Knight at HOME at the Movies
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McGarrett & the Gals
Hawaii-Five-O is here at last! That and more Retro TV releases are on tap for this week's DVD picks.
Hawaii-Five-O is here at last! That and more Retro TV releases are on tap for this week's DVD picks.
After “Mission Impossible,” I think “Hawaii Five-O” was probably the most avidly
anticipated weekly drama in my household growing up. In a nice case of serendipity, both
these iconic TV shows were produced through Paramount which has begun releasing them
on DVD. The second season of “MI” is coming up soon and in the meantime, Paramount
Home Video is giving us the whopping seven disc Hawaii Five-O – the Complete
First Season (available March 6th).
From the first second of the show’s faced paced opening credits, scored to the justly
famed theme music (played by The Ventures), the anticipation is high. This was, after
all, the first color series shot mostly on location in what was then exotic Hawaii. “Magnum
P.I.,” and “Lost” were years away when the show premiered. Seeing the Five-O crew is in
many ways like a reunion with old friends (almost all the shows from my childhood have
that effect on me). Starting at the top is Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, the authoritative,
moral, head of the group that is NEVER WRONG, James MacArthur as his second in
command, Danny “book ‘em Danno” Williams is next, Kam Fong as Chin, the elder,
always polite and deferential one, and Zulu as Kono, the islander hothead. In my
memory these were members of the Honolulu police force when in actuality “Hawaii Five-
O” was a special crime fighting unit that answered only to the governor of the state. That
could be why they never wore police uniforms (they were always nattily attired in suits) and
didn’t bother with petty crimes. Instead, they went after drug lords and the infamous Wo-
Fat (played by Khigh Dhiegh who was also memorable in 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate),
a villain in the Professor Moriarty-Goldfinger mode.
The Paramount release includes all 24 hour long episodes from the 1968 initial season as
well as the original pilot (that later became a two parter). My two favorite shows are the
episode with gay actor Sal Mineo who stages a kidnapping (to get some notoriety for his
lagging career as a singer) and the two part episode in which McGarrett’s sister is taken in
by a con woman promising a cure for her son who has cancer. The set includes a nice
informative “making of special” that was originally an episode of a local Hawaiian TV show
that is co-hosted by MacArthur and features most of the surviving cast members (though
Lord, apparently ill at the time, isn't seen although his wife makes an appearance. Lord
would die in 1998). The show, clearly anchored on and off camera by the commanding
actor (Lord was a sort of TV version of the silent, no nonsense Steve McQueen), lasted for
12 seasons and featured a lot of guest stars so prepare to enjoy a lot more editions
ahead.
Now from McGarrett to the Girls – the Golden Girls – Season Seven to be exact. The
3-disc, 26 episode final season of the 80s funniest sitcom is out now from Buena Vista
Home Entertainment. The show, which follows the adventures of the four roommates of a
“certain age” – sexpot Blanche, tart tongued Dorothy and her even smarter mouthed
mother Sophia, and the dimwit sweetie Rose – never failed to score laughs in the hands
of expert performers Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. This
final season (from 1991) in which divorcee Dorothy (Arthur) finally finds a second husband
(played by Leslie Nielson), signaled a fitting end to the series. Befitting a show in its last
throes, there’s an even mixture of laughs and tears but even though the sentimentality
runs thick there are enough episodes here that mine the patented golden girl wisecracks
to keep the unsentimental happy as well. There are also the usual retinue of guest
stars.
This actually may be one of my favorite seasons – after looking over the episode guide I
realized that many of my favorite moments happened in this the show’s final inning.
Aside from the series closer (a two parter), some of those highlights include Dorothy’s try-
out for "Jeopardy," Dorothy stealing the spotlight from Blanche at her hangout by belting
out “What’ll I Do” and other standards, Blanche trying to save her grandmother’s
plantation where she grew up, the girls involved in a murder mystery, and the two part
episode where Rose has the heart attack at the high school reunion.
This set includes a nice, “look back” featurette that includes all the cast but Getty (who
suffers from Alzheimer’s), and gay writer-producer Marc Cherry, who had a much larger
hand in this last season. Cherry famously went on to create "Desperate Housewives."
Happily, I now have all seven seasons to watch whenever I want – with or without
cheesecake.
When a certain quasi-movie producer died in 1968 his widow discovered that not only had
her louse of a husband signed her up to do a TV show (without her knowledge) but had
also squandered through shaky investments her $20 million fortune. The quasi-producer
was Martin “Marty” Melcher and the widow was none other than Doris Day. Ever the
professional, Day honored the commitment for the TV show – a sitcom with CBS – and
turned it into a hit. She also sued Melcher’s dubious financial partner and eventually
reaped a $23 million jury award in restitution.
All this while shooting the sitcom. For the first three season of the show Day played a
widow with two children and a crusty father working at a chic San Francisco magazine
during the day. By the time of Doris Day – Season Four in 1971, the star had
decided to make some changes. Gone were the kids and the father (played by the
character actor Denver Pyle), and in came a new best friend (Jackie Joseph), and a new
boss – another crusty character (played by John Dehner) not far removed from Lucy’s “Mr.
Mooney.” Day didn’t really need to make the changes but it did allow her to explore more
“adult” topics (she got a hot boyfriend this season to boot in Peter Lawford) and escape
make believe motherhood. Surrounded by a group of expert writers and supporting
regular characters (including Kaye Ballard) and guests (Charles Nelson Reilly makes a
hilarious guest appearance), Day was able to make even the slightest of material work.
MPI Home Video has been releasing each season of the series with a lot of extra features
that are welcome – especially for any Doris Day fan. This four-disc set contains not only
all 24 episodes from the fourth season (1971-1972) but a new making of featurette (with
Jackie Joseph and others in the cast and crew) and the complete footage of the Doris Day
fashion show episode from this season (if you want to see Day in what seems like dozens
of early 70s fashions one after another this is your special feature). There’s also a rare
episode of Betty White’s syndicated show “Pet Set” that features Day with just a few of her
four legged friends, and a preview of the show’s final fifth season – something to look
forward to.
Dolly Parton also had a syndicated variety series for the 1976 season and MPI Home
video has released highlights from the series in a 2-disc set under the moniker Dolly
Parton and Friends. The show came just as Parton was crossing over into the
mainstream and features the buxom hostess and her perky though winning personality
singing and clowning along with a roster of 70s era guests – the Marilyn McCoo and Billy
Davis, Jr. of the Fifth Dimension, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt, and a slew
of country music stars. A must for Parton fans and a nice set for variety show fanatics.
anticipated weekly drama in my household growing up. In a nice case of serendipity, both
these iconic TV shows were produced through Paramount which has begun releasing them
on DVD. The second season of “MI” is coming up soon and in the meantime, Paramount
Home Video is giving us the whopping seven disc Hawaii Five-O – the Complete
First Season (available March 6th).
From the first second of the show’s faced paced opening credits, scored to the justly
famed theme music (played by The Ventures), the anticipation is high. This was, after
all, the first color series shot mostly on location in what was then exotic Hawaii. “Magnum
P.I.,” and “Lost” were years away when the show premiered. Seeing the Five-O crew is in
many ways like a reunion with old friends (almost all the shows from my childhood have
that effect on me). Starting at the top is Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, the authoritative,
moral, head of the group that is NEVER WRONG, James MacArthur as his second in
command, Danny “book ‘em Danno” Williams is next, Kam Fong as Chin, the elder,
always polite and deferential one, and Zulu as Kono, the islander hothead. In my
memory these were members of the Honolulu police force when in actuality “Hawaii Five-
O” was a special crime fighting unit that answered only to the governor of the state. That
could be why they never wore police uniforms (they were always nattily attired in suits) and
didn’t bother with petty crimes. Instead, they went after drug lords and the infamous Wo-
Fat (played by Khigh Dhiegh who was also memorable in 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate),
a villain in the Professor Moriarty-Goldfinger mode.
The Paramount release includes all 24 hour long episodes from the 1968 initial season as
well as the original pilot (that later became a two parter). My two favorite shows are the
episode with gay actor Sal Mineo who stages a kidnapping (to get some notoriety for his
lagging career as a singer) and the two part episode in which McGarrett’s sister is taken in
by a con woman promising a cure for her son who has cancer. The set includes a nice
informative “making of special” that was originally an episode of a local Hawaiian TV show
that is co-hosted by MacArthur and features most of the surviving cast members (though
Lord, apparently ill at the time, isn't seen although his wife makes an appearance. Lord
would die in 1998). The show, clearly anchored on and off camera by the commanding
actor (Lord was a sort of TV version of the silent, no nonsense Steve McQueen), lasted for
12 seasons and featured a lot of guest stars so prepare to enjoy a lot more editions
ahead.
Now from McGarrett to the Girls – the Golden Girls – Season Seven to be exact. The
3-disc, 26 episode final season of the 80s funniest sitcom is out now from Buena Vista
Home Entertainment. The show, which follows the adventures of the four roommates of a
“certain age” – sexpot Blanche, tart tongued Dorothy and her even smarter mouthed
mother Sophia, and the dimwit sweetie Rose – never failed to score laughs in the hands
of expert performers Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. This
final season (from 1991) in which divorcee Dorothy (Arthur) finally finds a second husband
(played by Leslie Nielson), signaled a fitting end to the series. Befitting a show in its last
throes, there’s an even mixture of laughs and tears but even though the sentimentality
runs thick there are enough episodes here that mine the patented golden girl wisecracks
to keep the unsentimental happy as well. There are also the usual retinue of guest
stars.
This actually may be one of my favorite seasons – after looking over the episode guide I
realized that many of my favorite moments happened in this the show’s final inning.
Aside from the series closer (a two parter), some of those highlights include Dorothy’s try-
out for "Jeopardy," Dorothy stealing the spotlight from Blanche at her hangout by belting
out “What’ll I Do” and other standards, Blanche trying to save her grandmother’s
plantation where she grew up, the girls involved in a murder mystery, and the two part
episode where Rose has the heart attack at the high school reunion.
This set includes a nice, “look back” featurette that includes all the cast but Getty (who
suffers from Alzheimer’s), and gay writer-producer Marc Cherry, who had a much larger
hand in this last season. Cherry famously went on to create "Desperate Housewives."
Happily, I now have all seven seasons to watch whenever I want – with or without
cheesecake.
When a certain quasi-movie producer died in 1968 his widow discovered that not only had
her louse of a husband signed her up to do a TV show (without her knowledge) but had
also squandered through shaky investments her $20 million fortune. The quasi-producer
was Martin “Marty” Melcher and the widow was none other than Doris Day. Ever the
professional, Day honored the commitment for the TV show – a sitcom with CBS – and
turned it into a hit. She also sued Melcher’s dubious financial partner and eventually
reaped a $23 million jury award in restitution.
All this while shooting the sitcom. For the first three season of the show Day played a
widow with two children and a crusty father working at a chic San Francisco magazine
during the day. By the time of Doris Day – Season Four in 1971, the star had
decided to make some changes. Gone were the kids and the father (played by the
character actor Denver Pyle), and in came a new best friend (Jackie Joseph), and a new
boss – another crusty character (played by John Dehner) not far removed from Lucy’s “Mr.
Mooney.” Day didn’t really need to make the changes but it did allow her to explore more
“adult” topics (she got a hot boyfriend this season to boot in Peter Lawford) and escape
make believe motherhood. Surrounded by a group of expert writers and supporting
regular characters (including Kaye Ballard) and guests (Charles Nelson Reilly makes a
hilarious guest appearance), Day was able to make even the slightest of material work.
MPI Home Video has been releasing each season of the series with a lot of extra features
that are welcome – especially for any Doris Day fan. This four-disc set contains not only
all 24 episodes from the fourth season (1971-1972) but a new making of featurette (with
Jackie Joseph and others in the cast and crew) and the complete footage of the Doris Day
fashion show episode from this season (if you want to see Day in what seems like dozens
of early 70s fashions one after another this is your special feature). There’s also a rare
episode of Betty White’s syndicated show “Pet Set” that features Day with just a few of her
four legged friends, and a preview of the show’s final fifth season – something to look
forward to.
Dolly Parton also had a syndicated variety series for the 1976 season and MPI Home
video has released highlights from the series in a 2-disc set under the moniker Dolly
Parton and Friends. The show came just as Parton was crossing over into the
mainstream and features the buxom hostess and her perky though winning personality
singing and clowning along with a roster of 70s era guests – the Marilyn McCoo and Billy
Davis, Jr. of the Fifth Dimension, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt, and a slew
of country music stars. A must for Parton fans and a nice set for variety show fanatics.
