31 - "Popeye the Sailor, 1933-1938 - Volume 1" (Fleischer cartoons set)
Aug 3 - "Blue Hawaii," "Easy Come, Easy Go," "Fun in Acapulco," "G.I. Blues," "Girls Girls Girls," "King Creole," "Paradise Hawaiian Style," "Roustabout" (Paramount)
Aug. 7 - "This Is Elvis" (Warner Bros.)
Aug. 7 - "Flash Gordon: Saviour of the Universe Edition" (Universal)
Aug. 7 - "The Muppet Show - The Complete Second Season" (Buena Vista)
Aug. 21 - "House - Season Three" (Universal)
Aug. 28 - "The Odd Couple: The Second Season" (Paramount)
Aug. 28 - "Samurai Jack - Season Four" (Warner Bros.)
Sept. 4 - "Game Night Collection" (nine baseball movies) (Paramount)
Sept. 4 - "Desperate Housewives - The Complete Third Season (Buena Vista)
Sept. 11 - "Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Third Season" (Buena Vista)
Sept. 18 - "Superman Doomsday" (Warner Bros.)
Oct. 2: "The Jungle Book: 2 Disc Platinum Edition" (Disney)
Oct. 2 - "Funnyface: 50th Anniversary Edition" (Paramount)
Oct. 9 - "Roots: The Next Generations" (Warner Bros.)
Oct. 9 - "Roots: The Complete Collection" (Warner Bros.)
Oct. 16 - "The Jazz Singer - The 80th Anniversary Edition" (Warner Bros.)
Oct. 23 - "Meet the Robinsons" (Disney)
Oct. 30 - "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5" (Warner Bros.)

The lions, the witch and the wardrobes

When you can't think of a title, think of anything that pops up....

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We're always on the lookout for unusual DVDs. If you're a music fan, listen up.
Guillotine Films has released three (far as I know, that's all that's available) obscure British '60s music films on DVD. "Live It Up" stars David Hemmings (also in "Blow Up!") and features Gene Vincent, Heinz, Sounds Incorporated (who toured with the Beatles in the U.S.), Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and a young pre-fame Steve Marriott in an acting role. Hemmings also stars in "Be My Guest" which features music (produced by Shel Talmy, later associated with the Who) by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Nashville Teens, Kenny and the Wranglers and another acting role by Marriott. "Dateline Diamonds" also features Marriott, but this time singing with the Small Faces (he'd become famous by this time), plus Kiki Dee (way before her association with Elton John) and the Chantelles.
All three films are variations on the "A Hard Day's Night"/"Ferry Cross the Mersey"/"Having a Wild Weekend" school of filmmaking. All the plots are associated with the burgeoning British music scene and even namedrop the Beatles occasionally. (It makes for good marketing.) If you're a '60s British Invasion fan, these are very much worth tracking down.

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Best Buy has released "Rolling Stones: The Biggest Bang," its second four-disc live set devoted to the Stones on tour. (To buy it, click Music, Movies and Games and search for "Rolling Stones: The Biggest Bang"). If you love the Stones, this one's a no-brainer, obviously. At any rate, this is much better than any bootleg you'll manage to come across, sound quality is outstanding and the camera angles are gorgeous. Well worth the $30.

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Since we last met, two more releases in the Tojo Master Collection have appeared for Godzilla fans. Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster (aka Monster Zero) are out. Both have both the original Japanese and truncated U.S. films on one DVD. And both, like the others in the series, are worth grabbing.

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Fans of Johnny Weissmuller know the later Tarzan movies were cheesier and some of the plots were more comfortable on a soundstage than a jungle. That's one reason we had to get The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2 (Tarzan Triumphs / Tarzan's Desert Mystery / Tarzan and the Amazons / and the Leopard Woman / and the Huntress / and the Mermaids). The improbable (well, they're all improbable, but these are even more so) plots bordered at times on comedic, but they're more fun than the ones on the first set. "Tarzan and the Amazons" is probably the best example of that. Anyway, Tarzan purists will probably groan, but this set is very cool.

Some odds (and ends) of recent ...

We're back from vacation with bits about a few things that have come across our desk and are now available.

Godzilla Raids Again and Mothra vs. Godzilla (Classic Media): Following up on Gojira / Godzilla Deluxe Collector's Edition (Gojira/Godzilla [1954] / Godzilla, King of the Monsters [1956]), one of the most interesting reissues of last year, Classic Media has released these two followups consisting of the very first Godzilla sequel and Godzilla's battle with Mothra. The latter has been on DVD in the U.S. before, but not the first one to our knowledge. As did "Gojira," the new reissues improve on the previous version with both the Japanese and American versions of the film on a single DVD. The Japanese versions are much more serious (interesting aspect for a monster film) than the U.S. versions, which highlighted the destruction rather than the story. The prints look great, too. Classic Media's next reissues are Invasion of Astro-Monster and Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster in June.
McHale's Navy - Season One (Shout Factory): Forget the lame-brained (as Capt. Binghampton would have called it) and forgettable feature film starring Tom Arnold. THIS is the real "McHale's Navy." And in looking back, at least this viewer sees that Joe Flynn (Binghampton) was really more of the core of the show than the crew was. One of our favorite series. Glad to see it on DVD finally.
Mutiny on the Bounty (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Warner Bros.): Don't know how this one snuck past us last year when it came out. The two-disc Special Edition features a bunch of featurettes, including an alternate prologue and epilogue not used in theatres. Next to the Laughton version, this one is almost a laugher at times, but I saw this in the theater when it was released and was stunned by the power on the screen. It's a good film, despite its faults.
The Three Stooges - Meet the Baron/The Gold Raiders (Warner Bros.): Two rarely seen but basically unspectacular vintage films distinguished, if you wanna call it that, by the appearances of the Three Stooges (with Curly in "Meet the Baron" and Shemp in "The Gold Raiders"). Save your money for what Stooges fans hope will someday be the complete Columbia shorts collection. These are OK if you must, but not essential, even to a Stooge fan like me. (Also available in Classic Comedy Teams Collection (Abbott & Costello in Hollywood / Air Raid Wardens / Gold Raiders / Lost in a Harem / Meet the Baron / Nothing but Trouble), a box set with other similarly rare films by Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello for just a few dollars more. A better deal.)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Season One (Universal): This one's been out a while, but it's a great set. Hitchcock's sparkling intros to each show are preserved, plus Season 1 has a bonus profile of the director. Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Season Two is also available.
The Natural (Director's Cut) (Tri-Star): One of our favorite baseball films has been reissued in a Director's Cut with an intro by the director and 15 minutes of new footage. A great film just got even better.

Public domain treasures, part 3

We've done three roundups of Mill Creek Entertainment's great public domain collections. They here, here and here. And as we continue to watch them, we find more interesting (and sometimes forgotten) films in them. Here's a run through of a few more:
Western Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection and Gunslingers 50 Movie Pack Collection: Yup, it's Westerns featured in these two sets, pardner. All Westerns and nothing but. Between the two of them, films by John Wayne are plentiful, and so are several by singing cowboys Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. But that's not all. "Western Classics" features additional films starring Jane Russell, Chill Wills, Buster Crabbe, Burt Lancaster, William Boyd, Will Rogers and Randolph Scott, while "Gunslinger Classics" features Joel McCrea, Leslie Nielsen, Fred Williamson, Dennis Hopper, Dale Robertson, Raymond Burr and Clint Walker. If you have to choose, I guess it would be "Western Classics," which includes Howard Hughes' steamy "The Outlaw," John Wayne's delightful "McLintock" co-starring Maureen O'Hara and the aforementioned "Santa Fe Trail." If you're going to buy them both, get Western Classics 100 Movie Pack, which combines the two sets into one big 100 movie set and saves you a little money in the process.
Tales of Terror 50 Movie Pack Collection: More scary films featuring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. Vincent Price, Lyle Talbot, James Dunn, Dean Stockwell and Jack Pickford. Some of these are more funny than scary, as in Ken Utusi's "Evil Brain From Outer Space."
Dark Crimes Collection: 50 Movie Pack: The title of this one has a double meaning. Not only these all crime-related dramas, but they're all in black-and-white, with the latest one being from 1964 (the only one from that decade), the rest from the '30s to the '50s. It includes Edmund O'Brien's classic "D.O.A." (with more plot twists than a bag of pretzels), "The Last Mile," a downcast drama set on Death Row and the Oscar nominated "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," starring Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, Van Heflin and Judith Anderson about the mystery behind the death of a rich woman. Those starring in films here include DeForrest Kelley, Lee J. Cobb, Edward G. Robinson, Yul Brynner, Angela Lansbury, Hedy Lamarr, George Raft, Lloyd Bridges, Basil Rathbone, Erich Von Stroheim, Boris Karloff and Loretta Young. Outstanding. This box's a must.
Suspense Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection: An armload of nailbiters with stars such as Robert Vaughn, Cliff Robertson, Johnny Cash ("Five Minutes to Live," in which Cash plays a real cad), John Forsythe, Sondra Locke, Joe Don Baker, Robert DeNiro, Anthony Quinn, Kirk Douglas, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas and Rod Taylor.

Lookin' back with Larry King

Larry King Live - The Greatest Interviews: It's hard not to compare Larry King's new DVD set (out April 17) with Edward R. Murrow - The Best of Person to Person, which we reviewed just recently in this space in our review of "The Johnny Carson Show."
Both men were famous for one-on-one direct interviews with famous people, both in entertainment and politics.
The difference, however, is their style. Where Murrow was the consumnate journalist, with little emotion and dedicated to asking the questions that need to be asked, King has always been the neighborly guy who just wants to ask some questions, not all of them hard-nosed.
That's quite evident in this new three-disc set, celebrating King's 50 years in broadcasting, that features highlights from his CNN show. The names on the box really don't begin to cover all of it, since, unlike the Murrow and other sets, the discs aren't chaptered and the interviews, featuring over 300 celebrities from entertainment and politics, are all too brief moments with each one.
That's not to say that the helter-skelter format of the set doesn't work. Surprisingly, it does. On the first disc, Hollywood legends, there's everyone from Marlon Brando to Paul McCartney to Ringo Starr to Lauren Bacall to Bette Davis. Disc 2 features interviews with all the presidents from Nixon to George W., with most of the First Ladies also on board. That disc also includes coverage of various news events from 9/11 and the O.J. trial to the revealing of the identity of Watergate's Deep Throat. Disc 3 features entertainers, comedians and newscasters such as Oprah, Dan Rather, the cast of "Friends" and Regis Philbin.
It's too bad the set is weighted so heavily with entertainers. The political interviews on disc 2 are King really at his best. His moments with Ronald Reagan bring out the best of both men.
This set won't have the impact or staying power of the Murrow set (which is superb). King's relaxed charm (he reportedly does no preparation for interviews) makes him a welcome visitor in millions of American homes now, though. He's no Murrow. But King does get his guests to open up, even if, at times, he seems just a bit too friendly. Maybe it's because he's in the right place at the right time.
Or maybe he does what Murrow did -- ask the right questions.
SHORT TAKES: Two great Quinn Martin shows recently debuted on DVD and we recommend them highly. First is the classic The Untouchables - Season One, Vol. 1 with stone-faced Robert Stack superb as Elliot Ness. Adding to the atmosphere is the back-alley tones of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell as narrator. Also out is The Streets of San Francisco - Season 1, Vol. 1 in which veteran cop Karl Malden guided rookie cop (and rookie actor at the time) Michael Douglas. Both shows are well-acted and well-written. Well worth grabbing.