
The
Neighbors – The Complete First Season
(2012 – 2013/Disney/ABC DVD Set)/Tarzan
– The Complete Second Season
(1967 – 1968/MGM/Ron Ely/Warner Archive DVD Set)/Two
& A Half Men - The Complete Tenth Season
(2012 – 2013/Warner DVD set)
Picture:
C+/C/C Sound: C+/C/C+ Extras: C-/D/C- Episodes: C-/C+/C-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Tarzan
DVD set is only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below
-
Here's
more TV on DVD coming at ya...
The
Neighbors – The Complete First Season
(2012 – 2013) is a supposed comedy about aliens from outer
space a few decades ago and move into a suburban area that was not
exactly doing that well sales wise. With that problem solved, they
expect to be back home quickly, but someone forgot to bring the
charger for their advanced communicator and now they are so stuck,
one alien couple gives up, leaving room for a human family to move
in. What? Oh no! Or oh no?
Jaime
Gertz is the mom in that family and we are supposed to find this all
funny, but save for very young children or families, this is a lame
show that takes the most basic parts of Third
Rock From The Sun,
My
Favorite Martian
and any other sitcom it can rip off and try to make things work.
They do not, starting with the predictable pilot, then moving on to
boredom and an unknown cast trying to have some energy and
enthusiasm, but the 22 half-hours over 3 DVDs just get progressively
regressive and I can see why no one is talking about this show. And
it was renewed?
Extras
include a Gag Reel and Deleted Scenes that are as lame as the final
episodes.
Ron
Ely continued on a Edgar Rice Burroughs classic character in Tarzan
– The Complete Second Season
(1967 – 1968), but injuries, repetition and odd ideas (Diana
Ross & the Supremes as nuns (!), plus Ethel Merman show up... in
the jungle?) showed the series was wearing thin quickly, yet it is
the best entry on this list and has a few good moments. Ely is more
convincing in the role than most and to his credit is better
remembered than many actors (including ones who should have worked in
the part like Travis Fimmel and Casper Van Dien) who have recently
taken on the role.
The
show is now a curio and MGM did a great job marketing it (there were
some nice tie-in merchandise items for it) and at least the show
takes itself seriously, but MGM quit while it was ahead. Guest stars
this time include George Kennedy, Woody Strode, Ted Cassidy, Robert
Loggia, Clarence Williams III, Fernando Lamas, James Whitmore,
Geoffrey Holder, James MacArthur and Helen Hayes.
There
are sadly no extras.
By
its Fifth
Season,
Two &
A Half Men
had pretty much played itself out and something had to change.
Despite its high ratings, it was either going to decline or go on as
a zombie show past its prime, but the big surprise is that highly
paid Charlie Sheen (likely bored, but in an ugly conflict with
himself and the producer of the show) stunned the industry by leaving
the show! It is still sort of odd but it happened, so as a different
character, internet star and one-time TV hit star Ashton Kutcher
stepped in as the 'Casanova' of the series and it worked well enough
that the ratings stayed high, people kept watching and the show has
somehow made it all the way to a Complete
Tenth Season
(2012 – 2013), now on DVD.
Keeping
Conchata Ferrell on board sure helped, especially when the “1/2
man” Angus T. Young (having lost a good bit of weight in 5
seasons) started attacking the show as immoral, despite all that
money he raked in and got on a religious morality kick. Instead of
following Sheen, his role was greatly reduced, so the show has now
slightly improved if barely, making it more watchable and Jon Cryer
hangs in there.
It
is still not that funny, but not as obnoxious as it had been in
previous seasons. Miley Cyrus even shows up as a new character and
we get 23 episodes over 3 DVDs. It's still a fans-only affair, but
the show still has many of them, so let's see how much longer they
can keep it going.
Extras
include a Gag Reel and featurette Two
Manly Men Singing And Dancing.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Neighbors
and Men
should be the visual champs here, but both are soft, especially Men,
leaving Neighbors
the visual champ by default. The 1.33 X 1 image on Tarzan
was shot on 35mm film, but between the overuse of stock footage, the
worn prints on the set, the mixed color between prints (not the best
MetroColor we have seen of late) and the lack of detail in many a
shot, the playback disappoints.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes on Neighbors
and Men
tie as the sonic champs on the list, but still have lacking
soundfields and mixes too much towards the front channels. The lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Tarzan
sounds a little distorted at times, down a generation too often and
in some cases, be careful of volume switching and volume levels.
To
order Tarzan
(among many Tarzan exclusives, including other DVD and Blu-ray
exclusives), go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo