The second season of Cedar Cove is on DVD this week, along with season sets of WKRP in Cincinnati and Little House On the Prairie.
Cedar Cove: Season Two (Cinedigm/DVD, 2014, three discs, 12 episodes, featurette). This charming, sweet-natured Hallmark cable-channel soap opera is based on Debbie Macombers novels about the residents of a small scenic seaside town in Washington State (beautifully filmed in Vancouver).
Andie MacDowell stars as a divorced municipal judge with an insecure adult daughter (Sarah Smyth), a dithery best friend (Teryl Rothery) who is the local librarian, and a recovering alcoholic suitor (Dylan Neal) that runs the local newspaper along with assorted eccentrics that come and go (including Bruce Boxleitner). Warm, amusing and engaging with a perfectly cast ensemble. (Season three begins July 18.)
WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Third Season (Shout!/DVD, 1980-81, three discs, 21 episodes). This is one of the great sitcoms with a wacky cast of lunatics running a rock-music station in Cincinnati. This season, Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump) becomes a father and later dreams hes Scrooge in a parody of A Christmas Carol; Jennifer (Loni Anderson) gets her own advice talk show; Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) adopts a new persona, Rip Tide; along with Tim Reid, Gary Sandy, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner.
Little House On the Prairie: Season Six (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD, 1979-80, five discs, 24 episodes, featurette). Things heat up this season for Michael Landons seminal family series based on the autobiographical books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The main story that plays throughout the season is a will-she-wont-she romance between Laura (Melissa Gilbert) and Almanzo (Dean Butler), who alternately squabble and are attracted to each other. These are sharp, beautifully remastered episodes.
Powers: Season 1 (Sony/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, featurette, bloopers). This online streaming series for PlayStation offers a different take on superheroes. In this show (based on a 2004 graphic novel), superheroes are not always heroes and the focus is on a bureau that tracks down those that cross the line with one villain eluding them throughout the season. Some R-level material puts this one out of reach for younger audiences. (Renewed for a second season with a start date yet to be announced.)
The Crimson Field (PBS/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). This ensemble drama about medical personnel and their patients in a fictional field hospital in France during World War I offers up some compelling melodrama and a very good cast, including Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) and Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table). (The show was canceled after this first season.)
Tales From the Royal Wardrobe (PBS/DVD, 2014). This hourlong documentary details the history of the worlds fascination with what the members of the British royal family wear, a phenomenon that dates back 400 years. Lucy Worsley, chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces explains that its also an image-conscious orchestration by the Royals in keeping up appearances.
American Ballet Theater: A History (PBS/DVD, 2015). Ric Burns feature-length documentary (shown on PBS as an American Masters episode) offers an overview of the New York-based ballet companys 75-year history, including archival footage, rehearsals, performances and interviews with the companys principles.
Poltergeists: Real-Life Hauntings (History/Lionsgate/DVD, 1996-2008, two discs, six episodes). A collection of History cable-channel specials titled Poltergeist, Hauntings, Exorcism: Driving Out the Devil, Voodoo Secrets, Ghosts and Salem Witch Trials.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return to NYC! (Nickelodeon/Paramount/DVD, 2015, seven episodes, featurettes). Episodes from season three of the latest animated incarnation of the heroes in a half-shell include Vision Quest, Return to New York and a two-parter, Battle for New York.
Pound Puppies: Pick of the Litter (Shout! Kids/DVD, 2011-2013, five episodes). Episodes of this animated series (with voices by Eric McCormack, Yvette Nicole Brown, Michael Rappaport and others) include Dog on a Wire, Cuddle Up Buttercup and Im Ready for My Close Pup.
Storybook Treasures: I Want My Hat Back and More Happy Stories (Scholastic/Cinedigm/DVD, 2011, four stories, read-alongs, featurette). In addition to the title story, other animated stories are The Lucky Ducklings, The Happy Lion and The Happy Owls. Aimed at ages 4-8.
The Magic School Bus: Season Three (Scholastic/DVD, 1996, two discs, 13 episodes). This animated series, for ages 4-10, has Mrs. Frizzle and the children visiting such educational places as the Arctic and a rainforest.
Cedar Cove: Season Two (Cinedigm/DVD, 2014, three discs, 12 episodes, featurette). This charming, sweet-natured Hallmark cable-channel soap opera is based on Debbie Macombers novels about the residents of a small scenic seaside town in Washington State (beautifully filmed in Vancouver).
Andie MacDowell stars as a divorced municipal judge with an insecure adult daughter (Sarah Smyth), a dithery best friend (Teryl Rothery) who is the local librarian, and a recovering alcoholic suitor (Dylan Neal) that runs the local newspaper along with assorted eccentrics that come and go (including Bruce Boxleitner). Warm, amusing and engaging with a perfectly cast ensemble. (Season three begins July 18.)
WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Third Season (Shout!/DVD, 1980-81, three discs, 21 episodes). This is one of the great sitcoms with a wacky cast of lunatics running a rock-music station in Cincinnati. This season, Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump) becomes a father and later dreams hes Scrooge in a parody of A Christmas Carol; Jennifer (Loni Anderson) gets her own advice talk show; Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) adopts a new persona, Rip Tide; along with Tim Reid, Gary Sandy, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner.
Little House On the Prairie: Season Six (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD, 1979-80, five discs, 24 episodes, featurette). Things heat up this season for Michael Landons seminal family series based on the autobiographical books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The main story that plays throughout the season is a will-she-wont-she romance between Laura (Melissa Gilbert) and Almanzo (Dean Butler), who alternately squabble and are attracted to each other. These are sharp, beautifully remastered episodes.
Powers: Season 1 (Sony/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, featurette, bloopers). This online streaming series for PlayStation offers a different take on superheroes. In this show (based on a 2004 graphic novel), superheroes are not always heroes and the focus is on a bureau that tracks down those that cross the line with one villain eluding them throughout the season. Some R-level material puts this one out of reach for younger audiences. (Renewed for a second season with a start date yet to be announced.)
The Crimson Field (PBS/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). This ensemble drama about medical personnel and their patients in a fictional field hospital in France during World War I offers up some compelling melodrama and a very good cast, including Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) and Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table). (The show was canceled after this first season.)
Tales From the Royal Wardrobe (PBS/DVD, 2014). This hourlong documentary details the history of the worlds fascination with what the members of the British royal family wear, a phenomenon that dates back 400 years. Lucy Worsley, chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces explains that its also an image-conscious orchestration by the Royals in keeping up appearances.
American Ballet Theater: A History (PBS/DVD, 2015). Ric Burns feature-length documentary (shown on PBS as an American Masters episode) offers an overview of the New York-based ballet companys 75-year history, including archival footage, rehearsals, performances and interviews with the companys principles.
Poltergeists: Real-Life Hauntings (History/Lionsgate/DVD, 1996-2008, two discs, six episodes). A collection of History cable-channel specials titled Poltergeist, Hauntings, Exorcism: Driving Out the Devil, Voodoo Secrets, Ghosts and Salem Witch Trials.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return to NYC! (Nickelodeon/Paramount/DVD, 2015, seven episodes, featurettes). Episodes from season three of the latest animated incarnation of the heroes in a half-shell include Vision Quest, Return to New York and a two-parter, Battle for New York.
Pound Puppies: Pick of the Litter (Shout! Kids/DVD, 2011-2013, five episodes). Episodes of this animated series (with voices by Eric McCormack, Yvette Nicole Brown, Michael Rappaport and others) include Dog on a Wire, Cuddle Up Buttercup and Im Ready for My Close Pup.
Storybook Treasures: I Want My Hat Back and More Happy Stories (Scholastic/Cinedigm/DVD, 2011, four stories, read-alongs, featurette). In addition to the title story, other animated stories are The Lucky Ducklings, The Happy Lion and The Happy Owls. Aimed at ages 4-8.
The Magic School Bus: Season Three (Scholastic/DVD, 1996, two discs, 13 episodes). This animated series, for ages 4-10, has Mrs. Frizzle and the children visiting such educational places as the Arctic and a rainforest.
