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Blogs:
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Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
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Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
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Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Attention Haters, Palin And Hannity Together
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 20, 2009
If it's Thursday, this must be the mailbag . . .
Q: Holly Hunter in ''Saving Grace'' and Timothy Hutton in ''Leverage'' are said to be Academy Award winners. For what and when?
A: Hunter won a best actress Oscar for her performance in The Piano (1993). She was also nominated for best actress for Broadcast News and as best supporting actress for The Firm and Thirteen. Hutton won a best supporting actor Oscar for Ordinary People (1980). That is his only nomination to date.
Q: Is it not possible to purchase ''Ally McBeal'' on DVD? I am interested in the entire five seasons. I am hoping you can help me.
A: While I was not a fan of Ally McBeal, I have long gotten mail from people longing for DVDs of the Fox comedy-drama, which originally aired from 1997 to 2002. And an authorized DVD will finally be released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Oct. 6. There will be a complete-series set on 32 discs as well as a six-disc collection of the first season, with other individual seasons to follow.
Q: The movie ''Crossing Over,'' with Harrison Ford and Ashley Judd, was advertised on TV several months ago but I haven't seen it listed in any theater yet. Could you tell me why? We've been watching for it every week.
A: The movie was released in a few theaters earlier this year but it never achieved wide distribution. (According to the Box Office Mojo site, it was in at most 42 theaters nationwide.) The box-office returns may not have been what the studio hoped. It has been released on DVD.
Q: Please tell me that the ''Torchwood'' series has ended. It sure looks like it after the ''Children of Earth'' miniseries.
A: Granted, by the end of Children of Earth, it looked as if the show had nowhere to go. But series creator Russell Davies told Entertainment Weekly that ''We don't yet know about our fourth series, but I'm fairly confident [it will continue] in some shape or form. I will just sit down and invent new stories and characters.''
And would that include the leader, Captain Jack? ''I would hope so,'' Davies said. ''He's absolutely fundamental to Torchwood.''
Q: ''Mental,'' about a psychiatric ward, showed this summer. The lead quit on the last episode last week. Will the show return anytime?
A: It's not clear. The Aug. 14 telecast used up the last of the 13 episodes of the show commissioned by Fox, and I have yet to see an announcement of more being made. But the show may last because it has a good shot at profitability; though set in the U.S., Mental was made in Colombia and sold in more than 30 other countries.
Q: I used to enjoy the TNT shows ''The Lost World,'' ''Pensacola: Wings of Gold'' and ''The Pretender.'' Are these series available on DVD?
A: The three seasons of The Lost World are available. The Pretender, including some post-series TV movies, is also on DVD. Pensacola is not.
Q: I hope you can quiet my husband or set me right (would prefer the former but will accept the latter). In the current Range Rover commercials, who does the voiceover? My husband insists it is Patrick Stewart and I disagree. There are so many more important subjects we can disagree on so would love to get this out of the way.
A: The voice belongs to Charles Shaughnessy, best known for playing Maxwell Sheffield on The Nanny.
Q: One morning I saw the last five minutes of ''Frasier.'' He was leaving Seattle and his family and told them he was going to San Francisco, but when the plane landed, the pilot said ''Welcome to Chicago.'' What did I miss?
A: You missed a switcheroo. We were led to believe that Frasier was heading from Seattle to San Francisco for a new job. But he decided instead to go to Chicago, following a woman he had gotten involved with in Seattle. Whether he stayed in Chicago, or later moved on to San Francisco, was left to the viewer's imagination.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. 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.
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