My Two Cents
Friday, 04 October 2024 13:15

It’s Classic TV-a-Rama with I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie & Bewitched on Blu-ray, plus new disc reviews, additional title announcements & more!

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All right, we’ve got three new disc reviews for you to finish out the week, plus some more great new title announcements. The reviews first...

Stephen has taken a look at David Twohy’s The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) in 4K Ultra HD, as released by our friends at Arrow Video.

Tim has reviewed the Warner Archive Collection’s new Hanna-Barbera Double Feature of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) and Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island (2019) on Blu-ray.

And Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now (1996) on Blu-ray, also from the Warner Archive Collection. And how fitting it is that we’re reviewing Coppola’s first feature film, even as what may be his last—Megalopolis (2024)—is now in theaters.

As always, more reviews are on the way, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... the big news today is all on the classic TV front: First, Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS have officially set I Love Lucy: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray for the first time ever! Expected on 11/5, the 33-disc set will include all 180 episodes of I Love Lucy (1951-57), plus all episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-60) remastered with long-missing footage restored, plus the newly-colorized episode Lucy and the Loving Cup. In addition, the series’ opening and closing credits have been restored along with many original cast commercials. Three long-lost “flashback” scenes have been remastered. And a portion of the 1959 CBS Fall Preview Special has been included. You’ll also get the original I Love Lucy pilot episode (remastered from original 35mm kinescope), I Love Lucy: The Movie, audio commentaries on select episodes, Lucy on the Radio broadcasts, flubs, slideshows, cast bios, photo galleries, and production notes. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

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Not to be outdone, our friends at Via Vision’s Imprint Films down under have just this morning unveiled a pair of new Imprint Television Blu-ray releases which are due in January (street date 1/8/25) and they’re also classic American TV titles—Bewitched: Seasons 1 & 2 (1964-66) and I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series (1965-70). (Note that the latter has been available on Blu-ray here in the States from CBS since 2021, while Bewitched is due here on 2/4/25).

Bewitched is a 15-disc set that includes all 74 episodes from the show’s first two seasons, plus 5 new audio commentary tracks, the new Behind the Magic documentary, and legacy extras that include 3 featurettes (the 2-part The Magic Unveiled featurette and Bewitched, Bothered, and Be-Bloopered!).

Meanwhile, I Dream of Jeannie will be a 22-disc set that includes all 139 episodes, the option to view Season One episodes in the original B&W HD or colorized SD, an audio commentary with the cast on the first episode, the I Dream of Jeannie: Out of the Bottle featurette and the I Dream of Jeannie: Fifteen Years Later (1985) TV film.

Both titles will come in Imprint’s usual hardbox packaging, with a hardback book. You can pre-order them directly from the Imprint website here. And here are teaser trailers for each release...

And while we’re sharing trailers, here’s the new one for Warner’s 11/19 4K Ultra HD release of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959)—it looks fantastic! Enjoy the trailer and click here to pre-order the 4K on Amazon.

In other news today, Film Masters has just announced the 11/12 Blu-ray and DVD release of Roger Corman’s Night of the Blood Beast (1958), restored from a new 4K scan of a rare 35 mm print. The release also includes the bonus film Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959).

And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has also just set Lindsay Shonteff’s No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977), Steve Sekely’s Revenge of the Zombies (1943), and Bob Rafelson’s Mountains of the Moon (1989) for Blu-ray release on 11/26. On 11/19, look for Ray Austin’s 1,000 Convicts and a Woman (1971) and Elia Kazan’s The Visitors (1972) on Blu-ray as well.

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover art for I Love Lucy, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie. Amazon links have been included if available...

I Love Lucy: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Disc) Bewitched: Seasons 1 & 2 (Blu-ray Disc) I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Disc)

Have a great weekend! Stay tuned...

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

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