03/02/08
TWO FOR THE SHOW MEDIA
TED KOOSHIAN/Standard Orbit Quartet: Alright, this is simply fun. A well traveled jazzbo sets out to do jazz takes on cartoon show themes but takes such a left turn that once the improvs start, it’s jamming for the joy of it as there’s no way you can recognize “Top Cat” or “Captain Kangaroo” or any of the other tracks, especially when he veers away from the stated mission completely. Fun stuff by some real pros that play like it’s still the 60s and they like doing this. Ear opening contemporary jazz that doesn’t let you down.
(Summit)
DVD SUPPLEMENT
PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
UNTOUCHABLES season 2 vol 1: Desi Arnaz really bit off ore than he could chew with the second season of the classic cops and robbers non-fiction as Ness takes on Legs Diamond and stops a jail break for Al Capone. This show pissed a lot of people off, but Hoover and narrator Walter Winchell had a good time with it. These 16 hour long episodes take you back to the days of black and white TV when the set was lit for it making it a virtual sixth man on the court. High octane fun for true crime fans no matter how much veneer was pasted over the reality for dramatic license.
LOVE BOAT season one vol one: Aaron Spelling’s Saturday night rite of passage cheese brings the 70s back into sharp focus as this fave of baby sitters and grannies looks even cheesier with the passing of time. That the cast was able to pull this off with a straight face makes them Emmy worthy right there. With guest stars a plenty on the high seas, the tv vets at the helm kept the craft on course for many seasons, even after it jumped the shark by adding the captain’s daughter. Uh, could this show have jumped the shark? Put on your 70s pomo glasses, bring the focus up to 20/20 and have a load of unintentional laughs as the cheese squeezes out of the tube.
LOVE AMERICAN STYLE season one vol two: It was still the 60’s, Aaron Spelling was hanging out with a guy named Duke and this show that probably got it’s genesis in the land of salvaging dead tv pilots rolled along with it’s takes on the early post pill sexual revolution, complete with all the cheese convention fashions you could shake a shag rug at. If you need any proof on just how bad the polyester 70s sucked, this is 10 hours of solid proof. The hair cuts, the clothes, the panties dandling from bored fingers on the back cover. Oy. The thrill of the hunt 40 years ago….hmm, that’s a lot of your grand parents on the screen here. LA sexual cynicism for flyovers, the earnestness of these skits makes for a real hoot today.
MOD SQUAD season 1 vol two: Yeah, Leecon is still biting off the Hayes when whitey tries to keep him down as these narcs try to keep middle America safe for the squares to pop their valium in their rec rooms. Aaron Spelling came up with this with Danny Thomas and we can thank them for giving us Peggy Lipton. The 13 episodes that finish the first season are filled with action and are loaded with 60s. The kind of stuff you’re glad to have escape from the time capsule when you’re in the right mood.
Volume 31/Number 123
March 2, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
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CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record