Which TV series' do you own on DVD?

....i'm sold

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Man, I have to seriously update my list now. This is what I own (including some great mini-series)...

"Lonesome Dove"
"Have Gun – Will Travel" seasons one through three
"Wanted: Dead or Alive" season one
"Deadwood" season one
"The Rifleman" volumes 1-4
"Pennies from Heaven" (BBC)
"The Singing Detective" (BBC)
"Angels in America"
"Tanner '88"
"Traffik" (BBC)
"The Sopranos" seasons one through five
"Homicide: Life on the Street' all eight seasons
"Hill Street Blues" season one
"Law & Order" seasons two, three and four
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" the first season
"Twin Peaks" pilot and entire first season
"Peter Gunn" set 1 & 2
"Crime Story' season one
"Gun" the entire series
"Monk" seasons one and two
"The Master" two episodes
"Anne of Green Gables" (PBS)
"Home Movies" season one
"The Family Dog" complete series (on LaserDisc)
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" volume one
"Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" season one
"Space Ghost, Coast to Coast" seasons one & two
"Futurama" seasons one through three
"Heat Vision & Jack" unaired pilot
"Mystery Science Theater 3,000": Beginning of the End
"Mystery Science Theater 3,000": The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
"Mystery Science Theater 3,000": Mitchell
"The Twilight Zone" original series, vols. 10-18
"The Twilight Zone" '80s series season one
"Firefly" complete series
"The Tick' complete live-action series
"Ripping Yarns" & "More Ripping Yarns"
"Fishing with John"
"Dinner for Five" season one
"The Awful Truth" seasons one & two
"Bullshit" seasons one & two
"Primetime Glick" the best of
"Insomniac" uncensored best of vols. 1 & 2
"The Andy Kaufman Show" special
"Monty Python’s Flying Circus" vol. 5-7
"Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In" collection eleven volumes
Sid Caesar Collection volumes 1-3
"SCTV" Network 90 volumes 1 & 2
"The Kids in the Hall" seasons one through four
"Mr. Show with Bob & David" all four seasons
"Tenacious D" collection
"The Ben Stiller Show" complete series
"The Upright Citizens Brigade" first season
"The Simpsons" seasons one through seven
"Fawlty Towers" complete series
"The Office" (UK) series one & two plus the special
"Spaced" series one and two
"Get A Life" volumes 1 & 2
"Arrested Development" seasons one and two
"The Larry Sanders Show" first season
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" seasons one through four
"Seinfeld" seasons one through six
"Taxi" seasons one through three
"The Bob Newhart Show" seasons one and two
"Barney Miller" first season
"Scrubs" seasons one and two
"Dream On" seasons 1 & 2
"NewsRadio" seasons one through three
"Sports Night" the complete series
"Cheers" seasons one through four
"SOAP" season one
"Roseanne" seasons one and two
"LateLine" the complete series
"Buffalo Bill" seasons one and two
"The Job" complete series
"Police Squad! complete series (on LaserDisc)
"Sledgehammer" season one
"Moonlighting" seasons one through three
"The Rockford Files" season one
"M*A*S*H" season one
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" season one
"Just Shoot Me" seasons one and two
"Freaks & Geeks" the complete series
"Malcolm in the Middle" season one
"Northern Exposure" first & second seasons
"The Greatest American Hero" season one

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

"MOONLIGHTING" complete first and second seasons

Aaaaah, it feels so good to catch up with David and Maddie. Blue Moon Detective Agency is open for business again. The show that made Bruce Willis a star, ultimately leading to Die Hard and super stardom, it also resurrected Cybill Shepherd's career and showed that offbeat, smart, silly, romantic fare could not only survive in the mainstream but actually thrive.

For those too young to have been raised on it (and it pains me to think this is true, but it is), "Moonlighting" is a series about aging ex-supermodel Madeline Hayes (Shepherd) who has to scramble to make ends meet after her unscrupulous accountant runs off with all her millions. But he did leave the various businesses she owned behind, still in her name, but these were operations set-up to intentionally lose money every year as tax write-offs. In desperation to get whatever cash she can from these turkeys she shuts them down one-by-one...until she gets to City of Angels Investigations, a detective agency she's owned and never set foot in. When she gets there she finds an unmotivated bunch of slackers collecting paychecks, led by their jovial boss David Addison (Willis) who is a king at doing absolutely nothing in style. He begs her to keep them open, claiming that he is a first-rate detective and they only lost money every year because that is what their instructions were. He assures her that if she keeps the business going it'll start lining her pockets again in no time - the always-looking-for-an-angle Addison intending to use Maddie's faded celebrity to net clients. He changes the name to the Blue Moon Detective Agency, after an ad campaign she was famous for years ago, and starts to unwittingly drag her into any kind of client's problems he can drum up.

And such is the set-up for a series. Maddie is conservative, used to a fancy lifestyle, and never worked an honest day in her life. Addison is a fast-talking conman who cares more about having fun than working and has never actually solved a case in his career as a professional snoop. Their personalities and sometimes mutual attraction (though mostly just David lusting after her) is set against mystery plots where they try and find a cheating spouse or stolen painting or what have you.



If that sounds dry it's because I haven't tried to hit on the tone of the show yet. The bickering battle-of-the-sexes flirtatious banter between Addison and Hayes is done in the rat-a-tat-tat, rapid-fire, overlapping style of Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday. And as we all know by now, Bruce Willis is a natural whiz when it comes to comic timing and delivery. His David Addison is a wise-ass, doo-wop singing doofus who isn't nearly as cool as he hopes and can't really throw a punch the way a Sam Spade type should. He's rumpled and unshaven and doesn't give a damn. He's a great character, and watching even the pilot episode it's easy to see why he became an over-night star. Cybill is playing a fractured version of herself, as she started as a teenage model before landing the role in Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show and, for a while anyway, becoming a bit of a '70s movie star - until bad choices in material sunk her, and by the early '80s she was a has-been. All of that is funneled into Maddie Hayes, and no matter what one may think of Shepherd personally or her overall body of work she is perfect as the uptight and often angry Maddie. She's angry at her situation, angry at the world, and mostly just angry at David. But David starts to ware her down, and she becomes less rigid, more fun, and actually likes working for a living (the odd time they manage to actually solve a paying case that is).

The show also has fun beyond the bickering and their personalities, by sometimes breaking the so-called "fourth wall" (addressing the camera and the audience directly) and making fun of television private eye conventions and always taking shots at itself. The writing was almost always clever and offbeat and just plain fun. Like "The Rockford Files" or any other great genre show the mystery plots are often hit-and-miss when it comes to plausibility or originality, but since the characters and tone of the show are so strong and so singular it gets to the point where 'who done it?' hardly even matters.

The first season was only the 90-minute pilot and five hour-long episodes, as "Moonlighting" debuted as a mid-season replacement. While it got pretty glowing reviews from critics and a pretty decent push by ABC's marketing, the show was not an immediate hit. But the network reran all the episodes a few times throughout the summer and the audience discovered it. The eighteen-episode second season was a sensation, and "Moonlighting" became a big hit and a pop culture touchstone. With all twenty-four of those shows now available on R1 DVD it's easy to see why.

The special features in the DVD set include about forty-five minutes worth of present-day interviews with cast and crew (yes, Willis and Shepherd both…though not together – they’re infamous feuding on set as the series progressed was well-known, and still not completely resolved today). There are audio commentary tracks, but only for three of the episodes (one featuring Willis and creator Glenn Gordon Caron, another featuring Cybill and Caron) which are OK, with some good anecdotes and general information. There is also some of the advertising used to promote the show, so you can see how the network handled the series.


Rating each episode...



PILOT
Very good pilot, establishing both Shepherd and Willis' characters extremely well. David pulls Maddie into a murder mystery after an assassinated man gives her a watch with his dying breath. The watch is really a map to stolen Nazi treasure, and there are quite a few thugs out to get it after all these years. The chemistry bewteen the leads is terrific, and some classic moments are here in the pilot (Maddie's calling David a "sissy fighter" and showing him how to properly throw a punch is fantastic). The mystery aspect drags a bit, but overall a terrific pilot.
GRADE: B+

"GUNFIGHT AT THE SO-SO CORRAL"
Blue Moon is unwittingly hired to help one hit man find his rival (a young Tim Robbins has a small role in the show's opening scene). The chemistry is still good, but the show is definitely being refined and finding its way. This one gets a bit too consumed with the plot mechenations in the finale, but this was the first episode.
GRADE: B-

"READ THE MIND, SEE THE MURDER"
Another pretty weak episode in the plot department, with a silly bit about a psychic and a laser gun, but the relationship continues to develop and Willis is becoming more and more comfortable in front of the camera (this was his first big gig remember, having been making his living mostly as a bartender in the years leading up to "Moonlighting" in 1985). But the plot is really pretty stupid, and unfortunately no yet played with enough self-deprecating wit.
GRADE: C

"THE NEXT MURDER YOU HEAR"
A step back in the right direction with a Laura-like plot where Maddie falls for a late-night talk radio host apparently killed on the air. We get to see some of the more dramatic ranges of Shepherd here, and Willis too starts to show his fuller abilities as he is jealous of Maddie's infatuation with a dead man.
GRADE: B-

"NEXT STOP MURDER"
Kind of a departure episode featuring the main supporting player of the show, Allyce Beasley's manic and sensitive goofball receptionist Ms. Agnes DiPesto. DiPesto has won a contest to ride a train with a whodunnit game of make-believe murder hosted by a famous author. David and Maddie wind up stuck on board, which turns out helpful when the novelist is actually murdered. A Murder on the Orient Express type of plot follows. The stand-out in the episode is character actor Vincent Schiavelli, probably best known as the bitter spirit in the subway who teaches Swayze how to make contact with the living in Ghost. He was also Besley's real-life husband at the time. An OK outing, but they still hadn't quite yet mastered the formula. However...
GRADE: C+

"THE MURDER'S IN THE MAIL"
The last episode of the first abbreviated season is where they all hit their creative stride. And big time. The dialogue is great, and the plot about a murdered double agent and his possible target ending in a cross between The Man Who Knew Too Much and A Night at the Opera is a blast. This is what the show would be at its best, a perfectly balanced mix of romantic comedy, silly tangents and non sequiters and a genre plot that is aware it's a silly genre plot. The exchange between David and a security guard may be the most fun of the entire series! It's the great "What kind of mole do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose" Dr. Suess meets Groucho Marx brilliance.
GRADE: A


"BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A BLONDE?"
Another great episode, introducing David's grifter of an older brother Richard Addison (Charles Rocket). Ritchie has come to town flashing a load of cash he came into back in Philadelphia - but it's only because a dangerous drug dealer (Ed O'Ross) stowed the briefcase in his car while running from the cops. The great chemistry is cubed with Rocket, and the banter between the three characters is great stuff ("I'm gonna make you eat dirt! I'm gonna make you eat worms!...Maddie, go outside - get me some dirt, get me some worms!"). Of course the dangerous man tracks the money to L.A., and the two detectives and hapless brother must try and weasel their way out of it...even though Ritchie has already spent the bulk of it on expensive gifts trying to impress David and Maddie.
GRADE: A

"THE LADY IN THE IRON MASK"
David and Maddie are hired by a woman in a veil who wants them to locate the man who scarred her face in a jealous rage. Breaking Away's Dennis Christopher guest stars, and the episode has a great slapstick ending involving four characters dressed as the woman in the black veil.
GRADE: B+

"MONEY TALKS - MADDIE WALKS"
After learning the whereabouts of the accountant who ran off with her millions (along with all of his other high-priced clients), Maddie runs off to South America to confront him. David follows, hoping to protect her feelings and stop her from making even bigger mistakes. When David shows up in his white tux doing the Bogart thing you can see Maddie really and truly start to fall for the lug. A departure episode in that it is all about character and no semblance of a mystery to solve, but it works, and the bickering chemistry turning to romance works very well.
GRADE: B+



"THE DREAM SEQUENCE ALWAYS RINGS TWICE"
Their first great creative episode features Maddie and David both imagining the specifics of an unsolved 1940s murder of a band leader, the two chief suspects being the torch singer and man's wife and the brash new coronet player. Orson Welles introduces the episode, a very funny bit warning viewers not to worry that their sets were malfunctioning as much of the episode would be shown in black and white (Welles died days after filming the piece). And indeed, both visions of the crime are filmed in glorious black&white - and not regular stock with the color drained out, but actual black&white stock. Just like the old days. Both scenarios have Shepherd cast as the singer and Willis as the coronet player. Maddie's version has the innocent but unhappy woman seduced by a greedy and murderous lech - kind of a Joan Crawford melodrama, while David's imagines an honest down-on-his-lucker falling for a dangerous femme fatal who uses him for a nefarious plot - a James M. Cain novel brought to Noirish life. Very well done and inventive network television, and Shepherd gets to show off her pipes too (her cooing "I Told You I Love You Now Get Out" and tossing her locks in grand Gilda style is wonderful). This episode and the Taming of the Shrew departure from season three seem to be the two episodes that EVERYBODY remembers. And for good reason.
GRADE: A+

"MY FAIR DAVID"
A great character piece where Maddie bets David that he can't act like a responsible adult for a whole week - this after coming in one morning to find him limboing with the entire staff. The plot is about a concert pianist bleeding his rich mother dry by faking a kidnapping to pay off gambling debts, but the real joy of this episode is watching Maddie realize that David is great as is - no matter how infuriating. As a trivia note, actor Willie Nye guest stars as the pianist. It was Nye that beat out Willis at the last minute for a role in Desperately Seeking Susan, the movie Bruce didn't get that convinced him to move to Los Angeles and give TV and "Moonlighting" a try.
GRADE: A-

"KNOWING HER"
A pre-"China Beach" Dana Delany guest stars as an old girlfriend of David's who comes looking for help out of a desperate situation. Maddie mistrusts her, but must determine if it's because the woman is up to something dubious or if she's simply jealous. More good character stuff, and the mystery angle is pretty solid. Bruce is really great during some straight dramatic moments.
GRADE: B+

"SOMEWHERE UNDER THE RAINBOW"
Pretty silly episode where a woman claiming to be a leprechaun hires David and Maddie to find her pot of gold. There really is gold of course, as the woman has been conned by her criminal father into buying the lucky charms nonsense to cover his loot. The character stuff takes a bit too much of a backseat to the convoluted plotting this time, but it's breezy enough fun.
GARDE: B-



"PORTRAIT OF MADDIE"
Maddie becomes obsessed with a painting of her done by an artist she never met - who commited sucide after completing the piece. Good character stuff about Maddie's vanity and fears of aging, and the plot is a solid one involving a clue to hidden booty somewhere in the image of the painting.
GRADE: B

"ATLAS BELCHED"
Kind of average episode where Maddie is tempted to sell the agency for good money and David tries to solve a big case of an important missing rolodex to prove his worth and the viability of Blue Moon. Good character stuff when Maddie realizes how hurt David would be without her and the business.
GRADE: B-

"T’WAS THE EPISODE BEFORE CHRISTMAS"
The first of two Christmas themed episodes done during the run of the series (the other in season three - this one funnier but less heartfelt than the second). The plot involves a man named Joseph, who testified against his partner, sending him to prison. The partner is out of prison and has murdered his squealing ex-partner. Joseph's wife, Mary, and their baby son are on the run. She anonymously leaves the baby with Ms. DiPesto, leaving David and Maddie to try to find the baby's parents. On the way they meet up with three guys from the Justice Department named King (Ruben King, Saul King, and Jim King), a camel (cigarette), and a star to guide the way. Fun stuff.
GRADE: B

"THE BRIDE OF TUPPERMAN"
Another great example of David and Maddie screaming at each other, and an episode that points to their differences. A man hires them to find his wife. The trick is, he’s never met her. He only has a list of what would be his perfect dream woman. Maddie and David look separately, each choosing who they think would be the ideal mate…and of course the two women couldn’t be more different. Great door-slamming differences of opinions here.
GRADE: B+

"NORTH BY NORTH DIPESTO"
The first real episode to focus almost entirely on Agnes DiPesto (she was certainly the key elemnt of “Next Stop Murder”, but Addison and Hayes were beside her on that adventure). Pretty funny espionage silliness, but whether or not you enjoy the episode depends entirely on how much you like Allyce Beasley and her character. I’m glad the whole series wasn’t about her, but I don’t mind a fun little detour now and then. She was a much better character in later seasons, even when featured, when she was paired with Curtis Armstrong's character Herbert Viola (who comes into the series in season three).
GRADE: C+

"IN GOD WE STRONGLY SUSPECT"
A magician is killed doing a dangerous illusion, but his wife hires the detectives to protect her from him as he vowed to come back from the grave and murder her for her infidelities. David and Maddie take the job babysitting the corpse at the morgue until he can be cremated the next day. They fall asleep on the job and wake to find the body missing, and later learn the wife was murdered. Good arguments between David and Maddie about the afterlife and the very concept of God – with Maddie the non believer.
GRADE: B

"EVERY DAUGHTER’S FATHER IS A VIRGIN"
Great episode that introduces Maddie’s parents, played by veteran character actor Robert Webber (12 Angry Men, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) and the ever-lovely Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront, North by Northwest). The elder Hayes come for a visit, but Mom must confess that she fears Dad is having an affair. Maddie reluctantly puts David on the case. Fantastic character stuff, this time to the fourth power as Maddie’s parents are wonderful people brought to life by two great actors. The ending is no easy cop-out, and Maddie’s whole idea of what love and commitment are must be confronted.
GRADE: A

"WITNESS FOR THE EXECUTION"
Dave & Maddie reluctantly take on a case that is ultimately a man asking for euthanasia. They debate about it seriously, but when David goes into the room of the nursing home with their final decision he finds himself set-up as a murderer. He tries to go underground on the run, leading to the first time the two characters really and truly kiss – not counting the dream episode – and it’s a scorcher. Ultimately they figure out the frame together, but more importantly they now know how deeply the other feels.
GRADE: A-

"SLEEP TALKIN’ GUY"
David wants a raise after one year in business together, but Maddie balks at the idea as they never really seem to “solve” a case for a paying client. David is pissed and needs a way to prove himself. That opportunity comes gift wrapped as a prostitute who comes to David for help. The man she sees regularly talks in his sleep, and he speaks of Mob hits and other criminality. Feeling guilty about having such knowledge of horrible things about to happen, she unburdens herself to David, who is able to swoop in with the authorities and stop these things from happening. Of course he doesn’t tell Maddie about the informant, he plays it off as if he’s a super-detective. He even becomes a minor media star…which eventually leads the sleep talker to figure everything out. Oooops.
GRADE: B+

"FUNERAL FOR A DOORNAIL"
A man who saw his beloved wife die in an accident hires a hitman to kill him in one week, feeling the grief too much to bare. But after making the arrangements he thinks he sees his dead wife. He hires David & Maddie to find out if his wife is really dead before the assassin can kill him at the end of the week. Yes, a little bit of Vertigo and pretty cleverly plotted, but a little too much mystery and not enough of the give-and-take between Maddie and David.
GRADE: B

"CAMILLE"
Whoopi Goldberg guest stars in the second season’s finale as Camille, a low-level con-woman who accidentally saves a Senator’s life, making her a media star…and making her crooked parole officer (Judd Nelson) want a piece of all the good stuff she’s getting. David hires her as a publicity stunt to raise Blue Moon’s clout. But she’s too much of a con, and rips them off under pressure from the bad P.O. Ultimately they have to save her from the scumbag and get their money back. Good roles for the two guest stars here, even if they do overshadow the Dave and Maddie stuff a bit, but this episode is maybe most notable for being the point where they really go post-modern and start to deconstruct themselves, breaking the fourth wall and admitting that it’s all a TV show - to a larger degree than they had by this point, with a finale similar to Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (“But what happens to my character?”). And it all works. It’s fun and funny and a sign of things to come in subsequent episodes, though often in smaller doses and asides.
GRADE: A-

"Moonlighting" THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON

The '86-'87 third season of "Moonlighting" is the show at its best. There's only one dud episode (the Dave & Maddieless DiPesto & Viola excursion), one episode that everybody seems to remember (the "Taming of the Shrew" piece), and ends with the great four episode arc that finally brings Addison and Hayes together. There are only fifteen episodes total for the season (the standard for the day was twenty-four), as the production problems and perfectionism that became the show's hallmark kept the number of completed and aired shows down. But what they did finish was almost always worth the wait.

"THE SON ALSO RISES"
As the office comes back to life after vacation to the strains of "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White, David comes into the office clad in a poncho and sombrero and leads the office in a conga line to "La Bamba". But his mood quickly changes when he learns his estranged father, David Addison Sr. (Paul Sorvino), is in town. He dodges him for a couple days, but Maddie eventually forces them to see each other. Turns out Dad is in town to get remarried. The younger David Addison is happy for him initially, until he realizes not only is it a much younger woman but a woman who David had an extremely steamy night of sex with a few years ago in Philadelphia. No case to solve this time, just David's decision if he should confront the woman or his father before the priest pronounces them man and wife. Charles Rocket returns as big brother Richie Addison too. Great character stuff for Willis, and Maddie sees the more fragile side of Addison again.

The episode also features some of the kind of "fourth wall" fun they had. The pre-credit opening has Willis and Shepherd in character addressing the camera. Telling us this was shot before the 1986 Emmy Awards where the show was up for sixteen awards including Actor, Actress and Series, Dave receives a call from his mother who he asks if her iron lung is bothering her and tells her not to worry, that with that many nominations "Of course we're going to win" and that "He won last year" and having her doctor tell him that she'll pull through with a little encouragement. The third season premiered two days after those Emmy Awards, of which "Moonlighting" lost fifteen (the lone win coming for editing in a single camera series) including Willis' loss to William Daniels, who for the second year in a row won for "St. Elsewhere". There is a black title card that reads, "THIS PROGRAM IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF IRMA ADDISON, NOV. 2, 1922 - SEPT. 21, 1986". Then the themesong and credits begin.
GRADE: A-


"THE MAN WHO CRIED WIFE"
A distraught man hires Blue Moon to find his wife. The trick is, he's sure he killed her in a fit of jealous rage and buried her body in a shallow grave...only to have her apparently calling him and asking him if he feels guilty over the murder. Assuming she must not have been dead, Maddie reluctantly agrees to take the case. They think they track her down, only to have her die "again" in a fiery car crash. As usual, nothing is quite what it seems. Pretty decent mystery this outing, strengthened by Dave and Maddie disagreeing about what constitutes love and marriage. The episode ends with both having a fantasy about kissing the other, though neither acts on the impulse.
GRADE: B+


"SYMPHONY IN KNOCKED FLAT"
We watch a man purchase symphony tickets, though purposefully asking for two seats apart from each other. He is subsequently mugged. The episode proper starts when Maddie is lamenting about another bad date with a heel that only wanted to get into her pants but had no idea how to truly romance her and treat her with respect. David takes this as a challenge and tries to put the perfect elegant evening together. After discovering you can't get in last-minute to anything elegant, he buys tickets to the symphony from a scalper on the street. He shows up in a tux to pick up Maddie, and she is truly charmed...that is until they realize the seats aren't together. Maddie is furious and the evening is ruined. The next day, two sets of F.B.I. agents come to the office, though they're not sure which pair is on the level. Those tickets were originally bought to gain some sort of information. This eventually leads to an assassination attempt at a boxing match, where David has to step into the ring to protect the Russian fighter. The Rocky IV references are cute, and Don King plays himself in a self-depricating way.

And more pre-credit fun too, with David and Maddie. Dave tells us he's going to make some extra money selling a video, "How to Be Funky", which will teach you "how to get down, how to stay down, how to roll around". When Maddie asks how he'll do all that, Dave snaps his fingers and The Temptations appear singing "Psychedelic Shack". Maddie thinks that's great, but what does it prove? When he asks her to try it, he snaps his fingers again and Maddie starts lip synching and dancing around, indeed getting all funky. Damn if Cybill ain’t able to get crazy!
GRADE: B+


"YOURS, VERY DEADLY"
One of their best mystery episodes has a client who wants Dave & Maddie to break up a torrid affair she has been having via mail with a mysterious pen pal she has never actually met. The lonely man who has been sending the missives is a deaf man truly in love and they take pity on him, only to have their client turn up dead. A return trip to the Post Office reveals the true nature of the conspiracy, and they chase the killer to the strains of The Marvellettes' "Please, Mr. Postman". This episode also features the debut of supporting character Hebert Viola, played by Curtis Armstrong (Revenge of the Nerds, Risky Business), as a junior detective at the agency who Miss DiPesto is infatuated with. What could have been a one-shot appearance turned into a key and welcome addition to the cast.
GRADE: A-


"ALL CREATURES GREAT AND…NOT SO GREAT"
A Priest, played by Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "Deadwood"), comes to Blue Moon with an usual request. He has fallen in love with one of his parishioners, a woman who comes to Confession regularly. He wants them to find her, not only because he loves her and is very seriously considering renouncing the Church, but because he is breaking the confidence of the Confessional to tell them that she has recently talked of suicide due to her bad marriage, and he fears for her life. David's belief in religion enters into the equation again, as he is the one reluctant to take the case. They do find the woman and her husband (Jessica Harper & Richard Beymer), who don't seem to be having marital difficulties of any kind. They tell the Father the "bad" news, only to discover the woman has apparently committed suicide after all the following day. Or was it really murder? Good stuff about love and God between Dave & Maddie, and the romance between DiPesto and Viola continues in the office.
GRADE: B+



"BIG MAN ON MULBERRY STREET"
Very good dramatic and character episode, sans case, where we get some juicy back story info on Addison. Dave learns an old buddy from his New York days has committed suicide, but he's reluctant to go back for the funeral. Why, Maddie asks? Because this buddy is also his former brother-in-law. Yup, Dave was briefly married, and he tells Maddie he doesn't want to return because they had an ugly divorce after he caught her in bed with another man. He hasn't seen or talked to her since, and can't imagine facing her again at the funeral. He does decide to go, and Maddie, left behind, curious about the ex-wife and feeling some jealousy, has a dream where she imagines David's life in NYC as a Musical number. Not just any Musical number, but an elaborate ode to the "Broadway Melody" number from Singin' in the Rain set to the Billy Joel song "Big Man on Mulberry Street". It's a nearly seven-minute number, and wonderful to watch - they did a great job in paying homage to that great movie. Afterward, Maddie hops a plane to New York to give David some moral support. David doesn't go to the funeral, but Maddie does, and she meets the former Mrs. David Addison…and learns the real reason for the break-up and the full secret Dave was trying to keep. She lets him have his secret, but now she knows that much more about what makes him tick.

The episode is dedicated in the end credits with "Our deepest appreciation to MR. STANLEY DONEN". Donen is the great director who co-helmed Singin' in the Rain. "Moonlighting" creator Glenn Gordon Caron and others on the production staff were huge fans of the man, and he was invited onto the set to help choreograph and oversee the "Big Man On Mulberry Street" number, which is surely one ingredient that went into making it so great.
GRADE: A-



"ATOMIC SHAKESPEARE"
Aaahhh, yes. Even more so than "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" from the second season, this was the most elaborate episode they ever tackled, and showed the kind of wit and reverence the show had at its core above and beyond ostensibly being a show about private detectives. Before the opening credits finish a television set is turned off, with a mother scolding her son to go upstairs and do his homework instead of watching "Moonlighting". The boy goes upstairs to read his assignment, William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew…only he envisions it with Dave and Maddie and DiPesto and Viola in the leads. Pretty impressive sets and costumes for a one-hour stand-alone departure episode of a TV show, but that's a credit to the kind of detail and energy the creative team put into it. Armstrong is actually very good handling the Shakespeare as is guest star Kenneth McMillan (Ragtime, The Pope of Greenwich Village). They are essentially playing it straight at first, but when Cybill arrives on the scene as the feisty Kate, the cartoon antics and comedy kick into high gear, and you realize immediately that the struggle between Kate and Petruchio will perfectly play against the dynamic of Hayes and Addison. The anachronistic touches and anarchic sense of humor melded with The Bard works like a charm, and we get another good Musical interlude as Willis leads the church full of wedding onlookers in a rousing rendition of The Rascals' "Good Lovin'". Narrated by Sterling Holloway (Piglet himself), it's one of the best and most inventive hours of television made in the '80s certainly, if not one of the best ever.
GRADE: A+


"IT’S A WONDERFUL JOB"
Their second Christmas episode, this one a take-off on Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Capra film It's A Wonderful Life. After Maddie learns an elderly Aunt has died and she didn’t get a chance to see her because of being so busy at work, she wishes she never re-opened the Blue Moon detective agency in the first place and even contemplates suicide for a moment. Albert, played by Richard Libertini (All of Me, The In-Laws), claims to be an Angel grants her that wish. He shows her how everybody’s lives would have been different had she closed the agency. The office is now filled by the Hart Investigations (Lionel Stander plays Max from "Hart to Hart"), and at first she is relieved. Agnes DiPesto is the head of a greeting card company where her rhyming skills have made her a success, but she’s also become a cold bitch focused on money, and Herbert Viola her underling she uses for passionless sex. David Addison is now a playboy living in Maddie’s house, throwing lavish parties and making out with Cheryl Tiegs (playing herself), but he confesses to brother Richie that he doesn’t love any of these women and really pines for Maddie Hayes, the woman who came in and shut the office down but he felt a connection to. Maddie sees herself last, a depressed, suicidal lush alone in a bar. Of course she realizes that she really had a wonderful job, as frustrating as it is, and that she needs them as much as they need her. Lots of heart, but not much fun, and the It's A Wonderful Life device has been employed by so many shows that they can’t so much to liven it up and make it theirs. After the high-point of "Atomic Shakespeare", it’s a bit of a disappointment.
GRADE: B


"THE STRAIGHT POOP"
By now everybody knew "Moonlighting" was having production delays. It was a running joke, and exploited fully for this fun take on the infamous TV stand-by: the clip show. Rona Barrett, who was a well-known Hollywood TV gossip reported in the ‘80s, plays herself. She tells us, "No new episode again" and bursts onto the set. Once there she interviews the principles in character. While this is all just an excuse to show highlights from the thirty-three episodes that precede it, in typical "Moonlighting" style they have more fun with it that any other show. They also delight in taking swipes at all the rumors that swirled around the show, including that the lens was gauzed or gelled to his Cybill's age and that the two stars weren’t talking to each other. Perhaps the most fun are the five minutes of outtakes and bloopers that show under the closing credits, including the poor bastard that had to deal with the "What kind of clothes do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose?" run from the first season.
GRADE: B


"POLTERGEIST III – DIPESTO NOTHING"
Willis and Shepherd only have a quick appearance in this one, turning down a case to find out if a house being contested in a will is haunted or not. But Agnes DiPesto, upset that Viola is starting to go out on cases and feeling left out and less necessary at the office, takes the case on herself, eventually aided by Herbert. Some typical haunted house gags that owe much to Abbott & Costello and Murder by Death are dug up, but as likeable as DiPesto and Viola are as supporting characters, they simply don’t have the chemistry or the weight that Dave & Maddie do. Not unwatchable as an hour of television, but it’s simply not "Moonlighting".
GRADE: C


"BLONDE ON BLONDE"
And thus begin the events that will finally bring Maddie and David together for more than just a single kiss or a fantasy sequence. Maddie Hayes feeling, well…horny, decides she has been alone far too long and that she needs a night of anonymous, sweaty passion, telling David she intends to go out to some bar, get drunk, pick up some good looking stud and scratch that itch in a cheap motel. David, mad with jealously, recruits Herbert Viola in the guise of a secret case and they try and follow Maddie (with Viola not knowing who the target really is). While in a bar, a desperate woman (Donna Dixon) steals Maddie’s coat and hat, so Dave & Viola start following the wrong woman. She's involved in some intrigue, and when David bursts in hoping to stop Maddie from going through with her carnality he realizes his mistake but winds up unconscious next to a dead man. In jail he tells the other blonde why he was so crazed, and she tells him that if he feels that way about this Maddie woman he’s got to go and finally tell her and see what happens. He is cleared of the murder charges in the middle of the night and rushes in the pouring rain to Maddie’s house, flowers in hand, resolved to tell her he loves her and let the chips fall where they may. He knocks on the door to have it answered by…Mark Harmon. This man tells him Maddie is upstairs sleeping, and David skulks away confused.
GRADE: B+



"SAM & DAVE"
The morning after his almost telling Maddie he loves her only to find a handsome stranger in her home at 3:00a.m., David discovers that the man (Mark Harmon) is an old, close friend of Maddie's, Sam Crawford. Unfortunately for him, there’s also a pesky case that walks in the door, a mistress who wants to hire them to find out if her lover is ever going to leave his wife. Maddie begs off the work and is sure David and Viola can handle it themselves. Addison tries to let her go, but when he and Viola catch their subject in a steamy session of lovemaking, David feels compelled to rush and find Maddie and tell he loves her after all. He crashes in on her and Sam having dinner at a nice restaurant, under some pretext that he needs to discuss the case. But face to face he can't do it. Sam invited David to join them, and David gets drunker and drunker sizing up his new rival. Turns out Sam is an astronaut and a great guy, the kind of guy that under different circumstances Dave might have become fast friends with. But he makes a fool out of himself, and though Maddie doesn't know David is in love with her, Sam sure does. Maddie and Sam do share a night of passion, but as he sleeps we also see she is starting to wonder about David.

Willis is great playing the drunken and love-struck fool, and anybody who has ever had the displeasure of being on the short end of a love triangle will laugh while aching at how perfectly the emotions are captured.

The episode also starts with another funny pre-credit sequence where real-life TV critic Jeff Jarvis addresses his rage over the constant lack of new episodes ("I mean, without Moonlighting what else was there to do on Tuesday nights? Watch the Home Shopping Network? Start a family? Read?!?") and gives a quick summation of the previous episode, as the story begun there would be continuing. Rather than the standard "Previously on…" montage, they find a way to make even this part of television fun and funny and their own.
GRADE: A


"MADDIE’S TURN TO CRY"
The next day, Dave pretends he wasn't a drunken idiot, puts on a nonchalant front about Sam, and the case of the jealous mistress continues. As great as Willis was in the previous show, Cybill is fantastic here playing the confusion, anger and fear of not knowing which man to choose. In the actual case, Dave & Maddie witness the wife commit suicide, but quickly realize it’s more likely the mistress and the husband (Gary Cole) set it all up to cover a murder. Sam waits up for Maddie and proposes marriage, to which Maddie's response is to sneak out of the house and go to David to find out if he can actually tell her how he feels about her instead of playing games. The case ends with a wacky chase through a bowling alley…and Sam waking to realize Maddie isn't there.

And another good intro bumper as random people on the street are interviewed and tell us in their own words what happened on the last couple episodes. Once again, another clever way to do the whole "Previously on…" thing, playing against the TV conventions.
GRADE: A-

"I AM CURIOUS…MADDIE"
Sam, realizing David is confusing the matter, takes some initiative and confronts him in his apartment, telling him in a calm and reasoned way that if he stops to think about it for two seconds objectively he'll have to admit Sam is much better for Maddie, and that Addison should let her go. He also tells him he proposed to her. Of course love rarely makes us think of shoulds, and David finally makes his play. But is it too late? Sam & Dave get into a fistfight, which doesn't impress Maddie at all. She finally realizes that while she’s not absolutely sure she wants David, she doesn’t want to get married. She goes back to her house to tell Sam as much, and delivers a long, impassioned, honest speech to what she assumes is Sam lying in bed. But it turns out Sam realized she wasn't ready too and had left, but David is the one she just opened up to lying in her bed. She's furious, they argue, but he knows now how she feels about him. She slaps him…and they collapse in each other's arms for some heavy-duty hanky-panky. Finally, after three years, the characters who have bickered and flirted and come close to giving in to their passions surrender to each other. It is hot and heavy and perfectly set to The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby". Yup, they do it, and with huge smiles on their faces.

And for the third week in a row, another ingenious pre-credit bumper and plot summation, this time done as an old "Movietone News" newsreel that even addresses the real-life stories of Bruce Willis' skiing accident that left him injured and Cybill Shepherd's pregnancy. Oh, they sum up the Sam Crawford story arc as well.
GRADE: A


"TO HEIRESS HUMAN"
It's the curse of all 'will they or won't they?' shows: once they do, where do you go? There was still one more episode in the third season to see how they'd handle that dilemma creatively. We start just about where the historic gettin' it on left off. The next morning Maddie awakes, but wants David to leave so she can get ready for work. She enjoyed their night together, but at the office she's clearly not as happy or comfortable about what happened as David is (he's ecstatic). She wants to make a pact that last night didn’t happen, but David wants no part of that action. A new case walks in the door to put their attention somewhere else. A mousey woman with a rich father (William Hickey) wants to prove that the fiancé she loves and that her father disapproves of really loves her. The case perfectly mirrors what's on David's mind, as in the face of the cold facts Maddie gathers to show that their client is incompatible with her low-rent fiancé, David sets out to prove that what makes two people crazy about each other is something wild and intangible, that love is more than a sum of the two people's surface qualities. The case twists to the rich father and a too-clever-by half scheme to get his daughter to leave the other man, and David eventually comes around to Maddie's idea that they should let their one night of passion be one night…though David does raise the issue of their unprotected lovemaking, and they have one more roll in the hay (or rather, the car).
GRADE: B+



And that was season three. I know everybody and their mother thinks ”Moonlighting” "jumped the shark" after Dave & Maddie had sex. And while the show never did hit the consistency of brilliance of seasons two and three again, it wasn’t really because of that getting it on. The show was beset by all kind of production problems, some of which had to do with the personalities of Shepherd and Willis, but plenty that had nothing to do with that at all. The show was expensive in 1980s prime time terms, they never fulfilled a full order of episodes for any season, and there was only so much that could be done with the basic formula. Caron and company managed to keep it fresh and innovative for a great stretch, but if the characters had made love at the end of season four or five or six, it wouldn’t have somehow prolonged the series or really mattered because the driving spark that made the show great was a flame that burned bright but not incredibly long. "Moonlighting" was never going to be a show that ran for ten or twelve years. It just wasn’t. They brought the characters together on their own terms and in a great story arc that it timeless.

Yes, they might have pulled that trigger slightly earlier than they wanted because of Cybill’s real-life pregnancy, which either meant take basically the entire next season off or write it into the show. But if that was some kind of obstacle, Caron flew right over it in his own style and on his own terms. Season four would be a bit more on the drama side, and some fans lamented for the "good ol' days", but I wouldn’t trade the Sam Crawford story arc for anything. It’s amazing and perfect just the way it is.

There are a few select audio commentaries in the season three set, but the best extra is a thirty-minute "Memories of Moonlighting" featurette that, for the first time since the show went off the air in 1989, brings the two feuding stars, Willis and Shepherd, on camera for an interview. They sit with Glenn Gordon Caron and are both obviously very proud of the show and the work that went into it. There were some rough spots and bruised egos no doubt, but no hard feeling apparently, and certainly nobody involved regrets the experience of making a still great show. Bruce gets the last word in when he thanks Cybill for getting pregnant, for because of that changing the shooting schedule of the show he was able to take the role in Die Hard, which turned him from a TV star into a bonafide movie star. "Honey, thanks for having sex!" And as a final note, that featurette is dedicated to Charles Rocket, who died in October of 2005.

I've got Peep Show Series 1 and 2, and Phoenix Nights Series 1 and 2, but they were presents from people. I generally don't watch much TV, only when a film is on.

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Firefly
Twin Peaks- Season 1
X-Files- Season 1
Family Guy- Season 1, 2, 3
Futurama- Season 1, 2, 3
Battlestar Galactica: Miniseries
Leauge of Gentleman's Christmas Special
Knight Rider- Compliation
The A-Team- Compilation
Peep Show- Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm- Season 1
Das Boot- Uncut Miniseries
Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Season 1
The Shield- Season 1

****, I hate you, Holden.

My DVD collection in general is lacking by my own standards, but my TV section even more so:

"Battlestar Galactica" - mini + season 1
"Band of Brothers"
"Arrested Development" - seasons 1 + 2
"Oz" - season 1
"Da Ali G Show" - season 1
"Chappelle's Show" - season 1
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" - seasons 1 - 4
"Sports Night" - The complete series
"Reno 911" - season 1
"Tales From The Crypt" - season 2
"Strangers With Candy" - season 1
"The Blue Planet"

Funny that over half of those discs are HBO shows...

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Horror's Not Dead
Latest Movie Review(s): Too lazy to keep this up to date. New reviews every week.

Everything listed is not a series, but this is all of my tv dvd's

4400, The - The Complete 1st Season (2004)
Angel - Season 1 (1999-2000)
Angel - Season 2 (2000-2001)
Angel - Season 3 (2001-2002)
Angel - Season 4 (2002-2003)
Angel - Season 5 (2003-2004)
Banned from Television 3 (2001)
Bernie Mac Show, The - Season 1 (2001-2002)
Best of Cheaters, The - Volume 1 (Uncensored) (2005)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 1st Season (1997)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 2nd Season (1997-1998)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 3rd Season (1998-1999)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 4th Season (1999-2000)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 5th Season (2000-2001)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 6th Season (2001-2002)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete 7th Season (2002-2003)
C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation - The Complete 1st Season (2000-2001)
C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation - The Complete 2nd Season (2001-2002)
Caught on Tape, Vols. 1-3
Chappelle's Show - Season 1: Uncensored! (Episodes 1-12) (2003)
Chappelle's Show - Season 2: Uncensored! (Episodes 13-25) (2004)
Corner, The (2000)
Dead Zone, The - Season 1 (2002)
Dead Zone, The - Season 2 (2003)
Dead Zone, The - Season 3 (2004)
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The - The Complete 1st Season (1990-1991)
FireFly
In Living Color - Season 1 (1990)
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete 1st Season
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete 2nd
Season
MTV - Making the Band 2 - The Best of Season 1 (2002)
Millennium - The Complete 1st Season (1996-1997)
One Tree Hill - The Complete 1st Season (2003-2004)
One Tree Hill - The Complete 2nd Season (2004-2005)
Queer as Folk - The Complete 1st Season (2000-2001)
Queer as Folk - The Complete 2nd Season - Collector's Edition (2002)
Roswell - The Complete 1st Season (1999-2000)
Roswell - The Complete 2nd Season (2000-2001)
Roswell - The Complete 3rd Season (2001-2002)
Simple Life, The (2003)
Simple Life 2: Road Trip, The (2004)
Simpsons, The - The Complete 01st Season - Collector's Edition (1989-1990)
Simpsons, The - The Complete 02nd Season - Collector's Edition (1990-1991)
Smallville - The Complete 1st Season (2001-2002)
Smallville - The Complete 2nd Season (2002-2003)
Smallville - The Complete 3rd Season (2003-2004)
Smallville - The Complete 4th Season (2004-2005)
Tales from the Crypt - The Complete 1st Season (1989)
Wayans Bros., The - The Complete 1st Season (1995)
X-Files, The - The Complete 1st Season (Collector's Edition) (1993-1994)

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DVDAF Collection
DVDSpot Collection

you guys really own some TV stuff

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Arrested Development Season 1
Arrested Development Season 2
Batman TAS: Volume 2
Batman TAS: Volume 3
Batman TAS: Volume 4
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 2
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 3
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 5
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 6
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 7
CSI : Season 2
Chappelle's Show Season 1
Chappelle's Show Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 1
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 4
Family Guy Volume 1
Family guy Volume 2
Family guy Volume 3
Firefly Complete Series
Futurama Volume 1
Grounded For Life Season 1
Harsh Realm Complete Series
The Office Season 1
Seinfeld Season 1
Seinfeld Season 2
Seinfeld Season 3
Seinfeld Season 4
Seinfeld Season 5 + 6 Gift Set
The Simpsons Season 1
The Simpsons Season 2
The Simpsons Season 3
Stargate SG-1 Season 1
That 70's show Season 1
Titus Season 1
Titus Season 2
Titus Season 3

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

That's it.

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I only have a couple, but I'm pretty picky:
Kids in the Hall season one
Rescue Me
Ren and Stimpy Uncut
and, my sentimantal favorite: Greatest American Hero

I got the old Twilight Zone t.v. series season 2 and a couple of the X-files dvd packs: "Abduction" and "Black Oil" gathered together to focus on those particular sub plots within the alien theme of the show through the years it was on the tube.

I have Scrubs, Sports Night, Sex and the City, and LOST...may have a few others too...

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"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun" - Katharine Hepburn

hmmmm, lets see:

Scrubs: Seasons 1 - 3
Extras: Season 1
Little Britain: Season 1
Chewin The Fat: Seasons 1 -4
House: Season 1
Family Guy: Seasons 1 -3
Futurama: Seasons 1 - 4
The Simpsons: Season 3

House would be a good one for me to get...one of those shows I've heard such good things about but haven't gotten around to watching!

Lost is one I added. Need to add S2, as Ive missed it all!

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something witty goes here......

MPFC, Charmed, 24, Star Trek...all of em..........Night Stalker.........,Buck Rogers.......etc.... I'ma geek yeah.....

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

CSI: Season One
House: Season One
24: Season One + Two