DVD REVIEW: OLIVER’S BOX SET ORGY OF GOODNESS

A comedy great’s last hurrah.

The Humans

John Ritter, Katey Sagal, Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson, Martin Spanjers.

The Nutshell

John Ritter (in his last major TV role) plays Paul Hennessy, a father of three who has two dating-age daughters that he has a few rules for for dating. Toss in a weirdo son that and his wife (Katey Sagal), and the makings for a fairly ordinary sitcom abound.

The Lowdown

There were few celebrity deaths that truly hit me like a kick to the beans. John Ritter was one of those. I think any of us would be hard pressed to find a more gifted physical comedian in the last 30 years of TV than Ritter, who was the cornerstone of the “how-the-hell-did-they-keep-that-one-note-premise-going-for-seven- years” sitcom Three’s Company, a show that I grew up enjoying. I’ve always liked Ritter’s work, even during those stretches when he couldn’t find an adequate vehicle for his talents. But here’s a guy that managed to survive in TV for the better part of four decades and anybody that can pull that off in this day and age deserves respect.

That career was rounded out by his role as Paul Hennessy on 8 Simple Rules…For Dating My Teenage Daughter. Admittedly, this wasn’t any stretch of Ritter’s talents, playing a sitcom dad who has to deal with having a hot daughter (Kaley Cuoco) who’s proving to be a handful when she starts dating, another daughter in the dating bullpen (Amy Davidson), and an obnoxious son (Martin Spanjers). But, along with Katey Sagal (looking pretty damn good here), he was back in his element in a show that was doing reasonably well and was considered somewhat of a career comeback for Ritter.

Upon inspection, 8 Simple Rules wasn’t any groundbreaking concept sitcom-wise, but let’s be honest, what is these days? Ritter as Hennessy was a house-husband sportswriter and Sagal was his wife who decided to re-enter the workforce. While trying to raise his kids, Hennessy frequently found himself in sitcomesque dilemmas, such as warding off unsuitable suitors for his daughter, Bridget, trying to keep his middle daughter happy when she would freak out about boys or animals (that was her schtick) and a weirdo son who liked to hide in his sisters’ closet. Season 1 episodes included “Wall of Shame”, where Paul is trying to watch his beloved Wolverines battle Ohio State when Bridget is busted for shoplifting. “Son-In-Law” found Paul letting Bridget do whatever she wanted when she started dating the basketball player son of one of Paul’s sports heroes (Terry Bradshaw). And “Come And Knock On Our Door” revisits Three’s Company, down to the set itself, as Paul has a dream that he’s a bachelor living with two daughters. And the season finale, “Sort of an Officer and a Gentleman” has Cybill Shepherd guest starring as Cate’s sister, Maggie, with whom Cate has a long history of sibling rivalry.

Although he’s got too much time on his hands, at least Mr. T
ain’t vegging on a couch somewhere…although that might be advisable.

The Humans

Mr. T, a bunch of people who don’t watch Dr. Phil.

The Nutshell

Mr. T is a traveling motivational speaker out to improve people’s lives by scaring them to death.

The Lowdown

Another TV personality that I grew up watching, Mr. T, is back after both career and life struggles (battling cancer for one), and he takes a break from 1-800-Collect commercials long enough to do this series about becoming a badass self-help guru who seeks to help ordinary people in real-life situations improve their lives. Having gained fame for his turns as the greatest villain in the Rocky series, Clubber Lang, and the ass-kicking, gadget making and no-target-hitting mercenary B.A Baracus in the ‘80s most stupidly fun actioner A-Team, as well as being Hulk Hogan’s tag team partner for Wrestlmania 1, ole T. hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire career wise. But back in the day, I would watch damn near anything he was in, including his ‘80s gymnastics cartoon with the catchy theme song. You have an outspoken, muscle-bound brother with a Mohawk and enough gold to feed Eastern Africa for a year, what’s not to love?

Since the ‘80s came and went however, Mr. T has been searching for that career boost and struggling to not end up on the next season of The Surreal Life. That supposed career boost is in the form of I Pity The Fool, where Mr. T puts his never-say-die life motto to use to kick people’s asses into improving their lives, their job situations and the like. This first (and possibly only) season contained six episodes and every episode has a theme: Motivation, Unity, Leadership, Trust, Respect, Communication. In each episode, Mr. T has to deal with people who are stuck in ruts, or confrontational or down on themselves, and he has to being a little “T-factor” to their lives (i.e. get them off their asses or set them straight) and he usually makes his entrance by jogging to his next destination in his red Six Million Dollar Man-style jumpsuit.

It’s what Batman would be if he were a duck with an ego complex.

The Humans

Drake Mallard / Darkwing Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Gosalyn, Herb Muddlefoot, NegaDuck, Megavolt.

The Nutshell

Darkwing Duck is the terror that flaps in the night, he’s the…ah hell, you know the rest.

The Lowdown

Back in the day, I was watching a fun little cartoon that I was probably a little too old for at the time: DuckTales. Although it was probably made for kids half my age back then, I found the show to be fairly entertaining and caught it on a regular basis. DuckTales then featured a spinoff about a bumbling, Batman-influenced superhero quacker named Darkwing Duck. Darkwing Duck was really Drake Mallard, mild mannered adoptive father of his young charge, Gosalyn, who is also privy to his secret identity. Only she and Darkwing’s sidekick, Launchpad McQuack, know who Darkwing Duck really is and Launchpad is the direct link to DuckTales as he was a regular cast member, although his personality was slightly changed for his transition to this show.

Darkwing Duck is an amiable enough cartoon, featuring the title character bumble his way through his many adventures, but still manage to save the day thanks to his friends and gadgets, which included his gas gun, the Thunderquack, a jet shaped like his head, and the Ratcatcher, a motorcycle with a sidecar for Launchpad. Like Batman, Darkwing considered himself an agent of the night’s justice and played up the dark avenger bit every chance he got, as evidenced by his typical catchphrase: “I am the terror that flaps in the night, I am the___ that ___s your ___, I am DARKWING DUCK!” Also like Batman, Darkwing had a rogues gallery of villains including, NegaDuck, an evil version of himself; Megavolt, an electro-like villain with an AC plug on his head; Quackerjack, a mean, toy-obsessed jester, and The Liquidator, a dog who patterns his phrases after advertising slogans. Darkwing also has an occasional sidekick, Honker Muddlefoot, who is a nerd and Gosalyn’s best friend…as well as an obvious rip-off of Warner Bros.’ Egghead, Jr. Still not sure how Disney got away with that one.

Anyway, Darkwing seemed to skew just a bit younger than DuckTales, or maybe it’s that I’m really looking at it for the first time as a thirtysomething and I realize that I’m way too old to be watching stuff like this. Some of the episodes of this second volume include “All‘s Fahrenheit in Love and War”, where Darkwing and Launchpad have to solve the mystery of how banks are being robbed of all their gold in the dead of winter and how Isis Vander Chill, a Mr. Freeze-like villainess fits into the picture. And “Ghoul of My Dreams” has Darkwing battling both Morgana MacCawber, and Nodoff, the ruler of Nightmareland who is planning an evil scheme involving putting the entire city of St. Canard to sleep and stealing its riches. “Up, Up and Awry” has Darkwing dealing with depression after Gizmoduck arrives in town and steals his limelight by capturing Megavolt.

Season 7 of playing with tools.

The Humans

Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Richard karn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Zachery Ty Brian, Taran Noah Smith, Earl Hindman, Debbe Dunning.

The Nutshell

Tim Taylor (Allen) is a father of three boys and as immature as any of them as he’s also the host of a cable access home improvement show who likes to play with things he probably shouldn’t tool-wise. As his long-suffering wife, Jill (Richardson) tries to keep a handle on things, Taylor finds a new way each week to blow something up or screw something up while also being a role model for his sons.

The Lowdown

Okay, this is the fifth time I’ve covered this friggin’ show, which I believe is a personal record for me. If I could, I’d tell you to just check out any of my previous reviews here: Season 1, Season 3, Season 4 and Season 6 and call it a day as this review is already frying my brain. But of course that’s not the way we do things here, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to go the distance in my four-way. So upon all the things that I’ve already blathered on about in four reviews for Home Improvement, let me say that in Season 7, the show continued to hold up well and all of the things that made the show fun: Allen’s rapport with Richardson and Karn, and the crazy Tool Time projects of the week, such as a rocket-powered grill continued to provide the laughs (albeit canned) for the show. And the stuff I could have done without, namely the life lessons taught to the three boys, were still aplenty, although as the boys aged, the subjects, mostly involving dating, took center stage.

Season 7 started off with the episode, “Quest For Fire”, where Tim is going through a mid-life crisis as his boys are growing up and Jill is pursuing her Masters. Tim feels as though his life is standing still and he contemplates buying a lodge in a camping area and moving the family there to start anew. Plus he creates the aforementioned rocket grill on Tool Time. In the Halloween episode, “A Night To Dismember”, Jill and Tim have to deal with Mark making a horror video for his class and the finished product being a little more disturbing than usual as it shows him portraying a fictional character who kills Tim and Jill’s characters. “Losing My Religion” has Tim dealing with having broken a valuable piece of church equipment and Randy questioning his religion. “Thanksgiving” finds Tim causing his usual ruckus when he accidentally blacks out all of the lights in the stadium when they go see a football game for Thanksgiving. And in “Tool-Thousand One: A Space Odyssey”, Tim and Al have a competition to see which one will be the one to use a Binford (the show’s sponsor) tool in space when two astronauts come to the show to present them with the challenge. And the season is rounded out in “From Top to Bottom” when Jill says some embarrassing things about Tim on a talk show while Tim is watching with all of his buddies in a hardware store.