3rd Rock from the Sun returns for another season of out of this world fun. Acclaimed by critics and adored by rabid fans and thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment we can relive the great episodes of Season 4 on DVD!

The story of 3rd Rock from the Sun is simple. Four aliens land in Rutherford Ohio their mission is to learn about the human race and report their findings to the alien in charge known as “the Big Giant Head”. The mission was given to the best of the best; The High Commander {John Lithgow}, The Seasoned Intelligence Specialist {Joseph Gordon-Levitt}, The Decorated Military Officer {Kristen Johnson} and Communications Officer {French Stewart}. The four aliens struggle to fit in with the humans in everyday life.

Season 3 ended with Harry being kidnapped a enraged jealous ex-boyfriend played by the extremely funny Phil Hartman, but tragically he was killed; so writers had to come up with another way to tie up loose ends; Dick, Tommy and Sally find Harry working at a country fair as the alien freak show.

Season four continues with our favorite alien quartet dealing with Dick's Power hungry ways when he see's his girlfriend Mary (Jane Curtin)’s promotion to Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as his promotion. Sally finally feels it time to loose her virginity to her portly boyfriend Police Officer Don (Wayne Knight). Dick is obsessed with collecting little stuffed animals and uses the money for food and rent to feed his addiction! Then the alien foursome must deal with the arrival of The Big Giant Head himself! Season 4 boosts of special guest stars Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne), Christin Lakin (Step by Step), Kevin Nealon (SNL), Kathy Bates and Captain Kirk himself Thee William Shatner just to name a few.

This 3 DVD set features a visually pleasing DVD menu, all 24 Season 4 episodes again the video and audio quality is great. The only downside on this release is the thin bonus features which include only a blooper reel, an small interview with Jane Curtin, highlights of season 4 and there was no audio commentaries. That’s the only downside in this release, but still not bad for the price of only $10.

I highly recommend you head on over to Millcreekent.com or your local DVD store and pick up copies of all four seasons of 3rd Rock from the Sun and watch the greatest sitcom dealing with four aliens taking over human form and living in Rutherford, Ohio!

Moral Rating: Language and Adult Situations
Audience: Parental Guidance
Genre: Western
Length: Over 10 hours
Released: 2012
Our Rating: A-

The New York Daily News called 3rd Rock from the Sun when it debuted on NBC “by a long shot, the funniest, most original, best written, and best produced new comedy of the season,” it continued to be the most wildly inventive, critically acclaimed, and flat-out hilarious show on TV. Now thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment we can relive the great episodes of one of the funniest shows in TV history on DVD!

For those that are not familiar with the premise of this sitcom it is fairly simple. 3rd Rock From the Sun is a story of four aliens who have came to earth to learn and report about humans to the alien in charge known as “the Big Giant Head”. The four aliens land in the fictional city Rutherford Ohio and take over the form of humans so they can blend in and witness life as humans close up! The high commander Dick Solomon played by the great John Lithgow is a physics professor at Pendelton State University, The seasoned Intelligence officer is Tommy Solomon Dick’s ’son’, The decorated military officer is Sally Solomon Dick’s ’sister’ and than there’s Harry Solomon Dick’s ’brother’ his job on the mission was well, there was an extra seat on the ship!

Season 1 and 2 dealt with much of the aliens dealing with things for the first time; love, envy, jealousy, the common cold and much, much more. Now you would think this would grow old rather fast but it the writers knew just how to keep things fresh with every episode. Stories in the third season deal with the Solomons' problem with such things as The Big Giant Head’s niece Janet which was sent to become Dick’s wife, Dick’s diet, jury duty, Harry’s pet Pickles shows up… in human form to boot and invasion from sexy alien females. Season 3 is filled with great guest stars including Cindy Crawford, Phil Hartman, Roseanne Barr, Dom DeLuise and The Great John Cleese from Monty Python fame.

This 3 DVD set features a visually pleasing DVD menu, all 27 Season 3 episodes for me the video and audio quality was great

and bonus features included are a very funny blooper reel, interview with French Stewart about his character Harry, Interviews with the Cast: The Superest Two-Part Episode Ever and four audio commentaries with French Stewart and writer/producers Mike Schiff and Bill Martin. The audio commentaries are really worth a listening to because they open the doors and let you view the ins and outs of the sitcom world.

In the end this DVD is absolutely a must own for fans of 3rd Rock from the Sun or just fans of really funny sitcoms. Less than 10 bucks for over 10 hours of fun, you can't beat that! So head on over to www.millcreekent.com or your local DVD store and pick up a copy! Treat yourself to one of the funniest series ever to beam onto the television screen!

Moral Rating: Language and Adult Situations
Audience: Parental Guidance
Genre: Western
Length: Over 10 hours
Released: 2012
Our Rating: A+

If you love sitcoms as much as I do and you’ve never seen The Dick Van Dyke Show…then put the internet down, right now, head to the TV, find it and watch it! NOW! This sitcom that ran in the 60s is quintessential TV. It’s one of the first (and best) sitcoms from the ‘modern’ era, and, while little things like the husband and wife sleeping in separate beds, might make it feel a bit dated, if you can get past that, the humor will still make you laugh today!

In this DVD set, Carl Reiner has selected his favorite episodes…and that’s a great thing, because Reiner (who was originally going to star in the show) is the brains behind it…and he plays the ego maniacal Alan Brady in the series as well. To describe great episode after great episode, would just be wasting your time, suffice it to say that this is comedy genius and it’s the definite ancestor to shows like Seinfeld, Friends and so many others that are considered classics today.

This 3 disc package gives you 20 episodes, more than enough to whet your appetite and make you still want more…and there’s more, the show ran from 1961 through 1966, so there’s still plenty out there if you’re a new fan. I’m giving The Dick Van Dyke Show: Carl Reiner’s Favorites 4 out of 4 cigars, if you’ve never seen this series, this is the one to start with…after all, Reiner’s a genius and this is his first big hit! Try not to trip over the foot-stool on your way to http://www.anchorbayent.com to grab your own copy!

The Tribe is a series hailing from New Zealand that has achieved a cult international fan base. It originally aired in April of 1999 and continued for 5 seasons. The show is focused around several groups of kids who have all formed "tribes" after a mysterious virus kills off the adult population. The series is mainly a teen drama focusing on the interactions of the kids and how they fend for themselves.

The show is one of those "you either love it or you hate it" sort of things. Many teens at the time felt connected to the characters, and many feel that the show is cheesy and can not get past the soap-opera look and feel of the series.

As for the Region 1 DVD release of season one from Shout! Factory, the outside packaging is fantastic. It is cool and modern, and evokes the "28 Days Later" feel you might expect from a post-apocalyptic thriller. Dark and dramatic, the packaging is exciting and for me, having never seen the series before, it was very enticing. Once you pop the DVD in your player, however, it is a quick and slippery slope downhill. The menus are terrible and look like they were thrown together with no forethought. They are so horribly unprofessional that I was instantly deterred.

The show itself is, in my opinion, poorly made even for 1999. The soundtrack is repulsive, the visuals are bland, and the sound mixing is laughable. Even looking strictly at the story line it is disappointing, I felt almost no connection to the characters and what I expected to be a post-apocalyptic adventure turned out to be a melodramatic teen soap-opera in a different setting.

Of course, if you are a fan of the series already, you already know that you enjoy the show and should not listen to these negative views of the show itself. It is a Region 1 version of the reasonably successful cult favorite, therefor all North American fans should definitely go out and buy a copy. But if you are a newcomer expecting an exciting action or thriller show based on the premise, keep in mind this show is more about the kids themselves than the disease that killed off the adult population. Expect Degrassi in New Zealand if fourteen year olds were essentially the majority of the population and modern society was all but destroyed.

Visit tribeworld.com for all things The Tribe and go to Amazon.com to buy this DVD set as well as pre-order series one part two.

The Learning Curves is an unsold, award-winning TV pilot developed for preteens by Director Michael Gibrall of One of Each Productions, LLC. In this 22 minute episode, Don Curve (Barry Ellenberger) and his sister Donna Curve (Shannon Denton-Brown) discuss the idea of rules and the implications of not following them. They first discuss how musicians like Jimi Hendrix were great because they broke the rules of music conformity. Don and Donna then get in their car to try to track down Janis Joplin, Curt Kobain and Jim Morrison who stopped by the Curves’ house (you never actually see them), annoyed that they weren’t included in the same discussion as Jimi. However, the brother and sister are pulled over for speeding and issued a ticket. Back at home they are visited by their fairy godfather (Fred Ortiz, dressed in a mafia suit with wings and doing his best Brando impersonation), who gives them a quick lesson on the rules that they need to follow. Afterwards, the Curves’s mom (Sallie Wanchisn) drops by and is distraught to find that her children have broken her rules by not getting her the bread she asked for. All ends well, however, and the Curves realize that they have just learned the same valuable lesson that they have been trying to teach their audience.

The Learning Curves is an honest attempt to produce a funny and educational program for preteens without talking down to them. The tone of the show is light and breezy and both Ellenberger and Denton-Brown are engaging. They frequently break the fourth wall in a Monty-Pythonesque irreverent manner. For instance, Don walks off their set and into the TV control room in an attempt to get answers to his questions. Then they drive around hoping to find dead classic rock stars so they can find examples of people who both succeeded and failed at breaking the rules. They also pass a man on the street (Richard Spencer) who tries to point them in the right direction and the cast frequently talks back to the camera. The show also riffs on many classic movie moments including The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront.

However, while these references made me smile, they completely went over the head of my 12-year old daughter, her cousin and her friend who watched the episode with me. They all complained that the show was “dull and lame.” The show’s Pythonesque style was lost on them. They also didn’t care about the idea of searching for Janis, Jimi and Kurt, believing that they couldn’t learn any lesson from “old dead rock stars.” They felt the show needed to be hipper. They also did not connect with the two hosts and believed that younger hosts were necessary. When I asked them if they would watch the show on a consistent basis, they said they might if these problems were addressed.

Perhaps The Learning Curves pilot can be best summed up by one of the characters in the show who turns to the audience and says: “We really don’t know where we’re going with this program.” A sharper focus and more relevant references to the target audience’s zeitgeist could turn this show into a TV winner.

For more information on The Learning Curves, please visit One of Each Productions at: http://www.oneofeachproductions.com/index.htm

I recently received the new MVD release of the complete first season of the IFC's comedy Portlandia. This 2010 series from co-creators and stars SNL's Fred Arminsen and musician/actress Carrie Brownstein takes a dreamy and absurd look at life in Portland, Oregon.

For those that are not familiar with this series. It is a sketch comedy series of sorts, featuring recurring characters including an organic farmer/cult leader; members of an adult hide and seek league, owners of a feminist book store; a militant bike messenger; and an artsy couple who attach cut-outs of birds to everything.

This offbeat comedy series is not for everyone. In fact I found myself not laughing to much at the comedy; though the last episode was the best of the six so that gives me hope for season two to be better! Fans of 'SNL' or 'Kids in the Hall' would more than likely revel in this series.

Now for The DVD itself it features six pristinely transferred season one episodes complete with bonus features including blooper reels, extended scenes, deleted scenes, videos of Fred Arminsen speaking to the OES graduates, Thunder Ant videos, Season two preview, and commentaries over all six episode all for just $19.95. Than there is the combo pack you can get a DVD and a Blue Ray copy for just $26.95 Not a bad deal!

So if you're a fan of Portlandia or a fan of SNL style comedy this would be a great pick up for you! Head over to MVDb2b.com and get your copy today!

*   *   *

Moral Rating: Some Adult Humor
Audience: Teens and Adults
Genre: Comedy
Length: 135 min.
Released: 2011
Our Rating: C+

We don't do a lot of television reviews here on Rogue Cinema, and let's face it, Raising Hope isn't the sort of thing we'd usually cover in any case. However, having been a fan of this show from day one, when I got the chance to review this season 1 DVD set, I jumped at it. It is now my pleasure to share with you all the brilliance of one of, if not the greatest comedy series on television today.

So what's the premise of Raising Hope? Well, in the pilot episode, we meet Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff). One night, Jimmy picks up a female serial killer named Lucy (Bijou Phillips) and ends up taking her back to his house and having sex with her. The next morning, his parents Burt (Garret Dillahunt) and Virgina (Martha Plimpton) see a news report on TV talking about Lucy and the men she's killed. So Jimmy comes in all excited talking about the girl he picked up last night, and they think it's all cool, until Lucy comes in and sits down for breakfast. Naturally, the quick thinking Virginia did what any good mother would do. She cracks her in the head with the television set. From there, Lucy goes to prison and receives the death penalty, but before they can do the deed, they have to wait for her to give birth to the child Jimmy knocked her up with. She does, she gets the chair, and suddenly Jimmy gets a child he wasn't mature enough to handle, and his own parents suddenly find themselves grandparents at 39 (they had Jimmy when they were teenagers), and they're not ready for a new baby in the house either. Still, they decide to keep her, as the name of the show would imply, and together along with the senile Maw Maw, played by the ever brilliant Chloris Leachman, they all go through their own growing pains, while helping baby Hope to get through hers. Jimmy also has a huge crush on the girl who works at the grocery store, Sabrina (Shannon Woodward), but she has a boyfriend in college, so he's been stuck in the friend zone for now. I hear tell from interviews I've seen with Greg Garcia that there may be some progress on getting them together in the second season, which is currently airing.

This show, created by the brilliant mind of Greg Garcia, is not only incredibly funny, but it's full of characters that you can like and identify with. To cover them all, I'd have to write a book. Seriously, there are a lot of characters in this show. Some are more primary characters, some are more side characters, and some just appear randomly now and then. It's this mix, along with the witty situations and the incredible comedic acting that give this show its brilliance and really fleshes it out, making it more than just your average sitcom. From the first episode, you can tell it's something special, and very different from the average, unfunny sitcoms that seem to permeate the television schedules nowadays. The greatest thing about this show, aside from the amazing cast, is that it's not afraid to just be stupid and silly. That not only makes it incredibly funny, but very endearing as well.

One of the best episodes of the season, and in my opinion, one of the best episodes of any television show ever, rivaled only by one particular episode of the BBC comedy, Coupling, is a prime example of this. It's a "back in time" episode to five years earlier, and gives a huge amount of back story on the primary characters of the show and things that were going on back then. One scene in particular had me laughing so hard, I literally couldn't breathe. I was literaly rewinding and watching it over and over again. Maw Maw had kicked Burt, Virginia and Jimmy out of the house right after Jimmy turned 18, so they ended up sleeping in the basement of Virgina's boss' mother's house, along with a ton of washers and dryers (her mom ran a laundry service), and an alpacca, or as Burt calls it, "a crazy ass lookin' sheep". When they go down there, they ask about the thing spitting, and Maria tells them that it only spits if you look it in the eye. Naturally one morning, Burt looks it in the eye, and it goobs all over him. He's disgusted and looks it in the eye again, and again it spits on him, so he spits back, and then the alpacca spits again, and this goes back and forth in what has to be one of the most ridiculous and hilarious scenes in any sitcom ever.

Another episode that's a particular favorite of mine is called The Blue Dots. Jimmy tries to enroll Hope in a fancy pre-school, and while he's at the initial meeting talking to the other perspective parents trying to enroll their kids, he finds out that there's a sex offender in their neighborhood. When he goes home and looks it up, he finds out that the sex offender is in his own house. It's his father. See, Burt and Virginia had jimmy as teenagers. Unfortunately, Burt got busted for having underage sex, but had totally forgotten about it and didn't realize he had to go around the neighborhood to inform everyone that he was a sex offender. So he goes to a lawyer to try to get the whole mess cleared up. Unfortunately, even though he got himself cleared, everyone else in the family ends up with a blue dot throughout the episode by getting wrapped up in some totally innocent, totally stupid situations.

The show in its entirety is just brilliant. Everything about it is nearly flawless. I initially had my doubts about the casting of Lucas Neff and Garret Dillahunt, but those doubts were gone as quickly as they appeared. The cast of Raising Hope is about as perfect as you could ever hope to find. The relationships feel very real, the comedy is hilarious and the show doesn't focus too much on the baby, which kept it from becoming too sugary and detracting from the brilliance that comes from the situations and experiences that the adult cast deal with from episode to episode.

There is no way I could possibly recommend this series enough. There have been very few shows that I've felt this strongly about. Married with Children and Warehouse 13 are the only other shows I can remember being this totally into. Do yourself a favor and pick up season one of Raising Hope ASAP. If you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you're in for a serious treat.

Two final notes about the set. First, I want it on blu-ray. I really wish these big media companies would release these shows in high def on blu-ray already. There aren't many series that are released on blu-ray right now, and I keep hoping that'll change. Second, I want to mention the extras on this release. There have been tons of videos of little extras and behind the scenes stuff from the show that I would have loved to have seen included in this set in the extras, but unfortunately, none of them are here. What we do have is the unaired network pilot, an extended cut of the season finale, commentary on the pilot episode, a gag reel (this is great), deleted and extended scenes (some great stuff in these as well), and a look behind the scenes at the shooting of the season finale.

One final technical note as well. I did have some problems with the audio in the deleted and extended scenes section on my Samsung blu-ray player. It would drop audio when it would hit scene changes and get totally out of sync. However, upon checking the disc on the Asus blu-ray player in my computer, I discovered that this was a player specific error and not a problem with the disc itself. So if you're watching this particular extra and have audio problems on whatever player you're using, try it in a different player. I'm not really sure what the issue is, but there was a problem with at least that one particular player.

You can pick up Raising Hope Season 1 from Amazon here, or any of the other normal DVD outlets.

Just in time for the new season to begin, Anchor Bay is giving us a special edition of The Walking Dead on DVD and Blu Ray! That's right, starting on October 4th; you can catch up on the first season, before the second season gets under way! But, is it worth it? Well, of course!

If you missed the first season, the story is pretty simple, Sheriff Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma, only to find that the dead have risen and are taking over the world. How it happened isn't important, what's important to Rick is finding his family during this time of crisis, and that's where the story here is different from other zombie genre stories, The Walking Dead is a story about people working together to survive...the zombies are just the crisis that they're trying to survive!

Now, you're probably wondering why a 'special edition', well, this one has some great additions that the first box set didn't. There's a very cool version of the pilot in black and white that brings a new feel to the story, then there's great interviews with Frank Darabont and Greg Nicotero and some other docs that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the new season...like me.

I'm giving The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season (3 Disc Special Edition) 4 out of 4 cigars, because The Walking Dead is great and anything you add to it just makes it better! Do yourself a favor, head over to http://www.anchorbayent.com right now and get it before Season Two hits screens...you won't be sorry!

Starz and Anchor Bay seem to have the code to a great TV series cracked. With 2 Spartacus series that are excellent, their current Torchwood and several in the pipeline, they seem to be able to do no wrong right now. And the streak is kept alive with their latest, Camelot (on DVD starting September 13th), a retelling of the King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable story with a more adult twist.

The main character (at least in the beginning) is Merlin, played by Joseph Fiennes, who’s looking for the new king after the untimely death of King Uther. It seems that Uther left an heir in hiding, young Arthur. Soon, Merlin is helping Arthur become king, and it’s not nearly as easy as it seems, especially when your sister, Morgan (played with surprising wicked sensuality by Eva Green) wants the crown for herself and isn’t opposed to using a bit of sorcery and deception to get it from you.

The intrigue is intense, the action is great and the story itself is a fresh take on a familiar story. And it’s a very interesting take; all the familiar things are here, the round table, the lady in the lake, Excalibur, but all with a twist that makes the story feel fresh and new. I’m giving Camelot: The Complete First Season 4 out of 4 cigars, it’s a great show that didn’t get the attention it deserved when it first aired…so make sure you catch it on DVD by heading over to http://www.anchorbayent.com.

If you watched the original Starz series, Spartacus: Blood And Sand, then you know how good these ‘sand and sandals’ shows can be. But, after actor Andy Whitfield left the series for health reasons, I sort of wondered what might happen to this great show. Well, Starz is giving us a prequel to the series, and, I’m happy to report that it meets (if not exceeds) the standards set by the original! It’s called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (from Anchor Bay, September 13th) and it gives us a look at the beginnings of the story we know from Blood And Sand.

This story also takes place in the House of Batiatus, but it’s before the events of the first series, all the recognized players are here (with a few exceptions) and a few new (to us) characters. There’s the current House champion, Gannicus, (who’s sort of the Sean Michaels of the ludus) and we discover the beginnings of Quintus’ rise to power, how Lucretia cements her power behind her husband and we get to see the beginnings of many of the gladiators from the first series. The real fun of these Spartacus series is the political intrigue behind the battles. Don’t get me wrong, the battles are many and brutal and wildly entertaining, but the real story is the manipulations and plottings going on to gain more and more power.

I’m giving Spartacus: Gods of the Arena 4 out of 4 cigars, the writing is amazing, the acting is great and it’s an all together great show. If you love ‘sword and sorcery’ movies, then you’ll love this! Join the ludus yourself by heading over to http://www.anchorbayeny.com.