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GOOD SPORTS: Saturday '30 for 30' marathon on ESPN Classic
July 29, 2010 8:59 PM
Though I'm a huge sports fan, there are still athletes and events I don't know anything about -- until I see films about them in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series.
The Birth of Big Air just premiered in conjunction with the current X Games, and now I'm fascinated by high-flying BMX innovator Mat Hoffman, who reached astonishing heights in his Oklahoma backyard, but at astonishing cost.
Intimate gems like this are ESPN's gift to us for its 30th anniversary, distinctive documentaries from smart directors with a passion for subjects both small and epic, and this weekend offers a great chance to catch up. A five-hour 30 for 30 marathon Saturday on ESPN Classic showcases the range and idiosyncrasy of these films, which often tell us as much about other aspects of life as they do about the games people play.
(The Birth of Big Air isn't part of the marathon, but has its own repeat airings Friday night at 3 a.m. ET and Saturday at noon ET on ESPN2, plus Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and Sunday at 8 a.m. on ESPN U.)
Here's Saturday's 30 for 30 marathon, July 31 on ESPN Classic (all times ET):
12 noon -- Run Ricky Run, a preconception-challenging portrait of NFL running back, pothead and independent thinker Ricky Williams.
1 p.m. -- Guru of Go, recalling how coach Paul Westhead perfected a new run-and-gun offensive system with ill-fated college star Hank Gathers.
2 p.m. -- June 17th, 1994, a look back at a confluence of sports and society the night of O.J. Simpson's infamous "slow speed chase."
3 p.m. -- Straight Outta L.A., where director Ice Cube examines the intersection of the NFL Raiders' 1980s move to Los Angeles and the burgeoning of hip hop culture.
4 p.m. -- Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, tracing how the Indiana Pacers star turned into NYC's greatest sports villain.
DVD UPDATE: Out of nowhere, 'The Mothers-in-Law'
July 29, 2010 11:43 AM
How great is it when DVD resurrects TV shows that you'd forgotten even existed? That's what happens this week with The Mothers-in-Law, the 1960s sitcom pairing Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as the title neighbors, normally warring yet suddenly stuck together by their progeny's surprise elopement.
It's even better when the forgotten show arrives on disc with extras galore, to place it in context of time, tone and personnel as sharply as The Mothers-in-Law DVD does. Never mind forgetting the show itself -- who remembers that its long-lost laughs were produced by sitcom innovator Desi Arnaz and written by his I Love Lucy scripting mainstays Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis?
This history is brought out in the gleeful new 8-disc DVD set from the MPI folks, who've also been releasing such other Arnaz properties as Here's Lucy and Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie. These two NBC seasons totaling 56 color episodes (1967-69) have all the hallmarks of Lucy-style comedy -- simple yet effective setups, old-pro execution, and nicely miked audience laughter not much more raucous than that emanating from your own couch. There's plenty of physical comedy, and also social humor of the "crazy Cuban" kind, this time assigned to Ballard's uber-Italian "loudmouth" as she bumps heads with Arden's prim next-door WASP.
Their kids are negligible (one-time Gidget and beach-flick girl Deborah Walley, with who's-he hubby Jerry Fogel). But there's fun from husbands Roger C. Carmel -- yes, Star Trek's Harry Mudd -- and Herbert Rudley (married to Ballard and Arden, respectively). The extras tell us that after a promised raise was not forthcoming, Carmel quit, to be replaced during the show's final season by the less-than-ideal Richard Deacon (The Dick Van Dyke Show).
Ballard explains it all, in new featurettes and interviews, and she's boisterously sublime, as fans who's seen her since in anything from The Ritz to Due South can attest. But that's only the start of the bonus features. MPI adds the original unaired Mothers-in-Law pilot (with a different daughter), plus vintage behind-the-scenes footage (with commentary from Ballard, writer Davis and production exec Dann Cahn), cast commercials, promo spots, Ballard and Arden performances from vintage variety shows, and coolest of all, two unsold pilots produced by Arnaz around the same time.
The Carol Channing Show (1966) is a real sitcom curio, with the stage star mugging like mad as a hick invading New York to make it big in showbiz. It's from the same writing/production team as Mothers-in-Law (and even features Deacon), which is odd, considering how slowly and awkwardly it moves. But mostly its broad-playing star just isn't comfortable in this close-up medium.
The other show, Land's End (1968), was an hour adventure pilot shot in Baja California, with star Rory Calhoun rescuing a shipwreck survivor played by Martin Milner. But it's presented on disc in a truncated half-hour format once aired by NBC to burn off the pilot footage. Let's just say the hour adventure genre doesn't seem to have been Arnaz' forte. (If you can't spot the villain in about 10 seconds, you've never watched television before.) Nice scenery, though. And this oddity even includes its original commercials (Secret deodorant, Cameo soap and Prell shampoo "in the unbreakable tube!").
In other words, The Mothers-in-Law DVD set is a fine archive of a worthy show, its makers and its time -- an unsung gem that's well worth picking up at a bargain discount. While MPI's list price is $40, Amazon has it for $19 (as of July 28).
What other vintage shows are out there, just waiting to be rediscovered?
Also out this week:
Sgt. Bilko - The Phil Silvers Show: First Season -- Silvers' classic Army base scheming has previously hit DVD in best-of format, but let's hope this complete season launches a continuing season-set release pattern. Buyers of the previous best-of set will recognize commentaries, the unaired pilot (featuring Jack Warden), cast cigarette ads, and a color Lucy Show episode with Silvers among the extras.
Other new arrivals:
Stephen Fry in America -- On both DVD and Blu-ray, Hugh Laurie's old comedy partner (A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster) tours the 50 states in London's traditional black taxi. He doesn't necessarily hit the highlights in these six hour shows, instead going lobstering in Maine, learning about witches in Salem, watching Oscars cast in Chicago, meeting Hmong in Minnesota, and encountering other beneath-the-surface Americana.
Being Human: Season 1 -- They're just your average modern-day British twentysomething roommates, except they're a hunky-guy vampire, a shy-guy werewolf, and a cute girl ghost (all of whom wish they weren't). This set includes the first 6 episodes, but not the earlier pilot movie with some different actors, so this BBC America show hits the ground running a bit too fast. On both DVD and BD. (Being Human is currently being "reimagined" for Syfy with a Boston setting featuring Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington and Mark Pellegrino.)
FALL PREMIERES: On cable, too
July 26, 2010 5:04 PM
Cable is pulling out some big guns this year to run head-to-head with the networks' traditional fall premieres. Established faves like Dexter and Sons of Anarchy return, joined by promising newcomers like Boardwalk Empire and Terriers.
Cable even has a late-night talk show featuring some Irish comic named Conan.
Here's a look at just a few of the cable arrivals announced for fall (and a couple coming early).
AUG. 1
Rubicon (AMC) -- James Badge Dale (The Pacific) stars in this conspiracy thriller as an intelligence analyst who gets too close to some uncomfortable truths.
AUG. 16
Weeds (Showtime) -- Sixth season of Mary-Louise Parker's suburban pot comedy adds Richard Dreyfuss to the mix.
The Big C (Showtime) -- Laura Linney copes with cancer in this comedy costarring Oliver Platt, Idris Elba, Gabourey Sidibe and Cynthia Nixon.
SEPT. 7
Sons of Anarchy (FX) -- Third season of ex-Shield mainstay Kurt Sutter's California motorcycle mob tale.
SEPT. 8
Terriers (FX) -- The Shield creator Shawn Ryan teams with Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven) for this comedy-drama starring Donal Logue as a shaggy ex-cop who starts an unlicensed private eye business.
SEPT. 16
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX) -- Sixth season with the rowdy Philly barflies.
SEPT. 19
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) -- Martin Scorsese directed the pilot of this lavish drama about Atlantic City "at the dawn of Prohibition," written by Sopranos scribe Terence Winter. Stars include Steve Buscemi, Dabney Coleman and Gretchen Mol.
SEPT. 26
Dexter (Showtime) -- Fifth season with Michael C. Hall's Miami police blood-spatter analyst/serial killer of serial killers. Key guest stars this season include Julia Stiles, Peter Weller, Jonny Lee Miller, Shawn Hatosy and Maria Doyle Kennedy.
Bored to Death (HBO) -- Second season of Jason Schwarzman as a Brookyn writer turned private eye. With Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis.
Eastboard & Down (HBO) -- Second season with Danny McBride's no-role-model ex-baseball player.
SEPT. 27
Faces of a Vanishing World (Ovation) -- Docuseries follows 19-year-old New York photographer Joey Lawrence as he shoots disappearing cultures around the world.
OCT. 2
Iconoclasts (Sundance) -- Fifth season of celebs interviewing celebs, including Charlize Theron with primatologist Jane Goodall and Cate Blanchett with climate change scientist Tim Flannery.
OCTOBER
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC) -- David Cross created and stars in the "misadventures of an American pathological liar as he bluffs his way into a senior sales job in the London office" of a new energy drink. Fellow Arrested Development alum Will Arnett plays his "hard-ass, foul-mouthed boss."
The Walking Dead (AMC) -- Frank Darabont is behind this post-apocalyptic zombie tale, from Robert Kirkman's graphic novels. With Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Laurie Holden, Sarah Wayne Callies.
NOVEMBER
Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (TCM) -- Seven hourlong documentaries focus on crucial eras of American film history, starting with the invention of motion pictures.
NOV. 8
Conan O'Brien (TBS) -- He's back, late-nights at 11 p.m. ET. George Lopez' current talkfest moves back to midnight.
NOV. 29
Men of a Certain Age (TNT) -- Second season of Ray Romano's smart midlife crisis saga with pals Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.
Undetermined fall premiere date
Top Gear (History) -- Based on the UK hit taking witty spins in high-tech vehicles.
FALL PREMIERES: Mark your calendar
July 23, 2010 6:30 PM
If you love TV and you've got plans to do something else the week of Sept. 20, change 'em. The broadcast networks are loading up a "fall premiere week" like they haven't done in ages.
A whopping 68 shows will either debut or return for new seasons the week of Sept. 20-27. That Thursday night alone, there are 14 series/season premieres across the five major networks (ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC).
If you love TV and you don't have a DVR, get one.
(And we haven't even factored in cable yet.)
Here's a handy chronological list compiled from the networks' official fall-lineup announcements. As always, be prepared for last-minute shuffles, adds, deletions and other competitive changes.
New shows in CAPS. All times ET.
FALL 2010-11 NETWORK TV PREMIERE DATES
WED., SEPT. 8
8 p.m. - America's Next Top Model (CW)
9 p.m. - HELLCATS (CW)
THURS., SEPT. 9
8 p.m. - The Vampire Diaries (CW)
9 p.m. - NIKITA (CW)
SAT., SEPT. 11
8 and 8:30 p.m. - Cops
9 p.m. - America's Most Wanted
MON., SEPT. 13
8 p.m. - 90210 (CW)
9 p.m. - Gossip Girl (CW)
TUES., SEPT. 14
8 p.m. - One Tree Hill (CW)
9 p.m. - Life Unexpected (CW)
WED., SEPT. 15
8 p.m. - Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS)
MON., SEPT. 20
8 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
8 p.m. - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
8 p.m. - House (Fox)
8 p.m. - Chuck (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - Rules of Engagement (CBS)
9 p.m. - Two and a Half Men (CBS)
9 p.m. - LONE STAR (Fox)
9 p.m. - THE EVENT (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - MIKE & MOLLY (CBS)
10 p.m. - Castle (ABC)
10 p.m. - HAWAII FIVE-0 (CBS)
10 p.m. - CHASE (NBC)
TUES., SEPT. 21
8 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
10 p.m. - DETROIT 1-8-7 (ABC)
8 p.m. - NCIS (CBS)
9 p.m. - NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
8 p.m. - Glee (Fox)
9 p.m. - RAISING HOPE (Fox)
9:30 p.m. - RUNNING WILDE (Fox)
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser (NBC)
10 p.m. - Parenthood (NBC)
WED., SEPT. 22
8 p.m. - The Middle (ABC)
8 p.m. - Hell's Kitchen (Fox)
8 p.m. - UNDERCOVERS (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - BETTER WITH YOU (ABC)
9 p.m. - Modern Family (ABC)
9 p.m. - Criminal Minds (CBS)
9 p.m. - Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - Cougar Town (ABC)
10 p.m. - THE WHOLE TRUTH (ABC)
10 p.m. - THE DEFENDERS (CBS)
10 p.m. - Law & Order LA (NBC)
THURS., SEPT. 23
8 p.m. - MY GENERATION (ABC)
8 p.m. - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8 p.m. - Bones (Fox)
8 p.m. - Community (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - $#*! MY DAD SAYS (CBS)
8:30 p.m. - 30 Rock (NBC)
9 p.m. - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
9 p.m. - CSI (CBS)
9 p.m. - Fringe (Fox)
9 p.m. - The Office (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - OUTSOURCED (NBC)
10 p.m. - Private Practice (ABC)
10 p.m. - The Mentalist (CBS)
10 p.m. - The Apprentice (NBC)
FRI., SEPT. 24
8 p.m. - 20/20 (ABC)
8 p.m. - Medium (CBS)
8 p.m. - Smallville (CW)
8 p.m. - Human Target (Fox)
8 p.m. - SCHOOL PRIDE (NBC)
9 p.m. - CSI: NY (CBS)
9 p.m. - Supernatural (CW)
9 p.m. - The Good Guys (Fox)
9 p.m. - Dateline (NBC)
10 p.m. - BLUE BLOODS (CBS)
10 p.m. - OUTLAW (NBC)
SAT., SEPT. 25
10 p.m. - 48 Hours Mystery (CBS)
SUN., SEPT. 26
7 p.m. - America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
7:30 p.m. - 60 Minutes (CBS)
8 p.m. - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
8 p.m. - The Simpsons (Fox)
8:30 p.m. - The Amazing Race (CBS)
8:30 p.m. - The Cleveland Show (Fox)
9 p.m. - Desperate Housewives (ABC)
9 p.m. - Family Guy (Fox)
10 p.m. - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
10 p.m. - Undercover Boss (CBS)
TUES., SEPT. 28
8 p.m. - NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC)
9 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars results show (ABC)
10 p.m. - The Good Wife (CBS)
SUN., OCT. 3
9:30 p.m. - American Dad (Fox)
10 p.m. - CSI: Miami (CBS)
WED., NOV. 10
8 p.m. - Lie to Me (Fox)
9 p.m. - Hell's Kitchen (Fox)
NEWS: Daniel Schorr tribute
July 23, 2010 3:00 PM
In honor of longtime CBS newsman and recent NPR commentary stalwart Daniel Schorr, who died Friday morning at 93, National Public Radio will air an hourlong tribute hosted by Robert Siegel on Friday night.
It runs at 8 p.m. ET on WNYC, WHYY and many other NPR stations (plus online streams; check local listings).
Schorr's obituary at NPR's web site details his 65-year career, from his post-World War II print writing to his CBS days as one of "Murrow's boys" starting in 1953, on through a stop at CNN on the way to NPR. It's a fascinating story, highlighted by his wrangles with the Nixon administration during the Watergate scandal.
Also included -- links to his radio commentaries and video of Schorr through the years.
FLICK PICKS: Silent epic from India
July 21, 2010 6:56 PM
As so many cable channels morph to new formats that abandon their original fans, it's nice to see Turner Classic Movies getting even deeper into "classic" mode.
This weekend's Silent Sunday Nights presentation is a rarity for a showcase that tends to rely on pre-talkie standbys like Buster Keaton and D.W. Griffith. It's a 1929 epic from India, A Throw of the Dice (late July 25 at 12:30 a.m. ET on TCM), adapted from the Sanskrit poem The Mahabharata and featuring everything from a tiger hunt to death by cobra-in-bed.
Rival royals in love with the same woman bet everything on the title game of chance, as German import Franz Osten directs an Indian cast on location in the exotic land that was then still controlled by the British.
And it was the British Film Institute that restored this influential title in 2006, providing a new score by Nitin Sawhney that combines Indian and western music styles. As A Throw of Dice, the restoration subsequently played only film festivals and a couple of big cities in this country, where even cinephiles know little more of the world's largest film industry than Satyajit Ray and Bollywood.
A must-see.
For comparison's sake, here's The New York Times' original 1930 review and TCM's retrospective essay on this rare gem.
NEWS FLASH: 'Damages' moves to DirecTV
July 19, 2010 10:08 PM
Channel worth watching? That's what DIrecTV seems to be creating in its original programming channel The 101. Not content with grabbing the first run of Friday Night Lights from NBC, they're now adding Damages, after FX balked at continuing Glenn Close's costly legal thriller when ratings lagged.
DirecTV and producing studio Sony announced late Monday that they've agreed to debut 20 new episodes of Damages exclusively on satellite for the next two seasons, with production starting early next year. They'll also be encoring previously produced Seasons 1-3.
The 101 started making noise a few years ago by picking up the final season of NBC's canceled soap Passions. Then DirecTV took over the original run of Friday Night Lights in its third season, with episodes subsequently being broadcast on NBC (currently Friday at 8 p.m. ET).
The channel does imports, too, offering the American debut of the Australian crime drama Underbelly (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET).
They've made viewers without premium cable happy by offering encores of acclaimed series like HBO's Baltimore urban drama The Wire (currently Sunday at 9 p.m. ET) and Showtime's Boston politics/crime family tale Brotherhood (Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET). Other goodies have included Showtime's much lauded terrorist saga Sleeper Cell and HBO's gritty western Deadwood and prison drama Oz.
And they're dug deep to premiere unaired episodes of gone-too-soon network series like ABC's mental hospital drama Wonderland and sleuth saga Eyes, along with CBS' crime hour Smith.
COMEDY: 'Scrubs' on TV, 'Daily Show' in Central Park
July 19, 2010 12:15 PM
Comedy Central provides summer laughs all over the place this week. The cable channel is airing mini-marathons of Scrubs (Tuesday-Friday 6-8 p.m. ET, Saturday-Sunday 3-5 p.m. ET).
And they're sponsoring a live performance from The Daily Show in Manhattan's Central Park on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
"The Daily Show & Friends" features comedy from John Oliver [photo at right], Rob Riggle, Rory Albanese, Adam Lowitt and Wyatt Cenac, with "a special performance" by Lewis Black -- and it's free. (Gates open at 7 p.m., rain or shine.)
This is the fourth annual Comedy Central Park show in the city's weeks-long Summerstage series. (Click Summerstage for info.)
Details on the week's Scrubs episodes here.
DVD DEAL: Complete 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' at half-price
July 15, 2010 5:21 PM
Sorry for noticing this so late, but Thursday's Amazon deal of the day is the complete series box of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. That's all four seasons for $85, which is also a savings of $85 from Amazon's previous price of $170 (off a list price of $200).
This is the cool attache-case cardboard box with a handle, holding four separate season sets -- one of which contains liner notes written by our own David Bianculli.
NBC's 1960s spy capers with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum look fab. More serious Season 1 was shot in black-and-white, with the other 3 increasingly wacky seasons filmed in color on the MGM lot.
Click here to learn more.
DVD THIS WEEK: 'White Collar,' 'Dark Blue,' British detectives
July 13, 2010 11:12 AM
For somebody I had pretty much never heard of before, Matt Bomer instantly became one of my most anticipated TV sightings last year on White Collar. As soon as I saw this USA romp's slick and witty pilot, I was hooked, and not only because Bomer's such a looker. He's also supremely effective in a tough role -- his cop-helping con man is supposed to be an irresistible charmer. Which is essentially the same as waving a "kick me" sign in front of a critic.
But Bomer nails it, embodying what series creator Jeff Eastin talks about in the show's new first-season DVD/Blu-ray set's bonus features. Where most TV characters aim to fade into a show's dramatic "reality," Eastin wanted Bomer's Neal Caffrey to be the guy who makes heads turn when he walks in the room. Not as easy as it sounds. Most characters like that are way too obvious, to the point of cloying or annoying, if not utterly implausible. Bomer, on the other hand, seems to naturally radiate sizzle. Yet he registers relatable and sympathetic, for both women and men. He's slick yet sensitive, wearing his soul as plainly as his designer suits.
(To be fair, though, Bomer wasn't exactly an unknown before I woke up to White Collar. I must have seen him in guest arcs on Chuck or Tru Calling, and I know I saw his first lead series, ABC's short-lived Traveler -- but somehow he just didn't compute then.)
As TV's second season of White Collar starts up tonight (at 10 p.m. ET on USA), the first-season discs are hitting shelves. These initial 14 episodes include 5 commentaries, which are rare for including the creator with all four series stars, whose warm affinity here helps explain their relaxed rapport on-screen. The other bonus features do their job of exploring the show's creation, fashion sense, and FBI authenticity. What's missing is a featurette on the show's smartly used New York City locations (though the commentaries touch on some of that).
Other new releases worth watching:
Life on Mars: Complete Collection and Touching Evil: Complete Collection -- Both are inventively brooding tales of damaged investigators, and both were "adapted" from these dynamic British hits into namby-pamby American failures. Watch these originals to see where we Yanks went wrong. Both boxes are repackagings of previous separate volumes. But if you don't already have those, these are the place to start (and they're cheaper, too). Life on Mars is packed with the same bonus features found on previous volumes.
Dragnet 1968: Season 2 -- There is no earthly reason for me to be obsessed with watching this paint-by-numbers police saga, but Lord help me, I can't stop. Jack Webb's rat-a-tat dialogue, his ping-pong editing from cop question to prevaricator answer, the pinch-penny drab sets, 
the pompous moral lecturing of straw-man suspects -- I just can't get enough. The episodes aren't even all that different, really, whether Webb's plainclothes L.A. detective Joe Friday and Harry Morgan's partner Bill Gannon are screening police academy applicants or trying to disarm angry Jan Michael Vincent of a live grenade at a swingin' teen party (as swingin' as these '60s squares can make it). Extras in this first Shout Factory release are what should have been on another distributor's Season 1 set -- the 1966 pilot movie in which Webb resurrected his '50s series for color TV and hippie takedowns, plus a marvelous Webb bio-featurette with testimony from friends and ex-wives. Just the facts, man.
Dark Blue: Season 1 -- Dylan McDermott's TNT drama isn't on store shelves, but can be ordered direct from Warner Archive. Though the widescreen episodes come in retail packaging, they're recorded on 4 purple-surface DVD-R discs. (They're designed for standard DVD players. Some play fine in my laptop drive, some don't.) The only extra is a promo for Season 2, starting Aug. 4 on TNT.
