The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
Trust me, you’ll never know just how much you want a fully-remastered high definition collector’s edition of Pee-wee’s Playhouse (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$149.99 SRP) until you feast your eyes and nostalgia upon that very wonder. By going back to the original 16mm elements and doing a modern digital reassembly and compositing, the show has literally never looked better. To say it’s incredible is an understatement. And if that weren’t enough, there are hours of brand new bonus documentaries featuring all of the on-camera and behind-the-scenes talent – except, glaring by his absence, Paul Reubens himself. But regardless of his lack of on-camera presence, his influence and attention to detail is evident throughout this must-have set.
If the first half of the final season of Mad Men (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP) consisted solely of Robert Morse’s parting scene, it would already be a success in my book, but that was once of many fine moments weaving through the set up to the show’s swan song in a catch-22 of it can’t come fast enough and is all-too-soon. Bonus materials include audio commentaries and a clutch of featurettes.
The fine folks at Criterion have once again worked their sacred cinephile magic to conjure up a pair of truly fantastic special editions making their high definition debut. First up is Federico Fellini’s legendary La Dolce Vita (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), featuring a new 4k digital restoration, numerous interviews, and a visual essay. Second is Orson Welles’ “documentary” F For Fake (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP), which sports the documentary One Man Band, an audio commentary, additional documentaries, interviews, and much more. To say that both are must-haves is an understatement.
In this age of miracles, Shout Factory has pulled off another of their patented wonders by somehow managing to untangle and license nearly all of the music found in the feared-to-be-unreleasable-in-a-manner-it-deserves WKRP In Cincinnati (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$139.99 SRP). So here we have the best possible set we’ll ever get, and it’s finally worth shelling out your hard earned money for. Bonus materials include the Paley Center cast reunion and a trio of featurettes.
Monty Python’s absolutely final run of reunion performances as captured in Monty Python Live: One Down Five To Go (Eagle Vision, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) is everything one would expect from a concert of septuagenarians put together by Eric – a massive musical spectacle that occasionally involves the Pythons proper and their greatest hits. But because it’s what we expected, and because the five remaining members were together, and because this is probably the last time that will ever happen on stage, nostalgia and warm fuzzies carry the day even when the performances don’t. Bonus materials include featurettes and exclusive footage.
Cartoon Network brings together a handful of its heavy hitters for a Cartoon Network Holiday Collection (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), featuring yuletide editions of Adventure Time, Regular Show, and The Amazing World Of Gumball, plus bonus episodes of Clarence and Steven Universe.
It’s been a while since we last checked in with the fine folks at the Warner Archive Collection, and in the interim they’ve been busy digging up even more hidden gems and guilty pleasures from the deepest recesses of their vaults for our viewing pleasure. Fresh from the depths come the Jack Benny features The Horn Blows At Midnight (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP) & George Washington Slept Here (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP), Charles Laughton as the titular spirit in The Canterville Ghost (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$19.99 SRP), the 80s HBO rotation staples Feds (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP) & Second Sight (Warner Bros., Rated PG, MOD DVD-$17.99 SRP), and the forgotten Buck Henry presidential comedy First Family (Warner Bros., Rated R, MOD DVD-$21.99 SRP). For kids, they’ve bolstered their animated offerings with the complete collection of Hanna-Barbera’s French Canadian wolf Loopy DeLoop (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$29.99 SRP), the full Shirt Tales (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), the first volume of the 60s made-for-TV Popeye The Sailor (Warner Bros., Not Rated, MOD DVD-$35.99 SRP), and the must-have release of the whole lot, the complete run of Gilligan’s Planet (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP).
And while we’re on the subject of the Warner Archive Collection, they’ve also been releasing a handful of their niche titles in high definition, the latest being Blake Edwards’ madcap The Great Race (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), the big screen take on the Broadway classic Gypsy (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$21.99 SRP), and the complete second season of the animated Batman: The Brave And The Bold (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP). More, please!
Long before the man behind ALF created that wacky alien, Paul Fusco produced a series of puppet-based holiday specials, the first of which – Santa’s Magic Toy Bag (Legend, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP) – makes its home video debut just in time for seasonal viewing.
I’d say “amiable” is a better word than “funny” to describe the one-man autobiographical show Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP), which finds the venerable comic reflecting on the first few decades of his life and the influences that helped shape him as a performer.
I wasn’t expecting much from Earth To Echo (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), so it was with genuine surprise that I found it to be a charming little film evocative of kid-centric under-the-radar 80s flicks like Explorers and Flight Of The Navigator in its simple tale of a trio of kids who discover a small alien who just wants to get home. Sounds familiar, right? Give it a go, ya jaded mooks. Bonus materials include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Rewind back to the very beginning of the long-running Brit crime drama, back when forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Ryan was solving murder cases in Silent Witness: Season One (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), then fast-forward to the modern run and the team headed up by Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness: Season Seventeen (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP).
Regardless of all the brouhaha over the band’s recent free album, there’s no denying U2’s place in the musical firmament, and that’s why it’s surprising it’s taken this long for the Irish quartet to get a fitting illustrated history like U2: Revolution (Race Point Publishing, $35), which charts the history and evolution of the band as they rock into their fourth decade.
It’s a kinder, gentler, often goofily amiable kind of comedy that you’ll find in The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years (Timeless, Not Rated, DVD-$59.97 SRP), an 11-DVD set that collects 90 episodes of Skelton’s variety show spanning from 1951 to 1955 and featuring guest appearances from the likes of Jackie Gleason to John Wayne. The set also includes a bonus disc with a documentary, a dress rehearsal, and bonus episodes.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
##
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I have been waiting ages – AGES – for Steven Spielberg’s epic misfire 1941 to make its way to a proper high definition release. Heck, considering the old DVD wasn’t even anamorphic, even that would have been a better treatment of a film that, for all its messiness, I truly enjoy. Just when I was about to give up hope, along comes the new 
Although the story is rather flat and doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny, 
It’s been over 10 years since the release of Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller’s definitive oral history of Saturday Night Live, years featuring plenty of new castmembers and scores of new sketches. With that in mind, as well as the show’s 40th anniversary, a newly updated and expanded edition of 
Every bit as pulpy as the name implies, the first season of 
While the special is fun in the same manner of their first go round with the legendary comics universe, 
In one of those, “Wait, this wasn’t out on Blu-Ray yet?” moments, the Farrelly Brothers’ 
The eleventh season of 
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
There are a handful of beloved shows that many have claimed we’d never see on home video in their original form, due to their extensive use of popular music over the course of their runs. Well, you should never says never and nothing is impossible, and to prove that, the folks at TimeLife managed to clear an immense amount of obstacles to being out a truly special edition of 
The Walt Disney company has a brilliant musical legacy going back 85 years to its very first sound cartoon, and the company is diving headfirst into its impressive archives and surfacing with the absolutely incredible “Legacy Collection” of releases. Over the course of the next year on an almost monthly schedule, they’re releasing completely remastered and expanded editions of soundtracks from their most beloved films, as well as what one can only hope is a multi-disc set spotlighting the music of Disneyland. In addition to the soundtracks themselves, each set also includes rare demos, deleted songs, and newly-recorded “Lost Chords”, which takes those deleted songs from the films and realizes them with brand new recordings that attempt to match how they might have sounded if they were finished for the original films. The first clutch of releases to come down the pike – all of which are a must-have – are 2-disc sets for 
Has there ever been a cartoon as delightfully and decidedly weird and wonderful as 
While the legendary Carl Barks will always be foremost among the many comics creators working with Disney’s ducks, not the least for his creation of Scrooge McDuck, the second position in my heart goes to Don Rosa. Taking his inspiration from Barks, Rosa was able to craft incredible epics for a new generation of fans, full of intricate details and mythology that embraced the legacy of Barks’ classics. And now, the fine folks at Fantagraphics have followed up their wonderful Carl Barks Library releases with the first volume of the new Don Rosa Library, 
It took a few episodes for me (and the show) to latch onto its tone, but once we both did, it was a delight to dive into the twisted, brilliant, and consistently funny world of 
Chalk it up to poor marketing, because 
It still baffles me that Nickelodeon has not released their positively beautiful Ninja Turtles series in high definition, but at least they’ve finally bundled together 
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for him to turn his eye towards such an iconic American dynasty, but Ken Burns is at his absolute best in his portrait of 
As the world gears up for a newly reimagined big screen take on the character, dive into the original problem solver for hire with the limited edition complete collection of 
Every once in awhile, Disney drops another feel-good inspirational sports drama, and 
Freddie Highmore and Vera Farminga continue to be the main draw as young Norman and matriarch Norma in the second season of 
Disregarding his unfortunate obsession with William Shatner, 
I can appreciate what Seth MacFarlane was trying to do with 
Over 30 years ago, the now-legendary 
And from across the pond, we get the complete second season runs of a pair of the BBC’s supernatural dramas, with 
Just as atmospheric and fun as the film itself, Dario Marianelli’s score to 
As biopics go, the greatest trick 
From The Beatles to Lady Gaga, 
I’ve got to give Michael Bay credit for finding a way to make his already bloated and off-putting take on a fairly straightforward and ostensibly fun IP even more frustratingly boring and messy in 
Picking up a year after the events at the end of the first season, the second season of 
The revolving roster of Sipowicz’s partners lands on Rick Schroder in the seventh season of 
It’s about as far from the hip, modern Friendship Is Magic reinvention of the franchise, but those who want every iteration of a thing will probably still pick up 
Paul Haggis has never met a top-heavy, overly-layered story he doesn’t latch onto and infuse with a profound self-importance, and that’s pretty much what you get in 
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.