I am – Hercules!!
“Oh Lordy, they’ve stolen my daddy.”
Hill Street Blues
offered characters memorable characters enough for any four quality hourlongs: pugnacious street cop Andy Renko, pitbullish undercover specialist Mick Belker, middle-aged sexual dynamo Phil Esterhaus, overzealous SWAT commander Howard Hunter, bleeding-heart intellectual Henry Goldblume, gang leader Jesus Martinez, menchy assistant district attorney Irwin Bernstein, opportunistic police chief Fletcher Daniels, cross-dressing judge Alan Wachtel (the first of many roles that would see Jeffrey Tambor don women’s clothing), and the show’s dark center, recovering alcoholic and station chief Francis Furillo.
Its second season saw Frank and public defender Joyce Davenport’s relationship on the skids, Jesus turn from gang leader to social reformer, a public defender murdered, Bobby Hill protect an overzealous friend on the force and become an official of the Black Officers Coalition, the station prepare for a strike and a gang war, the cops create a bogus saloon, and Furillo tender his resignation. Danny Glover got a great multi-episode arc as a murderous gang leader trying to find the undercover cop who infiltrated his gang.
The fourth and final season of the hilariously improvised “Home Movies” kicks off with a episode likely inspired by this very website as Brendon begins writing movie reviews for moviewienerorwinner.com. We also see a lot of Coach McGuirk, played by the same guy – Jon Benjamin – who played Ben on “Dr. Katz.” McGuirk is menaced by “man-huggers,” becomes obsessed with a “pec flexor,” tries to return a collection of swords he bought online, sets up a grill, goes to traffic school, is blinded by eye surgery, pursues a bartending career and tries to woo a diner waitress. Brendon, for his part, makes a movie about a profanity-spewing robot, conducts a focus group, gets beat up by Melissa, cheats on a test and oversees the school play.
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Vol. 9 brings Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson and their robots ridiculing four more movies:
* “Women of Prehistoric Planet” (1966) is a relic, only the fourth episode made for HBO’s short-lived Comedy Channel. It featured a lower-budget SOL, cast Josh Weinstein (who went on to write two episodes of “Freaks and Geeks”) as the voice of Tom Servo and spawned the catch-phrase “Hi-keeba!” Joel brings a doomsday devise aboard the Satellite of Love.
* “Wild Rebels” (1967), from season two, features Joel singing about Wild Rebels Cereal. This was the first episode to feature the smarter Gypsy, thanks to a shutdown of the SOL’s higher functions.
* “The Sinister Urge” (1961), from season six (and the Comedy Central years), mocks an Ed Wood epic about a murderous pornographer. When a smut-addled Frank threatens to blow up Deep 13, Mike foils him with the aid of potato cakes.
* “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies” (1964), from season eight (and the SciFi Channel years), is about a fortune teller who uses an exotic dancer to somehow turn innocent men into her murderous slaves. Crow hires Ortega to cater one break while Mike asks Shelli the Nanite to help duplicate the “big-hair” look, and the bots create the worst roller coaster ever.
Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry
The first six (some would say the best six) seasons of “The Simpsons” are, at least as I type this, a whopping 50-percent off:
$19.97 The Complete First Season
$24.97 The Complete Second Season
$24.97 The Complete Third Season
$24.97 The Complete Fourth Season
$24.97 The Complete Fifth Season
$24.97 The Complete Sixth Season
Fox Home Entertainment also continues, at the moment, to hack 50 percent off a huge hunk of its season-set inventory. Behold just some of the cheap:
Alien Nation
$24.97 The Complete Series
Arrested Development
$19.97 The Complete First Season
$19.97 The Complete Second Season
The Bob Newhart Show
$14.97 The Complete First Season
$14.97 The Complete Second Season
Dark Angel
$19.97 The Complete First Season
$19.97 The Complete Second Season
Greg The Bunny
$13.47 The Complete Series
Hill Street Blues
$19.97 The Complete First Season
Harsh Realm
$19.97 The Complete Series
The Lone Gunmen
$19.97 The Complete Series
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
$14.97 The Complete First Season
$14.97 The Complete Second Season
Millennium
$29.97 The Complete First Season
$29.97 The Complete Second Season
$29.97 The Complete Third Season
Murder One
$29.97 The Complete First Season
$29.97 The Complete Second Season
Planet of the Apes
$24.97 The Complete Series
Roswell
$24.97 The Complete First Season
$24.97 The Complete Second Season
$24.97 The Complete Third Season
Time Tunnel
$19.97 Volume One
Tru Calling
$13.47 The Complete Second Season
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
$19.97 Volume One
The White Shadow
$19.97 The Complete First Season
Wonderfalls
$19.97 The Complete Series
Find a bunch of Fox’s 50-percent off seasons sets here.
TV-on-DVD Calendar
Last Week
The Andy Griffith Show 6.x
Andy Griffith Show: Six-Season Set
Baby Felix Box Set
The Best of Boris & Natasha Vol. 1
Dr.Katz: Professional Therapist 1.x
Everybody Loves Raymond 6.x
The Facts of Life 1.x/2.x
The Golden Girls 5.x
Life Goes On 1.x
Masters of Horror: Chocolate
Masters of Horror: Incident On and Off A Mountain Road
Northern Exposure 1.x/2.x ($41.99 edition)
Rescue Me 2.x
Rocky and Bullwinkle: Best Of - Vol. 1
Scrubs 3.x
The Search For Adam & Eve 1.x
That '70s Show 4.x
Sgt. Bilko: 50th Anniversary Edition
The West Wing 6.x
This Week
Beach Girls: The Complete Miniseries
The Best of the Beat Club Vol. 1
The Best of the Beat Club Vol. 2
The Big Valley 1.x
Brilliant But Cancelled: Crime Dramas
Brilliant But Cancelled: EZ Streets
Grounded For Life 2.x
Here Come The Brides 1.x
Hill Street Blues 2.x
Home Movies 4.x
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Vol. 9
Monarch of the Glen 4.x
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon 1.x
Supernanny 1.x
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.x Vol. 7
That Girl 1.x
May 23
Animated All-Stars Vol. 1
Boston Legal 1.x
Bugaloos: The Complete Series
The Closer 1.x
Deadwood 2.x
The Dog Whisperer 1.x
Fairly Oddparents: Fairy Idol
Fairly Oddparents: Jimmy/Timmy Power
The 4400 2.x
Jim Henson's the Storyteller: The Definitive Collection
Little Britain 2.x
M*A*S*H 10.x
Redwall 2.x
Samurai Jack 3.x
Samurai Jack 1/2/3.x
SNL: The Best of Cheri Oteri
SNL: The Best of Commercial Parodies
Will & Grace: The Series Finale
Wings 1.x/2.x
X-Men Evolution 3.x
May 30
ALF 3.x
ALF Animated Adventures
ALFTales: ALF and the Beanstalk
American Musclecar 2.x
Avatar Vol. 3
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 6.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7.x ($27.99 Slimcase Edition)
Dark Shadows Vol. 24
The Doris Day Show 3.x
The Dukes of Hazzard 6.x
Fat Albert Vol. 3
Joey 1.x
Kids in the Hall 4.x
Night Stalker: The Complete Series
Numb3rs 1.x
Queer As Folk 5.x
Rollergirls 1.x
The Tomorrow People: Set 3
The Venture Bros. 1.x
Will & Grace: The Series Finale
