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First season of series, with Akron's Ray Wise, sows plenty of laughs
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal pop music writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 02, 2008
One of the better pieces of news about the current TV season is that Reaper will be back when The CW gets around to its midseason decisions.
If you are wondering why that's good news, then head Tuesday to your DVD outlet and pick up Reaper: Season One (Lionsgate, 18 episodes, five discs, $39.98).
The series stars Bret Harrison (The Loop) as Sam, a young man who, upon turning 21, learns that his parents sold his soul to the devil (Akron's Ray Wise), and it's time to collect. The devil then puts Sam to work collecting souls that have escaped from hell, although Sam is also looking for a way to get out of his parents' bargain.
While the show had an uneven season, there were plenty of bright (and funny) spots. And many of them were provided by Wise, the able character actor who obviously had a great time as this urbane but fundamentally evil character.
The DVD includes a blooper reel, deleted scenes and an audio commentary on the premiere.
The big-screen version of Get Smart did nicely at the box office this summer, pulling in more than $103 million in North America alone, and did a decent job of appealing both to fans of the classic TV series and people looking for something different. Steve Carell proved a good next-generation Maxwell Smart (although his work on The Office is far superior).
Warner Home Video is giving viewers their choice of ways to buy the movie on DVD: single-disc versions in widescreen or full-frame ($28.98), a two-disc special edition ($34.98) and high-definition Blu-ray ($35.99).
All versions promise more laughs through what the DVD calls ''comedy optimization mode.'' As Carell explains at the beginning, when you are watching in that mode, a logo appears onscreen, giving you the option of watching jokes and scenes that did not get into the movie.
If you haven't seen the movie, watch it the regular way first. That optimization logo is a big honkin' thing that fills the screen and pauses the movie; it's about as efficient as a cone of silence.
By the way, if you didn't get the complete DVD set of TV's Get Smart when Time Life offered it online some time back, retailers will have it available on Tuesday via HBO Home Video. It has 25 discs, 138 episodes, tons of extras and a maximum price tag of $200 — and there's no ''would you believe'' downgrade on any of those stats.
Fans of Spin City, the comedy starring Michael J. Fox, have had to content themselves with a couple of packages of selected episodes that were released five years ago. Until now. On Tuesday, you will be able to find Spin City: The Complete First Season (Shout! Factory, 24 episodes, four discs, $39.99).
The DVD set includes commentary on six episodes, with two featuring Fox and one including Cleveland native Alan Ruck, who played the lecherous Stuart Bondek on the show. There is also a piece with new interviews with Fox, Ruck and other members of the show's ensemble, and an archival piece with Fox and series creator Gary David Goldberg.
Tuesday is also Election Day, and the DVD shelves will make room for Swing State (Morningstar, $19.98), a documentary about the Ohio governor's race in 2006. It's of even more note because it was co-directed by Jason Zone Fisher, son of Lee Fisher, who was running for lieutenant governor. (He won.) It has made the round of festivals, including the Cleveland International Film Festival and the We the People Fest in Kent.
DVD extras include a tribute to the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones and 16 deleted scenes.
Briefly noted: Kevin Costner's Waterworld is remembered by many as a bloated disaster of a movie. So you'd like to see more of it, right? Waterworld: 2-Disc Extended Edition (Universal, $19.98) includes not only the original theatrical cut of the film but a version with 41 extra minutes.
Many film buffs admire director Budd Boetticher for a series of Westerns he made with actor Randolph Scott — ''masculine affairs,'' says The Film Encyclopedia, ''involving confrontations between male antagonists constantly at odds with their world and always ready to deal with expected treachery.'' The new Films of Budd Boetticher box set (Sony, $59.95) collects five: The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station.
It also offers admiring comments from directors Clint Eastwood, Taylor Hackford and Martin Scorsese, as well as a feature-length documentary about Boetticher.
Down the DVD road: The Women, the ensemble drama starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing and others, will be on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec. 23.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
One of the better pieces of news about the current TV season is that Reaper will be back when The CW gets around to its midseason decisions.
Get the full article here.
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