The New Normal: The Complete First Season
Starring: Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells, Georgia King, Bebe Wood, NeNe Leakes, Javson Blair, Ellen Barkin
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Retail: $29.95
ASIN: B00K8HAKAK
Running Time: 484 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Available through Amazon's manufacturing on demand (MOD) service is the 2012-2013 sitcom The New Normal, co-created by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tick, Glee, American Horror Story). The series aired on NBC for one season and received mixed reviews from critics, a few even calling the series "raciest."

The New Normal centers on a gay California couple, Bryan (played by Andrew Rannells) and David (played by David Bartha), whom decide that they want to become parent. They seek out the perfect surrogate - Goldie (played by Georgia King), and they instantly befriend Goldie and her wiser-than-her-age daughter, Shania.

Life seemed to be going great until Gold's overprotected raciest grandmother, Jane Forrest (played by Ellen Barkin) decides to movie to California to disturb them in anyway possible. To make matters worse, Goldie's slacker ex-boyfriend shows up wanting custody of Shania.

The 22 episodes on the 3-disc set are:

Available on DVD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment through Amazon's manufacture on demand (MOD) is Last Man Standing: The Complete First Season and Last Man Standing: The Complete Second Season.

Tim Allen returned to television with the family-sitcom Last Man Standing in 2011. He plays Mike Baxter, the marketing director for the sporting goods store, Outdoor Man, which is owned by  Edward "Ed" Alzate (played by Héctor Elizondo). After spending several years traveling around the world promoting the store and working on the yearly calender, Mike decides to change the store's marketing tactics by vlogging. This also gives him more free time to spend his with wife, Vanessa (played by Nancy Travis) and their three daughters - Kristin, Mandy and Eve. The eldest daughter, Kristen, has a son, Boyd.

Despite premiering to over twelve-million viewers on Tuesday nights, the ratings dropped to half that by the end of the season. The series managed to get picked up for a second season, but with many changes, including the change in showrunner and the move to Friday nights.  Actress Alexandra Krosney, who plays Kristin, was replaced with actress Amanda Fuller. The grandson, Boyd, magically aged three years, now played by Flynn Morrison. Jordan Masterson takes over the role of Boyd's father, Ryan Vogelson. Another major change was the added political tone, in which Mike would bunt heads with Ryan over politics.

The series has maintained decent ratings since moving to Friday nights and will begin its fourth season in the fall. Typically, television shows are released on DVD a few months after a season ends, but for some reason Last Man Standing never received traditional DVD releases, but instead seasons one and two were released through the Amazon's manufacture on demand (MOD).

The episodes featured on the sets are:

Bewitched: Seasons 3 & 4
Starring: Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Agnes Moorehead
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00JPQ1HXO
Running Time: 27 hours 52 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD last week is the Bewitched: Seasons 3 & 4 Combo Pack from Mill Creek Entertainment, featuring 66 hilarious episodes on 6 discs. That's nearly 28 hours our magical entertainment for less than $15!

I believe almost every adult has heard or has seen Bewitched, the longest-running supernatural sitcom, airing from 1964-1972 on ABC and later entering into syndication heaven (currently airing on Antenna TV). The basic plot was simple, Darrin Stephens (played by Dick York) bumps into Samantha (played by Elizabeth Montgomery), they fall in love and quickly tie-the-knot. It is on the wedding night that he learns that she is in fact a witch!

Season 3 starts with a bang (plus, the fact that it is the first episode of the series to be aired in color), as Samantha learns that her daughter, Tabitha, (despite being half-human) has magic abilities; something she would like to keep from Darrin, who later finds out by the second episode of the season. With frequent visits from her mother, Endora (played by Sandra Gould), Aunt Clara and Uncle Arthur, Samantha has more to worry about than just Tabitha's magic activities.

The series added a twist during the 4th season when Samantha takes over the duties of the Queen of the Witches. Meanwhile, Endora tries to babysit, but Tabitha's magic runs amok.

The 66 episodes on the six-disc set are:

I Dream of Jeannie: Seasons 1 & 2
Starring: Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00I099K4K
Running Time: 25 hours and 48 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

Arriving on DVD last month from Mill Creek Entertainment is Seasons One and Two of the classic sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which the seasons can be purchased individually or as a Two Season Combo Pack.

 I Dream of Jeannie aired from 1965 to 1970; producing 139 episodes during its five season run. The series centered on Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson (played by the late Larry Hagman), an astronaut, who stumbles upon a unique bottle when his one-man capsule lands in the South Pacific. He gets a big shock when he opens the bottle and a 2,000-year-old genie, Jeannie (played by Barbara Eden), pops out of it.

In the fairy tales, genies typically gives you three wishes, but that is not the case for Major Nelson, whom is permanently stuck with Jeannie, even though he had wished for her to be free. He returns home in Florida, where he is looking forward to seeing his fiance, a general's daughter. Jeannie is already in love with Major Nelson and is determined to interfere with his relationship. Note: the fiance character was dropped after the pilot.

After the pilot, the series focused on Major Nelson, along with his pal Major Healey, covering up what antics or whatever trouble Jeannie has gotten herself into, in fear that NASA would learn that she is a genie.

The 61 episodes on the six disc set are:

NewsRadio: Seasons 1 & 2
Starring: Dave Foley, Phil Hartman, Khandi Alexander, Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, Joe Rogan, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00I099JUK
Running Time: 10 hours 12 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

Arriving on DVD earlier this month from Mill Creek entertainment is the first and second seasons of the  90s comedy series NewsRadio, starring Dave Foley, Khandi Alexander, Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, Joe Rogan, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis and the late comedian great, Phil Hartman.

The series aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999 with 97 episodes produced over five seasons. It went into syndication for a few years before officially disappearing from the airwaves. However, the complete series made its way on DVD between 2005 to 2008, but all the season sets are now out-of-print. Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights of several Sony Pictures titles, including NewsRadio, in 2013.

NewsRadio is centered on the antics of the office staff of New York City's WNYX radio station, which is owned by Jimmy James (played by Stephen Root). The pilot introduces the new news director, Dave Nelson (played by Dave Foley), who has to fire the current news director on his first day at work. There is an instant chemistry between Dave and the reporter/producer Lisa Miller (played by Maura Tierney), but there is a slight problem - she wanted to be the new news director. Despite the tension between the two, they enter a relationship which they try to hide from the other employees, Bill McNeal (played by Phil Hartman), Beth (played by Vicki Lewis), Matthew Brock (played by Andy Dick), Catherine Duke (played by Khandi Alexander) and Joe Garrelli (played by Joe Rogan).

The episodes on the three disc-set are:

Bewitched: Seasons 1 & 2
Starring: Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Agnes Moorehead
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: January 21, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00GOC74RU
Running Time: 1860 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

It’s hard to believe that the classic television series Bewitched will turn fifty-years-old this fall. Though the series ended in 1972, Samantha Stephens has continued to live on through syndication reruns. Sony Home Entertainment released the series on DVD sets, but most are out-of-print. Luckily, Mill Creek Entertainment struck a deal to distribute Sony Home Entertainment titles to DVD, which one of those titles is Bewitched.

Today, January 21, 2014, the first two seasons of Bewitched were released on DVD, as well as a two season combo pack, which happens to be the one that was sent to me for this review. All 74 episodes from seasons one and two are presented in their original classic black & white presentation, totaling an approx. runtime of 31 hours of bedazzling entertainment for the entire family.

I grew up watching the reruns when I was kid during the late 80s and early 90s, but for some odd reason I can't remember a plot from one single episode, not unless you count the so-so 2005 big-screen version starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman, which I'm afraid to admit I have seen the movie several times. That being said, I was eagerly looking forward to watching a few episodes of the series again.

Like I said, I don't remember the actually plots, but I also don't recall how the series started, where Darrin Stephens (played by Dick York) bumps into Samantha (played by Elizabeth Montgomery). The two quickly tie the knot and then on the wedding night, Darrin learns Samantha is a witch. They don't move into famous Stephens' house until the second episode "Be It Ever So Mortgaged." Darren doesn't meet his mother-in-law, Endora (played by Agnes Moorehead) until the fourth episode titled "Mother Meet What's His Name," though she had been pestering Samantha in the previous episodes for marring a mortal.


The episodes on the six-disc set are:

The Neighbors: The Complete First Season
Starring: Jami Gertz, Lenny Venito, Simon Templeman, Toks Olagundoye, Clara Mamet
Studio: ABC Studios
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Retail: $34.99
ASIN: B00DF3EY06
Running Time: 506 minutes
Rating: TV-PG

Review:

Aliens are in our neighborhood! Well, at least they arrived on DVD back in September with the release of ABC's The Neighbors: The Complete First Season, featuring a gag reel and deleted scenes as the bonus features.

The Neighbors stars Lenny Ventio and Jami Gertz as Mary and Debby Weaver, who, along with their three children (Max, Abby and Amber) move from the big city to a gated community called "Hidden Hills" in New Jersey. Upon arriving they instantly notice the odd behavior of all the neighbors, especially Larry Bird, his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and their two kids, Reggie Jackson and Dick Butkus. At first the Weavers think their new neighbors are crazy, but it turns out they are aliens from another planet.
The episodes on the three-disc set are:

Hearts Afire: The Complete Series
Starring: John Ritter, Markie Post, Billy Bob Thornton
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment:
Release Date: January 8, 2013
ASIN: B00A2XQTF0
MSRP: $29.98
Number of Discs: 7
Running Time: 1410 minutes
Rated: TV-PG

Review:

In the fall of 1992, the late John Ritter (Three's Company) returned to television in the political sitcom Hearts Afire, playing John Hartman, a senator's aid and a recently divorced father of two boys. His life is flipped upside down when a down-on-her-luck journalist Georgie Anne Lahti (played by Night Court's Markie Post) walks into his office looking for a job and ends up staying at his house. Sparks fly between the two and they eventually tie the knot before the end of the first season. The second season changed the series setting from Washington D.C. to John's southern home town, where they buy a local newspaper office.

Billy Bob Thornton costarred for the entire series' run as Billy Bob Davis. Two and a Half Men's Conchata Ferrell joined the cast during the second season as Dr. Madeline Stoessinger; although she did play another character during the first season for two episodes. 

Mill Creek Entertainment has recently released the complete series with special features that includes bloopers and outtakes.

The episodes are: