Now on DVD: The Great American Dream Machine

Posted on November 18, 2015 at 8:00 am

Between the anarchic comedy of “Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-In” and sketch comedy powerhouse “Saturday Night Live” was the outrageously funny PBS series The Great American Dream Machine from 1971-73. It was hosted by humorist and commentator Marshall Efron and featured Chevy Chase, Albert Brooks, and Andy Rooney, and it featured sketches, short films, and political commentary.

This classic show is now available on DVD and I am delighted to have one to give away. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with American in the subject line and tell me your favorite PBS series. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only) I’ll pick a winner at random on November 30, 2015.

New on DVD: Tales from the Royal Wardrobe

Posted on July 25, 2015 at 10:54 pm

New from PBS: Tales From the Royal Wardrobe. Historian Dr. Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, explains that the fascination with the clothes worn by the royals is not a recent development. And the monarchs have used and encouraged this fascination as a carefully orchestrated piece of theater managed by the royals themselves to control the right image and project the right message to their subjects. Royal fashion is, and always has been, as much about politics as it is about the cut. This documentary explores the history and style of the royal wardrobe and how the clothes each of the royals chooses reflects and affects — for better or worse — not just their personalities but their relationship to their subjects. From the formal gowns and robes and jewels to the iconic wedding dresses and the clothes worn by the royal children, Dr. Worsley shows us how they shape history.

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Documentary New on DVD/Blu-Ray

Scooby-Doo! And KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery

Posted on July 13, 2015 at 8:00 am

It’s the mash-up that had to happen. In Scooby-Doo! & KISS:Rock & Roll Mystery, Daphne has an enormous crush on KISS member Starchild, so she tells her Mystery Inc. pals they’ve been summoned to solve a mystery at KISS World, a spectacular amusement park themed after the popular musical group.

The concert, which is taking place on Halloween night at KISS World, gets dangerously close to being cancelled for security reasons after park visitors are frightened away from the premises by the Crimson Witch.

The legendary rock band agrees to let Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma help them solve the mystery of the Crimson Witch. Together they embark on a rock and roll adventure that takes them to the alternate dimension of Kissteria.

Jam-packed with special guest stars, Scooby-Doo! And KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery features guest voice performances from Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Darius Rucker, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall, Jennifer Carpenter and Pauley Perrette. In addition, six KISS songs will be featured alongside an original new song performed by the band just for the film. Available on Digital July 10. On DVD and Blu-ray™ July 21

More for KISS fans: All I Need to Know I Learned from KISS: Life Lessons from the Hottest Band in the Land

More for Scooby-Doo fans: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

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Elementary School New on DVD/Blu-Ray

New on DVD: Poldark

Posted on July 7, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Winston Graham’s Poldark novels about a dashing Revolutionary war veteran inspired a very successful 1977 PBS series, now remade with “Hobbit” star Aiden Turner in the title role. It is available today on DVD.

Now on DVD: Garfield Holiday Collection

Posted on November 3, 2014 at 7:00 am

Garfield Holiday Collection, available on DVD exclusively at Walmart stores on November 4th and on iTunes and other digital platforms on November 11th, 2014, includes Emmy™ Award-winners “Garfield Halloween Adventure” and “Garfield on the Town,” as well as Emmy™ Award-nominated “A Garfield Christmas,” “A Garfield Thanksgiving” and “Garfield in Paradise.”

The strip about the lazy, smart-alecky, lasagna-loving cat first debuted in the United States on June 19, 1978 in just 41 newspapers. Today, the comic strip is now in over 2,100 newspapers worldwide and read by 200 million people. Guinness World Records named Garfield “The Most Widely Syndicated Comic Strip in the World.”

Now Garfield, Jon, and Odie can be seen on TV shows (Garfield And Friends, which CBS syndicated from 1987-2000, Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and comic books (over 200,000,000 books sold worldwide). Garfield currently has just under 17 million likes on Facebook ).

Garfield and his friends have been licensed by more than 400 manufacturers creating thousands of products worldwide.

“Of the three holiday specials, the Thanksgiving show is the most ‘Garfield,’ in that it involves food,” said Garfield creator Jim Davis. “Garfield gets put on a diet early in the show so he spends a lot time thinking about food, talking about food, and trying to get food. There’s also some funny stuff dealing with Jon’s bachelorhood and the general ‘haven’t a clue’ approach he takes to making this big meal to celebrate the day.“

GARFIELD HOLIDAY COLLECTION TV Specials includes:

“A Garfield Christmas”: Garfield, Jon, and Odie go to Jon’s grandmother’s house for Christmas, where Garfield finds a present for Grandma.

“A Garfield Thanksgiving”: Finds Jon with a love interest– a veterinarian who orders Garfield on a diet–and then comes for Thanksgiving dinner!

“Garfield Halloween Adventure”: Finds the portly hero and airhead-sidekick Odie the dog scrounging through owner Jon’s attic to find perfect costumes, then encountering ghosts and ghoulies that seem a tad authentic.

“Garfield on the Town”: Garfield escapes from the car on a trip to the vet and finds the place where he grew up.

“Garfield in Paradise”: The Garfield gang is in Hawaii with a 1957 Chevy.

GARFIELD HOLIDAY COLLECTION also includes the brand new featurette THE HOUSE THAT GARFIELD BUILT – A VISIT WITH JIM DAVIS. Visit the Paws, Inc. Campus and watch as Jim Davis draws Garfield and talks about the programs.

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