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By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Thursday, Oct 09, 2008
If it's Thursday, this must be the mailbag . . .
Q: Could you please tell me the name of the movie starring Robin Williams as a robot with feelings. He works for a wealthy family and the daughter finds she has feelings for him. Can I buy a tape or disc, and where?
A: The movie you are looking for is Bicentennial Man, from 1999. It also starred Embeth Davidtz and Sam Neill and was based on a short story by Isaac Asimov. The movie is available on DVD. If your local video retailer cannot get it, I have seen it for sale on Amazon.com and Deepdiscount.com, among other sites.
Q: During the summer of 2006 and 2007 there was a series called Kyle XY on. I never saw it this past summer. We really enjoyed the program. Did they cancel it?
A: Kyle XY was originally made for the ABC Family but also aired for a time on the ABC broadcast network. Two seasons have aired so far, and a third is due in January 2009. Previous episodes can be watched online at ABC Family's site (http://abcfamily.go.com). The first season has also been released on DVD.
Q: I am wondering what the relationship is for Jonathan LaPaglia who was a guest star on NCIS's opening fall episode and Anthony LaPaglia of Without A Trace. The resemblance between the two men suggests a familial relationship.
A: They are brothers. Anthony is the older one. Both, by the way, were born in Australia, although they have played Americans in U.S. productions for years.
Q: I was wondering if I could get some information on a made-for-television movie that was the story of Galen Clark, who helped found and preserve Yosemite National Park.
A: The one movie I know about Clark is a 1976 film called Guardian of the Wilderness, with Denver Pyle as Clark. It is also known as Mountain Man and released on VHS with the latter title, although it appears that copies are very hard to find.
Q: I loved the series Malcolm in the Middle. I purchased the first season DVD years ago, but have yet to see any subsequent seasons released. Any clue as to why?
A: Series star Bryan Cranston has said on his Web site (http://www.bryancranston.com) that ''they're trying to resolve music rights issues and costs'' to release the second season and beyond. This, as you know, is a common problem for series that did not nail down music rights for DVD release (especially on shows from the pre-DVD era). Some shows have gone to DVD with substitute music when rights are expensive or hard to get, but the shows can suffer badly from that tactic.
Q: What happened to my favorite totally awesome show on ABC Family, The Middleman? There has been no new information on the Web site for more than a month.
A: The series aired its entire first season of 12 episodes. (It originally planned 13 but put some extra money into the 12th instead of making a 13th.) No word yet on whether there will be a second season, but it doesn't appear likely.
Do you have a question or comment about movies, TV and other popular culture? Write to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Please mark the note for Mailbag and do not phone in questions.
Letters may be edited. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
If it's Thursday, this must be the mailbag . . .
Get the full article here.
