Hopper, Jerry

Get Smart - Season 1 (The Original TV Series)

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 08/05/2008 Run time: 750 minutes Rating: G

The feature film may have missed it by that much, but Get Smart, the TV series, still hits the target with deadly funny accuracy. The right show at the right time, Get Smart brilliantly spoofed the spy genre that was all the rage in 1965, with James Bond on the big screen, and such series as Danger Man, The Avengers, The Saint, < I>The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and I Spy more or less playing it straight on the small screen. Get Smart, on the other hand, had a license to kill…with laughter. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry created one of TV's all-time greatest characters, Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 of CONTROL, the super-secret agency vigilantly on alert against the forces of KAOS. Smart (Don Adams in his iconic, Emmy-winning role), an American Clouseau, was not stupid. Though all evidence to the contrary, he was, in his own mind, a suave and sophisticated spy, albeit one who would inadvertently lean against a freshly painted wall while shadowing an enemy agent. Get Smart hilariously deglamorized the business of espionage. Agents punch a time clock and dispute vacation time. Cool spy gadgets, such as the infamous Cone of Silence, are prone to malfunction. One running joke throughout the first season finds Agent 44 (Victor French) perched in a variety of unlikely and uncomfortable hiding places, among them a grandfather clock. Although the series would only get smarter and funnier in subsequent seasons (Bernie Kopell's KAOS mastermind Siegfried would be introduced in season two), the first season contains several essential episodes, including the Emmy-winning two-parter, "Ship of Spies," "Aboard the Orient Express," featuring a cameo by Johnny Carson as an unflappable conductor, "Diplomat's Daughter" with the arch --and decidedly non-PC-- villain, the Craw, and "Back to the Drawing Board," featuring Dick Gautier as Hymie the robot. From "Sorry about that" to "Would you believe," no show before Get Smart introduced so many catchphrases into the national language, while Smart and his partner, Agent 99 (the ravishing Barbara Feldon), were perhaps TV's first "will they or won't they" couple. Brooks and Henry contribute separate commentaries for the black and white pilot episode, while Feldon provides commentary for another, and purrs introductions to each episode (beware plot spoilers). With Get Smart, you will be witness to some of TV's funniest moments, sharpest writing, and expertly-executed physical comedy. And… loving it. --Donald Liebenson

Gilligan's Island - The Complete Series Collection

Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 11/13/2007

Perry Mason - Season One, Vol. 1

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 06/12/2007 Rating: Nr

There was a time when the defense attorney was a heroic everyman, not the butt of bad jokes; think Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and, of course, Raymond Burr's incomparable Perry Mason. The first season of Perry Mason, which launched in 1957 on CBS, shows just how dramatic a "law and order" show could be. Shot in lush black and white, on film, the episodes have been lovingly restored (including lost minutes hacked from reruns to accommodate commercials). The story arcs and atmosphere feel more like film noir (Perry Mason + Philip Marlowe = separated at birth?) than early TV. The cast was stellar, including Burr's Emmy-winning Perry Mason, the indefatigable lawyer who takes tough cases no one else will touch. Burr's chemistry crackles from episode 1 with his costars, including Barbara Hale as secretary Della, William Hopper as private detective Paul Drake, and William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the well-meaning but overmatched district attorney. While it's true that the last-minute witness-stand confessions strain some credulity, the case-cracking, character development, and dialogue set a high bar for the legal shows that followed. "The Case of the Negligent Nymph," for instance, involves a comely young woman--and murder suspect--fished out of the Pacific; Mason deadpans to Drake, "Call off the search, Paul; we've landed our mermaid." The shows unfold at a leisurely pace, and yet don't rely on the overly expositive dialogue that, say, Law & Order does; the viewer learns a lot about each case simply as it happens. The set contains the first 19 episodes of the first season and will hook you, even if you're not a procedural buff. --A.T. Hurley

Gilligan's Island - The Complete First Season

Despite critical barbs as sharp as a Maroobi spear, Gilligan's Island has proven unsinkable. Its first season was 1964's top-rated show. The expository theme song is one of television's most quoted, and its characters--the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver), the millionaire (Jim Backus) and his wife (Natalie Schaefer), a movie star (Tina Louise), "and the rest" (Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells, as the Professor and Mary Ann, wouldn't get their opening credit props until season two)--are pop culture icons. Revisiting the first season's 36 episodes is a not-guilty-at-all pleasure. Some sure and surprising hands piloted these inaugural episodes, including Ida Lupino, Jack Arnold (The Creature from the Black Lagoon), Christian Nyby (The Thing), and Richard Donner (who went on to direct Superman and Lethal Weapon).

The "seven stranded castaways" from the ill-fated S.S. Minnow (slyly named for former Federal Communications Commission head Newton "vast wasteland" Minow) received memorable visits from the likes of Hans Conreid as errant pilot Wrong Way Feldman, a young Kurt Russell as Jungle Boy, and Larry Storch as a Cagney-esque bank robber. But these were mere diversions from the heart of the series; the no-man-is-an-island social microcosm that creator Sherwood Schwartz conceived as an anti-war parable (this courtesy of his optional commentary during the fabled unaired series pilot). In the Christmas episode "Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk," Santa Claus himself drops in to lift the disheartened castaways' spirits. "You could have been enemies," he tells them, "instead of a family group who all learned to get along." This is they key to this series' enduring popularity. That, and the unending debate: Ginger or Mary Ann? --Donald Liebenson

Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 02/03/2004 Run time: 916 minutes Rating: Nr

Gilligan's Island - The Complete Third Season

Though Gilligan and his fellow castaways will remain forever marooned in syndication, the series' network run actually did come to an end in 1967 after a three-year run and 98 episodes. The final 30--which for Gilligan fanatics, include many of the show's best--are compiled in this three-disc set, along with input from creator Sherwood Schwartz. It's not known if Schwartz knew that the series was headed for cancellation, but he and the writers definitely appear to pour on the steam in season 3 to produce some of the series' most imaginative episodes, many of which break out of the island sets through dream sequences; these include the season kickoff, "Up at Bat" (after being bitten by a bat, Gilligan dreams of being a vampire); "Pass the Vegetables, Please" (the castaways gain extraordinary powers after eating radioactive produce); "The Producer: (Phil Silvers guests as a Hollywood director whom the castaways attempt to win over with a musical production of Hamlet); "The Invasion" (the discovery of a government briefcase leads to Gilligan dreaming about spy capers); "The Secret of Gilligan's Island" (a stone table leads to a caveman dream), and so on. A cruise ship's worth of engaging guest stars (Don Rickles, Rory Calhoun, Strother Martin) and amusing performances by the always-game cast make this final season a worthwhile addition to any Gilligan groupie's collection. And doubling its value is commentary by Schwartz on "The Producer" (arguably, one of the best episodes of the entire series), and a featurette about the show's impact on pop culture. --Paul Gaita

Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 07/26/2005 Run time: 780 minutes

Perry Mason - Season One, Vol. 2

The second volume of season 1 of Perry Mason fleshes out the splendid entire first year of the show, a masterpiece of '50s film noir and crisp, savvy TV writing. Raymond Burr's unflappable defense attorney Perry Mason is equal parts P.I., father confessor, and yes, judge, jury, and executioner. The crimes include murder most foul, and lots of that sordid specter that haunted people pre-internet: blackmail. Everyone has a motive, and everyone in the harsh light of Los Angeles seems to have something to hide. The boxed set contains the remaining 21 episodes of the first season, with highlights like "The Case of the Lonely Heiress," in which detective and Mason sidekick Paul Drake tracks down a rich woman, who is then suddenly accused of the murder of the man who tried to find her. Some episodes haven't aged well (one involves Mason interviewing a "schizophrenic" woman on the witness stand, interviewing "both" her personalities). But overall, the writing and the assured ambience of the series, and Burr's commanding presence, make Perry Mason among TV's topnotch armchair crime series. --A.T. Hurley

20 one-hour episodes from the first season Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 06/12/2007 Rating: Nr

Perry Mason - Season Two, Vol. 1

A collection of 15 gripping cases from season 2 Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 06/19/2007 Run time: 773 minutes

There's something about Perry! Perry Mason, as a canny 14-year-old remarks in the episode "The Case of the Pint-Sized Client," is "the best lawyer in town." Here's the evidence. In 15 chronological second-season episodes from the classic series by which all lawyer shows are judged, Los Angeles attorney Perry Mason successfully defends a host of clients so seemingly guilty that Nancy Grace would have had them incarcerated by the first commercial break. Created by Erle Stanley Gardner, Mason was already a popular character in books, films, and radio before coming to television in 1957, and Raymond Burr, usually typecast as a heavy in feature films, did Mason justice (Mason was ranked 28th on the Bravo network's list of television's 100 best characters). Punctuating his sentences with that dramatic intake of breath, Burr's Mason exudes gravitas and expertise. He gets capable support from Barbara Hale as his secretary, Della Street, and William Hopper as private detective Paul Drake.

In what may be television's most thankless role, William Talman costars as district attorney Hamilton Burger, who nearly every week loses what looked to be an open-and-shut case, usually as the result of some dramatic surprise witness (in one episode, a parrot!), an unorthodox legal maneuver, or a cross-examination courtroom confession ("I didn't mean to kill him, your honor"). There is no delving into Mason's private life, although one episode hints at Mason being something of a ladies man. When Della suggestively tells him a new client is in his waiting room, he replies, "Blonde or brunette?" Cleverly plotted, and infused with a palpable noir sensibility , Perry Mason holds up as more than TV Land nostalgia, although it is fun to see such familiar faces as Jesse "the Maytag Repairman" White, Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction), and Joseph Kearns and Herbert Anderson from Dennis the Menace. No extras, but these entertaining episodes will definitely please the court. --Donald Liebenson

Perry Mason - Season Two, Vol. 2

We strenuously object! Raymond Burr was conspicuously and criminally missing on Entertainment Weekly's list of the top 100 TV icons. This is a TV Land injustice, but this four-disc set of episodes that complete season 2 lays the groundwork for an appeal. Burr was honored with an Emmy for his commendable work this season as Los Angeles defense attorney Perry Mason, as was Barbara Hale, who portrayed his faithful secretary Della Street. Who knows how many impressionable viewers Burr inspired to become lawyers with his masterful portrayal of the unflappable, incorruptible Mason? No matter how much evidence district attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman) and Lt. Tragg (Ray Collins) collect, and no matter how damning it is, it will usually collapse once Perry gets the real guilty party to break down on the witness stand or, in one case, in a beatnik hangout. In "The Case of the Lame Canary," a woman is discovered over her dead husband's body, gun in hand, and burning a stack of letters. "If she has any sense, she's at the airport waiting for the first plane out of the country," someone cattily remarks. Nope, she has better sense than that; she's at Perry's office.

Filmed in black and white, Perry Mason has a seductive noir sensibility. Here in sunny California are convoluted cases involving corruption, blackmail, scandal, revenge, and greed. Perry, with the help of private detective Paul Drake (William Hopper), sorts it all out, and in the episode codas, further parses the evidence ("I still don't see what put you on the right track" is a typical query) in inscrutable ways that invite replay. Beyond the pleasure of watching an actor thoroughly embody his character, it's also fun to spot familiar character actors. "The Case of the Petulant Partner" stars Will Wright, who played mean old Ben Weaver on the early seasons of The Andy Griffith Show, and that's a rather fetching Marion "Mrs C." Ross from Happy Days in "The Case of the Romantic Rogue." The episodes crackle with some old-school, hard-boiled dialogue. Almost worth the price of the set is hearing Lt. Tragg make with the beat talk in "The Case of the Jaded Joker." "I'm one of the cool ones," he jokes with Della and Perry. "I don't dig slick chicks trying to goof me up, daddy-o." Once again, this set is guilty of providing no extra features, but we'll let them off with a warning. This time. --Donald Liebenson

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/13/2007

Gilligan's Island - The Complete Second Season

Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 01/11/2005 Run time: 811 minutes Rating: Nr

Forget about a three-hour tour--Gilligan's Island fans can sit right back and enjoy all 32 episodes of the much-loved television comedy and even a few extras with this three-disc set. GI aficionados will probably argue which episode deserves to be called the best in the series' three-year history until the end of time, but few will disagree that its sophomore season (1965-66) contains some of its funniest and best-remembered episodes. For starters, season 2 marks the show's debut in color, as well as the first time the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) were mentioned in the opening theme song (all of this occurs in the season opener, "Gilligan's Mother-in-Law"). But it also includes such classic episodes as "Hi Fi Gilligan" (Gilligan picks up radio signals in his mouth), "Don't Bug the Mosquitos" (faux Brit rockers land on the island), "Mine Hero" (a WWII mine washes up on the beach), "Meet The Meteor" (space debris makes the castaways age prematurely), and "The Friendly Physician" (a mad scientist's experiments cause the castaways to swap bodies), all of which have lost none of their laughs or pure entertainment value. The supplemental features, though slight, include an introduction by Johnson and series creator Sherwood Schwartz, as well as commentary by Schwartz on his favorite episode, "The Little Dictator." --Paul Gaita

The Addams Family - Volume One

If The Munsters was a traditional family sitcom as reimagined by Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, The Addams Family is a macabre twist on Father Knows Best. The Munster and Addams clans made their TV debuts in 1964 and lasted two seasons before the networks buried them. The Addamses are now gloriously resurrected in this three-disc set that digs up the series' first 22 episodes (oddly, 12 shy of the complete first season). Inspired by Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons, The Addams Family is fiendishly funny, with a dead-on cast that indelibly embodies Addams's characters. John Astin brings a demented glee to eccentric, frighteningly wealthy Gomez Addams. Carolyn Jones is bewitching as his pre-goth wife, Morticia, whom the Beatles might have had in mind when they sang, "Baby's in Black." Jackie Coogan is the electrifying Uncle Fester, with Ted Cassidy (who famously took a kick in the groin from Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is the monstrous butler Lurch, whose "You rang?" entered the pop culture lexicon.

The Munsters was family friendly. The Addams Family is more sophisticated and wickedly funny. As Gomez notes at one point, "There's a touch of madness" in the Addams household, where "every day is Halloween." Bear rugs growl, a disembodied hand, Thing, delivers the mail, and a torture rack is good for what ails you. The children, Wednesday (Lisa Loring) and older brother Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax), enjoy such hobbies as playing autopsy or exploding model trains. Gomez and Morticia were one of television's most passionate couples, with Gomez being driven to arm-kissing ecstasy whenever Morticia spoke French. The last episode included in this collection, "Amnesia in the Addams Family," is a classic in which Gomez is rendered "normal" following a conk on the head. The look of disgust on Morticia and Lurch's face when he asks for a glass of milk is priceless. The "altogether ooky" extras include three episode commentaries, a featurette on Charles Addams, reminiscences from cast members Astin, Loring, and Weatherwax, a segment on the creation of the classic snap-snap theme song ("They're creepy and they're kooky...."), and the inevitable theme song sing-along. The Addams Family at last on DVD? As Gomez might exclaim: "Capital!" --Donald Liebenson

Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 08/05/2008 Run time: 572 minutes Rating: Nr