Duck
Dynasty: Duck Days Of Summer
(2014/Lionsgate DVD)/Happy
Days: The Fifth Season
(1977 - 1978/CBS DVD Set)/Kendra
To Top: The Complete Second Season
(2013/MPI DVDs)/Mountain
Men: Season 2
(2013/History Channel/Lionsgate DVDs)
Picture:
C/C+/C/C Sound: C/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C-/C-/C-/C Main
Programs: C-/B-/C-/C
Here
three weak reality TV shows and one TV situation comedy that played
loose with its own reality.
The
quacked-up homophobes are back in Duck
Dynasty: Duck Days Of Summer
(2014), a cynical cash-in single DVD release that has no real reasons
to exist except to get fans to buy more of the same thing. It only
has 3 episodes! Lame as the show is beyond played out, this is a
slight sampler at best and everyone else should just skip it.
A
bonus interview is the only extra.
Happy
Days: The Fifth Season
had the show insanely successful and in the grips of Fonzie-Mania
during ABC's 1977 - 1978 Season. The show knew it was hot, so much
so that they dared to launch the season with the three-part Hollywood
storyline, where the gang goes to the title locale leading up to the
infamous Fonzie
Jumps The Shark
moment which shows that Garry Marshall (et al) knew fans would watch
anything. However, the really big pop culture moment was not that,
the debut of Suzi Quattro as Leather Tuscadero (made to write out the
Pinky Tuscadero character as the actress who played her became too
difficult to have on the show) or Ritchie almost dying.
Instead,
Ritchie thinks he sees a flying saucer and get visited by a real
alien who wants to take him back to his home planet. This was the
national debut of Robin Williams as Mork from Ork, an episode that
went over so well, a spin-off eventually happened and Williams was a
household name. My Favorite Orkan is as wild as the Shark
fiasco and as well written as anything here. All in all, this was
the peak season of the show and revisiting it was far more
interesting than anticipated. Scott Baio's Chacchi was also here to
stay.
The
4th Anniversary Episode Special is the only extra.
Kendra
To Top: The Complete Second Season
(2013) has the half-interesting football wife and even writer acting
semi-wild for 17 more not-so-secretly scripted shows that are
repetitive and eventually also wear thin. She can be interesting,
but not enough for 344 minutes! Wonder how long this one will stay
on the air?
Deleted
Scenes, tearer for the new season and web series clips are the
extras.
Mountain
Men: Season 2
(2013) plays like Duck
Dynasty
with a brain as the men featured seem to really care about nature and
their futures. More credible by default, it is still a show that you
had better be real interested in the goings-on or you will be bored.
We get 16 episodes over 4 DVDs and though this has some good moments,
it is a very long program and not my kind of show. Still, is shows
us rarely seen outbacks that we do not see enough, so that's a plus.
30
minutes of bonus footage never broadcast on TV is the only extra.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the newer reality TV shows
are all softer than they should be, digital productions and all,
while the 1.33 X 1 color, filmed image on Days tops them all
as the 35mm prints are in great shape and would likely benefit from a
Blu-ray release. The show was always playing up color of the era and
by this time, had lightened up its look with even more color. This
made it loose some of its 1950s authenticity, but was a hit with
audiences.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on all the reality TV shows save Duck
sound good as it simply sounds a bit too low in sound and fullness.
So much so that even the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Days
is is superior and sounds fine for its age, even tying the better new
entries.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
