Arthur, Karen

Cagney & Lacey - Season 1(The Complete First Season)

Two female NYPD detectives with opposite personalities cooperate in their professional and personal lives.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 8-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD

Twenty-two early episodes of the breakthrough television series, Cagney & Lacey, are gathered in this Season 1 pack, though these do not include those with early Cagneys Loretta Swit and Meg Foster. Directed by Karen Arthur, written by a female team, and starring two filmic heroes of the feminist movement--Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly as Mary-Beth Lacey--the show pioneered on-screen presentation of independent, working women. With Cagney as the career-minded single woman, and Lacey as the mother/wife juggling job with home time, the two detectives serve as foil characters, the way other cop shows such as ChiPs, Moonlighting, or Charlie's Angels starred police with opposing opinions. But where other shows cast the foxiest people possible, Cagney & Lacey relied on character development instead of sex.

That is not to say that Gless and Daly aren't attractive, for indeed they are. Episodic narratives include Cagney & Lacey fighting female spousal abuse in "A Cry For Help"; date rape in "Date Rape"; racism in "Let Them Eat Pretzels," and many other issues targeted in the consciousness-raising feminist movement of the '70s and '80s. Many of the episodes, compared to the lightning fast-paced cop shows airing today, are slow and surprisingly non-humorous. But regardless of the show's occasional descent into tedium, Cagney & Lacey did much to promote the image of the self-made, multitasking woman. The two-part featurette, "Breaking the Laws of TV," starring heavyweights such as Gloria Steinem, critically places the show in TV history by contextualizing what was happening in the women's movement concurrent to the show's airing. Though the show may have its dull moments, it is fascinating to remember how television has changed over the decades. —Trinie Dalton

The Christmas Blessing

Neil Patrick Harris stars in this touching sequel to THE CHRISTMAS SHOES. When a tragic event enters his life a grown-up Nathan questions everything and decides to give up his career in medicine. But when he goes back home and falls in love he s confronted with an even bigger choice. Will this new crisis help him accept his past and move forward or have him retreat even further into himself? It s going to take a Christmas miracle for him to find the faith but that s what the holiday season is all about. Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 018713523518 Manufacturer No: 05-52351

True Women

This well-acted, sweeping herstorical epic focuses on the lives of three women, beginning in 1853. China Beach's Dana Delany is Sarah, the family matriarch, whose little sister Euphemia (a delightful and empathetic Tina Majorino) has been living with her best friend, Georgia (beautiful Rachael Leigh Cook), and Georgia's parents (Michael York, Julie Carmen) on a large, bucolic Georgia plantation. After the sisters' father dies, Sarah's husband, upstanding Texas Ranger Bartlett (Powers Boothe), takes "Pheemy" down to Peach Tree, Texas, to live with him and Sarah.

Pheemy and Georgia begin a correspondence chronicling their divergent lives. As Pheemy and her family work their farm and battle Santa Ana and hostile Indians, indulged Georgia is coming to terms with her family's greatest secret: she is one-quarter Native American. Majorino and Cook are excellent in their demanding roles and offer a challenge for their adult counterparts (Annabeth Gish as Pheemy, Angelina Jolie as Georgia). This film, originally a TV miniseries, is an earnest attempt to depict the difficult--and often tragic--role women were compelled to endure during this historically rich but phenomenally difficult time. True Women has plenty of action, but relationships, politics, and grim reality are the true focus, as issues of sexuality, prejudice, human rights, and of course slavery are eagerly examined in the frontier setting. The sensitive should be forewarned: it seems like there is a death every five minutes. --N.F. Mendoza

Hart to Hart - The Complete First Season

Created by Sidney Sheldon (I Dream of Jeannie), Hart to Hart was a Thin Man for the 1980s. Self-made millionaire Jonathan (Robert Wagner, It Takes a Thief) and part-time journalist Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) even had their own Asta-like pooch, Freeway. Unlike Nick and Nora Charles, however, children weren't part of their globe trotting, crime solving plan. Fortunately, they had trusty butler/Bentley driver Max (Golden Globe winner Lionel Stander) to keep them company.

Mr. And Mrs. H., as Max referred to them, were introduced by 1979's two-part pilot ("Hart to Hart"), which features Roddy McDowall and Stella Stevens as devious doctors and Wagner's future wife, Jill St. John (Diamonds are Forever), as a wealthy patient. Natalie Wood, his wife at the time, also has a cameo (under the name Natasha Gurdin). Other highlights of the first year include "Jonathan Hart, Jr.," in which a stranger (Dee Wallace-Stone, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) claims Jonathan is her son's father, and "You Made Me Kill You," in which an obsessed Jonathan fan (Kathleen Lloyd, Magnum P.I.) plans to eliminate the competition--Jennifer Hart. Other notable guests include Markie Post (Night Court), Daniel J. Travanti (Hill Street Blues), René Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Juliet Mills (Nanny and the Professor), and Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks).

Hart to Hart ran on ABC for five seasons and went on to inspire such popular detective dramas as Remington Steele and Moonlighting. After a move to NBC, it was followed by eight made-for-TV movies. Sadly, Stander passed away shortly after filming 1994's Secrets of the Hart. Three years later, Wagner gained a new generation of fans by spoofing the urbane manner that helped make Hart to Hart such a hit in the Austin Powers trilogy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Created by bestselling novelist Sidney Sheldon, HART TO HART: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a fabulously rich couple who always seems to become entangled in an exotic blend of mystery, intrigue and adventure. Accompanied by their loyal servant Max (Lionel Sander), the smart and sexy twosome jet set around the world, where they solve cases ranging from espionage to murder, in 22 breezy episodes that mix excitement and danger with just a dash of romance.

The Jacksons - An American Dream (The Complete Miniseries)

The miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream begins in the 1940s, when Joseph Jackson (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and Katherine (Angela Bassett) meet and fall in love, and ends in the 1980s, when their sons reunite for the 1983 Victory Tour that brought them back together as the Jacksons. During the first part, "The Early Years," the couple starts a family, and although times are tough, Joseph still finds time to play music on the side. When he discovers that his sons have inherited the same talent, the Jackson 5 are born. They sign with Motown and start churning out the gold records. The second part, "The Success Years," begins in 1970 at the peak of their fame, but by 1976, the hits have started to dry up. If the acting is uneven and the story somewhat sanitized, Bassett is affecting, and the series includes Emmy-winning choreography and a combination of original and re-created material, ranging from "I Want You Back" (1969) to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (from 1982's multi-platinum Thriller). --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Hart to Hart - The Complete Second Season

The worlds most glamorous amateur sleuths are back for more mystery fun and danger in the second sensational season of HART TO HART starring Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers. In 20 captivating cases ranging from kidnapping and robbery to industrial espionage and murder romantic jetsetters Jonathan and Jennifer Hart risk life limb and lifestyle to solve the most unsolvable of crimes. Featuring Lionel Stander as their faithful sidekick Max and a first class line-up of suspects and victims HART TO HART: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON is a rich and sexy blend of adventure intrigue and excitement.System Requirements:Running Time 987 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396145733 Manufacturer No: 14573

The Locket

Gentle sentiment turns The Locket into an old-fashioned weeper for anyone who loved Driving Miss Daisy. It's not nearly as effective as that 1989 Oscar®-winner, but this Hallmark Hall of Fame production--adapted from the novel by Richard Paul Evans--has similar charms of its own, and its warm-hearted themes of love and compassion offer a welcomed alternative to network sex and violence. After caring for his terminally ill mother, an aspiring medical student named Michael (Chad Willett) works at a nursing home, where an elderly resident (Vanessa Redgrave) teaches him valuable lessons using her own past--and a long-lost love--to illustrate the importance of second chances. Their friendship, and an unexpected court trial, encourages Michael to reconcile with his estranged father (Terry O'Quinn), with the support of his loving fiancée (Marguerite Moreau). No surprises here, but have your Kleenex handy just in case. --Jeff Shannon

The Staircase [Region 2]

The Lost Child

As a young child, Rebecca Hoffman (played by Academy Award® winner Mercedes Ruehl) was raised by a loving and caring family, knowing she was adopted. Following her parents' deaths, Rebecca begins a search for her natural family. She is contacted by a Navajo woman looking for her own siblings, who were stolen from her mother at birth. As the two women talk, they suddenly realize they are sisters, and that Becks has found her birth family! Excitedly, Rebecca decides to take her children to meet her family on the reservation. They are welcomed with open arms, and begin learning the language and traditions of their rich ancestry. Her husband (Jamey Sheridan), however, is branded an outsider and has difficulty becoming accepted as part of the Navajo community. As the differences between the two cultures come to the surface, the family discovers a commitment to each other that runs deeper than circumstances and a heritage that captivates their hearts.

The Secret