THE EPITAPH VOL. 88 - TV EDITION!
TED: SEASON ONE (2024) - CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: THE COMPLETE SERIES (2000-2024) - I LOVE LUCY (1951-1960) - HOUSE OF THE DRAGON: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2024)
TED: SEASON ONE (2024)
2-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: UPHE
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 284 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Seth MacFarlane, Max Burkholder, Scott Grimes, Alanna Ubach, Georgia Whigham
This Peacock streaming series is a prequel to the Ted (2012) film, a fantasy-comedy series about a teddy bear named Ted (again voiced by Seth McFarlane) that has come to life Pinocchio style, living with teenager John (Max Burkholder, The Purge), parents Susan (Alanna Ubach, Waiting...) and very conservative 'Nam vet dad Matty (Scott Grimes, Critters) and John’s cool cousin Blaire (Giorgia Whigham, Netflix's The Punisher) in Massachusetts in the '90s, taking place after Ted's initial bout with fame he's now enrolled at highschool with his "thunder buddy" John, and embarking on some fun adventures along the line of That '70s Show. There are seven episodes, we have Ted and John discovering weed and porn, dealing with bullies and girls, a Halloween episode, dealing with sexuality and all the usual sitcom stuff you'd expect, and the period setting is a lot of fun and nostalgic for me, loved the video store stuff. If you like the movie you're probably gonna love this prequel series, I chuckled out loud quite a bit watching it, it's definitely an R-rated series with foul-mouthed humor and non-PC conversations and situations. The 2-disc set is bereft of any extras at all but looks rock solid in HD with uncompressed audio. The 2-disc release arrives in a dual-hub keepcase with a 2-sided wrap featuring an episode synopsis on the reverse side.
Special Features:
- None
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: THE COMPLETE SERIES (2000-2024) 24-Disc DVD Set
Label: WBDHE
Region Code: 1
Rating: TV-MA
Duration: 3600 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1), Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Larry David,Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Cheryl Hines, J.B. Smoove, Richard Lewis, Ted Danson, Vince Vaughn, Tracey Ullman
For the first time ever, all 120-episodes from HBO’s award-winning original series Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series are collected on a 24-disc DVD set. Curb Your Enthusiasm is easily one of my favorite shows of all-time, in it Seinfeld co-creator Larry David plays an only slightly over-the-top version of himself as he navigates through his unnecessarily difficult day-to-day life in L.A. with his manager Jeff Garlin and a cast of characters that includes Susie Essman (as Jeff’s wife Susie), Cheryl Hines (as Larry’s wife and then adversarial ex-wife Cheryl), JB Smoove (as Larry's housemate and co-adventurer Leon), and the late-great comedian Richard Lewis and Ted Danson as his longtime, but much put upon friends. Every season of teh improvisational comedy series is a stone-cold gut-buster with Larry usually finding himself in hot water for myriad of reasons that expose his own characters flaws, often triggered the perceived slights of others, all of them making me laugh and cringe at the same time, and for that I love the show. As where Seinfeld was a show about nothing I think Curb Your Enthusiasm has always been a show about an acerbic but oddly likable asshole who doesn't quite realize what an asshole he actually is, and that's comedy gold. Sadly no HD upgrade for this one yet, but this set carries over all the previous extras from the stand alone DVD sets. If you've never seen this show I am so jealous that you get to experience it for the first time, check it out, if you're a Seinfeld fan you will not be disappointed. The 24-disc set arrives in a high-volume Epik-Pak case with some stacked discs which I don't love, especially for scratch prone DVDs. The wrap is 2-sided with an episode and special features listing on the reverse side. The first-pressing at least features a a side-loading slipbox with he same artwork as the wrap.
Special Features:
- Larry's Favorite Episodes
- Larry-isms
- Larry's Favorite Episodes
- Larry-isms
- The Seinfeld Reunion: It Could Only Happen on Curb Your Enthusiasm
Buy it!
#ad
I LOVE LUCY (1951-1960)
33-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: CBS/Paramount
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 5397 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen
Cast: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Richard Keith
.jpg)
I grew-up watching re-runs of I love Lucy as a kid, from when I was still in my early singe-digits I remember watching Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz on TV making me laugh with their brand of marital situational comedy, it was something I watched as often as I watched The Three Stooges and The Honeymooners re-runs which seemed to be on TV all the time in the late-70's early '80s. This set offers all the episodes, all 194, including classic stuff like "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" wherein she becomes a spokesperson for a new health tonic, the hilarious "Job Switching" with Lucy run amuck in a candy factory, "In Palm Springs" with Lucy and her bestie Ethel (Vivian Vance) vacationing in Palm Springs and run into heartthrob Rock Hudson, "Ricky Needs an Agent" with Ball hatching a scheme which has her masquerading as her husband's agent with disastrous results, and the late season episode "Lucy and Superman" wherein she meets the original Superman George Reeves, which as a kid I thought was so cool. The zany redhead's hilarious schemes are still a hoot, and the neighborly comic foils of Ethel and Fred Mertz are integral to the show's success. his 33-disc collection contains all the classic episodes from the six seasons of "I Love Lucy" (1951-1957) plus the iconic remastered "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour "(1957-1960), collected in a high-volume Epik-Pak keepcase with some stacked discs. This set also features loads of extras on every dang disc, including a newly colorized and never-before-released "Lucy and the Loving Cup" episode, but it does not carry over all the extras from the previous DVD set, it is missing some of the bonus DVD disc content such as the colorized "Lucy Goes to Scotland", from what I have read. I have never previously owned the show on any physical media format, so the crisp new remasters presented in HD were quite pleasing to my eyes, and if you're a classic TV comedy fan this is a must-own slice of nostalgia that is sure to tickle your funny-bone time and time again.
Special Features:
- NEW! Newly colorized (and never-before-released) "Lucy and the Loving Cup" episode
- NEW! "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" has been remastered, with long-missing footage restored, and presented here as "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show," as originally broadcast (1957-1960), including original cast commercials
- NEW! Original opening and closing credits — and many original cast commercials — have been remastered
- NEW! Three long-lost "flashback" scenes, originally used to introduce selected repeat episodes, have been remastered
- NEW! A portion of 1959 CBS fall preview special, "Eye on CBS," featuring Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance, is presented for the first time on home video
- Original I Love Lucy Pilot – Remastered from original 35mm kinescope
- I Love Lucy: The Movie
- Audio Commentaries on Select Episodes
- Lucy on The Radio Broadcasts
Flubs
- Slide Show – For Seasons 1 & 2
- Cast Bios – For Seasons 1 & 2
- Photo Galleries – For Seasons 1 & 2
- Production Notes – For Seasons 1 & 2
Buy it!
Moviezyng - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
#ad
.jpg)
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON:
THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
(2024) Label: WBDHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating:
Duration: 480 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) , French 5.1 Dolby Digital with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision (HDR) 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.00:1)
Cast: Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Matthew Needham, Sonoya Mizuno, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewan Mitchell, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall
House of the Dragon: The Complete Second Season (2024) arrives in 5-disc 4K Ultra HD set, the show of course is based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, this prequel series set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” and it tells the story of House Targaryen. Following King Aegon II’s coronation and the death of Queen Rhaenyra’s son, House Targaryen is divided in two. In King’s Landing, Aegon II rules from the Iron Throne, supported by Alicent and the Green Council, under the protection of the largest dragon in Westeros. From exile on Dragonstone, Queen Rhaenyra and her Black Council consider their next move. Civil war looms as both sides seek support from the great houses of Westeros, ultimately amassing armies — and dragons. I thought season one was a bit mid to be honest, but season two is a return to form, recalling classic seasons of GOT, with some truly awe-inspiring dragon effects and aerial battles that had me absolutely giddy, the deep palace intrigue, terrific cast and performances, and twist and turns had me rapt. The two characters this season taht most intrigued me were Matt Smith as King Consort Daemon Targaryen, his stay at Harrenhal which seems to be haunted stirs him deeply, his character arc has been fascinating, likewise Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen is so deliciously devious and flawed, it's terrific stuff, and I love Rhaenyra's quest to find low-born bastard's to become dragon riders when she suffers several key losses. This alongside season two of The Rings of Power were my two favorite fantasy series this year, and the 4K Ultra HD presentation is head and shoulders above the streaming versions on Max, with superior color and deep more nuanced blacks, and the Atmos audio is stunning. The 4-disc set arrives in black keepcase with 2-flipper trays housing the discs. This set also comes with 8 Art Cards housed in a cardboard envelope, that sits atop the keepcase, both of which slide into a O-card. I don't care for this style of packaging, the keepcase and envelope slip around each other and the slipcover is ill-fitting, which almost guarantees that the slip with get crushed either during shipping or while handling, but thankfully I am not OCD about slipcovers, but if you are be forewarned. Also tucked away inside is a 2-page booklet with an episode listing/synopsis and a list of the special features.
Special Features:
- Extended The House that Dragons Built - Inside the Episode for all 8 Episodes
- Family Tree (5:12)
- Divided Kingdoms (9:05)
- 8 Art Cards
- Slipcover
Buy it!
#ad