Welcome to this week’s DVD Diggers, written by the only person on the internet who hasn’t played Halo 2!
The last few weeks have remained slow on the DVD front, with most of the big releases being covered in our review section, leaving little to be discussed in this column (although this week’s Cooking with Porn Stars is probably worth a mention). That’s a good thing because we’re covering all the major releases, but leaves me with little fodder to talk about in here. This week most of the things to write about are television oriented, but before I move into “TV on DVD” I’d like to say a couple of things about a TV show you won’t find on DVD.
CinemaBlend recently enjoyed a squint-or-you’ll-miss-it reference on G4-Tech TV’s “The Screensavers”. One of our fellow entertainment news sites was used as a reference for a story “The Screensavers” was doing on the upcoming Superman movie, and their link to us was barely visible on the corner of the screen. As a majority of the site’s staff are fans of “The Screensavers”, this was a major accomplishment that we were quite proud of.
So imagine my surprise while I was checking sites over the weekend, when I found out that this past Friday, most of the cast of “The Screensavers” was let go. Apparently G4-Tech TV is re-engineering the show, and the new look isn’t going to include Yoshi, Dan “Foo” Huard, or newcomer Alex Albrecht. Reading this news almost made me physically ill. These are people who have already relocated to L.A. in the last few months due to the G4 purchase of Tech TV, which closed down the San Francisco studios “The Screensavers” formerly used. Just a few months after relocating their entire lives, or in Albrecht’s case joining the show, and they’ve been given the axe, along with the cancellation of “Unscrewed with Martin Sargent” and the termination of that cast. While I’m glad Sarah Lane and Kevin Rose will continue their employment, this is a serious blow to my interest in the show.
I didn’t take action when, before the official merger, Leo Laporte was terminated from “Call For Help”, holding out for his eventual return (which did happen, albeit very briefly). I didn’t take action when “The Screensavers” was re-imagined the first time, as it made the transition from the former Tech TV studios to LA. The loss of Yoshi, Dan, and Alex is too much to bear though. This time I will be taking action. Tomorrow morning I’ll be calling and canceling the programming tier that holds G4-Tech TV from my cable provider. “The Screensavers” isn’t the show I fell in love with, and by firing these specific cast members, G4-Tech TV is proving that this new re-engineering will not be changing the show in the direction it needs to go to return it to its past splendor. Unfortunately, while Tech TV was an informative network for fans of technology, the G4 merger has no interest in carrying that torch. “The Screensavers” will be a much missed part of my viewing habits, but the message has to be sent. If you feel the same way, I urge you to contact your cable provider as well and cancel your subscription to the channel as well. Online petitions seldom work - networks understand money though, and by canceling your channel subscription you are taking that away from them.
Best wishes to Yoshi, Dan, Alex, Martin, Laura, and the others who lost their jobs behind the scenes. Here’s hoping you’ll all recover from this quickly.
TV on DVD
It isn’t a huge surprise that the week The SpongeBob SquarePants movie is coming to theaters also sees the release of a large about of other cartoons and children’s shows that gained a following among those above the age of ten.
From Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim comes Volume Three of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, a show I’ve never quite gotten. I’m not sure why an order of fries, a soda, and a meatball hang out, especially when the meatball is such an idiot. Yes, that’s right - I’ll accept Smurfs, talking cats, dogs, mice, and other various creatures, but I just don’t get it when my Happy Meal starts talking. This was the one show I didn’t care for when Adult Swim started up, and that hasn’t changed. Fortunately, Volume 2 of “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” also comes out this week, so I can go right past the Happy Meal and go for the talking mantis and Tad Ghostal.
Of course, the ultimate “kid’s show” for adults was “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” which also sees release this week. Like other shows out, “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” is being released in separate volumes - Volume One contains seasons one and two, and Volume Two has the remaining three seasons. Unlike other shows though, both volumes are being released on the same date. I’m not sure that’s the smartest strategy, but then again the show was voted number ten on the top twenty five cult shows of all time (by TV Guide) so maybe releasing both volumes at the same time will prove successful. As appealing as seeing Pee Wee, Cowboy Curtis, and Captain Carl again might be, I won’t be picking this one up because...
It’s also a good week to be a sci-fi fan. This week sees the release of season three of “Smallville”, the seventh and final season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and “the complete epic series” of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. That’s a lot of pretty good science fiction television!
Of course, if none of those shows appeal to you, there’s always Season One of “The Andy Griffith Show”, a pointless endeavor of a DVD release. Everyone knows four out of five “Andy Griffith Show” fans don’t know how to use a DVD player!
Got questions? Prefer Opie and Barney?
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