$14.98; 9 hrs 58 mins; Buy Link: Amazon

I'm sure there are many television series that we liked, but were quickly for canceled. Luckily, many of these titles are now available on DVD.

The short-lived "Legend" that air on the UPN in 1995 and was released on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment last month, featuring all 12 episodes.

The series started Richard Dean Anderson, who at the time just ended his run as MacGyver, and John de Lance ("Q" from Star Trek: The Next Generation). Anderson played Ernest Pratt, a dime-store novelist who gets dragged to small town, where someone has been impersonating his fictional character, "Nicodemus Legend."

Upon arriving he quickly learns that Janos Bartok, an European scientist/inventor (played by John de Lance), has been using "Nicodemus Legend" to help save the townsfolk of Sheridan, Colorado. Ernest stays around to help, but had all intentions of leaving immediately. However, he had been suffering from writer's block prior to meeting Janos, and decides the best way to come up with new adventures is to actually experience them.

Episodes on the two-disc set are:

Product Description:

From executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett comes A.D. The Bible Continues the spectacular 12-part series that picks up where The Bible left off. This powerful spiritual journey begins with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, chronicling the heroic acts and sacrifices of His early followers during the most tumultuous of times as they change the course of human history. Featuring an extraordinary international cast, thrilling action and astonishing visual effects, A.D. The Bible Continues is an epic story for the ages...and inspiring entertainment for everyone. 


Billy's Thoughts:

I'm sure many horror fans (me included) will be watching the season premiere of The Walking Dead this Sunday. And a few others will be patently waiting for Halloween Night for the first episode of Ash vs Evil Dead (which also includes me). I guess you can say that I like any television series that has a horror theme. Yes, that even means that I watched the short-lived Witches of East End!

I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard of the series before since in it aired on Lifetime. It loosely based on the books by by Melissa de la Cruz. The series debuted in the fall in 2013 and centered on Joanna Beauchamp (played by Julia Ormond) & her two daughters, Ingrid (played by Rachel Boston) and Freya (played by Jenna Dewan Tatum). Their lives are turned upside down when Joanna's sister Wendy (played by Mädchen Amick) arrives and forces Joanna to tell the girls the truth that they're immortal witches from Asgard.

Plus, a curse was played on Joanna and Wendy years ago. Wendy was cursed with nine lives, the ability to turn into a black cat and every time that she dies, she comes back to life within hours. Joanna was cursed with seeing her daughters die in their twenties and immediately becomes pregnant with them again. This cycle is repeated over and over, to the point where she had hid the girls' heritage from them.
 
The first season was basically a cheesy soap opera with love triangles, silly plots and so-so acting, but for some strange reason I still watched it. Oh, wait, it probably has to do with the fact that the all the actresses gorgeous.

Anyway, Season two debuted in the summer of 2014 with little advertisement from Lifetime. The first episode picks up shortly after the season one's finale, which showed what happens to Killian Gardiner (played by Daniel Di Tomasso). Meanwhile, his brother Dash (played Eric Winter) is experimenting with his new-found powers. Who are these guys? Well, Dash is Freya's ex-fiance and Killan is her soul mate. Remember, I said this was like a soap opera!

The Last Man On Earth:  The Complete First Season
Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Schaal
Studio: 20th Century Fox Entertainment
Release Date: September 22, 2015
Retail: $37.29
ASIN: B012D2WIDE
Running Time: 282 minutes
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:
  
Now available to own on DVD is Fox's hit comedy series The Last Man On Earth starring comedians Will Forte and Kristen Schaal. Special Features includes a Commentary on The Elephant in the Room, Commentary on Screw the Moon, Survival of the Funniest: Creating The Last Man on Earth, The Last Man On Earth Q&A Panel, Deleted Scenes and a Gag Reel.

Set in the year 2020, one whole year after a deadly virus wiped out humanity, the last man on Earth is Phil Miller (played Will Forte), a man who spent months traveling across the USA, Canada and Mexico looking for survivors. Through his travels he left messages on road signs stating that he is alive in Tucson, Arizona, his hometown.

Phil finds a nice house in Tucson and moves in. He spends his days drinking tequila from a kiddie pool (which he also bathes in), setting things on fire and hanging out with his buddies, whom are all sports balls with faces painted on them.


Eventually the loneliness gets to him and he plans on committing suicide, but out of nowhere he finds the last woman on Earth - Carol Andrew Pilbasian (played by Kristen Schaal), a very annoying
woman from Delaware. She had saw the messages that Phil had left on the road signs and came to Tucson looking for him. She is determined that they should get married and repopulate the Earth. At first Phil nothing wants to do with Carol, even though she moves in next door to him, but eventually he agrees to marry her.

 
Sleepy Hollow: The Complete Second Season
Cast: Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Retail: $49.99
ASIN: B00O4CTSD0
Running Time: 789 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available to own fromm 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray is Sleepy Hollow: The Complete Second Season. Special Features on the four-disc set are Mysteries & Mythology: The Secrets of Season Two, Monsters & Mayhem: The Creatures of Season Two, Hollow History, A Salute of Sleepyheads, deleted scenes, gag reel and commentary on select episodes.

Based on the classic short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, Sleepy Hollow debuted on Fox in September 2013 and won over both critics. It centered on Ichabod Crane (played by Tom Mison) being put under a sleeping spell for 230 years and he awakens in the year 2013. The Headless Horseman (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) has also returned and once again swings his ax in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod quickly befriends Police Lt. Abbie Mills (played by Nicole Beharie), who witnessed the beheading of Sheriff August Corbin by the Headless Horseman. The two work together to stop the upcoming apocalypse.

Season two had a longer season with a total of 18 episodes, but somehow got off course with critics and fans. The first episode, This Is War, picks up exactly where the season one finale left off, with Ichabod buried alive while his wife Katrina (played by Katia Winter) has been kidnapped by the Headless Horseman and Abbie is stuck in purgatory. Of course Ichabod quickly escapes his doom and eventually saves Abbie by the end of the episode. Unfortunately, Katrina is in the hands of the Headless Horseman and her evil son (played by John Noble) for most of the season. All this leads to a final confrontation in the year 1781.
The episodes include:

From Dusk Till Dawn: Season One
Starring: D.J. Cotrona Zane Holtz, Eiza Gonzalez, Jesse Garcia, Madison Davenport, Brandon Soo Hoo, Wilmer Valderrama, Robert Patrick, Don Johnson
Studio: Entertainment One
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Retail: $39.98
ASIN: B00KYL80SO
Running Time: 452 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Before George Clooney suited up as the Dark Knight in the godawful Batman & Robin and before he started winning Oscars, he played in the cult 1996 horror flick From Dusk Till Dawn. The film was directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino, who also co-stars. While receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics, the film barely made back it's budget while in theaters, tough it did do better in rentals. Three years later a direct-to-video sequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money was released, but was criticized for the horrible plot. A year later a prequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, was released direct-to-video, though it was better than Texas Blood Money, the film put the final nail into the coffin for the franchise. That is until rumors of a fourth film surfaced on the internet in 2010, but the film seemed to be abandoned when From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series premiered on the El Rey Network earlier this year, a channel created by Robert Rodriguez.

Instead of picking up where the movies left off, the series is a complete reboot of the original movie with D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz taking over the roles of the deadly Gecko brothers, whom have just killed four Texas Rangers during a bank robbery. Texas Ranger Earl McGraw (played by Don Johnson) stops by Benny's World of Liquor, but he was unaware that the Gecko brothers are also there. After a long standoff, McGraw is killed and the Gecko brothers escape, but McGraw's apprentice, Freddie Gonzalez (played by Jesse Garcia ) vows to avenge his death.

With the law not too far behind them, Seth Gecko is worried about his brother, Richie, who sees a little unbalanced, especially when Richie claims a beautiful woman appears to him, telling him to kill. They have no other choice, but to kidnap the former pastor Jacob Fuller (played by Robert Patrick), his daughter Katie (played by Madison Davenport) and his adopted son Scott (played by Brandon Soo Hoo), whom are traveling in an RV to Mexico. This is the only way Seth and Richie can get across the border where they are to meet their partner in crime Cartel boss Don Carlos (played by Wilmer Valderrama) at the Titty Twister bar, but what is waiting for them is a group of hungry vampires.

Nashville: The Complete Second Season
Starring: Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere
Studio: ABC Studios
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Retail: $45.99
ASIN: B00FR23MT2
Running Time: 948 minutes
Rating: TV-PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving today on DVD is Nashville: The Complete Second Season, featuring all 22 episodes. Bonus Features include: Nashville: On The Record Music Special, bloopers and deleted scenes.

Season 2 picks up directly after the cliffhanger-ending of Season 1. Rayna Jaymes (played by Connie Britton) is left in a medically induced coma after being in the car accident with Deacon Clayborne (played by Charles Esten), who takes the blame for being behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, Scarlett O'Connor (played by Clare Bowen) rejects Gunnar Scott's (played by Sam Palladio) proposal and moves out of their apartment. She moves in with her childhood best-friend, Zoey Dalton (played by Chaley Rose), who recently moved to Nashville and later starts dating Gunnar.

Upcoming country-singer, Will Lexington (played by Chris Carmack), becomes Gunnar's new roommate. Though Will is gay, he begins a relationship with Layla Grant (played by Aubrey Peeples) to help his reputation.

Still grieving over her mother's death, Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere) becomes obsessed with changing her image from teen singer to a serious adult country-singer, which doesn't go well with Edgehill's new CEO, Jeff Fordham (played by Oliver Hudson).

 The episodes on the five-disc set are:

TV Guide Spotlight: TV's Spookiest Halloween Episodes
Starring: Elizabeth Montgomery, Barbara Eden, Sherman Hemsley, Sarah Jessica Parker, Roseanne
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Retail: $9.98
ASIN: B00LU4URPI
Running Time: 5 hours 23 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

With just over 38 days until Halloween, it is no surprise that studios will be releasing gobs of horror films and Halloween themed DVDs this time of year. Last week, Mill Creek Entertainment released the DVD, titled TV Guide Spotlight: TV's Spookiest Halloween Episodes. The single-disc DVD features 14 episodes from  13 classic television shows.

The episodes are:

Bewitched (Season 4 - Episode 8) - Safe and Sane Halloween
I Dream of Jeannie (Season 3 - Episode 21) - My Master, the Ghost Breaker
The Jeffersons (Season 6 - Episode 4) - Now You See It, Now You Don't Part 1 & 2
Square Pegs (Season 1- Episode 5) - Halloween XII
The Facts of Life (Season 5 - Episode 6) - Halloween
The Cosby Show (Season 2 - Episode 6) - Halloween
Roseanne (Season 2 - Episode 7) - Boo!
Mad About You (Season 2 - Episode 6) - An Unplanned Child
Married With Children (Season 8 - Episode 7) - Take My Wife, Please
NewsRadio (Season 3 - Episode 7) - Halloween
Ned And Stacey (Season 1 - Episode 8) - Halloween Story
3rd Rock From The Sun (Season 3 - Episode 5) - Scaredy Dick
That '70s Show (Season 2 - Episode 5) - Halloween

Castle: The Complete Sixth Season
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Seamus Dever, Jon Huertas, Tamala Jones, Molly Quinn, Susan Sullivan
Studio: ABC Studios
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Retail: $45.99
ASIN: B00FR23QNE
Running Time: 984 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD on Tuesday September 16, 2014 from ABC Studios is Castle: The Complete Sixth Season, featuring all 23 episodes. Bonus Features include: A Few of Our Favorite Things - Cast and crew reveal their favorite Castle moments of the past six seasons, including an unaired "Caskett" highlight from the Season 4 finale. Plus fan Favorites in every category; On Location With Stana - Stana Katic shares insights into her creative process and reflects on the character she portrays, in this intimate diary of a day on set during the season finale; Audio Commentaries - Including character commentary with Detectives Ryan and Esposito; Castle Karaoke - Detective Ryan gets his groove on in this never-before-seen extended karaoke performance; Bloopers and Deleted Scenes.

Season 6 further develops Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion) and Kate Beckett's (played by Stana Katic) romance with their engagement, despite the fact that Beckett accept a job working for the Attorney General's office in Washington D.C., well only for the the first three episodes of the season before she returns to her duties as a New York homicide detective.


Castle's daughter, Alexa (played by Moly Quinn), returns from her vacation overseas and she brings back a boyfriend, Pi, which Castle doesn't take the news very well, resulting in Alexa moving into her own apartment. Meanwhile, Castle's estranged father (played by guest-star Josh Brolin) returns, only to bring danger to his family. Beckett finally takes the down the man responsible for her mother's death. All of this leads to the shocking cliffhanger in "For Better or Worse," which will be resolved in the seventh season premiere on Monday September 29th!

The 23 episodes on the five-disc set are:

Prisoners Of War: Season Two
Starring: Gal Zaid, Yael Eitan
Studio: Shout Factory!
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Retail: $29.83
ASIN: B00KTFJ6VK
Running Time: 715 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available to own on DVD for the first time in the United States is Prisoners Of War: Season Two, featuring all 14 episodes from the exciting second season. Bonus Features include an Introduction by Gideon Raff, Cast Interviews and Episode Commentaries with Creator Gideon Raff & Director Of Photography Itai Neeman.

Prisoners Of War first premiered in 2010 and has consistently been the number one drama in Israel over the course of two seasons. A third season is being planned. The series inspired Showtime's Emmy-award winning Homeland.

The second season picks up a few days after the events of season one with the discovery that Amiel Ben Horin, now know as "Yussuf," is still alive and he has been living as a Muslim in Syria. The biggest question is: "Has Ameil been turned into a terrorist?" Meanwhile, Uri and Nimrod struggle to pick up their lives after returning home. 

The episodes on the four-disc set are:

The Killing: The Complete Third Season
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Elias Koteas, Hugh Dillon, Amy Seimetz, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Julia Sarah Stone, Max Fowler, Peter Sarsgaard Mireille Enos
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Retail: $29.95
ASIN: B00KHA99BY
Running Time: 528 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Not since the original Star Trek has a television series been canceled as many times as The Killing. Based on the the Danish television series Forbrydelsen, The Killing debuted on AMC in the Spring of 2011 and despite acclaimed reviews from critics, the series was barely renewed for a second season, which aired the following spring. After a drop in ratings, the series was canceled - or so it seemed to be. 20th Century Fox made a deal for the series to air new episodes on AMC just before they aired on NetFlix. Ratings stayed the same and once again the series was canceled for a second time, well that is until NetFlix picked the series up for a fourth and final season, which just ended its run last month.

The third season finally arrived on DVD this summer, but only through Amazon's Video on Demand service. I recall requesting to review The Killing: The Complete Third Season along with seven other 20th Century Fox Home Enterainment television series back in early May. Most the of the release dates came and went. I had forgotten about the titles until I received a box out of the blue in July with all the titles. I just finished watching The Killing DVD a few days ago.

Season three takes place one year after the Rosie Larsen case was closed. Homicide detective Stephen Holder (played by Joel Kinnaman) seeks the help of his ex-partner Sarah Linden (played by Mireille Enos), who had stepped down from being a detective after the conclusion of the Rose Larsen case and is now working as a Transit Authority employee. While investigating the death of a runaway girl, Holder and his new partner Carl Reddick link the girl's death to a past murder that was originally investigated by Linden. 


The 12 episodes on the 3-disc set are:

The Glades: The Complete Fourth Season
Starring: Kiele Sanchez, Carlos Gómez, Michelle Hurd, Uriah Shelton, Jordan Wall, Matt Passmore
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 3, 2013
Retail: $29.95
ISBN: B00KHA9BQ2
Running Time: 572 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Fans of A&E's Longmire are grieving over this week's cancellation. A similar situation occurred with another A&E series, titled The Glades, when it was canceled after four successful series, ending the series with a cliffhanger. Fans were shocked as the fourth season did better in ratings than the previous season did. At least fans can re-watch the final episodes with the this summer's Amazon VOD release of The Glades: The Complete Fourth Season.

Matt Passmore returns as Jim Longworth, a Florida detective, who investigates oddball cases, from gypsies to rum-soaked shot girls to haunted plantations and even zombies. While he works on each case, he must also deal with major dramas from his family and friends; not to mention whether or not Callie will ever accept his marriage proposal.

The episodes on the three-disc set are:

Wilfred: The Complete Third Season
Starring: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann, Dorian Brown
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Retail: $29.95
ASIN: B00L9IJF8A
Running Time: 286 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD over the summer is FXX's Wilfred: The Complete Third Season, which is made available for fans through the Amazon VOD service. It is the American version based on Australian TV series of the same name that also starred Jason Gann as Wilfred. There are no extras or special features on the two-disc set.

Yes, the series came to an end last month, but the fans can still enjoy the 13 episode third season, in which Ryan (played by Elijah Wood) is still seeing the man-like-dog (payed by Jason Gann) that belongs to his neighbor, Jenna Mueller (played by Jenna Mueller).

Poor Ryan starts to question his sanity as Wilfred continues to make his life a living hell. He decides to search for Wilfred's first owner to seek out why the dog is talking to him. Their friendship is put to the test when Wilfred befriends the mailman. Things take a twisted turn when Jenna forbids Ryan from hanging out with Wilfred.

The episodes on the two-disc set are:

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:

Prisoners Of War: Season One
Starring: Yoram Toledano, Ishai Golan, Assi Cohen, Mili Avital. Yael Abecassis, Adi Ezroni, Hadar Ratzon-Rotem, Salim Dau
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Retail: $29.93
ASIN: B00JJOY44G
Running Time: 500 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

While the political thriller Homeland airing on Showtime has become a ratings hit and has won many awards, probably very few of you are aware that it is based on the Israeli television drama, Prisoners of War. The series premiered in 2010 and the series' creator Gideon Raff plans on making a third season. The first two seasons has been available on Hulu, but it will be arriving on DVD for the first time in United States on Tuesday, July 8, 2014, from Shout! Factory. Bonus features include An Open Wound: Making Prisoners of War and episode commentaries with creator Gideon Raff and director of photography Itai Neeman.

Prisoners of War: Season One centers on three Israeli soldiers returning home after spending the last 17 years in captivity. Nimrod Klein and Uri Zach return to their families alive, while Amiel Ben-Horin returns in a coffin. Much of the first season shows Nimrod and Uri trying to adjust to society, which the nation considers them heroes, and renters their wives' and children's lives, which isn't easy as their families have moved on. To make matters worse, the military suspects that they are hiding something.

Episodes on the three-disc set 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:

Witches Of East End: The Complete First Season
Starring: Julia Ormond, Mädchen Amick, Rachel Boston, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Daniel Di Tomasso, Eric Winter
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Retail: $29.98
ASIN: B00JF5GAZA
Running Time: 431 minutes
Rating: TV-14

Review:

Arriving on DVD yesterday is the supernatural Lifetime series, Witches Of East End: The First Complete Season, based on the popular book franchise by Melissa de la Cruz. Special Features include Falling Under Their Spell, deleted scenes, gag reel and cat bloopers.

The series centers around Joanna Beauchamp (played by Julia Ormond), a single mother raising her two twenty-something daughters, Freya Beauchamp (played by Jenna Dewan Tatum) and Ingrid Beauchamp (played by Rachel Boston). Ingrid works at a library, while Freya works as a bartender at The Bent Elbow and is engaged to the handsome and wealthy Dash Gardiner (played by Eric Winter). After the surprise arrival of Joannas long-estranged sister, Wendy Beauchamp (played by Mädchen Amick), Freya and Ingrid learn a startling family secret - they are actually witches!

Joanna and Wendy were both banished by their father from the magical world of Asgard. A curse was put on Joanna, where she must watch her daughters die at a young age. After their deaths, she becomes magically pregnant again with Ingrid and later with Freya. She watches them grow up with their witchcraft heritage, which eventually leads to their deaths, over and over again. Finally, Joanna came to the decision not to tell her daughters about their witchcraft abilities, but there is an evil entity that is out for blood and she has no choice but to let the girls embrace their family's magical legacy.

The ten episodes on the 3-disc set are:

The Bridge: The Complete Season One
Starring: Diane Kruger, Demián Bichir, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright, Ted Levine
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Retail: $39.98
ASIN: B00ECHBSP8
Running Time: 590 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

Arriving on DVD yesterday is the Peabody Award-Winning FX series The Bridge: The Complete Season One. Special Features include Building The Bridge, Ciudad Juarez: The Other Side Of The Bridge With Damien Cave, deleted scenes and an audio commentary on the pilot episode.

Based on the 2011 Danish/Swedish TV series of the same name, the American version centers on a deceased body of Judge Lorraine Gates that is found on the bridge that is located between El Paso, Texas and Mexico. There is one little problem, the bottom torso belongs to Mexican Cristina Fuentes. El Paso Detective Sonya Cross (played by Diane Kruger) joins forces with Chihuahua Detective Marco Ruiz (played  by Demián Bichir) to investigate the murders.

Are these random killings? Or is there a serial killer on the loose?

These questions are quickly answered when reporter Daniel Frye (played by Matthew Lillard) sits in his car and finds a bomb ticking inside. Though the bomb was more of a test than anything else, it is clear that the killer somehow knows Daniel Frye.

Meanwhile, a loner Steven Linder (played by Thomas M. Wright) helps women that are being abused in Mexico by bringing (or sometimes kidnapping them) to a mobile home, followed by a safe house. Elsewhere, Charlotte Millwright (played by Annabeth Gish) is struggling with the recent death of her husband and the secret that he had kept from her - the tunnel underneath an old house that leads to Mexico.

The Facts of Life: Seasons 1 & 2
Starring: Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohen, Nancy McKeon
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: May 20th, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00IJZW4KW
Running Time: 706 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

Arriving on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment last month is the Season One and Season of Two of sitcom The Facts of Life, available in individual season sets or 2-Season Combo Pack featuring all 29-episodes.

Spinning-off from NBC's Diff'rent Strokes, the series originally had housekeeper Mrs. Edna Garrett (played by Charlotte Rae) becoming a housemother to the private all-girls school, Eastland School, where Kimberly Drummond (played by Dana Plato) attended in the Diff'rent Strokes in the first season finale (The Girl's School). Though she appeared in the first official episode (Rough Housing), Kimberly was dropped from there series, Mrs. Garrett stayed on as a housekeeper to teenagers to Blair Warner (played by Lisa Whelchel), Molly Parker (played by Molly Ringwald), Natalie Green (played by Mindy Cohen), Cindy Webster (played by Julie Anne Haddock), Nancy Olsen (played by Felice Schacter), Sue Ann Weaver (played by Julie Piekarski) and Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey (played by Kim Fields).

The first season was rocky, airing only four episodes in the late summer of '79, six episodes in the spring of '80 and two episodes in the summer of '80. Ratings weren't great, but it somehow received a 16-episode second season order, but with major changes. Molly, Cindy, Nancy and Sue Ann was reduced to recurring background characters. Mrs. Garrett was upgraded to the school's dietitian. The first episode of the second introduced the new student, Jo Polniaczek (played by Nancy McKeon), a tough girl who drags Blair, Natalie and Tootie out to a bar, leading to their suspension from the school that is until Mrs. Garret agrees to be responsible for them. The four girls leave their dorm rooms and move into the storage room across from Mr. Garret's bedroom.

The changes in the series boosted the ratings incredibly, lasting 201 episodes and two television movies over the course eight seasons. Plus, there was a post-reunion television movie in 2001, minus actress Nancy McKeon.