A performance of Carousel, a collection of the vintage sitcom Mamas Family and the latest season of The Americans are on DVD this week.
Carousel (PBS, 2013, featurettes). One of Rodgers and Hammersteins best and most beloved Broadway musicals is this adaptation of Ferenc Molnr's Liliom, transferred from Hungary to a fishing town in 1870s New England. Innocent Julie Jordan is drawn to and eventually marries older, rough-and-tumble Billy Bigelow, but when he learns that Julie is pregnant, Billy takes part in a robbery and is killed. In the afterlife, he earns one chance to return to Earth and help his wife and his now-teenage daughter.
But the real draw in this concert-staged performance (which aired on PBS as an episode of Live from Lincoln Center) is the music, and stars Kelli OHara, Nathan Gunn and the rest of the cast perform very well. From the Carousel Waltz to If I Loved You to Youll Never Walk Alone to June Is Bustin Out All Over to Soliloquy, in which Billy joyously sings about my boy Bill, the songs remain timeless and enchanting.
The Mamas Family Favorites Collection (Time Life, 1983-90, six discs, 37 episodes). This set is comprised of Vicki Lawrences favorite episodes from six seasons of the Mamas Family sitcom, a spinoff of a skit from The Carol Burnett Show, with Lawrence in a gray wig and padded floral dress as the matriarch of a dysfunctional family. The skits were rather shrill but the series is more in the traditional sitcom format and boasts some very funny moments. Guests include Burnett, Harvey Korman, Betty White and, in a riotous Jeopardy! episode, Alex Trebek.
The Americans: The Complete Fourth Season (Fox, 2017, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted/extended scene). This well-written spy-thriller series is yet another show that encourages audiences to root for the villains, helped by top-tier performances from Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as KGB agents during the Reagan era posing as an American couple. This season involves more tenuous relationships with friends and relatives, as well as some deadly betrayals. (Season 5 begins March 7 on the FX cable network.)
Suspects: Series Five (Acorn, 2016, two discs, six episodes, photo gallery). London detective sergeants Weston (Damien Molony) and Steel (Clare-Hope Ashitey) are shocked by the shooting death of their boss in the opening episode of this British police procedurals fifth season. Soon they discover her death is connected to a cold case she was working, a storyline that takes over the entire season. (No word yet on a sixth season.)
Wentworth: Season 2 (Acorn, 2014, four discs, 12 episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). Wentworth is a fictional womens prison that is the setting for this brutal Australian drama, which has been compared to Orange Is the New Black. This season begins with Bea (Danielle Cormack) in solitary as Franky (Nicole da Silva) rises to the top of the food chain. (Four seasons have aired in Australia, with a fifth scheduled for this year.)
City in the Sky (PBS, 2016, three episodes). The metaphorical title of this three-hour documentary miniseries refers to the 1 million people who are airborne somewhere in the world at any one time in the 100,000 flights that crisscross the world daily. The three episodes are Departure, Airborne and Arrival, detailing what it takes to get these flights into the air, keep them there safely and land them where they need to be.
American Experience: Oklahoma City (PBS, 2017). This feature-length documentary episode retells the story of Timothy McVeigh and his bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995, killing 168 people and injuring 675 more. Included are events that led up to McVeighs radicalization before he committed the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
American Experience: The Race Underground (PBS, 2017). In the late 19th century, with U.S. cities becoming more and more congested, a more efficient form of public transportation was needed to replace the horse-drawn trolley. Eventually, Boston set a precedent by creating Americas first subway, as explained in this hourlong documentary episode.
American Experience: Rachel Carson (PBS, 2016). This two-hour episode explores the life of the marine biologist who authored Silent Spring, her 1962 book that warned of the impact of pesticides on the environment and began the movement that suggests caution in our relationship to the planet.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers (Disney, 2017, six episodes, two bonus episodes, two music videos). This animated successor to the Disney Junior cable channels Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is about the Roadster Racers (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy) in competition with transforming cars around the world and locally in and around Hot Dog Hills.
Sabans Power Rangers Dino Super Charge: Extinction (Lionsgate, 2016, two discs, 10 episodes). The team faces monsters, zombies and an evil love spell as they attempt to keep the world safe from the evil Sledge.
PAW Patrol: Pups Save the Bunnies (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2013-16, seven episodes). These episodes of the animated show for preschoolers are in line with a theme of springtime, as the PAW Patrol saves bunnies, rescues an Easter egg hunt and helps some songbirds.
Carousel (PBS, 2013, featurettes). One of Rodgers and Hammersteins best and most beloved Broadway musicals is this adaptation of Ferenc Molnr's Liliom, transferred from Hungary to a fishing town in 1870s New England. Innocent Julie Jordan is drawn to and eventually marries older, rough-and-tumble Billy Bigelow, but when he learns that Julie is pregnant, Billy takes part in a robbery and is killed. In the afterlife, he earns one chance to return to Earth and help his wife and his now-teenage daughter.
But the real draw in this concert-staged performance (which aired on PBS as an episode of Live from Lincoln Center) is the music, and stars Kelli OHara, Nathan Gunn and the rest of the cast perform very well. From the Carousel Waltz to If I Loved You to Youll Never Walk Alone to June Is Bustin Out All Over to Soliloquy, in which Billy joyously sings about my boy Bill, the songs remain timeless and enchanting.
The Mamas Family Favorites Collection (Time Life, 1983-90, six discs, 37 episodes). This set is comprised of Vicki Lawrences favorite episodes from six seasons of the Mamas Family sitcom, a spinoff of a skit from The Carol Burnett Show, with Lawrence in a gray wig and padded floral dress as the matriarch of a dysfunctional family. The skits were rather shrill but the series is more in the traditional sitcom format and boasts some very funny moments. Guests include Burnett, Harvey Korman, Betty White and, in a riotous Jeopardy! episode, Alex Trebek.
The Americans: The Complete Fourth Season (Fox, 2017, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted/extended scene). This well-written spy-thriller series is yet another show that encourages audiences to root for the villains, helped by top-tier performances from Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as KGB agents during the Reagan era posing as an American couple. This season involves more tenuous relationships with friends and relatives, as well as some deadly betrayals. (Season 5 begins March 7 on the FX cable network.)
Suspects: Series Five (Acorn, 2016, two discs, six episodes, photo gallery). London detective sergeants Weston (Damien Molony) and Steel (Clare-Hope Ashitey) are shocked by the shooting death of their boss in the opening episode of this British police procedurals fifth season. Soon they discover her death is connected to a cold case she was working, a storyline that takes over the entire season. (No word yet on a sixth season.)
Wentworth: Season 2 (Acorn, 2014, four discs, 12 episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). Wentworth is a fictional womens prison that is the setting for this brutal Australian drama, which has been compared to Orange Is the New Black. This season begins with Bea (Danielle Cormack) in solitary as Franky (Nicole da Silva) rises to the top of the food chain. (Four seasons have aired in Australia, with a fifth scheduled for this year.)
City in the Sky (PBS, 2016, three episodes). The metaphorical title of this three-hour documentary miniseries refers to the 1 million people who are airborne somewhere in the world at any one time in the 100,000 flights that crisscross the world daily. The three episodes are Departure, Airborne and Arrival, detailing what it takes to get these flights into the air, keep them there safely and land them where they need to be.
American Experience: Oklahoma City (PBS, 2017). This feature-length documentary episode retells the story of Timothy McVeigh and his bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995, killing 168 people and injuring 675 more. Included are events that led up to McVeighs radicalization before he committed the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
American Experience: The Race Underground (PBS, 2017). In the late 19th century, with U.S. cities becoming more and more congested, a more efficient form of public transportation was needed to replace the horse-drawn trolley. Eventually, Boston set a precedent by creating Americas first subway, as explained in this hourlong documentary episode.
American Experience: Rachel Carson (PBS, 2016). This two-hour episode explores the life of the marine biologist who authored Silent Spring, her 1962 book that warned of the impact of pesticides on the environment and began the movement that suggests caution in our relationship to the planet.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers (Disney, 2017, six episodes, two bonus episodes, two music videos). This animated successor to the Disney Junior cable channels Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is about the Roadster Racers (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy) in competition with transforming cars around the world and locally in and around Hot Dog Hills.
Sabans Power Rangers Dino Super Charge: Extinction (Lionsgate, 2016, two discs, 10 episodes). The team faces monsters, zombies and an evil love spell as they attempt to keep the world safe from the evil Sledge.
PAW Patrol: Pups Save the Bunnies (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2013-16, seven episodes). These episodes of the animated show for preschoolers are in line with a theme of springtime, as the PAW Patrol saves bunnies, rescues an Easter egg hunt and helps some songbirds.
