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…)
After the massive success of Sgt. Bilko, creator Nat Hiken moved on to birth another of my absolute favorite comedies, Car 54, Where Are You? (Shanachie, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). It’s been one of those shows whose arrival on DVD I’ve long wished for, and the wait was worth it, as the first season has been mastered from the original 35mm prints, and looks better than it’s ever been. There’s even a nice 30min interview with surviving castmembers Charlotte Rae and Hank Garrett. Get this set. Get it now. Then join me in the wait (Hopefully not long!) for the 2nd (and final) season.
Want your geekiness to shine through even when the lights go out? Perhaps you should use a Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver LED Flashlight when the lights go out, which is available in both 10th & 11th Doctor iterations ($9.99-$12.99). Yeah… That’ll really show you’re a geek. SHINE ON!
I was delighted when I heard that the producers of the Harry Potter film series would be splitting the 7th book into two movies, as it meant the rather sprawling conclusion of JK Rowling’s epic would be allowed to breathe, and breathe Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) it does, with a fully matured cast and a pace that corrects some recent missteps. The Blu-Ray features an interactive behind-the-scenes picture-in-picture Maximum Movie Mode experience, featurettes, additional scenes, and a special preview of a scene from the final film.
While we’re still missing Finding Nemo, the penultimate Pixar flick to make the transition to a high definition special edition is Brad Bird’s The Incredibles (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP), which – in addition to a stunning transfer and sound – also gets loaded up with a wonderful clutch of bonus features, including a roundtable reflection on the film, a visual commentary on the short Jack Jack Attack, plus all of the featurettes found on the original DVD release, this time in HD. Is it worth the upgrade? Of course it is.
Warners continues to be tops when it comes to preserving and presenting their massive library, and it’s releases like the 10-disc Tracy & Hepburn: The Definitive Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), which contains Woman Of The Year, Keeper Of The Flame, Without Love, The Sea Of Grass, State Of The Union, Adam’s Rib, Pat And Mike, Desk Set, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, and the documentary The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute By Katharine Hepburn.
If ever there were a film made to appeal to my good buddy Dana Snyder, it’s the documentary Behind The Burly Q (First Run Features, Not Rated, DVD-$27.95 SRP), which looks at the storied, bawdy, and intoxicating history of burlesque in America, from its comedians to its striptease artists.
It’s probably for the best that Leave It To Beaver (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.97 SRP) ended with its 6th season. Granted, the show was just awkward once The Beaver started shaving. Still, it’s good to put another series to bed, which you can with this 6-disc set featuring all 39 episodes plus a bonus radio interview with Tony Dow.
I’m a sucker for the “Art Of” books that usually accompany the release of most animated films these days, and that extends to a pair of new releases that aficionados should add to their collection – The Ballad Of Rango: The Art & Making Of An Outlaw Film and The Art Of Kung-Fu Panda 2 (Insight Editions, $39.95 SRP each). Both are packed with conceptual art and behind-the-scenes info.
It’s one of those cult favorites that belongs to a generation after mine, but I know its fans will be delighted by the new release of the complete 1st & 2nd seasons of Reboot (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP), the first computer generated animated show to hit the small screen. The 4-disc set contains newly recorded audio commentaries, which should also make the fans giddy.
Rather than abandon them as unfinished releases, Disney’s ABC arm thankfully decided to license some of their TV shows to the fine folks at Shout Factory to release, including the 5th season of Greek (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$44.99 SRP), which features audio commentaries, featurettes, a gag reel, and more.
Long out of print on DVD, the Richard Lester satire How I Won The War (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), starring John Lennon & Michael Crawford, comes back into print via MGM’s on-demand disc service (similar to the Warner Archive Collection). Sadly, there are no bonus features to speak of, which is a shame, as the film is a curiosity that deserves better.
The original Ewing family saga wraps up with the release of the Dallas: Movie Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which brings together The Early Years, JR Returns, and War Of The Ewings, along with the Dallas Reunion: Return To Southfork.
The 80’s were certainly an… odd time for sitcoms. In what other generation could we have Webster (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP), which made a TV star out of Alex Karras. So yes, just that odd. The first season set contains all 22 episodes, but sadly no audio commentaries from Alex Karras.
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
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We’re still a season behind the broadcast episodes, but we’ve finally got the 3rd season of 
New to Who? Get a handle on the ins and outs of the Doctor’s universe with 
No one was really clamoring for it, but it’s nice that Ving Rhames got work out of 
Denis Leary rounded up a few of his friends to raise money for the Leary Firefighters Foundation, with the resultant special being 
After a long absence from TV screens, the orange cat with the pasta fixation returns with a brand new series, and the first DVD is here – 
I wasn’t terribly impressed with the first season, but there was certainly enough of a positive response to garner a second season for the BBC’s 
It was an attempt to emulate the recent success of The X-Files, but the alien conspiracy series 
It’s taken years to get here, but we’ve finally reached the release of the 14th and final season of 
After years of waiting, Fox has finally wrapped up the release of 
Often overlooked in favor of the The Little Mermaid, I’d say that the Disney animation renaissance began with the still-fun 
I don’t know about you, but every once In awhile I remember to fear whatever creepy crawly organisms might be living in the bristles of my toothbrush. Or at least I used to fear them, before I got the 
It’s a button-pusher to be sure – as all Richard Curtis films are – but I’ve got admit, I did like his love letter to the illegal, ship-based rock broadcasters of late-60’s Britain in 
I’m not a terribly big fan of Ron Howard as a filmmaker, but the story of 
They shine with a pale, pale light compared to the classic MGM short subjects, but if your kids absolutely have to have more cat & mouse adventures, then there’s 
Coming out of the theater with my 5-year-old nephew, I could tell that How To Train Your Dragon (available for 
Put memories of Platinum Dunes blah remake out of your head with the high-definition arrival of the original 
Since selling off The Muppets, the Jim Henson Company has been chopping and packaging the material they have left for DVD releases. 
In one of the slowest turnarounds ever, you can now pick up the 2-disc special edition release of 
I’m so happy to live in a world where a documentary has been made that looks at the fascinating – and odd – world of ventriloquism, which is called “venting” by its practitioners. 
Let your impressionable children plunk themselves down in front of the 2-disc 
Every thing you can imagine hits the fan when J.R. Ewing reaches the 13th season of 
Let your kids go on a bilingual jaunt around the world with 
You only have to view the unedited, unadulterated, original episodes of the UK’s Top Gear to understand why the idea of making an “American edition” and jettisoning hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond is such a pig-ignorant idea. For one, it’s their interplay that makes the show – not the car talk. Secondly, it’s foolish to think it doesn’t translate to the US in its original form – because it does. Which is all to say that I highly recommend you pick up 
Sometimes, life is about the simple pleasures. Sometimes, those simple pleasures have been shrunk down and conveniently made USB-powered. Such is the case with the 
DC continues to deliver top-notch collections of the post-Marvel work Jack Kirby did for the company in the 70’s with the release of his ragtag group of war heroes fighting at the height of World War II, 
Unlike most of Ron Howard’s filmic output, which often suffers from being uninspired and drab, I thought his adaptation of (Universal, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) succeeded in translating the energy and performances that made the stage version such a success to the big screen. Maybe that’s because it takes a lot of effort to stamp out the skill that Michael Sheen and Frank Langella bring to their performances as David Frost and the disgraced but defiant Richard Nixon. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, a look at the Nixon Library, and footage from the actual Frost/Nixon interviews. A 
If you were to take the wonderfully candid wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat and fictionalize it, you’d have the story of broken down wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a former superstar up against the ropes in 
Although the bulk of it doesn’t really hold up (the 90’s references shoveled throughout certainly make it less than timeless), I still have some affection for the episodes featured in 
The second season of the ADD 
Ian McKellen is truly incredible in the recent RSC production of 
Yes, I admit it – I watch 
Peter Bogdanovich fans can get not only the director’s cut of his Last Picture Show, but also the new-to-DVD release of Nickelodeon in a two-disc 
I’m no fan of rap and only marginally aware of the various rifts within its community, but I found 
I thought Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller’s adaptation of Miller’s 
Having moved on from saving the planet, Elmo is back to promote literacy with 
If you’ve been anxiously awaiting the return of hillbilly squids, then you’re prayers are answered with the arrival of 
Ewing Oil was left a shambles at the end of season 10, but the eleventh season of 
If the leaked Wolverine workprint hasn’t extinguished your enthusiasm for all things hairy mutant, also being released is the animated 
We’ve made it to the halfway mark with the release of 
The Stuart Little animated series is an innocuous, affable affair that managed to hold my nephews’ attention (no small feat). Two volumes are now available – 
The rich socialites of