The pitch-black British program Dark Angel is on home video this week, along with other TV and streaming shows.
Dark Angel (PBS, 2017, three episodes, featurettes). This disturbing three-part British miniseries about that countrys first female serial killer gets a boost from the unexpected casting of Joanne Froggatt, hot off her role as the sweet, gentle maid Anna Bates in Downton Abbey. As Mary Ann Cotton, she is moody and low-key, but very matter-of-fact when it comes to disposing of husbands and children. Undeniably compelling but without much depth, as if her pathological poisonings are simply the result of being fed up with life as a 19th-century woman subjugated by men.
The Outsiders: Season Two (Sony, 2017, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes). The profane and violent isolationist Farrell clan continues to fight for control of its remote Appalachian mountain home even as the mining town below pushes to evict them so a national coal company can dig in. David Morse stars. (This marks the last season of the WGN America cable series.)
Air Warriors: Season One (Smithsonian, 2014, three episodes).
Air Warriors: Season Two (Smithsonian, 2014, three episodes). This two-season series from the Smithsonian cable channel is comprised of documentary episodes that utilize interviews and combat footage to explore various military aircraft, from helicopters to fighter jets. The first-season episodes are Osprey, Apache and F-15; the second-season episodes are Black Hawk, Prowler/Growler and A-10 Warthog.
David Holts State of Music: Season Two (PBS, 2017, two discs, eight episodes, two additional performances). Grammy-winner Holt, an accomplished musician fluent in 10 acoustic instruments, travels from remote Appalachia to the Grand Old Opry stage as he explains various music and instrumental techniques and joins in for performances with the Steep Canyon Rangers, the Kruger Brothers, Don Flemons and many more.
Shaquille ONeal Presents All-Star Comedy Jam: Live from Sin City (Lionsgate, 2017). Stand-up comics Cocoa Brown, Earthquake, Donnell Rawlings and K-Dubb are introduced by Lavell Crawford, after he does a filmed comic bit with ONeal. Foul language abounds, which is no surprise as this is a Showtime cable production.
Vixen: The Movie (DC/Warner, 2015-16, featurette, two Justice League Unlimited episodes). Vixen, who exists in the DC Comics universe that includes Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, is a costumed crime-fighter with the power to mimic the abilities of animals. This animated superhero movie is actually a stitched-together 75-minute version of the first two seasons of the Vixen web series on CW Seed.
Welcome to the Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1 (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2016, two discs, 13 episodes). Eleven-year-old Lincoln Loud is the central character in The Loud House, an animated series about a large, chaotic household in which he is the middle child with 10 sisters. (This DVD set is comprised of the first half of the first season. The second season is currently airing on Nickelodeon.)
Peg + Cat: Peg and Cat Save the World (PBS Kids, 2016, two episodes). This two-part, hourlong special is a spinoff of the educational animated series that targets preschoolers ages 3-5. Here, Peg and her talking cat are being called upon by the U.S. president (voiced by Sandra Oh) to use their problem-solving skills to learn why a mysterious object in space is headed for Earth, and they discover that its an opera-singing pig. What else?
Dark Angel (PBS, 2017, three episodes, featurettes). This disturbing three-part British miniseries about that countrys first female serial killer gets a boost from the unexpected casting of Joanne Froggatt, hot off her role as the sweet, gentle maid Anna Bates in Downton Abbey. As Mary Ann Cotton, she is moody and low-key, but very matter-of-fact when it comes to disposing of husbands and children. Undeniably compelling but without much depth, as if her pathological poisonings are simply the result of being fed up with life as a 19th-century woman subjugated by men.
The Outsiders: Season Two (Sony, 2017, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes). The profane and violent isolationist Farrell clan continues to fight for control of its remote Appalachian mountain home even as the mining town below pushes to evict them so a national coal company can dig in. David Morse stars. (This marks the last season of the WGN America cable series.)
Air Warriors: Season One (Smithsonian, 2014, three episodes).
Air Warriors: Season Two (Smithsonian, 2014, three episodes). This two-season series from the Smithsonian cable channel is comprised of documentary episodes that utilize interviews and combat footage to explore various military aircraft, from helicopters to fighter jets. The first-season episodes are Osprey, Apache and F-15; the second-season episodes are Black Hawk, Prowler/Growler and A-10 Warthog.
David Holts State of Music: Season Two (PBS, 2017, two discs, eight episodes, two additional performances). Grammy-winner Holt, an accomplished musician fluent in 10 acoustic instruments, travels from remote Appalachia to the Grand Old Opry stage as he explains various music and instrumental techniques and joins in for performances with the Steep Canyon Rangers, the Kruger Brothers, Don Flemons and many more.
Shaquille ONeal Presents All-Star Comedy Jam: Live from Sin City (Lionsgate, 2017). Stand-up comics Cocoa Brown, Earthquake, Donnell Rawlings and K-Dubb are introduced by Lavell Crawford, after he does a filmed comic bit with ONeal. Foul language abounds, which is no surprise as this is a Showtime cable production.
Vixen: The Movie (DC/Warner, 2015-16, featurette, two Justice League Unlimited episodes). Vixen, who exists in the DC Comics universe that includes Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, is a costumed crime-fighter with the power to mimic the abilities of animals. This animated superhero movie is actually a stitched-together 75-minute version of the first two seasons of the Vixen web series on CW Seed.
Welcome to the Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1 (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2016, two discs, 13 episodes). Eleven-year-old Lincoln Loud is the central character in The Loud House, an animated series about a large, chaotic household in which he is the middle child with 10 sisters. (This DVD set is comprised of the first half of the first season. The second season is currently airing on Nickelodeon.)
Peg + Cat: Peg and Cat Save the World (PBS Kids, 2016, two episodes). This two-part, hourlong special is a spinoff of the educational animated series that targets preschoolers ages 3-5. Here, Peg and her talking cat are being called upon by the U.S. president (voiced by Sandra Oh) to use their problem-solving skills to learn why a mysterious object in space is headed for Earth, and they discover that its an opera-singing pig. What else?
