DVD Spotlight :: Yukking it Up with the Men of the 12th.

"Like my grandfather used to say, 'Many things may look bleak at the moment of there occurrence, but at least we ain't got locusts.'"

-- Sgt. Nick Yemanaxxx
Barney Millerxxx

I don't think it's all that big a secret that Barney Miller is, was and ever will be one of my favorite and funniest TV shows in the history of electronically transmitted sound and moving images. And for my fellow fans out there, the fine folks at SHOUT Factory have announced a spiffy, complete-series box-set due to be released in late October.


The packaging is pretty cool but the only real special feature that I can detect is the inclusion of the spin-off series, Fish. Disappointing considering how many of the creators and cast members are still around. But, the set and the show are still well worth it. Now, I know a lot of people are horked off because, like myself, they've already invested money in the first three seasons of the show, who, like myself, aren't all that interested or thrilled about double-dipping. I don't know if SHOUT intends to sell separate seasons at any point in the future, so, my plan is to visit the local Buy Back outlet, get what I can, and invest it in the new box-set.


Speaking of TV shows that I love unconditionally, after our annual September Sabbatical, we'll be participating in The Thrilling Days of Yesteryear's first ever Blogathon on another consistent Tuber laughfest, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Gotta couple of my favorite episodes all picked out for that and look forward to sharing the love with Ivan and the whole gang.

I'm participating. Are you?

Update :: The Humongous and Other '80s Gonzoidal Classics Coming to DVD.

Ask and ye shall receive, apparently.

Thank you, Scorpion Releasing! I see a few Uncut and Remastered tags on several of the DVDs so here's hoping for some decent prints. (And I look forward to finally getting my hands on a copy of the non-Shatner Incubus.) Looks like they'll be getting the Elvira treatment with introductions from host Katarina (-- honestly no clue who that is but I look forward to getting acquainted), yet I'm fairly certain they'll be no added effects or pop-ups during the film. (I hope.) Also of note, Humongous will contain a commentary track by director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray. (Better and better.) Looks like the first wave of releases will be hitting sometime in September, with The Devil Within Her and Final Exam. No official word yet when Humongous will hit the streets, but I've waited this long so I can wait a little while longer (as long as this line doesn't dry-up and disappear like so many titles for Code Red did.)

We Aim to Please, You Aim, too, Please :: Or John Wayne and the Fine Art of Bathroom Etiquette.

Just so we're clear, sporting one of John Wayne's finest performances, with Bruce Dern at his most vilest, a haunting score by John Williams, and some stunning cinematography courtesy of Robert Surtees, all combining for a rousing good time, owning the DVD of Mark Rydell's The Cowboys is worth it for the movie all by itself and all the bonus features are just gravy. Still, the bonus materials provided on Warner Bros.' Deluxe Edition are pretty damned cool. Included is a vintage featurette shot during the filming back in 1971 that focuses on breaking in the young cast members.


For his cowboys -- stress on the boys, the savvy Rydell split them down the middle, with half having an acting background, the other already firm in the fine art of ranching and rodeos. They gelled perfectly.


The second major bonus feature is a cast reunion with Dern, A. Martinez (Cimarron), Stephen Hudis (Charlie), and Norman Howell (Weedy) joining Rydell for a roundtable discussion on the movie and its major players, Wayne, Dern, and Roscoe Lee Browne. (Browne and Robert Carradine contribute via taped interviews.) And here, I encountered the biggest laugh I've had in a long time when the director related a story about having dinner with the Duke:

"Walk into a restaurant with John Wayne in Santa Fe was like walking in with Lincoln or something. He signed everybody's autograph; he went over and met everyone's grandmothers; he was the sweetest guy. And then he walked to the bathroom ... He comes back and the side of his pants is soaking wet. And I said What happened?And he says, It always happens to me all the time. Some guy is standing next to me [at the adjoining urinal, sees me, turns, startled, and still firing, and excitedly says] You're John Wayne!"

That happened to him all the time? Seriously?! Meaning there are untold numbers of people out there who can proudly claim to have [accidentally] peed on John Wayne. Again: Seriously? And that, my friends, is just too hilarious to contemplate any further.


The Cowboys (1972) Sanford Productions-Warner Bros. / P: Mark Rydell / AP: Tim Zinnemann / D: Mark Rydell / W: Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., William Dale Jennings (Novel) / C: Robert Surtees / E: Neil Travis / S: John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Robert Carradine, A. Martinez

Behind the Scenes :: The Midnight Premiere of Warner Bros. House of Wax (April 16, 1953)

Aside from the flip-side inclusion of The Mystery of the Wax Museum, the old two-strip technicolor thriller on which it was based, Warners' House of Wax DVD is a little sparse in the Special Features department.

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* And if you'll allow a brief aside I will loudly trumpet the
need to give this flick The Red Shoes restoration treatment.
The print included is rather appalling in spots but in the all too

brief moments when it pops those colors pop most beautifully.

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But, aside from that and the trailer, we are given one fascinating little nugget from the studio's Pathe Newsreel department, Camera on the World -- specifically the Midnight showing of the Round the Clock Premiere of House of Wax at the Paramount Theater in downtown Los Angeles.






The true highlight among all those famous faces, though, is when we spy one Bela Lugosi, his Raybans, and his pet gorilla (George Barrows, perhaps?) entering the theater. As for who was leading who, here, well, I'll leave that for you all to decide (and is that Richard Denning and Evelyn Ankers lurking in the background?):









Alas, the soundtrack to the short appears to have been lost, so specifics are a bit shaky, but, after a little digging, turns out this was a stunt cooked up by Alex Gordon for his dear friend, Bela. Apparently, the yuks continued inside with Lugosi stationed at the Red-Cross booth, where he playfully sucked on some 2% and put the bite on some unsuspecting nurse, causing most of the milk to wind up on the floor.


Sadly, the evening ended on sour note when a pre-scripted interview went awry, where Lugosi wound up giving the right answers to the wrong question, causing the oft-consternated actor to withdraw before the film even began; the only sore spot in what was otherwise a very successful premiere.



* And if you'll allow a brief aside I will loudly trumpet the
need to give this flick The Red Shoes restoration treatment.
The print included is rather appalling in spots but in the all too
brief moments when it pops those colors pop most beautifully.