The vintage TV series Daniel Boone and Baa Baa Black Sheep are on DVD this week.
Daniel Boone: Season One (Shout!/Fox, 1964-65, b/w, six discs, 29 episodes, featurettes). After he was Davy Crockett for Disney, Fess Parker donned the coonskin cap yet again to play another frontier legend, Daniel Boone, beginning with his commission from George Washington to build a fort in Kentucky and his meeting up with Mingo (Ed Ames), an Oxford-educated half-Indian. Patricia Blair plays Boones wife, Rebecca, and for this season, Albert Salmi is Boones companion Yadkin.
This show never reached the level of mania that surrounded Davy Crockett when five episodes aired on the Disneyland TV series from December 1954 to December 1955. But Daniel Boone did have staying power, airing for 165 episodes over six seasons, beginning in 1964 (with this first season in black and white). Season one guests include Kurt Russell, Leslie Nielsen, Dan Duryea, Walter Pidgeon and Lloyd Nolan.
Baa Baa Black Sheep: The Final Season (Shout!, 1977-78, three discs, 13 episodes). This is the long-awaited second and final season of this cult-favorite World War II action series (laced with comedy), which stars Robert Conrad (Wild Wild West) as Greg Pappy Boyington, the real-life commander of a group of rough-and-tumble misfit fighter pilots stationed on the Solomon Islands. Co-stars include John Larroquette, Dana Elcar and Simon Oakland.
The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (Universal, 2016, three discs, three episodes, deleted scenes, featurette). This violent three-episode follow-up to the 2012 four-film Hollow Crown miniseries is another lavish, filmed-on-location production, this time incorporating four of Shakespeares historical plays, Henry VI, Henry VI, Part II, Henry VI, Part III and Richard the III. The excellent cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Tom Sturridge and Judi Dench. Its universally hailed as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever.
How to Get Away With Murder: The Complete Second Season (ABC, 2015-16, four discs, 15 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). This twisty thriller is about a law professor (Emmy-winner Viola Davis) who, with her assistants and five select students, investigates new mysteries, even as the search for Rebeccas killer leads to more secrets and lies. Though its not quite as outrageous as Scandal, its pretty close.
Janet King, Series 1: The Enemy Within (Acorn, 2014, three discs, eight episodes, featurette, photo gallery). You may need to turn on the English subtitles for this gritty Australian series, a spinoff of Crownies. Marta Dusseldorp is the title character, a senior crown prosecutor who returns from maternity leave and becomes enmeshed in a controversial case involving a high-ranking cop. (Content includes language, violence and sex. The second series aired earlier this year in Australia.)
Workaholics: Season Six (Comedy Central/Paramount, 2016, two discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, bloopers.) Theres more crass comedy from Adam, Blake and Ders in this raunchy workplace sitcom. (Season seven will air next year on Comedy Central.)
Vinyl: The Complete First Season (HBO, 2016, four discs, 10 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes). This typically sleazy HBO series is set against the backdrop of the music industry during the 1970s when there was apparently as much sex and drugs (and foul language) as there was rock n roll. Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger are among the producers. Stars include Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Olivia Wilde and Lena Olin.
Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (Warner, 2016, not rated, two versions, featurette, sing-along music videos). This new feature-length cartoon (81 minutes) is a sequel to the 2011 straight-to-video Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz. Here, the cat and mouse, along with Dorothy, are whisked back to Oz after the evil Nome King takes over the Emerald City and dispatches flying monkeys to steal Dorothys ruby slippers. The alternate version has the 17-minute opening in sepia tone, mimicking the style of the 1939 Wizard of Oz film.
Power Rangers Ninja Storm: The Complete Series (Shout!, 2003, five discs, 38 episodes). Tory, Shane and Dustin are typical teens in Blue Bay Harbor, but they are also students at a secret ninja school. When a banished evil ninja master returns to Earth for revenge, the trio is transformed into Power Rangers to engage the evil one in battle. This live-action series was a hugely popular kids show and marked the 11th season of the Power Rangers franchise.
Super Why!: Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Other Fairytale Adventures (PBS Kids, 2007-11, four episodes). The power of reading provides the subtext for this cartoon series as Red, Pig and Princess meet up with fairy-tale characters in Goldilocks and the Three Bears: The Mystery, The Magic Porridge Pot, Bedtime for Bear and the title episode.
Daniel Boone: Season One (Shout!/Fox, 1964-65, b/w, six discs, 29 episodes, featurettes). After he was Davy Crockett for Disney, Fess Parker donned the coonskin cap yet again to play another frontier legend, Daniel Boone, beginning with his commission from George Washington to build a fort in Kentucky and his meeting up with Mingo (Ed Ames), an Oxford-educated half-Indian. Patricia Blair plays Boones wife, Rebecca, and for this season, Albert Salmi is Boones companion Yadkin.
This show never reached the level of mania that surrounded Davy Crockett when five episodes aired on the Disneyland TV series from December 1954 to December 1955. But Daniel Boone did have staying power, airing for 165 episodes over six seasons, beginning in 1964 (with this first season in black and white). Season one guests include Kurt Russell, Leslie Nielsen, Dan Duryea, Walter Pidgeon and Lloyd Nolan.
Baa Baa Black Sheep: The Final Season (Shout!, 1977-78, three discs, 13 episodes). This is the long-awaited second and final season of this cult-favorite World War II action series (laced with comedy), which stars Robert Conrad (Wild Wild West) as Greg Pappy Boyington, the real-life commander of a group of rough-and-tumble misfit fighter pilots stationed on the Solomon Islands. Co-stars include John Larroquette, Dana Elcar and Simon Oakland.
The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (Universal, 2016, three discs, three episodes, deleted scenes, featurette). This violent three-episode follow-up to the 2012 four-film Hollow Crown miniseries is another lavish, filmed-on-location production, this time incorporating four of Shakespeares historical plays, Henry VI, Henry VI, Part II, Henry VI, Part III and Richard the III. The excellent cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Tom Sturridge and Judi Dench. Its universally hailed as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever.
How to Get Away With Murder: The Complete Second Season (ABC, 2015-16, four discs, 15 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). This twisty thriller is about a law professor (Emmy-winner Viola Davis) who, with her assistants and five select students, investigates new mysteries, even as the search for Rebeccas killer leads to more secrets and lies. Though its not quite as outrageous as Scandal, its pretty close.
Janet King, Series 1: The Enemy Within (Acorn, 2014, three discs, eight episodes, featurette, photo gallery). You may need to turn on the English subtitles for this gritty Australian series, a spinoff of Crownies. Marta Dusseldorp is the title character, a senior crown prosecutor who returns from maternity leave and becomes enmeshed in a controversial case involving a high-ranking cop. (Content includes language, violence and sex. The second series aired earlier this year in Australia.)
Workaholics: Season Six (Comedy Central/Paramount, 2016, two discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, bloopers.) Theres more crass comedy from Adam, Blake and Ders in this raunchy workplace sitcom. (Season seven will air next year on Comedy Central.)
Vinyl: The Complete First Season (HBO, 2016, four discs, 10 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes). This typically sleazy HBO series is set against the backdrop of the music industry during the 1970s when there was apparently as much sex and drugs (and foul language) as there was rock n roll. Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger are among the producers. Stars include Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Olivia Wilde and Lena Olin.
Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz (Warner, 2016, not rated, two versions, featurette, sing-along music videos). This new feature-length cartoon (81 minutes) is a sequel to the 2011 straight-to-video Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz. Here, the cat and mouse, along with Dorothy, are whisked back to Oz after the evil Nome King takes over the Emerald City and dispatches flying monkeys to steal Dorothys ruby slippers. The alternate version has the 17-minute opening in sepia tone, mimicking the style of the 1939 Wizard of Oz film.
Power Rangers Ninja Storm: The Complete Series (Shout!, 2003, five discs, 38 episodes). Tory, Shane and Dustin are typical teens in Blue Bay Harbor, but they are also students at a secret ninja school. When a banished evil ninja master returns to Earth for revenge, the trio is transformed into Power Rangers to engage the evil one in battle. This live-action series was a hugely popular kids show and marked the 11th season of the Power Rangers franchise.
Super Why!: Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Other Fairytale Adventures (PBS Kids, 2007-11, four episodes). The power of reading provides the subtext for this cartoon series as Red, Pig and Princess meet up with fairy-tale characters in Goldilocks and the Three Bears: The Mystery, The Magic Porridge Pot, Bedtime for Bear and the title episode.
