Wilson, Hugh

WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete First Season

One of DVD's most requested titles, WKRP in Cincinnati is a blast from the past and an absolutely golden oldie. But this first-season set is bound to cause static with fans who have eagerly anticipated its release. Because of pesky music rights, the songs don't remain the same. "Hot Blooded" is not playing when mild-mannered newsman Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) puts on a toupee in anticipation of an awards-dinner date with bombshell station receptionist Jennifer (Loni Anderson). It's "Beautiful Dreamer" and not "Fly Me to the Moon" that chimes when Jennifer's doorbell is sounded. Any number of generic songs have replaced the contemporary and classic rock so vital to WKRP, which is, after all, set at a radio station, albeit one that is best known for its farm reports. Enter Andy Travis (Gary Sandy), the new program director charged with turning the station around, beginning with changing the format to rock & roll. Andy, the series anchor, is something of the head guard at a nut farm. In seasons to come, he will wonder if he is one of the nuts, which include: "Big Man," Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump), who is easily flustered, especially by his formidable mother, the station owner; polyester-clad sales director, Herb Tarleck (Frank Bonner), hopelessly old school and on the make for "Jenni-poo"; and morning DJ, Johnny Caravella (Howard Hesseman), a former "boss jock" now reduced to playing "You're Having My Baby" by the Hallelujah Tabernacle Choir. Also on staff is Bailey (Jan Smithers), Mary-Ann to Jennifer's Ginger, and who lacks the confidence to assert herself at the station; and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid), whom Andy hires to be the nighttime DJ. It's a seamless ensemble of likable characters on par with The Mary Tyler Moore Show's WJM news team. WKRP is one of those rare series that hit its irresistible groove from the get-go. Hesseman sounds all the right notes as Johnny, reborn as Dr. Johnny Fever (ranked no. 73 on the Bravo "100 Greatest TV Characters" chart).

As the season unfolds, the hits just keep on comin', including the classic "Turkeys Away," about a Thanksgiving stunt that goes hilariously awry ("As God is my witness," Mr. Carlson insists, "I thought turkeys could fly"), the "Goodbye Johnny" two-parter in which the (briefly) departed Johnny's replacement is involved in payola (resulting in Mr. Carlson mistaking cocaine for foot powder), and "Never Leave Me, Lucille," in which Jennifer desperately tries to reunite Herb with his wife. Purists may balk at the replaced songs, but the sharp writing and performances provide WKRP's real music. --Donald Liebenson

The First Wives Club

Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton prove that revenge is a dish best served cold. Former college buddies, they reunite at the funeral of a dear friend who took a swan dive onto Fifth Avenue. All three discover they share the same unhappy history of husbands who dove into middle-age by dumping them for trophy wives. Forming a warring triumvirate, they decide to get even, and along the way remind themselves of long-forgotten capabilities. The action gets a little too "wacky" at times, but the gals are great. Portraying an aging actress, Hawn is sometimes a little too flamboyant, but there is much fun to be had in her flashiness, especially when she pokes fun at Tinseltown and her persona. Instead of her usual brashness, Midler stretches herself and shows us a woman who is not just unhappy, but also deeply sorrowful. Not that she isn't quick with a wisecrack, but her expressive face alone tells the story of her marriage. As the repressed and guilt-ridden spouse of a self- involved ad executive, Keaton finds her anger, and her voice, when her psychiatrist (Marcia Gay Harden) oversteps ethical boundaries. Watching Keaton grow from an ineffectual homemaker into a powerful businessperson reminds us that it has been far too long since she has done a comedy. Director Hugh Wilson smartly chose supporting players who each brought something unique to the film. However, he does not maintain the first hour's effervescent humor throughout the film, as the ending is weakened by a softening of the wives' resolve. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Three Manhatttan first wives band together to take their due from the men who used them, abused them, then dumped them for a younger model.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 2-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVD

Dudley Do-Right

Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, The Mummy) brings his considerable charm to this awkward live-action version of the classic cartoon Dudley Do-Right. The first half of the movie lays out the basic elements of the cartoon (none-too-bright Canadian Mountie battles melodrama villain Snidely Whiplash with pluck and dumb luck) with little wit or imagination, but lots of pratfalls and broad gags. But about halfway into it, when Whiplash has taken over the town of Semi-Happy Falls and become its leading citizen, the movie takes a curious turn: Since Whiplash has become, to all appearances, a good guy, Dudley decides the only way to fight him is to turn into a bad guy. Next thing you know, Dudley is decked out in black leather and cruising around on a motorbike while Whiplash fumes impotently. Bullwinkle fans may decry this departure, but it gives the movie a much-needed burst of energy and the opportunity for some entertainingly surreal images--like Whiplash up to his neck in a mudbath with cucumber slices on his eyes, consulting with his henchmen about dealing with that unpredictable Do-Right. With Alfred Molina, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Monty Python's Eric Idle. --Bret Fetzer

Dudley Do-Right [Region 2]

Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, The Mummy) brings his considerable charm to this awkward live-action version of the classic cartoon Dudley Do-Right. The first half of the movie lays out the basic elements of the cartoon (none-too-bright Canadian Mountie battles melodrama villain Snidely Whiplash with pluck and dumb luck) with little wit or imagination, but lots of pratfalls and broad gags. But about halfway into it, when Whiplash has taken over the town of Semi-Happy Falls and become its leading citizen, the movie takes a curious turn: Since Whiplash has become, to all appearances, a good guy, Dudley decides the only way to fight him is to turn into a bad guy. Next thing you know, Dudley is decked out in black leather and cruising around on a motorbike while Whiplash fumes impotently. Bullwinkle fans may decry this departure, but it gives the movie a much-needed burst of energy and the opportunity for some entertainingly surreal images--like Whiplash up to his neck in a mudbath with cucumber slices on his eyes, consulting with his henchmen about dealing with that unpredictable Do-Right. With Alfred Molina, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Monty Python's Eric Idle. --Bret Fetzer

Dudley Do-Right [Region 2]

Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, The Mummy) brings his considerable charm to this awkward live-action version of the classic cartoon Dudley Do-Right. The first half of the movie lays out the basic elements of the cartoon (none-too-bright Canadian Mountie battles melodrama villain Snidely Whiplash with pluck and dumb luck) with little wit or imagination, but lots of pratfalls and broad gags. But about halfway into it, when Whiplash has taken over the town of Semi-Happy Falls and become its leading citizen, the movie takes a curious turn: Since Whiplash has become, to all appearances, a good guy, Dudley decides the only way to fight him is to turn into a bad guy. Next thing you know, Dudley is decked out in black leather and cruising around on a motorbike while Whiplash fumes impotently. Bullwinkle fans may decry this departure, but it gives the movie a much-needed burst of energy and the opportunity for some entertainingly surreal images--like Whiplash up to his neck in a mudbath with cucumber slices on his eyes, consulting with his henchmen about dealing with that unpredictable Do-Right. With Alfred Molina, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Monty Python's Eric Idle. --Bret Fetzer

Guarding Tess

Nicolas Cage stars in this drama-comedy about a Secret Service agent unable to get out of his assignment watching over an exasperating former first lady (Shirley MacLaine). The two get along like oil and water, but when MacLaine's bored widow ends up kidnapped, Cage's agent becomes a determined avenger. While the pairing of these two actors in a movie isn't something most audiences would ever have considered, that's what makes it so much fun. Cage and MacLaine are brilliantly focused in their respective parts, and filmmaker Hugh Wilson brings an unusually solid and urgent feeling to a story that might have become a dismissible light comedy in another director's hands. --Tom Keogh

Dudley Do-Right [Region 2]

Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, The Mummy) brings his considerable charm to this awkward live-action version of the classic cartoon Dudley Do-Right. The first half of the movie lays out the basic elements of the cartoon (none-too-bright Canadian Mountie battles melodrama villain Snidely Whiplash with pluck and dumb luck) with little wit or imagination, but lots of pratfalls and broad gags. But about halfway into it, when Whiplash has taken over the town of Semi-Happy Falls and become its leading citizen, the movie takes a curious turn: Since Whiplash has become, to all appearances, a good guy, Dudley decides the only way to fight him is to turn into a bad guy. Next thing you know, Dudley is decked out in black leather and cruising around on a motorbike while Whiplash fumes impotently. Bullwinkle fans may decry this departure, but it gives the movie a much-needed burst of energy and the opportunity for some entertainingly surreal images--like Whiplash up to his neck in a mudbath with cucumber slices on his eyes, consulting with his henchmen about dealing with that unpredictable Do-Right. With Alfred Molina, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Monty Python's Eric Idle. --Bret Fetzer

WKRP in Cincinnati - Season 2