The vintage series The Lawyers and a new collection of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes highlight these TV programs that are new to DVD this week.
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers: The Complete Series (Timeless, 1968-72, eight discs, 27 episodes, two feature-length pilot movies). This Emmy-winning series is one of the most compelling of the four that rotated in the Bold Ones wheel format that was popular at the time. Although, it ran for three seasons and was only shown about once a month. (The other shows in the wheel were The Senator and The Protectors, both on DVD, and The New Doctors, which has not yet been released.)
The titular lawyers are played by Oscar-winner Burl Ives, as the head of the firm, and two popular actors of the period, Joseph Campanella and James Farentino, playing brothers hired by Ives. As was common in the late 1960s and early 70s, the stories delve into provocative topics (all of which seem tame today), and most are wrapped around murder mysteries.
Guests include Darren McGavin, Ellen Burstyn, Mel Torme, Claudine Longet, Craig Stevens, Richard Conte, Will Geer, Susan Clark and Tim Matheson. The first feature-length pilot has Guy Stockwell instead of Campanella, with Dorothy Provine as a guest. The second pilot brings in Campanella and features Hal Holbrook.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXIV (Shout!, 1991-97, four discs, four episodes, new introductions, documentary, trailers; mini-posters). These four episodes, with the MST3K crew making snarky remarks while watching four terrible black-and-white creature features from the 1950s, are all making their DVD debuts.
Two films are from 1957, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (aka The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent) and War of the Colossal Beast (a sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man, with one color sequence at the end), and two are from 1956, The Undead and The She-Creature.
All four are from American-International Pictures, the low-budget company that gained fame in the late 1950s and 60s with horror and beach-party pictures, and two of these titles were directed by Roger Corman Serpent and Undead. Corman also figures in the main bonus feature, an entertaining feature-length documentary about the studio, It Was a Colossal Teenage Movie Machine: The AIP Story.
Jerusalem (Filmbuff, 2013, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, trailers). This 43-minute IMAX film produced by National Geographic is, as one would expect, a gorgeously photographed travelogue concentrating on the variety of cultures living in the Holy City. Benedict Cumberbatch narrates, our guide is archaeologist Dr. Jodi Magness and the point of view is from three teenage residents: a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim. (The disc has both Blu-ray 3-D and Blu-ray 2-D versions.)
NOVA: Dawn of Humanity (PBS, 2015). This two-hour NOVA special is built around unique ancient human fossils discovered in a chamber deep in a South African cave, which required a special team of experts slender enough to fit through a vertical, pitch-black, 7-inch-wide passageway.
NOVA: Arctic Ghost Ship (PBS, 2015). This hourlong NOVA episode looks into the more than a century-and-a-half-old mystery of British explorer John Franklins Arctic journey of 1845, during which his Royal Navy ship with 128 crewmembers disappeared. The mystery remained unsolved until 2014 when a Canadian expedition found the ship at the bottom of the sea.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Revenge! (Nickelodeon, 2015, two discs, 12 episodes, featurettes; Leonardo zipper-pull). These are the final 12 episodes of season three of this latest animated series with the heroes in a half-shell.
Angry Birds Toons: Season Two, Volume One (Sony, 2014, 13 mini-episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Stella and Piggy Tales). These episodes are the first 13 of season two, with Bird vs. Pig still struggling on Piggy Island.
Angry Birds Stella: The Complete First Season (Sony, 2014-15, 13 episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Toons and Piggy Tales). The entire first season of this Angry Birds spinoff focuses on pink bird Stella and her friends on Garden Island.
Piggy Tales: The Complete First Season (Sony, 2014-15, 31 episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Toons and Angry Birds Stella). Yet another Angry Birds spinoff, this one about mischievous minion pigs. Created in a clay-animation style. (And yes, though the two Angry Birds videos above have only 13 episodes each, this one has 31!)
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers: The Complete Series (Timeless, 1968-72, eight discs, 27 episodes, two feature-length pilot movies). This Emmy-winning series is one of the most compelling of the four that rotated in the Bold Ones wheel format that was popular at the time. Although, it ran for three seasons and was only shown about once a month. (The other shows in the wheel were The Senator and The Protectors, both on DVD, and The New Doctors, which has not yet been released.)
The titular lawyers are played by Oscar-winner Burl Ives, as the head of the firm, and two popular actors of the period, Joseph Campanella and James Farentino, playing brothers hired by Ives. As was common in the late 1960s and early 70s, the stories delve into provocative topics (all of which seem tame today), and most are wrapped around murder mysteries.
Guests include Darren McGavin, Ellen Burstyn, Mel Torme, Claudine Longet, Craig Stevens, Richard Conte, Will Geer, Susan Clark and Tim Matheson. The first feature-length pilot has Guy Stockwell instead of Campanella, with Dorothy Provine as a guest. The second pilot brings in Campanella and features Hal Holbrook.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXIV (Shout!, 1991-97, four discs, four episodes, new introductions, documentary, trailers; mini-posters). These four episodes, with the MST3K crew making snarky remarks while watching four terrible black-and-white creature features from the 1950s, are all making their DVD debuts.
Two films are from 1957, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (aka The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent) and War of the Colossal Beast (a sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man, with one color sequence at the end), and two are from 1956, The Undead and The She-Creature.
All four are from American-International Pictures, the low-budget company that gained fame in the late 1950s and 60s with horror and beach-party pictures, and two of these titles were directed by Roger Corman Serpent and Undead. Corman also figures in the main bonus feature, an entertaining feature-length documentary about the studio, It Was a Colossal Teenage Movie Machine: The AIP Story.
Jerusalem (Filmbuff, 2013, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, trailers). This 43-minute IMAX film produced by National Geographic is, as one would expect, a gorgeously photographed travelogue concentrating on the variety of cultures living in the Holy City. Benedict Cumberbatch narrates, our guide is archaeologist Dr. Jodi Magness and the point of view is from three teenage residents: a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim. (The disc has both Blu-ray 3-D and Blu-ray 2-D versions.)
NOVA: Dawn of Humanity (PBS, 2015). This two-hour NOVA special is built around unique ancient human fossils discovered in a chamber deep in a South African cave, which required a special team of experts slender enough to fit through a vertical, pitch-black, 7-inch-wide passageway.
NOVA: Arctic Ghost Ship (PBS, 2015). This hourlong NOVA episode looks into the more than a century-and-a-half-old mystery of British explorer John Franklins Arctic journey of 1845, during which his Royal Navy ship with 128 crewmembers disappeared. The mystery remained unsolved until 2014 when a Canadian expedition found the ship at the bottom of the sea.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Revenge! (Nickelodeon, 2015, two discs, 12 episodes, featurettes; Leonardo zipper-pull). These are the final 12 episodes of season three of this latest animated series with the heroes in a half-shell.
Angry Birds Toons: Season Two, Volume One (Sony, 2014, 13 mini-episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Stella and Piggy Tales). These episodes are the first 13 of season two, with Bird vs. Pig still struggling on Piggy Island.
Angry Birds Stella: The Complete First Season (Sony, 2014-15, 13 episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Toons and Piggy Tales). The entire first season of this Angry Birds spinoff focuses on pink bird Stella and her friends on Garden Island.
Piggy Tales: The Complete First Season (Sony, 2014-15, 31 episodes, featurettes, episodes of Angry Birds Toons and Angry Birds Stella). Yet another Angry Birds spinoff, this one about mischievous minion pigs. Created in a clay-animation style. (And yes, though the two Angry Birds videos above have only 13 episodes each, this one has 31!)
