With multiple seasons of TV shows coming out on DVD, it’s gotten to the point where there’s only so much you can say. I mean, is “What’s Happening: Season 3″so dramatically different from Season 2…? Since we don’t want to let these releases go by without a mention if they’re being sent to us, however, it just makes sense to start up a new feature on Premium Hollywood: TV DVD QT.
Let’s get rolling, then, shall we…?
Hart To Hart – The Complete Second Season: Self-made millionaire Jonathan Hart (the ever-suave Robert Wagner) and his super-hot wife, Jennifer (Stefanie Powers), manage to get wrapped up in more thefts and murders than any normal couple ever would, inevitably solving every mystery that crosses their path…with the help of their stogie-smoking manservant, Max (Lionel Stander), of course. The plots are often ridiculous, but the chemistry between Wagner and Powers makes the show consistently fun to watch. No special features. Booooooo!
Bewitched – The Complete Fourth Season: Few people fell in love with the “Bewitched” film starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman, but at least it kickstarted the release of the original TV series on DVD. The fourth season still has Samantha Stevens (Elizabeth Montgomery) teamed up with her original Darrin (Dick York), and their daughter Tabitha (Erin Murphy) continues to grow up…and cause mischief with her powers. This is the last season we see Aunt Clara, due to actress Marion Lorne’s passing. Best episode? As ever, it’s one featuring Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur: “The No-Harm Charm.” No special features. Hisssssss!
The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Fourth Season: What else do you need to know besides the fact that it stars Bob Newhart? Well, how about the fact that most of the original cast comes back to do audio commentary…? Newhart and his TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette, do commentary on “The Longest Good-Bye” with guest star (and Pleshette’s husband) Tom Poston, while Newhart and co-star Marcia Wallace (she played Carol the receptionist on the show…but you may know her as Edna Krabapple on “The Simpsons”) chat on “Who Is Mr. X?” Even one of Newhart’s most famous patients, Mr. Carlin (Jack Riley), shows up to talk about “Over the River and Through the Woods.” Good times and funny stuff.
The Flintstones – The Complete Sixth Season: It’s the last season of this venerable animated sitcom, but you’ll know it as “the one with the Great Gazoo.” Still, you can’t say it was an example of jumping the shark; even in its last year, “The Flinstones” still had several brilliant episodes, including appearances by Tony…sorry, Stoney Curtis and, as it happens, both Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York from “Bewitched.” It’s also the year of the Way-Outs, as well as when Pebbles and Bam-Bam sing “Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In.” No booing or hissing here; this set does have special features – a featurette on the series and its tie to popular culture, as well as one about the history of the Great Gazoo – but you probably won’t watch either of them more than once.
