Recipient of four Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Dramatic Series on two occasions in its short three-year run, Star Trek is a science-fiction legend among television viewers. The creation of former Los Angeles police officer Gene Roddenberry, the series first aired in Fall 1966 but was cancelled because of low ratings. It might have been NBC executives who were really responsible for the low ratings seeing as how they placed the show in a horrible time slot. Neverthe…
The Dick Van Dyke Show (DVD) Review
In the Fall of 1961, CBS first aired The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of funniest sitcoms in television history. Similar to I Love Lucy, but featuring more docile and less eccentric characters, the show became a mainstay in the top 10 Nielsen ratings for its first four seasons. When the show’s ratings slipped in the fifth season, the network cancelled the show. But in the four decades since, The Dick Van Dyke Show has continued to entertain its fans and their children (and their c…
Angel (DVD) Review
Nominated for 25 Saturn Awards and one Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for a Series, Angel has established a strong cult following during its five-year run on the WB network. A spin-off of the enormously popular series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel has followed in the footsteps of its predecessor and boasts many of the same heroes and villains. Created by Joss Whedon, the show is one of a number of successful original series aired by WB including Buffy, Smallville, Dawson’s Cre…
Christmas With The Kranks (DVD) Review
Based on the best-selling John Grisham novel titled Skipping Christmas, Christmas With The Kranks resembles the book in almost every facet save for the title. Starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, Christmas With The Kranks is an instant Christmas holiday classic. Although not in the same league of Yule tide comedy gems Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, this film ranks high on my list of holiday laughers. The supporting cast (led by perpetual funnyman Dan Aykroyd) t…
Dawson’s Creek (DVD) Review
Nominated for 12 Teen Choice Awards in its five-year (six season) run, including Best Drama Series, Dawson’s Creek quickly built an extensive cult following. A surprise smash hit for the enterprising WB network, the show initiated a successful string of numerous original series for WB such as Angel (1999), Gilmore Girls (2000), and Smallville (2001). Set in the fictional township of Capeside, Massachusetts, the series was nonetheless filmed almost entirely on location in Wilm…
Family Guy (Season 3) DVD Review
Having first aired after the 1999 Super Bowl, Family Guy really hit its stride via cable re-runs and DVD sales (prompting Fox to announce the launch of Season 4 in May 2005, following the show’s original cancellation following Season 3). An animated series building a similar cult following to The Simpsons and Futurama, Family Guy employs its own unique brand of humor distinct to its other animated peers
Family Guy follows the life and exploits of Peter Griffin, an idiotic…
Friends (Season 7) DVD Review
Friends spent most of the 1990s and early 2000s as one of the top rated comedy series on television. Set in New York City, and revolving around the lives of six friends – Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) – the show built a loyal and dedicated following. Spending most of their time in a coffee house named “Central Perk” or …
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (DVD) Review
One of a handful of essential, “must-see” animated Christmas classics, How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a Dr. Seuss holiday masterpiece. Created in 1966 on the heels of the phenomenal success surrounding such TV specials as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), the Grinch has morphed into a sacred annual Christmas rite perfect for any child from one to ninety-two. The narration and singing voice of Boris Karloff breathes life into the 19…
King Of The Hill (DVD) Review
Initially aired following the 1997 Super Bowl, King of the Hill discovered an instant audience niche that has the followed the show loyally ever since. The brainchild of Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge (also known for the hit movie Office Space), King of the Hill is a unique animated series in that it doesn’t rely on “cartoon” suspension of reality or outlandish antics. In fact, the show would arguably be just as successful if it were not animated at all. Nevertheless,…
Married With Children (DVD) Review
Premiering in April 1987, Married With Children became a staple of the growing Fox Network’s original prime time programming, paving the way for further original creations such as The Simpsons. The total opposite of what a TV family should be, the original working title for the show was Not The Cosbys (a reference to the perfect family atmosphere of the popular 80’s sitcom The Cosby Show). Paving the way for ABC’s Roseanne, Married With Children more than lived up to its work…
North And South (DVD) Review
Based on the best-selling novels by John Jakes, North And South premiered as a highly celebrated and critically acclaimed television series in 1985. In the spirit of Gone With The Wind, the novels cover 19th Century America before, during, and after the Civil War. As with the Margaret Mitchell classic, Jakes creates a larger-than-life cast of characters to tell his story of struggle between a Union of States divided on the issues of human bondage and states rights, loyalty t…
Scrubs (DVD) Review
Nominated for 9 Emmys and 2 Golden Globes, Scrubs premiered in Fall 2001 to moderate fanfare and a respectable Nielsen rating of #34. And although the series has yet to achieve blockbuster ratings, it has managed to build a loyal fan base devoted to its unique brand of humor and quirky characters. Created by Bill Lawrence (creator of Spin City), Scrubs is a spoof on the dearth of hospital dramas that have cropped up since ER popularized the genre. In a sense, its what Greys…