Cannon: Season One, Vol. 1
by Alf Kjellin
from Paramount
The weekly adventures of Frank Cannon an overweight balding ex-cop with a deep voice and expensive tastes in culinary pleasures who becomes a high-priced private investigator. Since Cannon's girth didn't allow for many fist-fights and gun battles (although there were many) the series substituted car chases and high production values in their place.System Requirements:Running Time: 615 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368924246 Manufacturer No: 892424
The Fall Guy: The Complete Season 1
by Michael O'Herlihy
from 20th Century Fox
The hero of The Fall Guy, Colt Seavers--played by Lee Majors, the former Six Million Dollar Man--is a Hollywood stunt man, which lets the show do all kinds of spectacular car crashes with no justification whatsoever, and he's a bounty hunter, which lets him get into all kinds of fist fights and ridiculous plots with no justification whatsoever. It's the perfect 1980s TV show, and it's no surprise it was created by Glen Larson, the mastermind behind such hits as Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica, and Magnum, P.I. Assisted by his handsome but not-too-bright cousin Howie Munson (Douglas Barr) and sexy stuntwoman Jody Banks (blonde bombshell Heather Thomas), Colt grapples with a corrupt sheriff, a mob hit man, a government secret agent, a neo-Nazi biker gang (which, naturally, Colt had to infiltrate through cunning disguise), women wrestlers, and more, more, more. Preposterous? Absolutely! It's all an excuse to set things on fire and parade scantily clad young women around (Thomas had a popular bikini scene that led to a top-selling poster), while the Hollywood setting allowed for cameo appearances by stars ranging from James Coburn (In Like Flint) to Lou Ferrigno (appearing as himself playing the Incredible Hulk--it's downright postmodern) to Farrah Fawcett (Charlie's Angels), Majors' just-divorced ex-wife.
But what kept The Fall Guy running for five seasons wasn't silly plots or leaping cars. Lee Majors is one of those relaxed, genial actors who were made for television. Manly but gentle, handsome but down-to-earth, Majors appealed to men and women equally, could toss off a snappy one-liner without effort, and gave the impression that, no matter what happened, it would come out all right in the end. He even sang his own theme song. The Fall Guy: The Complete First Season is pure comfort television. (Season 1 is the only season with Jo Ann Pflug as Colt's boss, "Big Jack"; her adult sexiness and worldly wit were much-missed on later seasons.) The only extras are a couple of brief but entertaining featurettes, featuring interviews with Majors, Thomas, and Larson. --Bret Fetzer
Lee Majors stars as the Fall Guy Colt Seavers a stunt man moonlighting as a bounty hunter who uses Hollywood stunt tactics to capture criminals.System Requirements:Running Time: 1068 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543426431 Manufacturer No: 2242644
Maverick (Television Favorites)
by Michael O'Herlihy
from Warner Home Video
Maverick tells the story of Brett and Bart Maverick. These "fancy pants" gamblers roam from town to town during the era of the great old west looking for a good game; inevitably making enemies when they won and extricating themselves from rough situations when they lost.Running Time: 149 min.System Requirements:Running Time 149 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 012569700420
Backstairs at the White House
by Michael O'Herlihy
from Acorn Media
From the golden age of television miniseries comes this prestigious 1979 production based on Lillian Rogers Parks's memoir, My Thirty Years at the White House, a real-life American Upstairs/Downstairs that chronicles her family's tenure on the White House servant staff through eight presidential administrations. Emmy nominee Oliva Cole stars as Maggie, a proud matriarch with "indomitable spirit and unfailing spunk," and who is determined that her children "are not going to have street ways." She becomes the first colored maid on the presidential family floor, beginning with the William Howard Taft administration. Her polio-stricken daughter, Lillian (portrayed as an adult by Leslie Uggams) eventually joins her during Herbert Hoover's administration and likewise rises through the ranks to to become a trusted confidante of the First Families.
Backstairs at the White House works on several levels. It is the inspiring personal story of two extraordinary women who had a unique and privileged perspective of the people and events that shaped the first half of the 20th century. It also presents vivid snapshots of the presidents and their families in all their quirks (Mrs. Taft felt that bearded servants brought bad luck), failings, and greatness, as well as such now-obscure personages as New York critic Alexander Woolcott. The stellar cast is comprised of stage and screen veterans and TV favorites. Robert Vaughn (as Woodrow Wilson), Celeste Holm (as Florence Harding), and Ed Flanders (as Calvin Coolidge) were nominated for Emmys, as was Roots costar Louis Gossett Jr. as houseman Levi Mercer. Also notable are a pre-Airplane Leslie Nielsen as chief White House usher Ike Hoover, Cloris Leachman as the chilly supervising housekeeper Mrs. Jaffray, Victor Buono and Julie Harris as reluctant president William Howard Taft and his more formidable wife "Nellie," Eileen Heckart as energetic Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harry Morgan, giving 'em hell as Harry Truman. Backstairs at the White can be melodramatic ("You're not married to me, you're married to the White House," Lillian's estranged husband tells her at one point), but it never descends to soap opera. The Emmy-winning makeup is convincing, and the Emmy-nominated screenplay does an admirable job of compressing more than 50 years of history. "What is heard within the walls of the White House is to be forgotten," Maggie is instructed early in her employ. Luckily, daughter Lillian ignored this directive to create a compelling document that puts a human face on the occupants of the real West Wing. --Donald Liebenson
The classic miniseries about two remarkable women and the eight First Families they served
Their unrivaled behind-the-scenes access gives White House staff a uniquely personal view of history in the making. Two remarkable women in one family served as White House maids over a period spanning five decades and eight administrationsfrom Taft to Eisenhower. Their story and a half-century of American history unfold in this star-studded drama, nominated for 11 Emmy® Awards.
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
by Michael O'Herlihy
from Walt Disney Video
"All I know is, the Democrats elected a president, and the Republicans cheated 'em out of it!" No, this is not a Michael Moore documentary, but a 1968 Disney musical. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is probably the best musical comedy set against the 1888 presidential campaign between Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. The family band, a bit like American prairie Von Trapps, settles in the Dakota territory. Problem is, Grandpappy Walter Brennan is a diehard Democrat, and Dakota is rife with Republicans, including the suitor (John Davidson at his dimpledest) to his granddaughter (Lesley Ann Warren). The score by the Sherman brothers is not their best, and the "family fare" approach almost killed Disney films during this era. Nice to see old hoofer Buddy Ebsen get to dance a bit, and trivia buffs should note that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are first linked here--he's one of the kids, she's a featured dancer. --Robert Horton
There's magic in the memories as great Disney moments are captured right here for you and your family to enjoy in THE ONE AND ONLY, GENUINE, ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND -- a large slice of Americana set to music and dance. This is the captivating saga of a musical family that homesteads in the Dakota Territory of the 1880s and becomes embroiled in the presidential battle between Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison. A robust, song-filled movie for those who enjoy a good love story, admire a family that sticks together through thick and thin, or respond to rousing, Broadway-style music ... composed by the Academy Award(R) winning Sherman Brothers (1964 Best Score, Best Original Song, MARY POPPINS).
The Fall Guy: The Complete Season 1, Vol. 1
by Michael O'Herlihy
from 20th Century Fox
Lee Majors stars as the Fall Guy Colt Seavers a stunt man moonlighting as a bounty hunter who uses Hollywood stunt tactics to capture criminals.System Requirements:Running Time: 528 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543426370 Manufacturer No: 2242638
The Fall Guy: The Complete Season 1, Vol. 2
by Michael O'Herlihy
from 20th Century Fox
Lee Majors stars as the Fall Guy Colt Seavers a stunt man moonlighting as a bounty hunter who uses Hollywood stunt tactics to capture criminals.System Requirements:Running Time: 528 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543426400 Manufacturer No: 2242641
Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion
by Michael O'Herlihy
from Good Times Video
Peter Lundy And The Medicine Hat Stallion Living with his family in the wild west fifteen-year old Peter Lundy is kind-hearted and curious. After discovering that a shady trader has stolen horses from an Indian tribe Peter returns the horses to the tribe's chief. In gratitude the chief gives Peter a pony as a reward. But when his father sells his horse Peter embarks on a quest determined to find it and along the way joins the Pony Express and becomes the fastest courier that ever rode the plains. Based on the best-selling book PETER LUNDY AND THE MEDICINE HAT STALLION is an award-winning film filled with fun and adventure that will delight the entire family. Running Time: Approx. 97 Minutes Color/NTSC/StereoSystem Requirements:Running Time 97 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 018713516435 Manufacturer No: 05-51643
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