American Restoration Volume One (History Channel/A&E DVD Set)/Gigolos The First Season
(Showtime/CBS DVD)/Half Pint Brawlers
Season One (Image DVD)/How The
States Got Their Shapes Season One (History Channel/A&E DVD Set/all
2011)
Picture: C+ Sound:
C+ Extras: D/C-/D/C+ Episodes: B/C+/C/B-
And now
for the latest ups, down and twists in the reality TV market.
The best
of the four here is American Restoration
Volume One, a History Channel series that is also a companion of sorts to
Pawn Stars (reviewed elsewhere on
this site; the starts even show up occasionally) and even when it is obviously
staged, it is very informative about collectibles, valuables and the history of
some really great pieces from the past and how they were produced. Rock Dale of Ricks Restoration (in Las Vegas) rebuilds
things from top to bottom and makes sure that they work 100% before they leave
his shop. Except in rare cases where he
makes variants for the customer, he rebuilds things like new. Hot items this time out include a slot
machine, Coke Machine that also offers hot dogs, Pepsi Machine, working kids
train, coffee machine, slot machine, a safe and many other great items. The works is exceptional and impressive making
this as good as any show of its kind, so be sure to catch it. There are no extras.
Also
taking place in very different parts of Vegas is Gigolos The First Season, a series that I thought might be a
drama, but turns out to be a show about five men who work for the same agency
renting their supposed sexual talents for hire.
The show is very awkward and not because of the graphic or semi-graphic
sex shown. If anything, this show makes
sex sexless and how their job is not anywhere as glamorous as you might
think. Because of varying contracts we
guess, some get more camera time than others and we see those men more in
action than others in what is a heterosexual operation, though one of the stars
actually has acted in gay dramas.
However, this wears thin very quickly and the eight half-hours here get
tired very quickly. Also, some of this
was not so great to watch in any event.
The only extra is brief bios on the five guys.
Looking
for sensational material the makers of Jackass:
The Movie have come up with Half
Pint Brawlers Season One, about a group of four men who wrestle, but also
happen to be midgets and of course, this is meant to be a celebrated ugliness
and exploitive by default all the way.
To their credit, the men let their better sides show in the midst of the
low road the style of this show takes, but a documentary that was a character
study would have yielded a much more interesting result. This is not meant to be good and anyone
buying this knows it. There are no
extras.
Finally
we have the educational series How The
States Got Their Shapes Season One from The History Channel, which 10
episodes (the first of many apparently) examining the history of how so many
factors (geographical, political and otherwise) shaped the country into the
states it has today and though that can be very interesting, the show stretches
things out more than it should with humor, some dull moments and a host in
Brian Unger who might be more jokey than he should be, but its his show. I just wish it were more consistent. The only extra is a special on the series of
the same name on the bonus fourth DVD.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on all four releases have their share of motion blur
and rough video, but both Restoration
and States are the smoothest and
best edited of the four offerings. There
is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on all four releases with their share of location
audio issues, though Restoration is
the most consistent sonically, but Gigolos
tries to offer a Dolby 5.0 mix that does not improve matters much in its case.
- Nicholas Sheffo
