TVSquad

There are very few recurring television moments that instantly grab my undivided attention: seeing an undead Billy Mays still pitching Oxy-Clean, Twilight Zone episodes that pwn Nazis, late night Skinemax.

Now you can add Don Rickles to that list. He's become a staple of late night during the early Tonight Show because he's engaging, colorful and damn funny. Every time he stops in at Letterman's Late Show, I have to stop what I'm doing and watch and that includes running a pregnant friend to the hospital, although it does ruin some of the comedy for me. All that screaming.

He's also great at roasts, not because he's a great insult comic but because he can be just as down to Earth and genuine with the people he's skewering. His best roast is one that never made it to television: a roast of Get Smart's Don Adams at the Playboy Mansion.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Not only is The Lola Falana Show on DVD now, I didn't even know there was a Lola Falana Show. I knew that there was a Lola Falana (that's a fun name to say: Lola Falana Lola Falana Lola Falana). She was a dancer and actress who was pretty well known back in the 70s, but her TV show escaped my radar. This set includes guest stars Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cosby, Sonny and Cher, and Muhammad Ali.

There's also a Heeere's Johnny: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson "Holiday Set." It looks like the same set that I've owned for a couple of years (several DVDs split up into different categories: Timeless Moments, Standup Comedians, Carson Country, and the original Ultimate Collection disc), but with a special Christmas disc thrown in, with three classic episodes.

• Ally McBeal - Season 1 and Complete Series
• Astroboy - Vols 1 and 2
• Blood Ties - Season 2
  

The science fiction blog Io9 has a chart up at their site that tracks the themes that have been used on sci-fi TV shows since 1970. How many shows have been about time travel, robots, aliens, space travel, and/or mutants? Is there a trend to the themes of sci-fi shows over the years? (Here's the complete list of shows they looked at to create the chart.)

There are a lot of really horrible things that have put America on the map: Jerry Springer, our ability to infuse anything edible with cheese, the fact that we're probably working on infusing something inedible with cheese.

Guns, however, shouldn't be one of them. The Second Amendment stands as one of many great testaments to the idea of freedom that our forefathers envisioned for their people. They felt a government should trust their people with great responsibility if they truly believed in the concept of freedom and democracy.

Sure, if they came to the present and saw that we primarily use that responsibility for hunting moose from helicopters and negotiating with the Domino's guy they might take it right back, but the idea is what's important.

So to celebrate one of America's latest of many birthday to come because fireworks are technically illegal in my neck of the woods, here are your TV's seven greatest guns.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I sometimes enjoy watching Judge Judy, but it's one of those shows that I can't possibly imagine owning the DVDs. Once is enough for me. But if you're really into the show, there's a 2-Pack set being released this week.

But I have to get the Get Smart DVDs at some point. That's the only show being released that I have any interest in.

• The Cleaner - Season 1
• Corner Gas - Season 6
• Danny Phantom - Season 3
• Father Knows Best - Season 3
• Get Smart - Season 3

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

It occurred to me doing this post that I haven't seen - or even thought about - The Woody Woodpecker Show in probably 20 or 30 years. I'm not sure I'd go out and buy a bunch of DVD sets for the show, but a "favorites" collection might be good to own. He was never one of my favorite cartoon characters though. I was a Bugs Bunny kid.

The Baron I got in the mail last week. It was a British series from the 60s that starred Steve Forrest (yup, the one from S.W.A.T.) as an antiques dealer who was really a spy. I'll have to check it out this week and see how it is.

• The Baron - Complete Series
• The Best Years - Season 1
• Bonanza - The Collection

I have to admit, this is one comparison I hadn't thought of before.

The L.A. Times makes an interesting comparison of Lost and Get Smart. How could they possibly be related? No, there isn't anyone called "Chief" (though Sawyer must have called someone that by now), there is no KAOS, and no one has spoken into a shoe phone, but both shows do feature...a moving island!

Yup, in fourth season episode of Get Smart that aired in 1968, "Schwartz's Island," Agents 86 and 99 are on their honeymoon and get stranded on a fake island run by KAOS that is moved with the help of a giant electromagnet!

... Ten shows on DVD

Since there are twelve shows a-stinkin' on TV this year (well, that's the low estimate), you might be glad to hear that 2008 brought us some spectacular TV on DVD. You knew there had to be a bright spot, right?

Whether you want to re-watch your favorite classic shows from the '50s or '60s (or earlier), or catch up on one of the hottest shows on current TV (yeah, there are a few) by starting with the first season, they've been released on DVD in 2008. It was actually hard to pick just ten, but for better or for worse, here are my picks:

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I'm getting that deja vu feeling. Didn't I already list season two of Route 66 and both the Get Smart and Starlost complete series DVDs before? Yup, I did. For some reason the Route 66 and Starlost DVDs were delayed. As for Get Smart, Time-Life had a complete series set, but this one is from HBO Home Video.

To confuse things even further, there is another Get Smart complete series set, only it's for the short-lived 90s series with Andy Dick.

• Batman: The Animated Series - Complete Series
• Chowder - Vol. 1
• Fraggle Rock - Complete Series
• Futurama - Bender's Game
• Get Smart - Complete Series Gift Set
• Home Movies - 10th Anniversary
• Howdy Doody - 40 Episodes and Best Of
• JAG - Season 7
• Popeye - Vol. 3
• Primeval - Seasons 1 and 2
• Project Runway - Season 4
• Reaper - Season 1
• Route 66 - Season 2
• Spider-Man - Villains Showdown
• Spin City - Season 1
• The Starlost - Complete Series
• The Wild, Wild West - Complete Series

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 3
• BeastMaster - The Complete Collection
• Ben 10 - Season 4
• Charlie and Lola - Vol. 8
• Code Monkeys - Season 1
• Doctor Who - The Time Meddler, Black Orchid, and the Five Doctors 25th Anniversary Collection
• Family Ties - Season 4
• Foyle's War - Set 5
• Get Smart - Season 1
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Vol. 3
• Laredo - Best of Season 2, Part 1
• Lonesome Dove - Collector's Edition
• Masters of Science Fiction - Complete Series
• Robin Hood - Season 1 (Blue-Ray) and Season 2
• Star Trek - Season 2 (Remastered)
• Sunset Tan - Season 1

Also: The Smothers Brothers - Best of Season 3 (Time-Life) was released last week.

I went to see Get Smart the other day. Judging by the box office numbers, I wasn't alone. Of course, I was curious about how one of my favorite TV shows from the '60s would be translated to the big screen. Would it be an inventive retelling in the tradition of The Fugitive, Maverick and The Addam's Family, or would it make me want to weep in horror like the dreadful I Spy, Bewitched, The Wild, Wild West and The Avengers? (And that's only the tip of the awful iceberg).

Would you believe it if I told you Get Smart falls somewhere in between? I could use the line many other reviewers have copped; you know, "The new Get Smart missed it by that much." Yes, well, it's true. Get Smart is not great on the big screen. It's okay. Nothing too shameful, but neither is it that inspired or wickedly built on the premise of the original situation comedy.

"White Stuff on Mars": New discoveries on Mars make room for coke jokes and groantastic puns.

There Will Be Flood"/"Wet Hot American Bummer" (HA!): Much of the Midwest is currently underwater, due to storms, failing levies and acts of not-God. Reporters are already looking for the most dramatic ways to demonstrate the severity of the situation, and President Bush is obviously dreading a visit to the disaster area. Correspondents Jason Jones and Wyatt Cenac reported from a flooded scene, just to dig up some of that dated "George Bush doesn't care about black people" stuff. I guess they had to do it now, as mentioning it in the next night's episode may have been a little weird, what with Mike Meyers being the guest and all. I'm waiting for Wyatt to do his own correspondent field report before I decide how I feel about him. I'm kind of liking his perpetual angry-face, though. And did the audience know for what they were applauding? It sounded like more blind, trained seal clapping.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• American Gangster - Season 2
• The Andromeda Strain - Complete Mini-Series
• CHiPs - Season 2
• Dante's Cove - Season 3
• The Dead Zone - Season 6
• Doctor Who - Beneath The Surface, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils, and Warriors of the Deep
• Fearless Planet
• Flavor of Love - Season 3
• Get Smart - Complete Series (1995 version)
• I Love New York - Season 2
• Mannix - Season 1
• Meerkat Manor - Best Of, Season 2
• Rescue Me - Season 4
• Storm Chasers - Perfect Disaster
• Weeds - Season 3

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• John Phillip Law: He was a veteran actor best known for such films as Barbarella, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Cassandra Crossing, Tarzan The Ape Man, and Hurry Sundown. He appeared in many TV shows over the years, including The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, It's A Living, and The Young and the Restless. He died in Los Angeles at age 70.

We've already told you about the complete series Get Smart DVDs, but did you know that there was an updated version of the show, and it starred Andy Dick?! The complete series of this version is being released on DVD on June 3.

I actually knew about this, but I always thought it was just a pilot movie or a pilot that didn't go to series, but it actually lasted seven episodes on FOX. The odd thing is, it aired in 1995, when Dick started NewsRadio. Apparently he only appeared in the pilot (according to the IMDB link above) and then went on to NewsRadio from there. That sounds a little odd to me, since he played the son of Agent 86 and Agent 99. Plus he's on the cover of the DVD. Hmmmm. If anyone has any other information about the show let me know in the comments below.

After the jump, the opening credits of the show.

Update: According to TV.com, Dick was in every episode. Also, one of the extras on the set is in an episode of NewsRadio, which is understandable (plus an ep of T.J. Hooker, which is not).