TV NEWS ON MARCH 31

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Happy Saturday and welcome to Digital Digest! We've got all of your regular features here this week, of course (though not a whole lot of news, it has been slow this week), and we've also got a review of Shout! Factory's upcoming release of Adam-12 - The Final Season! Let's get rolling!


DIGITAL NEWS

News on the DVD front has been excruciatingly slow this week, but there was one announcement from Lionsgate regarding a new release of the series House of Payne. House of Payne - Volume Nine, which has been "on again, off again" on the schedule, is now "on again" with a scheduled release date set for June 19. Will this change again? We don't know, but hopefully, for the sake of fans, this day will be the actual release date.

Sony is continuing their manufacture-on-demand DVDs (of course, don't forget about Tuesday's releases of Benson - The Complete Second Season and Brothers - The Complete Series) with the series 10 Items or Less. On May 1, they will be releasing 10 Items or Less - The Complete Second Season, but only as a manufacture-on-demand product. It isn't available to pre-order just yet, but you can read more about the release here.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (April 2) has several DVD releases to offer. Shout! Factory continues their releases of Designing Women with their release of Designing Women - The Complete Sixth Season. You can read our review of this set here. CBS Home Entertainment brings an older (and somewhat forgotten) sitcom to DVD for the first time with their release of Bob - The Complete Series. You can read our review here. If you are looking for new releases of Carsey-Werner series from Mill Creek, they have (literally) tons of them, with 3rd Rock from the Sun - The Complete Season Three, 3rd Rock from the Sun - The Complete Season Four, Roseanne - The Complete Third Season, Roseanne - The Complete Fourth Season, That '70s Show - Season Three, and That '70s Show - Season Four. We have not received these yet for review, but while we are mentioning these, we should mention that we have received a review copy of That '70s Show - Season One (Blu-ray), which was released a little over a week ago, and we will have a review of that set soon (as well as these new releases for Tuesday). If you're in the mood for manufacture-on-demand products, Sony brings some new sitcoms to DVD through those means on Tuesday with their release of Benson - The Complete Second Season and Brothers - The Complete Series. There certainly is something for everybody on Tuesday!

BLOG FEATURE REVIEW


Blog DVD Review: Adam-12 - The Final Season (Shout! Factory, $34.93)
by skees53

It's time to ride along with Officer Reed (Kent McCord) and Malloy (Martin Milner) one last time with Shout! Factory's release of the seventh season of the iconic police drama Adam-12, with Adam-12 - The Final Season. The final 24 episodes of the classic series, from the 1974 to 1975 season. A lot has changed for these officers since the first season, but they're still out there helping the citizens of Los Angeles, and also helping to prevent crime.

The season begins with the two-part episode "Camp," where a boy seeks independence from his mother (and in turn finds himself in trouble with the law). In "Team Work," Malloy and Reed get suspicious after seeing the same witness and tow truck driver at two different accident scenes. A gang is robbing pizza delivery boys in "Roll Call." In "Suspect Number One," Malloy gets a request from an ex-con who just wants to go back to prison. A holdup goes wrong, leaving two robbers on the roof of a shopping center, in "Point of View."

In "Lady Beware," Malloy and Reed are on the search for a rapist of teen girls. Reed and Malloy are on the hunt for a missing young girl in "Excessive Force." In "Alcohol," the latest arrest by Reed and Malloy is a happy drunk who seems to be entertaining. Reed has trouble getting a credit card in "Credit Risk." It is a happy holiday for everybody, except for Reed and Malloy, in "Christmas." Malloy encounters a young man using the machines at a laundromat to dry marijuana in "Pot Shot."

Reed and Malloy are following the path of a car theft ring in "Grand Theft Auto." In "Victim of the Crime," Reed gets blamed when a thief escapes from a shop. A new recruit has a stuttering problem in "Pressure Point," and it could have more serious problems than expected when he tries to hide it. Reed and Malloy take their significant others on a double date in "Ladies' Night." In "Citizen With a Gun," a homeowner decides to take advantage of his right to own a gun to protect himself, but owning that gun may have consequences when he comes close to accidentally shooting a police officer. Reed and Malloy are after a horse thief in "Follow Up."

Reed and Malloy have to find a man who may be planning to kill himself in "Suicide." In "Operation Action," Malloy is missing, and Reed is going to do whatever it takes to find out where he is. A new recruit is taking serious risks to apprehend suspects in "Gus Corbin." In "Dana Hall," a female officer is out to prove that she can do anything that a man can do on the job. The series ends with the two-part final episode (one of the few police dramas of the era to actually have a proper final episode), "Something Worth Dying For," where Reed and Malloy may be going their separate ways after some changes.

It appears that the episodes on the set are unedited. Runtimes are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "Camp (Part 1)" (24:56)
2. "Camp (Part 2)" (24:55)
3. "Team Work" (24:31)
4. "Roll Call" (24:30)
5. "Suspect Number One" (24:30)
6. "Point of View" (24:31)

Disc 2:
7. "Lady Beware" (25:11)
8. "Excessive Force" (24:27)
9. "Alcohol" (24:55)
10. "Credit Risk" (24:54)
11. "Christmas" (25:10)
12. "Pot Shot" (24:29)

Disc 3:
13. "Grand Theft Auto" (25:11)
14. "Victim of the Crime" (25:08)
15. "Ladies' Night" (25:30)
16. "Pressure Point" (24:31)
17. "Citizen with a Gun" (25:09)
18. "Follow Up" (24:31)

Disc 4:
19. "Suicide" (24:55)
20. "Operation Action" (25:26)
21. "Gus Corbin" (25:23)
22. "Dana Hall" (25:25)
23. "Something Worth Dying For (Part 1)" (25:29)
24. "Something Worth Dying For (Part 2)" (25:29)

The DVD set is packaged just like the sixth season, with the DVDs in a standard Viva case. To recap all of it, season one was released in a huge box with two standard Amaray cases (only two discs, but both were double-sided), seasons 2-5 were released in slimcases, and the final two seasons (6 and 7) have been released in Viva cases. The cover has a photo of Reed and Malloy, in front of what (I think) is LAPD headquarters, though I don't know that is what it is for certain. On the back, there is a brief description of the season, two photos from the series, and for some reason, quite a bit of blank space... but it isn't a huge deal. Inside the case, there are four discs, each containing six episodes. The disc artwork contains a different black and white photo on each disc. Complete episode descriptions and original airdates are printed inside the case. However, there are some issues with the episode guide inside the case, as it is plagued with titles which I believe are wrong, improperly abbreviated, misspelled, and some of the episodes are even listed in the wrong order. The episodes as listed on the menu appear to be the most "correct," but certainly, the episode guide inside the case will give you an idea of what is on each disc.

Not one thing has changed about the menus since the previous season. The main menu is designed like a police radio, with buttons for Play All and Episodes. The theme song plays in the background on the main menu. Upon selecting Episodes, you get another menu which lists the episodes. Each episode plays immediately upon selecting it. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

The video and audio quality of the set is, generally speaking, excellent. You'll find a bit of grain and debris here and there, but even that is significantly lessened from the previous releases. I don't think anybody will be the slightest bit disappointed with the video quality. The audio is great too, and generally loud and clear. Unfortunately, the episodes are not closed-captioned.

The set contains no special features at all. It would have been nice to have included some sort of interview retrospective or something along those lines since, after all, this is the final season of the series.

We don't get to say this too much lately, because most series have either been completed long ago or were just abandoned early on, but we have finally seen this series completed on DVD! It took a long time, and there were plenty of bumps along the road (particularly with Universal giving up on the series after just one season), but sure enough, we have all of the episodes on DVD now, and the releases really haven't had any major issues of concern, although it would be nice to see a re-release of the first season (which Universal did a terrible job with, primarily by using double-sided discs which had a very high failure rate). I think that these season sets really do close the book on this series, because a complete series set probably couldn't be much of an improvement on what is here, and this series is not really appropriate to release on Blu-ray. So, if you are a fan of this series, or just a fan of police dramas in general, you should pick up these DVDs, all seven seasons. It doesn't matter which season you start with. Basically, they are all equally enjoyable.

(4/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Adam-12 on TV.com


CLICK OF THE WEEK

The Official Kent McCord Home Page - Lately, our Click of the Week has often been closely related to upcoming DVD releases or DVDs which we have recently reviewed, and we are doing this yet again today, sort of. But instead of just choosing a website about Adam-12 (there is at least decent one out there which we will likely feature at a later date), we instead chose to feature the official website of Kent McCord, one of the stars of the classic series.

The website is much like many other celebrity websites out there, although naturally, it includes more of a full account of McCord's early life all the way up through the present day, giving a full picture of his life. But my favorite part of the website is the wealth of first-hand artifacts which he provides from his career. There are plenty of photos and memorabilia featured from Adam-12, of course, but you'll also find a page about his time on the series Galactica 1980. There are also many photo memories available on the site from his appearances on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He even has a full page, complete with photos and an article, dedicated to a rare 1989 TNN made-for-TV movie Nashville Beat, which was special because in the movie, he played a cop partnered with another cop played by Martin Milner (I've never seen the movie, but I'm still confident that he always belonged in Los Angeles anyway). There is also a series of interesting correspondence which he has had with those he has worked with over the years. All of this isn't to say that this is a one-stop shop for everything that you need to know about Kent McCord or Adam-12, but you will certainly find a lot of interesting and unique artifacts on this website, all of which make it worthy of being Click of the Week.