The Couch Potato Report – November 23rd, 2004
In The Couch Potato Report this week there are two cultural icons and two Oscar winners.
SEINFELD is a television show that ran from 1990 until 1998. Actually, when it first aired it was called THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES, but more on that in a moment.
Stand up comedian Jerry Seinfeld stars in the show as a stand up comedian.
The premise of this show is Jerry and his friends going through everyday life, discussing various quirky situations and things that everyone can relate to.
Shirts, water, bosses, shrinkage, being the master of your domain, parking, babies, puffy shirts, soup. No topic or issue was too mundane or off limits.
I still have the videotape that includes the very first episode of SEINFELD, or THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES as it was called that first night, July 5, 1989.
Kramer was called Kessler and there was no Elaine, but from the minute the credits rolled I was an immediate fan of the show.
I, and many, many people remain a fan of SEINFELD to this day.
And now, finally, SEINFELD – SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 are available on two separate 4
disc box sets or in one big box set that features all 41 episodes from
the first three seasons of the show, plus an Original Script, Salt &
Pepper Shakers, and Playing Cards.
Earlier this year, twice earlier this year actually, I proclaimed that the SCTV BOX SETS were the comedy releases of the year!!!
The SEINFELD box sets came a very close second.
On these incredible releases we get to relive Kramer’s first not-so-grand entrance, Jerry’s first contemptuous “Hello, Newman,” and Elaine’s first “Get Out!” shove.
We also get “The Pony Remark”, “The Chinese Restaurant”, “The Boyfriend,” with Keith Hernandez and the J.F.K. parody, “The Library.”
And lets not forget “The Pez Dispenser” and “The Keys,” with an L.A.-bound Kramer winding up on Murphy Brown.
In addition to the original, full-length episodes the sets also come with an incredible array of extras.
There are interviews with the cast and creators about what was happening behind the scenes as the episodes were created and filmed; deleted scenes, out-takes and bloopers; an hour-long look at how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David first came up with the idea for the show, and much, much more.
In it’s heyday SEINFELD was called “a show about nothing.” On this day I agree. It was a show about nothing, but it was nothing but entertaining!
I am more than pleased to finally own SEINFELD – SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 on DVD, and other than the two SCTV BOX SETS, SEINFELD is the comedy release of the year!!!
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
I suspect that anyone who likes SEINFELD is feeling a certain kinship with me right now.
Soon, those who love Harry Potter will feel a certain disdain with me, because I just don’t get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon.
And I could very well be alone in that because there have been over a quarter of a billion Harry Potter books sold in over 200 countries in 61 different languages.
The Harry Potter films have been just as successful with the three that have been released so far earning a combined 2.6 billion dollars world wide.
Yes, I’ve read the books, and I’ve seen the movies. No, I still don’t get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon.
But that’s okay, as long as it is bringing joy and pleasure to others, it doesn’t have to please me as well. After all, not everyone likes SCTV and SEINFELD either.
This week’s new Harry Potter title is HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN and the now 13-year-old students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry must face a new challenge, one named Sirius Black.
If you love Harry Potter and his adventures, you already know the rest of the story and plot and you’ve already bought or rented HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN.
If you are indifferent to the series, you don’t need me to say anymore.
I do feel compelled to admit that even though I don’t get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, I still thought the first two films in the series were entertaining.
I found HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN quite boring. Yes, the filmmaking, cast and special effects were superb, but the pace of the film is just so slow that I was twitching in my seat more than a few times during the movie’s two hours and twenty one minute running time.
But then again, not everyone likes SCTV and SEINFELD either.
If you are a fan of Harry Potter, and you get get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, then for you, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN is a must own.
If you don’t come over here with the rest of us muggles and you can read JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL with us.
Now that is a book and phenomenon I do get and Susanna Clarke’s book JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL is a great read if you have a long plane ride ahead of you.
Actually, at 782 pages it is a great book to have with you if your flight gets delayed or cancelled and you get stuck in an airport terminal.
And as clever it may be or not, this week’s final new release in The Couch Potato Report is a movie called THE TERMINAL.
Tom Hanks from FORREST GUMP and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN stars as an Eastern European who arrives at New York’s Kennedy Airport just as his fictional homeland has fallen to a coup, forcing him, with no valid citizenship, to take indefinite residence in the airport’s expansive International Arrivals Terminal.
Along the way Hanks character becomes friends with the terminal’s staff and falls for a flight attendant.
Catherine Zeta-Jones from CHICAGO is the flight attendant and the film was directed by Steven Spielberg.
With the talent behind THE TERMINAL, I expected it to be a modern day classic. Sadly, even though the film does have an understated grace, THE TERMINAL never really takes off.
Especially once the film’s secrets are revealed. Even then, the movie just doesn’t get going.
At the end of THE TERMINAL, I actually felt as if I had just been stuck in an actual airport terminal as I was cranky, tired of sitting around, and I just wanted to get to my destination.
If you are in the mood for a romantic film with great aspirations, that never quite reaches them, then check out THE TERMINAL.
It is available at your favourite local video store alongside SEINFELD – SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
Peter Parker faces a new foe and personal struggles as Spider-Man in
the wildly entertaining sequel SPIDER-MAN 2.
And in the superb martial arts film HERO a nameless warrior does battle
with a ruthless emperor.
I’m Dan Reynish and I’ll have more on those, and some other releases,
in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next week on The Couch!
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