Did you enter the Damages Season 2 DVD giveaway? It’s super easy to do – just email me at jim@jimhalterman.com and you’re entered! Good luck. Oh — make sure to enter before midnight PST on Wednesday, Feb 3rd. Winners will be announced Friday. And now, I have DVD reviews for you.
Own your copy of SOUTHLAND UNCENSORED today!
Southland: The Complete Season Uncensored Southland debuted less than a year ago and already has an interesting history. Highly touted and brought to the air immediately after the 15-season running ER ended it’s run on NBC. Both Executive Produced by John Wells and Southland featured a first-rate cast including Regina King, Benjamin McKenzie, Michael Kudlitz and Tom Everett Scott. The series focusing on the rookie cop (McKenzie) tries to find his place among his veteran colleagues. Set in LA, the show definitely doesn’t focus on the glamour of the city but, instead, on the gritty side of crime and dark underbelly. The acting is top notch, directing and writing superb and, well, when NBC abruptly dropped the series to make room for Jay Leno’s ill-fated prime time show, many thought the show’s days were numbered. Enter TNT, where all the first season episode are being shown and, if we’re lucky, there will be new episodes produced, as well.
For now, get your first season copy of the crime drama wherever DVDs are sold or you can go directly to www.SouthlandDVD.com to get your copy.
Buy the miniseries that inspired the movie on Tuesday!
Edge of Darkness (BBC America) No, it’s not the Mel Gibson movie that opened this weekend but, perhaps better if you haven’t forgiven Mr. Gibson for some of his personal controversy over the last few years, it’s the BBC miniseries on which the theatrical film was based.
Six fifty-five minute episodes aired in this series when it first aired in 1985. The story revolves around policeman Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) who tries to unravel the murder of his daughter (played by Joanne Whalley) but his investigation takes him deeper into the frightening underbelly of government and corporate cover-ups and nuclear espionage!
The director of this acclaimed series, which did so well when it first aired that it was immediately aired again on British television, is Martin Campbell, who would go on to direct the current remake starring Mel Gibson. Funny how things come back around, huh?
The DVD release of Edge of Darkness comes to DVD on Tuesday from Warner Bros Home Video. Pick it up anywhere or directly at
Own your copy of THE WALTONS Movie Collection today
The Waltons: The Movie Collection. When I was a kid, television was littered with family dramas like Little House On The Prairie and, of course, The Waltons. In an age of racier, more issue-oriented television as All In The Family, television execs and audiences alike knew that some members of the audience would not be ready to leave the old family value series behind. With The Waltons, the drama was just as intense and relevant but it focused on the growing up pains of the many Walton children as well as parents Olivia (Michael Learned) and John Sr (Ralph Waite). The series won many acting Emmys in its day as well as the coveted Best Drama Series in 1973 so it’s no wonder that the series would run for nine series and spawn half a dozen reunion movies for television.
There are six 2-hour reunion movies on this new DVD collection from Warner Brothers Home Video. Set in the 1940s are A Wedding On Walton’s Mountain, Mother’s Day On Walton’s Mountain, and A Day For Thanks on Walton’s Mountain. Moving into the 1960s were the movies were A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (with Richard Thomas, who did not appear in some of the earlier movies), A Walton Wedding, and A Walton Easter, which celebrated the holiday as well as 40 years of marriage for John and Olivia.
Each of these films not only brings back a slew of memories of one of the most heartfelt family dramas out there (current dramas like Brothers and Sisters could learn a thing or two from the subtle display of story telling here) and The Waltons: The Movie Collection is available now at any store or at www.waltons.com.
Check out the progressive drama today on ROOM 222
Room 222: Season Two. Not as familiar with this ground-breaking ABC drama series? Maybe it’s because it’s almost 40 years since the show first premiered but that should not stop you from checking out life at a Los Angeles multi-racial high school. Even I was surprised when I realized that super writer/producer/director James L. Brooks created this show before he brought The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and The Simpsons to television and films like Terms of Endearment and As Good As It Gets to the big screen.
While these topics are not taboo anymore, in the early 1970s, any television show dealing with race, drugs, sexism, illiteracy and guns in school was considered edgy. The series starred an eclectic cast of actors who embodied the hard-working teachers and school administrators that tried their best to steer the students on the right path. The history teacher (Lloyd Haynes), Guidance Counselor (Denise Nicholas), Student Teacher (the adorable Karen Valentine) and Principal (Michael Constantine) worked as hard for these students as they did for each other in their shared quest.
As for the episodes in season 2, the stories are solid and while hair styles and clothing might look dated, the issues are still surprisingly relevant and still compelling to watch. And, of course, it’s always fun watching these series to see the young talent who would later go on to bigger and greater things. Richard Dreyfuss, Kurt Russell, Cindy Williams, Chuck Norris, Tim Matheson and Ed Begley, Jr. all pop up here.
Room 222 comes from the Shout Factory, which is dedicated to bringing classic television to DVD and they’re doing a hell of a job. Go to www.shoutfactorystore.com to see all the great TV-on-DVD they have to offer.
Another Shout Factory release for the audience that maybe just wants easy family laughs is the fourth season of Mr. Belvedere. Christopher Hewitt starred in this staple of ABC’s popular Friday night block of comedies that served as great counter programming to CBS’s lineup of Dallas and Falcon Crest. In the fourth season of the series, there are changes afoot for the Owens family. George (famed sportscaster Bob Uecker) has a new gig as a (shocker!) TV sportscaster, Marsha (Ilene Graff) is working for a new sleazy boss, teen hunk Kevin (Rob Stone) is growing up and now pledging a frat, young tot Wesley (Brice Beckham) is refusing to take a bath and Heather (Tracy Wells) is making it her job to bust out the elderly from homes. In the midst of it all is the almost-always-but-sometimes unflappable Mr. Belvedere. The DVD set includes commentary by the creator and some of the cast. Get your copy at the usual places or go to www.shoutfactorystore.com.
Last but not least is the third season of the perennial legal crime drama Ironside starring Raymond Burr. While audiences may still have Perry Mason on the brain (Burr’s earlier, career defining role), as Police Chief Robert T. Ironside, Burr continued to lead his special unit force in fighting crime that others cannot. His team included Sgt Ed Brown (Don Galloway), ex-con-turned-assistant Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell) and policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson). Like some of the other DVDs reviewed here, seeing some of your actors in either early roles or roles that you weren’t used to seeing them in (David Cassidy in a crime drama?!). Season 3 guest actors include The Incredible Hulk’s Bill Bixby, Star Trek’s DeForest Kelley, Cloris Leachman, Mort Sahl and William Shatner.
Ironside would run on NBC from 1967 to 1975, which was considered a very long television run in the day but the episodes might look a little dated but Burr is a wonder to watch in the role of Ironside. Even though he was confined to a wheelchair, he always got his man!
Pick up season 3 of Ironside at www.shoutfactorystore.com.
Until next week….keep watching!
Jim Halterman spends his days interviewing the top tier of talent and creative forces in the television world and then, because he's that kind of guy, he brings it all to YOU! And, because we all like free stuff, check back often for giveaways!! 
