The
Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Season Four
(1965 - 1966/CBS DVD Set)/Hart
Of Dixie: The Complete Second Season
(2012 - 2013/Warner DVD Set)/How
I Met Your Mother: The Complete Season 8
(2012 - 2013)/New Girl:
The Complete Second Season
(2012 - 2013/Fox DVD Sets)/Petticoat
Junction: The Official Third Season
(1965 - 1966/CBS DVD Set)
Picture:
C+/C+/C/C+/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D/C-/C-/C-/D Episodes:
B-/C/C-/C-/B-
The
TV on DVD sets keep on coming and here are five comedies old and
new...
The
Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Season Four
(1965 - 1966) was the year the show started filming in color and that
only pushed the writers to make the humor even more outrageous as the
series stayed #1 on all of TV and the cast hit their hilarious
stride. To the credit of all, the show did not try to go into
directions that made no sense, sticking with what worked, including
sending up what was topical. This includes an episode where Max Baer
Jr.'s Jethro decides to become a James Bond-type spy including
building a spy car that looks like it will be in the scrapyard before
its initial use.
What
makes the show hold up for the rural humor intended is that the
makers were fearless in creating idiotic situations that did not seem
so to The Clampetts, especially as Jed (Buddy Ebsen) always had a
common sense moral center and down home sense of things, even when he
almost charmingly had only half a clue as to the realities of what
was going on in reality. All 32 half-hour shows are here on 4 DVDs.
There
are no extras, unfortunately.
Hart
Of Dixie: The Complete Second Season
(2012 - 2013) is yet another nighttime soap opera like the many we
used to get, but with a twist: it knows it is being good trash, but
it is also a comedy. Set in the South, it is not a satire or direct
spoof of such shows, but has comic moments explicit during the usual
soap opera happenings, making for a nice change of pace for such a
show.
However,
the makers cannot really capitalize on this or take it to a place
that makes the show a clever howler throughout, especially since it
still wants to be that trashy nighttime soap it is likely being sold
as to begin with. The mostly unknown cast (Rachel Bilson and Tim
Matheson are the few known actors) is not bad and the 22 episodes
here over 5 DVDs are moderately watchable, but this is a show that
did not stuck with me in the least and tends to be aimed at a female
audience whether it wants to admit it or not.
A
pullout paper episode guide in the DVD case is the only extra.
Hard
to believe, but we are now at How
I Met Your Mother: The Complete Season 8
(2012 - 2013) and we having covered three of the first four seasons
elsewhere on this site, I was never a fan of the show though some
other writers on the site have liked it. An enduring hit at this
point, it has not become any funnier, is mildly entertaining at best
and only the chemistry and appeal of its cast of its audience (and
the lack of good scripted series on TV in general) can explain how
the show has survived to this point.
All
23 half-hours are here on 3 DVDs and none of them really stuck with
me either, though I might remember the funny faces some of the actors
made after telling jokes. This is for fans only and that might be an
understatement.
Extras
include a Music Video, its Making Of, audio commentary tracks on two
episodes, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel and a Set Tour with co-star Josh
Radner dubbed How
We Made Your Mother.
New
Girl: The Complete Second Season
(2012 - 2013) is a series that operates pretty much the same way.
The teleplays are not that strong, but the cast is very watchable,
maybe just a little more so with the terrific Zooey Dechannel in the
title role and the underrated jake johnson, for whom comedy comes so
easily, yet why is this man not a household name yet?
25
episodes are here over 3 DVDs, but I found the show a bit too safe at
times and even formulaically set up in its teleplays to really soar,
yet it has its moments and even if the show does not stick with one,
you can see why people keep watching.
Extras
include extended versions of two episodes (Virgins,
Full
Of Schmidt),
an audio commentary track in the Cooler
episode, Deleted Scenes and a Gag Reel.
Last
but not least is Petticoat
Junction: The Official Third Season
(1965 - 1966), the sister show to Beverly
Hillbillies
that also turned to full color by this season. Happenings in
Hooterville were never as consistently over-the-top as the show it
was spun-off from, but it was always a charming, funny, fun show with
its humorous moments and some really underrated writing that made the
best use of its cast.
Unlike
the newer shows, the scripts for these older shows had writers who
knew how to push the ideas all the way and get the most out of them
and though these older series are set in surreal worlds when you
think about it, they can seem more realistic since the characters
just don't mumble, complain and seem stuck in ways that don't ring
true. Any characters stuck in these older shows are stuck in funny
ways the the caveat that thy can be unstuck with some thinking and
tend to have a more realistically positive undertone. Bea Benaderet,
Edgar Buchanan, Lori Sanders, Gunilla Hutton and Linda Kaye Henning
were also very well matched and like their companion show, the actors
really melded well at this point. Nice to see the show hold up so
well too at it also hit its stride here.
There
are no extras.
The
1.33 X 1 color transfers on Hillbillies
and Junction
are finally presented for the first time in transfers worthy of their
35mm filmed shoots. Except for some softness, the color form the
prints on both sets are very very impressive, show the money and
effort put into making the shows and save for those who have seen the
shows on good film prints, these series have never looked this good
in color before on home video ever!
That makes them fun to watch (or to watch all over again if you have
seen them before) so expect to be impressed with both sets. Official
means CBS has issued the best versions you will veer see on DVD.
Hope we get Blu-ray editions down the line.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the newer three TV shows
are all HD shoots that look good for the format and are the equal of
the older shows, but have their detail limits and Mother in
particular is softer than it should be throughout, making it the poor
picture performer on the list for whatever reason.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Hillbillies
and Junction
sound as good as they ever have and show ho well recorded they were
for their time, while the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on the newer
shows have some obvious clarity advantages, but tend to be
dialogue/joke based and more towards the front speakers meaning don't
expect any great soundfields in their cases.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
