It wasn’t until I popped in the first disc of the Carol Burnett Show spin-off Mama’s Family: The Complete Collection (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$199.95 SRP) that I remembered why I always used to watch it whenever I caught it during its original syndicated run – It’s just a solid character comedy that’s eminently relateable. And even better, because of its strong characters, it all holds up as a timeless sitcom that never tried to preach. The box set sports a pair of exclusive bonus discs loaded with featurettes, bonus cast interviews, and bloopers. All in all, a very nice trip down memory lane.
The title doesn’t lie – Slimed!: An Oral History Of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age (Plume, $20.00 SRP) really does give the full, unabashed, ridiculously candid history of the only channel where kids win from it’s early days on the cable dial to the mid-90’s (pre-Spongebob). Within its pages, you get to learn about the unique executives and corporate culture that allowed bonzo programming like You Can’t Do That On Television, Double Dare, and Ren & Stimpy to flourish. Kudos to author Mathew Klickstein for getting so many of the suits and creatives on the record about a unique era we probably will never see again.
And speaking of true tales of creative people told with remarkable candor, Very Naughty Boys: The Amazing True Story Of Handmade Films (Titan Books, $14.95 SRP) is the tale of the scrappy little independent film company founded by George Harrison and Denis O’Brien to fund Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, which then produced the likes of Time Bandits, Withnail & I, and The Long Good Friday over the course of a tumultuous history and rather sad flameout. Featuring interviews with the likes of the Pythons, Robbie Coltrane, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths, and more, it’s a tale worth diving into.
While not as impressive as seeing it in its IMAX presentation, the 3D remastering and its accompanying restoration for the 75th anniversary edition of The Wizard Of Oz (Warner Bros., Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is pretty darn spectacular even in a home theater, bringing to vivid life details and vibrancy you wouldn’t expect in a film 3/4 of a century old. Bonus materials include everything from the previous Blu-Ray release, plus an all-new feature-length documentary.
Perhaps the best praise I can give World War Z (Paramount, Rated R, 3D Blu-Ray-$54.99 SRP) in this zombie-cluttered age is that it’s an enjoyable popcorn flick that realizes it’s essentially the undead equivalent of a Roland Emmerich “The World Is Going To Hell” pic, only with Brad Pitt as a combination of Jeff Goldblum/Will Smith/John Cusack. Its effects work is serviceable and uses its 3D to reasonably good effect. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
If there’s anything that The Hangover III (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) proves it’s that it’s probably a good time for the Wolf Pack to end their increasingly surreal misadventures, as there’s really no place else for the comedy to go before it simply becomes in exercise in desperate absurdity. For this final outing, though, we at least get an Alan (Zach Galifiankis) centric trip. Bonus materials include featurettes, extended scenes, and outtakes.
Packed with 20 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted sequences, and more, the 6th season of Robot Chicken (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) arrives packing plenty of ha-ha and ho-ho, even if it all seems to fly right by in bite-sized snatches.
The new deluxe edition of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP) brings together the formerly 2-part adaptation of Frank Miller’s landmark tale into a unified presentation, porting over the bonus features from the previous releases while adding in a brand-new feature length documentary on Miller and the story’s legacy.
This year’s classic Who-palooza continues with another pair of releases, including the DVD debut of the 4th Doctor Tom Baker story Doctor Who: Terror Of The Zygons (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP) – featuring the shape-changing villains who will be playing a role in the upcoming 50th anniversary special. Also available is the next volume of Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), which focuses on Doctors 5-8, presenting one complete story from the tenures of Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann.
Eight seasons on, Bones (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$69.99 SRP) is still a charming little procedural that plays like CSI meets The Thin Man, but I was most excited to see the great Dave Thomas pop up on the show, and to learn it was a prelude to his joining the writing staff for the upcoming ninth season. How can you not watch this show? Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
As bonkers as the first season was, American Horror Story: Asylum (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP) manages to trump it with an even more disturbing tale, bringing the chills to the Briarcliff Home for the Criminally Insane with a cast that includes Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, and James Cromwell. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and featurettes.
A tale of adventure and revenge set in German East Africa pre-WWI and starring Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, and Ian Holm? Yes, I do believe I will give Shout At The Devil (Shout Factory, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$19.97 SRP) a watch, just for those elements alone. Who cares if it’s good or bad? It’s an adventure!
Kudos to In The Flesh (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) for finding a new spin on the zombie trope, as it brings us a world wherein zombies have been treated and are being reintroduced to society after a devastating war. So what happens when a troubled teen who had committed suicide only to rise from the dead is rehabilitated and sent back to family and friends who never thought they’d see him again? There’s the crux of this series, and a fascinating one at that.
It’s certainly nor Pixar or even Dreamworks quality, but there’s enough charm to Alpha And Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP) to keep the kids occupied over the holiday season with its wintry adventure featuring the wolf cubs from the first Alpha And Omega. Bonus materials include featurettes and games.
If you’ve ever wanted to binge view Hollywood’s “classic” horror series about a children’s doll inhabited by the spirit of a killer, look no further than Chucky: The Complete Collection (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$84.98 SRP), which collects all 6 films starting with the original Child’s Play right up to the brand new Curse Of Chucky. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
Con man Neal Caffrey’s alliance with FBI Agent Peter Burke is already on shaky ground when he ditches his tracking anklet and disappears as we delve into the fourth season of White Collar (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), featuring an audio commentary, a featurette, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Keen on a proper British ghost story? Give a spin to The Secret Of Crickley Hall (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), the adaptation of James Herbert’s tale of a couple who move to the titular countryside house after the death of their son, only to have the seemingly idyllic manor turn sinister when various disturbing phenomena begins occurring, including the cries of their son.
Slowly but surely, the high definition releases of Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.97 SRP) are catching up with the currently airing episodes, as the complete fifth season arrives looking and sounding pretty snazzy. In addition to all 52 episodes, bonus materials include animatics, a featurette, and a special snail hunt.
Walt Disney Records tip-top Legacy Collection continues to roll along with the release of Randy Newman’s score and songs from Toy Story (Disney Records, $14.99 SRP). The real treat, however, is the bonus disc containing Newman’s original song demos, including a couple of tunes that doesn’t make it into the film.
It’s a long, long dry spell until the next season starts, so fill that time with a roll down memory lane with the 2-disc Doctor Who: The Daleks set (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which collects the Dalek-centric episodes from across Nu-Who, as well as the Tom Baker 4th Doctor story “Genesis Of The Daleks” and a brand new documentary on the extermination-happy mutants.
In what I can only hope is a precedent they expand upon, the purveyors of preservation at Criterion have released a high definition special edition of producer Franics Ford Coppola’s underrated children’s classic The Black Stallion (Criterion, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP). Bonus materials include 5 short films, interviews, a trailer, and more.
Season 7 of Robot Chicken (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) hits with a 2-disc set positively jam-packed with bonus features, including audio commentaries, featurettes, cut sketches, and a bonus Christmas episode (with bonus commentary). Bonus!
Bruce Timm returns to the animated DC universe with a far darker alternate universe take on the familiar triumvirate of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman in Justice League: Gods And Monsters (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), as the trio serves a harsh kind of justice to keep their world in check until a government task force investigating a mystery arrives at their door. Bonus materials include featurettes, bonus cartoons, and more.
After being run out of the city by an invasion of the Krang, our half-shell heroes take back the town in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return To NYC! (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP). The depressingly standard definition single-disc release contains 6 episodes, plus 7 “Mutation Of A Scene” shorts.
It’s Office Space in hell, but the chief reason to recommend the first season of Adult Swim’s Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) is that it has the good sense to cast Dana Snyder in a supporting role. Good taste like that should be rewarded. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, screen tests, promos, the original short, and featurettes.
Adam Goldberg is the titular musician in the midst of a mid-life crisis in No Way Jose (Sony, Rated R, DVD-$26.99 SRP), relegated to playing birthday parties and kicked to the curb by his fiancée, as he follows to the indie movie path to righting his life. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
Who doesn’t love a brilliant and incredibly beautiful BBC nature documentary? Both of those adjectives certainly apply to both Planet Ant (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which delves into the tiny world of the titular insect, and Shark (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), a look at the iconic apex predatory of the deep.
I thought the film was certainly an improvement over the original trilogy of awful X-Men films, which is not much of an accomplishment, so I was more curious than excited to see what director Bryan Singer had in mind for his X-Men: Days Of Future Past – The Rogue Cut (Fox, Not Rated, Bluy-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which offers up an extended edit of the film, as well as over 90 minutes of new bonus features.
I can’t quite figure out who the more cartoonish characters are in Scooby-Doo And Kiss: Rock And Roll Mystery (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), in which Mystery Inc. teams up with Schlock Incorporated to solve a mystery in the Kiss World Theme park. Bonus materials include bloopers and cartoons.
Nicholas Sparks works his soft focus, mealy-hearted magic again with The Longest Ride (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), in which a former champion bull rider attempting a comeback (Scott Eastwood) crosses paths with a college student and are inspired to be insipid together.
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 
Yes, it feels more like a series of sketches than the more unified narratives of Holy Grail and Life Of Brian, but I still enjoy Monty Python’s swan song, 
