The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1954) Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. I'm back with a book review. I finished The Two Towers last night before bed so here I am to talk about it. This is probably going to be a slightly shorter review since all the background was given to us last time, and I already gave you my history with Tolkien's work, specifically The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Like with last time, because this book is 70 years old, I will be including spoilers when I feel the need to do so. So if you have not read The Two Towers, or any of The Lord of the Rings for that matter, please do so at some point either before you read my reviews of the books, or after, depending on when you feel like reading them. Alrighty, let's get into it.

While The Fellowship of the Ring is more whimsical and fun, particularly in the early chapters of the first half of the book, The Two Towers continues on the more serious tone of the second half of Fellowship. This book is much darker than the first part. Though Merry and Pippin do provide some comic relief in the first half of the book.

So the first half of the book, The Treason of Isengard follows Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli as they follow the trail of the two Hobbits who'd been captured by Orcs, as well as their journey to Isengard by way of Rohan, following their meeting of the Riders of Rohan, led by Eomer. They also discover that Gandalf has returned and has replaced the fallen Saruman as the chief of the Wizards in Middle Earth. It also features the Battle of Helm's Deep. 

When I first read this part of the book about a decade ago, when I still had the seven volume box set, I was confused as to why Frodo wasn't in this half of the book, thinking that as the main character, he should be the main focus since we're supposed to be following him on his journey to get rid of the Ring. Now, Frodo and Sam are some of my favourite characters in this trilogy, with Sam being my favourite, so I was confused when I discovered that we don't see them at all in this section of the book. Especially because I saw the movie in theatres back in early 2003 and that began with Frodo and Sam, which then switches back to the rest of the Fellowship before returning to Frodo, Sam, and Gollum near the end of the movie.

Reading it this time around though, I think it was a good call on the part of Tolkien to split the book up so that we have the Fellowship and everything going on in the rest of Middle Earth in the first half before zeroing in on Frodo, Sam, and Gollum for the rest of the book. Especially because of how long they're with Faramir in Gondor before heading towards Mordor.

I think my favourite part of this first half is where we meet Treebeard and the Ents in Fangorn Forest. The Ents are so deliberate about everything they do, and the fact that they do things in their own time, not rushing about. Again, Tolkien continues to develop Middle Earth without completely stopping the story to do so. 

I find it interesting that while Gandalf was killed fighting the Balrog in the last book, some higher power returned him to Middle Earth to replace Saruman as the White in charge of the Wizards. Almost so there's a balance between good and evil. I know, that's putting it in very simple terms, but, Gandalf and Saruman are like Professor Xavier and Magneto in some of the comics, and in many of the X-Men movies and TV shows, or the Emperor and Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983), and various other characters who each represent a side in a conflict. I find it interesting because, at least within the scope of this trilogy, and its immediate prequel, there aren't gods like beings like the Morphin Masters from Power Rangers or the Father, the Daughter, and the Son from Star Wars. Yet there must be because Gandalf was sent back following his death.

Okay, so, I need to talk about Samwise Gamgee in the second half of the book. He puts up with so much in those ten chapters. From Gollum, to being captured by Faramir and his people, to fighting Shelob the Spider monster. I loved the part where, fed up with Faramir's suspicion of them, tells them off by telling them about Frodo's quest, and WHY the Ring was so dangerous, using Boromir as an example of how the Ring's power can corrupt even the most noble hearted person if in their possession long enough. And THEN when Frodo has been taken down by Shelob and Sam believes that he's dead, he takes the Ring and chooses to continue the Quest on his own. He doesn't complain one bit about it because of how devoted he is to Frodo.

Speaking of Frodo, he doesn't get a whole lot to do in this book. It's almost like the second half of the book is Sam's story, not Frodo's. Which is fine, because, again, I love Sam. I just find it interesting that the actual protagonist of the book/trilogy of books doesn't have alot going on in the middle part of the trilogy. But, in a way that's also a good thing because oftentimes with long running book series, or TV shows so much happens to the main character in the first few books or first few seasons that by the time the book or TV series ends they haven't done anything in seasons and the audience stops caring. But if you have a trilogy of books it's okay to have a part of it where the main character doesn't have as much to do and another character is focused on.

As for Gollum, he's not as scary as I remember him being. Maybe that's just because this version of Gollum isn't played by Andy Serkis and we don't get into his head at all, as the book stays focused on Sam and Frodo in the second half, while we have several scenes of Gollum talking to himself, away from Sam and Frodo. 

While Merry and Pippin are almost the comic relief, I like that we do spend so much time with them at the beginning of the book. Just because they felt like tertiary characters in The Fellowship of the Ring, and we didn't get to know them very well, beyond the scope of their roles in that book. Here though, we get to know them very well and I think they're interesting characters.

I didn't talk much about Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in the last review, simply because, again, the focus wasn't really on them. But here, they're far more interesting than they were in the first book. Especially Aragorn as we find out that there's even more to him than we were led to believe in the first book, as he was the heir to the throne of Gondor. I find it fascinating that Aragorn, a supporting character is taking his own Hero's Journey, alongside Frodo. I don't often encounter this in the movies and TV shows that I enjoy watching, as they mostly have an ensemble cast, where the focus isn't on a single individual, or the show and movie in question has a singular main character, and the supporting cast doesn't do much. Again, using simple terms, this shows that everyone is the hero of their own story. In Aragorn's case he's a king who was hidden away following the deaths of his parents many many years ago. Frodo is a simple Hobbit from the Shire, who has a job to do.

Overall The Two Towers is a really good book. There's so much I could talk about but this review would be way too long if I attempted it. Instead I'm just going to say that if you've never read The Lord of the Rings, definitely give it a try, because I'm really enjoying it now that I have the trilogy in the three volume version (with The Hobbit).

Alright my friends, that's it for me for this week. I'll be back with more blog posts. Until then, have a great weekend and I will talk to you all later. Take care.  

Jetsons: The Movie (1990) Movie Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing well. I'm back for another movie review and this week I'm covering a movie that is one of my favourite movies of all time, Jetsons: The Movie, which was the last piece of Jetsons media to come out following the series's revival in 1985, and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones in 1987. It was also the final movie directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera before their deaths in the 2000s. So, let's get into it.

Released on July 6th, 1990, Jetsons: The Movie was a box office disappointment, garnering $20 million on a budget of $8 million. I think that's because it had several things going against it. The first is that it was released two days after Die Hard 2 and a week before the Whoopi Goldberg film, Ghost. In addition to that, Dick Tracy was still in theatres, and, like with the TV show it's based on, Jetsons: The Movie just ended up falling by the wayside as a result of having so many heavy hitters in theatres at that time.

After being promoted to Vice President by Mr. Spacely, George Jetson and his family, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Astro, and Rosie the Robot, have to move to a space station near Spacely's Orbiting Ore Asteroid, a mining facility that has had several accidents and glitches, resulting in four previous heads of the facility leaving. The family has to adjust to living in space, with new friends and neighbours, while George and his employee, Rudy 2, must get to the bottom of the problems the plant is facing. 

So, it's your typical TV show episode in movie form. However, it also has alot of social commentary about things that people were concerned about in the '90s, such as pollution. Watching it now though, it also has some social commentary about things that we're concerned about in the modern world. Like greedy corporate tycoons, and the effect they've had on the world.

My favourite scene in the movie is when George finally stands up to Mr. Spacely at the end of the movie, after years of being a corporate stooge for Spacely. Spacely has always been a miserable person, but he's basically an outright villain in this movie since he knowingly mined the asteroid, despite the Grungees living there. So to have George finally stand up to him and say, "No sir Mr. Spacely" was absolutely satisfying to me. 

Based on The Jetsons, which was an animated sitcom that aired on ABC from September 23rd, 1962 to March 17th, 1963, and then returned for two more seasons in syndication from September 16th, 1985 to November 12th, 1987, Jetsons: The Movie starred George O'Hanlon as George Jetson, with Jeff Bergman stepping into the role after O'Hanlon died while recording dialogue for the film, Mel Blanc as Mr. Spacely, who also died during the film's production, leading to Bergman stepping into that role as well, Don Messick as Astro, Penny Singleton as Jane Jetson, Patric Zimmerman as Elroy, and Janet Waldo as Judy. Oh, right, let's talk about that cast change.

After rising to popularity when her self-titled debut album, Tiffany, was released in 1987, Tiffany Darwish, known professionally as Tiffany, was cast as Judy Jetson, replacing Janet Waldo, even though Waldo was still relatively healthy and had still been voicing the character in the revival of the TV show, as well as in The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. Universal executives decided to replace Waldo with Tiffany figuring that with her popularity, her being in the film would result in stronger box office numbers for the movie. 

The problem is that by the time the movie came out in 1990, Tiffany was no longer as popular as she had been only two years earlier when production on the movie began. This is due to the fact that music tastes had changed in the '90s, with rap, hip-hop and heavy metal becoming more dominant, leaving behind bubblegum pop and dance music behind. Also, Tiffany's fanbase was made up of teenagers, and the target audience for the movie, which was children and adults, wouldn't know who she was unless they were kids who had older siblings or adults who had teenage children who listened to to her music. And because it's an animated movie, you don't see her on screen, only Judy, so all people who saw the movie would see her name, but it wouldn't necessarily mean anything to them, unless they had that connection I mentioned earlier. 

Personally, I like Tiffany as Judy, as it lends a bit more believability for an 18 year old to be voicing a 17 or 18 year old character. Having said that though, I do think it was unfair for Universal to replace Janet Waldo after she'd already recorded Judy's lines for the movie, just on the off chance that a once teenage pop idol might bring in more money for the movie based on an already popular TV show that had been running for nearly 30 years between its original network run, its revival in syndication, and the numerous reruns that the show has had over the years. I think the situation helps with the fact that the movie's voice director, Andrea Romano, who is most well known for hiring Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and the Joker respectively in Batman: The Animated Series, only two years later, asked to have her name removed from the movie in protest against the cast change. Though her name still appears in the end credits, not as the voice director.

Also, before I get to talking about the movie's soundtrack, being that we were just talking about Tiffany, can I just say that I didn't realize that Brad Garrett voiced Bertie Furbelow, as his first role in a movie. Like, I know him as Ray Romano's brother, Robert, on Everybody Loves Raymond, but it's crazy to me that his movie career began with this movie.

 Tiffany also recorded three songs for the movie's soundtrack, which were "Home", "You and Me", and "I Always Thought I'd See You Again". "I Always Thought I'd See You Again" is one of my favourite songs. Other songs on the album was "We're the Jetsons (the Jetsons Rap)" by XXL, "With You All the Way" and "Stayin' Together" by Shane Sutton, "Maybe Love" by Steve McClintock, "Through the Blue" by Gayle Rose, "Mall Theme" by John Duarte, and "The Jetsons Theme" by the Stunners. The movie also has a score by John Debney, though that wasn't released as part of the film's soundtrack album. Shane Sutton has a song called "First Time in Love" in the movie, during the scene where Judy and her boyfriend, Apollo Blue, go to the Drive-In Movies just before Jane calls them to help look for Elroy and Teddy 2. However, it doesn't appear on the soundtrack, nor has it ever been commercially released.

Honestly, the music is one of my favourite parts of the movie. To be fair, it absolutely dates the movie, particularly with Tiffany's songs, but anytime a song is playing during a scene, especially "Stayin' Together" and "You and Me", I automatically start dancing and singing along.

I remember watching the movie on VHS when I was a kid. I don't remember who got it for me, or when exactly I got it, but I watched it so often when I was a kid. I also don't remember if this movie was my introduction to the Jetsons. I'm pretty sure I saw the TV show in reruns before I saw the movie, but I don't actually remember for sure. I remember watching reruns of The Flintstones at noon, usually with reruns of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends on YTV after that, but I don't actually remember watching The Jetsons until after I saw this movie. Eventually we got rid of all of our VHS tapes, but after I started collecting them in 2019, I got another copy of the movie on that format, as I hadn't seen it in over a decade.

Despite Jetsons: The Movie having been out on DVD since 2009, I never got my hands on a DVD copy of the movie at all in the 2010s. Even with the DVD's re-release in 2015. So, finally, last week I pulled the trigger and bought the movie on DVD off of Amazon since I've also have never seen a copy at any of the thrift stores I've been to, or even other second hand media stores I've been to. I watched it on DVD for the first time last night for this review, and it's awesome. There aren't any bonus features on this release, but getting to watch the movie on DVD is great. Especially since the movie is in widescreen.

 Sadly, this was the last piece of media to feature the Jetsons until 2017 when The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! was released direct-to-video. I've never seen that movie, but Jeff Bergman is the only voice actor to return from previous productions featuring the characters, as he took over as George and Mr. Spacely during production on Jetsons: The Movie, with Grey Griffin as Jane, Danica McKellar as Judy, Tress MacNeille as Rosie, and Trevor Devall as Elroy. Despite the show still airing in reruns, I think the box office failure of Jetsons: The Movie, and the subsequent deaths of the original cast members and of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, forced Hanna-Barbera to focus on other characters like the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and Yogi Bear, among others, instead. Especially with the 2001 closure of the studio and its absorption into Warner Bros. Animation. I love the Jetsons and I feel they're still relevant in this day and age, so I hope they get a comeback in the near future.

Overall, I still love Jetsons: The Movie. It's funny, interesting, and alot of fun. It's pretty cheesy, but for me it's cheesy in a charming '90s way. It's also pretty dated, especially with the music used for it, but I absolutely love it. Even though it failed at the box office and critics didn't care for it, I still recommend watching it if you've never seen it before. Especially if you're a fan of the TV show.

Alright my friends, that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more posts. So until then have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Essential Marvel (1996-2013) and DC's Showcase Presents (2005-2016) Discussion

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. It's Wednesday, which means I'm here to talk about comic books. This week I'm going to be talking about two trade paperback collected editions from Marvel and DC that are very similar to each other. They're the Essential Marvel and DC's Showcase Presents series, which each collect about 20 to 30 classic comic books from the '50s, '60s, and '70s (the Marvel Universe proper began in 1961) on low quality paper and in black and white to cut down the costs of producing such collections. I'm going to start with the Essential Marvel series just because I don't have as much experience with it as I do the Showcase Presents series, and I don't have as much to say about it. Let's get into it.

Running from October 1996 to December 2013, Essential Marvel launched with The Essential X-Men Vol. 1 (shown above), The Essential Wolverine Vol. 1 (not shown), and The Essential Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 (not shown). The Essential X-Men Vol. 1 didn't begin with the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby issues from the '60s. Instead it began with Giant Sized X-Men #1 from 1975 and continued on with the Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, and Chris Claremont's run that revitalized the X-Men after poor sales throughout the '60s caused Marvel to stop producing new X-Men stories, leaving the rest of the series from 1970 to 1975 to be reprints of already published issues.

The only volume I've ever owned of the series was The Essential Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1, with an incredible cover by Bruce Timm, the co-creator of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. This volume collects the first 24 issues of X-Men, which covered Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's entire 11 issue run, the one issue that Stan did with Alex Toth, Stan's 7 issue run with Werner Roth as the artist, and the first five issues of Roy Thomas and Werner Roth's run. It's a decent look at the original X-Men comics.

Showcase Presents ran from October 2005 until January 2016, and collected classic DC books from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. The series began with Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 1 and Showcase Presents: Superman Vol. 1. I've only ever had three volumes of this series but they were some of my favourite books and I went back to them pretty frequently.

The first volume I ever got was Showcase Presents: Teen Titans (April 2006), which collects the first three appearances of the Teen Titans as a team from The Brave and the Bold #'s 54 and 60, and Showcase #59, and the first 18 issues of Teen Titans. While I'd watched the 2003 Teen Titans animated series on YTV, reading this volume made me fall in love with the original Titans team which, at the time, consisted of Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), Aqualad (Garth), and Speedy (Roy Harper), with a guest appearance by Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) in Teen Titans #6, prior to Beast Boy joining the Doom Patrol.

 The next volume I got was Showcase Presents: Batman Vol. 1, which was published in August 2006. This volume contains Detective Comics #327-342, and Batman #164-174. These issues cover the changeover to the "New Look" Batman that Julius Schwartz introduced in Detective Comics #327 (1964) as well as the introduction to the Batpoles, the Batphone (simply called the Hotline in the comics), a new Batmobile, and Dick Grayson's aunt, Harriet Cooper. All elements that would make it into Batman (1966-1968) and Batman: the Movie (1966). It also introduced me to the death of Alfred, and his subsequent appearances as the villain, the Outsider. I didn't even know that Alfred had been killed off in 1964 because he'd been brought back to life in the comics in response to the character's popularity in the TV show and theatrical movie.

 The third and final volume that I got was Showcase Presents: Green Arrow (January 2006), which collects all of Green Arrow's stories from Adventure Comics #250-269, The Brave and the Bold #50, 71, and 85, Justice League of America #4, and World's Finest Comics #95-140. These issues cover Green Arrow's adventures from 1958 to 1969, up to the character's revamp by Bob Haney, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano. I got this volume at Ottawa Comiccon in 2013, not too long before season 1 of Arrow ended, so this was my first time reading Green Arrow comics.

Despite these books being in black and white, this was a fantastic way to get these older stories as the DC Archive Editions, and Marvel Masterworks hardcovers were, and are, so expensive and the DC Chronicles trade paperbacks only covered Batman, Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman, with the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman volumes only publishing the original '30s and '40s/Golden Age issues and the current DC Omnibus as well as the Marvel Epic Collections are also very expensive. So these volumes were my favourite way of being able to read the original Teen Titans comic book series, pre-revamp Green Arrow stories, and some of the Batman stories that the 1966 TV show and movie took elements from.

Alright my friends, that's it for me for today. Just a quick post today. I'll be back soon for more posts. So until then have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Inspector Gadget (1983) TV Show Retrospective and Review

 Hey everyone, how were your weekends? Mine was pretty quiet. Today I'm here to talk about a show that was a huge favourite of mine when I was a kid, and was one of the first TV shows I remember loving, besides The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and Star Trek: The Next Generation. That show is Inspector Gadget. So let's get into it.

Airing for two seasons in first run syndication from September 5th, 1983 until November 15th, 1985, Inspector Gadget was created by Bruno Bianchi, Andy Heyward, and Jean Chalopin at DIC Entertainment as the first show made to take DIC into the North American television market, as it was originally founded in France in 1971. The show was about a cyborg police officer named Gadget, who works in the fictional Metro City, and fights the criminal organization, M.A.D., led by the evil Dr. Claw and his cat, M.A.D. Cat. But, being that Gadget is a moron, his success happens because his niece, Penny, and her highly intelligent dog, Brain, secretly help him out on his missions, which are given to him by Chief Quimby. For example, Gadget is easily taken in by M.A.D. agents in disguise, but being that he's so oblivious to the danger he's in, Gadget escapes the M.A.D. agents just as easily as he gets captured by them. 

Gadget is voiced by Don Adams, who played Agent 86, Maxwell Smart in the NBC/CBS comedy, Get Smart (1965-1970), and Adams does such a good job as the character. I remember seeing reruns of Get Smart after seeing Inspector Gadget, and being amazed that Maxwell Smart had the same voice as Gadget. Which is when my dad told me that Don Adams played both characters. Penny was voiced by Cree Summer, who also voiced Elmyra in Tiny Toon Adventures and Susie Carmichael in Rugrats. In season 1, Chief Quimby was voiced by Dan Hennessey, a Canadian voice actor who I know as Brave Heart Lion in Care Bears, and various voices in Star Wars: Droids, and in season 2 Hennessey was replaced by Maurice LaMarche, who I know as the voice of Egon in The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters, and as The Brain in Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, among many other roles. Dr. Claw, whose face we never see, was voiced by legendary voice actor, Frank Welker, who also voiced Brain, the Dog.

One of the things I love about this show is how easily Brain can disguise himself as anyone, and Gadget is too oblivious to realize that this random person he runs into on every assignment is his niece's dog. I also love Penny's devices, such as her computer book, which is a computer inside of a case that looks like a giant encyclopedia, and her wrist video communicator, which she uses to talk to Brain. I also love that the vehicle Gadget drives, the Gadget-mobile, can transform from an every day mini-van to a high powered police car in an instant.

Of course, Gadget is so inept that every time he goes to see Chief Quimby, usually in some public place, and he reads his assignment, which ends with, "This message will self-destruct", always crumples it up and tosses it back at Quimby, right before it explodes. Being a cartoon, the explosion never hurts Chief Quimby, it just scorches him slightly.

Also, Gadget has a gadget for everything built into him. He has rollerblades, a helicopter propellor, retractable arms and legs, which allows him to grab things from a distance, and walk faster, and many many others. To activate them, he says, "Go Go Gadget" and then speaks the name of whatever gadget he wishes to use. Except that it always glitches on him and ends up activating a gadget he doesn't want to use, or is inappropriate for the situation he's in. For example, if he accidently falls out of the window of a tall building and he calls for the Gadgetcopter, the Gadget toothpaste dispenser might activate instead. 

The theme song for this show is awesome. It was composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, like alot of '80s TV shows it seems, particularly ones that I watched when I was a kid. But, while I enjoy the opening theme, I love the closing theme even more because as he flies away in his spaceship car, Dr. Claw says, "I'll get you next time Gadget! Next time!" with M.A.D. Cat meowing in agreement. That line is probably Dr. Claw's most famous piece of dialogue, yet it's not actually spoken in the show.

 For season 1, Inspector Gadget aired on First Choice Superchannel here in Canada. First Choice is now known as Crave TV, which owns the Crave streaming service. 

Then starting with season 2, the show began airing on the Global Television Network, as part of its children's television block, Kids TV, which aired weekday mornings and on the weekends. This is where I watched it when I was a kid. It aired alongside contemporary shows such as The Real Ghostbusters, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, The Care Bears Family, Beetlejuice, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Dennis the Menace, as well as newer shows such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Animaniacs. In fact Inspector Gadget is the only cartoon from the '80s that remained in reruns on Global throughout the '90s. The show was finally pulled off the channel in 2004 when it got rid of children's programming altogether.

 Reruns of Inspector Gadget also aired on Teletoon Retro from its launch in 2007 until it was shut down in 2015, where it transferred over to Cartoon Network Canada, which was originally Teletoon. While the show no longer airs on Cartoon Network Canada, I'm glad the reruns still aired with only a three year hiatus between the end of its run on Global, and its start on Teletoon Retro.

In the U.S., Nickelodeon aired reruns of Inspector Gadget from 1987 until 1992, and then brought it back for another run from 1996 until 2000. This is how most American kids, who grew up in the '90s saw the show for the first time.

The show had two toylines. The first was produced by Galoob and was released in 1983, during the show's first season. The second was produced by Tiger Toys and was released in 1992. I had the Gadget-Mobile which you could transform between the minivan and the police car and had an extendable claw arm on the front, which could be used to grab the Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Agent figures.

In 1991 Burger King had a toyline for its Kids Meal, and it was three versions of Inspector Gadget. I'm pretty sure I had all four versions. The toy with the main trench coat and hat came with a Gadgetcopter accessory which you could pretend that Gadget was flying with.

In 2011 comic book publisher Viper Comics, put out a Free Comic Book Day comic for Inspector Gadget, along with a graphic novel containing that issue and a second story.

Inspector Gadget also has a long history of video games, going all the way back to the SNES in the early '90s. In 2003 Inspector Gadget: Mad Robots Invasion was released for the PlayStation 2.

Throughout the '80s and '90s, various VHS releases came out from Family Home Entertainment, The Maier Group, and DIC Toon-Time Video (the DIC arm of Buena Vista Home Video/Walt Disney Home Video). These tapes contained 1 to 4 episodes per tape.

Buena Vista Home Video released Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, which was a compilation of three episodes from the original series, in 1999 to coincide with the live action movie that Disney released that same year.

Inspector Gadget had its first DVD release in 2004 when Sterling Entertainment released The Gadget Files, which contains the pilot episode, "Winter Olympics" as well as the first three episodes of the series.

Then in 2006, Shout! Factory released Inspector Gadget: The Original Series on DVD. This set contained the first 22 episodes of the series.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Inspector Gadget: Go Go Gadget Collection, in 2009, which was a single disc release that contained ten episodes of the series. Wikipedia doesn't specify whether those ten episodes are the first ten episodes or just random ten episodes from the show.

In 2013, New Video Group released all 86 episodes on DVD for the first time spread out among four volumes, with season 1 collected in three volumes, and season 2 in a single volume. Each set contains three discs.

Also in 2013 a complete series set, called Inspector Gadget: Megaset was released on DVD. It contained all 86 episodes as well as the 2002 TV movie, Inspector Gadget's Last Case. 

Unfortunately I don't own any of the show's DVD releases, as they're fetching a pretty hefty price on the second hand and online markets, but I do have one of the 1990 VHS releases put out by The Maier Group, Inspector Gadget: The Invasion. This contains Season 1, Episode 16, "The Invasion", where M.A.D. plans to scare everyone with a fake alien invasion to keep them occupied while they go on a crime spree. Naturally, Gadget, Penny, and Brain save the day. I got this in that massive haul of VHS tapes that I got a little over two years ago now. It's what I watched last night in order to freshen my memories of the series.

On December 4th, 1992, NBC aired the Christmas special, Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas. As the title says, Inspector Gadget saves Christmas when he stops M.A.D. and Dr. Claw from locking Santa away and forcing the elves to destroy all the toys that they'd been working on all year, effectively ruining Christmas. I'm pretty sure that I saw this special at some point, but I honestly don't remember it.

From September 9th, 1995 until March 7th, 1998, the first spin-off, Gadget Boy & Heather, aired. I don't remember seeing this show, but it aired on Family Channel from 1998 to 2000. It did air in first run syndication in the U.S. and aired 52 episodes across two seasons. This was basically a prequel series where Inspector Gadget is a boy named Gadget Boy who solves cases the way Gadget did in the original series, except his companions are his friend Heather, and a robotic dog named G-9 (Gadget 9 perhaps?). 

The second spin-off, called Inspector Gadget's Field Trip, aired for a total of 22 episodes across two seasons from November 3rd, 1996 until January 4th, 1998. This was a live action series where the animated Inspector Gadget, voiced once again by Don Adams, shows children famous locations from around the world in a travelogue style series. Gadget was the only character from the franchise to appear. It aired on the History Channel, though I don't know if it aired on there here in Canada as well or not. This is another show from the franchise that I was completely unaware of.

In 1999 Walt Disney Pictures, which owned DIC Entertainment's television library at the time, produced a live action movie based on the TV show, similar to the George of the Jungle movie they put out only two years earlier. This one starred Matthew Broderick as Gadget, Michelle Trachtenberg, who was coming off her success with Harriet the Spy, as Penny, Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw, whose face you see throughout the movie, Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby, and D.L. Hughley as the voice of the Gadget-Mobile's A.I. system. Brain is a regular Beagle and doesn't talk in this movie. The movie came out on July 23rd, 1999 and earned $134.4 million at the box office, against a budget of somewhere between $70 million and $90 million. I saw this movie in theatres and I own it on VHS, so it's on my list of movies to review on this blog.

Airing from September 11th, 2002 until November 29th, 2003, Gadget & the Gadgetinis actually never aired in the U.S. It was originally supposed to air on Fox Family Channel, but when Disney bought out Fox Family Worldwide, that plan was canceled and the show never aired in the United States. However it did air in Canada on Family Channel, and aired in most European countries on Fox Kids. In this version, Gadget, who is voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is a Lieutenant in the World Organization of Mega Powers, or WOMP for short, and still fights Dr. Claw and M.A.D. I remember watching this show on Teletoon, but it moved to Family Channel in 2003, after its November, 2002 debut on Teletoon.

On October 6th, 2002 the TV movie, Inspector Gadget's Last Case, aired on Nickelodeon in the U.S., and probably Family Channel or Teletoon here in Canada. This was basically an epilogue to the original series, with Maurice LaMarche voicing him alongside Tegan Moss as Penny, and Jaleel White as the Gadget-Mobile for some reason. I never saw this movie so I don't know what it's like in terms of quality.

Then on March 11th, 2003, Walt Disney Pictures released Inspector Gadget 2, the sequel to the 1999 film, direct-to-video, on both VHS and DVD. This time though French Stewart plays Gadget, with Caitlin Wachs as Penny, Tony Martin as Dr. Claw, and Mark Mitchell as Chief Quimby, with D.L. Hughley returning as the Gadget-Mobile from the first movie. I've also never seen this movie. Critics gave it better reviews than they did the first one only four years earlier.

Inspector Gadget's Biggest Case Ever was a direct-to-video CG animated movie released on September 6th, 2005. With the cast from Gadget & the Gadgetinis returning to voice their characters, the movie was about Dr. Claw seeking revenge after Gadget had put him in jail and using a prehistoric creature to exact said revenge. Brain returned for this movie and Gadget is back in his original trench coat and hat for the first time since Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas came out in 1992. This is the first I'm finding out about this movie, so it was a bit of a surprise to find this out.

Finally, from January 3rd, 2015 to May 18th, 2018, a CG TV series called Inspector Gadget aired on Teletoon from seasons 1 and 2 and on Family Channel for seasons 3 and 4 here in Canada and was released on Netflix in the United States. This was the second sequel to the original series, following Gadget & the Gadgetinis. This time Penny and Brain openly help Gadget on his cases and Chief Quimby wears glasses, looking like a cross between Quimby from the original series and Commissioner Gordon from the Batman comics. 

This time Ivan Sherry voices the character in an impersonation of Don Adams, Tara Strong voices Penny, Scott McCord as the vocal effects for Brain, and Martin Roach as Dr. Claw. Chief Quimby is voiced by Derek McGrath, who played Dr. Jeffcoate on the Canadian TV series, My Secret Identity (1988-1991), and Crewman Chell on Star Trek: Voyager as a recurring character starting in the season 1 finale, "Learning Curve". I probably would've enjoyed seeing this latest incarnation of the franchise, but, I never got to see it.

Overall, I still love Inspector Gadget. It honestly holds up pretty well. As I mentioned earlier, the DVD sets are pretty expensive and no new editions have come out since the Inspector Gadget: Megaset release came out in 2013. But it is available on streaming. It's on Tubi here in Canada, and on Paramount+, The Roku Channel, and Pluto TV, and on Amazon Video. However, WildBrain has uploaded various season 1 episodes, as well as hour long episode compilations of the series on the official Inspector Gadget YouTube channel, along with episode compilations of Gadget Boy & Heather. So check it out if you've never seen it, or check it out again if you haven't seen it in a while.

Alright my friends, that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more posts. I haven't quite decided what posts I'll be putting out this week will be, aside from this one, but I have a few options in mind. So until then have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

TV Shows I Want to See Get DVD and Blu-ray Releases

 Hey everyone, how's it going? It's Friday! Today I decided to talk about TV shows that I would love to see get DVD and/or Blu-ray releases. I have twenty-eight shows to talk about and I'm going in a semi-alphabetical order. I originally had twenty-nine shows, but as I was doing research for this list, I discovered that Extreme Ghostbusters is apparently getting a North American, Region 1, DVD release this year finally, so I struck it from the list. Also, this is not an exhaustive list of all the shows that don't have DVD or Blu-ray releases. This is just the shows that I want to see get DVD and Blu-ray releases the most. So, without further ado, let's get into it.

Animorphs (1998-2000)

Airing in Canada on YTV and Global from 15th 1998 to October 8th, 1999, and in the U.S. on Nickelodeon from September 4th, 1998 to April 23rd, 2000, Animorphs was a live action show based on the book series by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant. Developed for television by Deborah A. Forte and Bill Siegler at Scholastic Productions and Protocol Entertainment, that lasted for two seasons and took massive liberties during the adaptation process, due to the fact that it was airing on children's television networks in the late '90s, and had a budget that was smaller than the small budget that Power Rangers had. It's one of my favourite TV shows of all time, even though the adaptation isn't great, and it started the careers of Shawn Ashmore, Brooke Nevin, and Paulo Costanzo.

While the show is available digitally on iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon Video, as well as streaming on Tubi here in North America after having had a short run on Netflix, the show has languished on VHS in terms of physical media releases. The Invasion Series was a four volume VHS release by Columbia TriStar Home Video (now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) in 1999 and only contains twelve of the first thirteen episodes of the series, having skipped episode 4, "On the Run", for some reason. I'd love it if this show got a DVD release because, whether you love it or hate it, it's still a piece of Animorphs history, as well as a piece of Nickelodeon and YTV history too.

Barney & The Backyard Gang (1988-1991)

Released as a direct-to-video series from 1988 to 1991, Barney & The Backyard Gang was the precursor to the popular PBS children's series, Barney & Friends. Created by Sheryl Leach, Richard C. Leach, and Kathy Parker, the first three episodes of the series starred Sandy Duncan as Michael and Amy's mom, lending some star power to the independent production as Sandy had had a starring role on The Hogan Family (1987-1991) and voiced Vixey in The Fox and the Hound (1981).

While the first six episodes had aired in syndication on the Disney Channel in November, 1990, the primary availability for it has been on VHS as the first three episodes remained in circulation until 1992, and the remaining five episodes were in circulation until 1998 or 1999, with the fourth episode, Waiting for Santa having the most re-releases. Much of the Barney franchise has remained on VHS, with only a handful of episodes from the late 2000s coming out on DVD throughout the 2010s, The Backyard Gang has all been forgotten by the franchise holders of Barney. Most likely because the original license for The Backyard Gang ended in 1997 and nobody has picked it back up again. It would be cool to have all eight episodes on DVD since all that's available are the VHS quality uploads on YouTube, as well as the original VHS releases.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990-1992)

Airing in the United States, in syndication, and in Canada on YTV, Captain Planet and the Planeteers aired from September 15th, 1990 to May 11th, 1996. Created by Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle, Captain Planet had a ton of celebrity actors voicing the characters, and was produced by Turner Entertainment and DIC Entertainment. I remember watching it on YTV during The Zone, around the time Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was starting and reruns of the 1966 Batman series were on.

Shout! Factory released the first season on DVD on April 19th, 2011 but no other seasons have been released on physical media since then. They're all available on iTunes, and on streaming on Amazon, but the DVD release is most likely out of print by now, and the rest of the series isn't available on DVD as of yet. I don't even know if Shout! Factory, now known as Shout! Studios, even still has the license for Captain Planet. It would be really cool to have this series complete on DVD though, even if it was just individual season sets instead of a complete series set.

Disney's House of Mouse (2001-2003)

Airing on ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning, the Disney Channel, and Toon Disney in the U.S., and on Family Channel here in Canada, Disney's House of Mouse was a crazy show that packaged the old Mickey Mouse Works cartoons from 1999 and 2000, with the wraparound premise of Mickey and the gang running an old-fashioned night club where the Disney characters could spend an evening together, being entertained. Of course, Pete was trying to buy it so he could use it for his own profits rather than for the purpose of entertainment. I watched this show all the time on Family Channel. Particularly when I was sick and in the hospital when I was in high school. It was fun. Aside from the direct-to-video movies, Mickey's House of Villains and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, the show never had any home video releases at all. And at this point, Disney has forgotten it entirely. It would be great to see DVD releases for the show though.

Disney's Jungle Cubs (1996-1998)

This is a weird one because Jungle Cubs was only on for two years, but I remember it very fondly being that I'm a fan of The Jungle Book. It was on ABC in the U.S., but here in Canada it was on BBS Master Control in Ontario and Saskatchewan along with Gargoyles, Timon and Pumbaa, Quack Pack, and Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series. 

While the show had a presence on VHS, with two volumes being released from 1996-1997, each volume containing three episodes, it's never had a DVD release in North America, even with the other shows that aired during that period having them. While Disney is fairly lazy when it comes to shows like this being put out on physical media, there doesn't seem to be a reason for Jungle Cubs to not be released on DVD at the very least.

Disney's Doug (1996-1999)

The Disney version of Doug aired on ABC as part of its Saturday morning lineup from September 7th, 1996 to June 26th, 1999, after a successful run on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1994. As I mentioned in my blog post on some of the Nickelodeon shows I've never seen, the Disney version is the version of Doug that I remember watching, though it's possible that I watched the Nickelodeon version prior to that and I just don't remember doing so. 

While the Nickelodeon version of Doug has been completely released on DVD in both individual season sets and a Complete Series set, the Disney version has been confined to four VHS releases that came out in 1997. Which is unfortunate, because even though the Nickelodeon series is complete, the series as a whole feels incomplete without the Disney version on DVD.

Eek! The Cat (1992-1998)

Eek! The Cat aired on Fox Kids in the U.S. from 1992 to 1997 and on YTV and Global in Canada though Wikipedia only mentions YTV in its article on the show, I assure you, it aired on Global as well. This show has no home video releases, except for one VHS release. Of course, it got picked up by Disney when it bought out Fox Kids Worldwide in 2002, and was one of many shows that Disney didn't do a thing with after that. So yeah, Eek! never had any home video releases and I'd love it if someone, even Shout! Studios released the series on DVD. The show is only 75 episodes across five seasons, so I'd think it would be easy to release it on DVD. The problem is sales. I don't know how popular this show was when it was on Fox Kids though it ran for five years in the U.S. and six years in Canada, so it's possible that nobody would care enough for it to be worth the money to release the show on DVD.

Ghostwriter (1992-1995)

Next is Ghostwriter, which aired on PBS in the U.S., and TVOntario in Canada, during its TVO Kids programming block. I loved this show when I was a kid as I mainly watched it on TVO Kids, though I do remember also watching it on PBS as well from time to time. 

While the first season was released on DVD in 2010 by Shout! Factory, the rest of the series has never been released. Though Wikipedia does show that seasons 2 and 3 were supposed to be released, but there's no release dates attached to them. It would be awesome if Shout! Factory still had the license to release this series, but I don't know if they still do after fourteen years.

Masked Rider (1995-1997)

Aired on Fox Kids from 1995 to 1997, Masked Rider was an adaptation of Toei's Kamen Rider Black RX (1988-1989), which was the final Kamen Rider series to be produced until Kamen Rider Kuuga came out in 2000, as such, it's the oldest Tokusatsu series that Saban Entertainment adapted for Fox Kids in the wake of the huge success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993. In fact, it was an actual spin-off of MMPR originally, as Dex/Masked Rider was introduced in the three part premiere of season 3 of Mighty Morphin. Though by the time Masked Rider actually debuted on September 16th, 1995, any connection to Power Rangers was ignored, aside for in comic books.

Unlike the other Saban/Fox Kids Tokusatsu adaptations, Shout! Factory didn't get the license to release Masked Rider on DVD in the mid 2010s, and so other than 2 VHS releases in 1996, Masked Rider hasn't had any North American home video releases. While I don't like it as much as I like Power Rangers, I do have fond memories of watching Masked Rider on Fox Kids in 1996 and 1997 and I'd love to be able to get it on DVD someday. Especially because Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Beetleborgs, and Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad all have DVD releases, as does Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (1998-1999)

Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog was one of the few shows that Saban Entertainment produced for Fox Kids that wasn't based on a Japanese Tokusatsu series. It also only lasted for a single season of fifty episodes from September 12th, 1998 to May 7th, 1999. Wikipedia doesn't say whether it was received well or not, but apparently a second season, called Battle Thunder, was planned, but was canceled and its budget was distributed to Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and the English dub of Digimon.

Only one VHS release came out in North America in either 1998 or 1999 and no DVD releases have come out anywhere but in Germany. I only vaguely remember watching this show and it's not one I've revisited since I watched it on TV in the late '90s. It would be cool to have a DVD release of the series, since Sword and Sorcery Fantasy is hugely popular right now.

Ned's Newt (1997-1999)

Ned's Newt was one of the first shows to be produced for Teletoon when it premiered on October 18th, 1997, the day after Teletoon launched. It was also one of my favourite shows and I watched it all the time. It's about a boy named Ned who wanted a pet and got a Newt, who is basically a mix of the Genie from Aladdin (1992) and Hobbes from Bill Watterson's comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Ned's friends and family never see the Newt, named Newton, when he's in his anthropomorphic form as the Newt food that Newton eats to make him grow and start talking, Zippo, always wears off when anyone besides Ned is in the room. The series also aired on Fox Kids from 1998 to 1999.

Despite being one of the flagship shows for Teletoon, Ned's Newt has only ever had three VHS releases. Though it is streaming on Tubi oddly enough. I doubt the show will get any DVD releases, though individual season sets would be awesome, if not a complete series set.

Radio Active (1998-2001)

Radio Active was a sitcom that aired on YTV from 1998 to 2001, and was one of my favourite shows growing up. The show is about five students, Morgan, Kevin (season 1) or Blair (seasons 2-3), Ethan (season 1) or Roger (seasons 2-3), George, and Tanya who run a radio station called Radio Active at the fictional Upper Redwood High. I don't think it aired in the U.S. so this is a Canadian only thing this time around. It has no physical media releases at all, not even a VHS release. However, it is streaming on Tubi and in varying quality on several YouTube channels given the lack of physical releases. I doubt we'll ever get a DVD release of the series, but it would be cool if we did.

Radio Free Roscoe (2003-2005)

Radio Free Roscoe was my favourite teen show in the 2000s. It aired on Family Channel here in Canada and on The N in the U.S. and centered around four teens, Lily, Ray, Travis, and Robbie, who start their own underground radio station in order to fight the uniformity of the school radio station, Cougar Radio, at Henry Roscoe High School. The show had cast crossovers with Canadian teen drama, Degrassi: The Next Generation as several RFR cast members appeared on Degrassi and vice versa. Oddly enough, while the show aired only in two seasons, of 26 episodes each, on Family Channel, The N divided the show's 52 episodes into four seasons, of thirteen episodes each.

While RFR did get a DVD release in 2003 or 2004, it was simply eight episodes from season 1 released as a "Greatest Hits" compilation voted on by fans of the show. It includes the first two episodes of the show, along with the season 1 (Canadian)/season 2 (American) finale. Out of all the shows I've talked about in this post, RFR is the show I'd love to have complete on DVD. Even now, 20 years later, it's still one of my favourite shows of all time and I love revisiting it every so often. The first episode is available on YouTube on Family Channel's official YouTube channel in honour of the station's 35th Anniversary (I'm old) and the entire series is, again, available on YouTube, in varying quality on other channels. 

Schooled (2019-2020)

A spin-off of The Goldbergs (2013-2023), Schooled was set in the '90s and followed Lainey Lewis (AJ Michalka), Mr. Glascott (Tim Meadows), and Coach Mellor (Bryan Callen) and aired on ABC from January 9th, 2019 to May 13th, 2020. Unlike The Goldbergs, Schooled didn't air on a Canadian channel. It was originally meant to focus more on Glascott's Niece, Felicia, but, the concept was reworked to focus more on the adults, which was the show's downfall in my opinion, as much as I loved the show. It also doesn't have any physical media releases. Though both seasons are available on iTunes.

Spider-Man (1994-1998)

Spider-Man (also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series) aired on Fox Kids and YTV from November 19th, 1994 to January 31st, 1998. I watched it on both channels, though I'm pretty sure I watched it on YTV the most. Even though I missed the first two seasons when they initially aired from 1994 to 1996, YTV did air both seasons in reruns fairly regularly, so it was easy for me to catch up on the show. Which was a huge help because of how serialized the show was in comparison to its DC counterpart, Batman: The Animated Series, which also aired on Fox Kids and YTV.

Disney did release five DVD compilation volumes from 2002 to 2005, containing certain story arcs from the show, but that's it for the North American DVD market. Season sets and a complete series set were released in the UK in 2009 and 2011 respectively. But, those sets were never released here in North America. The series is available on digital platforms such as iTunes, AND is streaming on Disney+ if you have access to that service. It's one of the few shows that is most wanted on DVD for that reason, due to the lack of North American DVD releases. Honestly, I love this show and I'd love it if they gave it season sets or a complete series set here in North America.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Airing in syndication from January 3rd, 1993 to June 2nd, 1999, DS9 was considered the black sheep of the franchise for many years, despite the show's superior writing and acting in comparison to its predecessors, Star Trek (1966-1969), and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). I didn't watch DS9 when it was originally on TV, besides the pilot episode, "Emissary". However, when I was a teenager, the show was airing in reruns on both CityTV and The New RO (originally CHRO, now known as CTV 2), the channels the show originally aired on here in Canada in the '90s.

DS9 did have DVD releases in the 2000s and 2010s, both season releases for all seven seasons, and complete series sets. However due to low sales of the TNG Blu-ray releases, Paramount has chosen not to release DS9, the lesser known Star Trek series, on the format due to the cost of remastering the series to the point where it would be deemed acceptable for Blu-ray release.

However, the season 5 episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations" was released on Blu-ray in 2009 on the season 2 Blu-ray set for TOS, where it was upscaled to 1080p. So it's not that the process is impossible, as we saw, it's not, but, CBS/Paramount is concerned because of the low sales of the TNG Blu-ray sets. Honestly, I think those low sales are because only the hardest of hardcore Star Trek fans bought the Blu-rays for TNG, because casual fans and general audiences saw no need, despite the remastered production the show underwent before being put on Blu-ray, because they already had the series on DVD. Unlike with TOS where the special effects were digitally redone from the ground up, so that it would match what Roddenberry and company would've done in the '60s had the technology existed at the time, and if they'd had the budget to do so, the remastering process for TNG was less intensive as they didn't change any visual shots. They simply upscaled the show's audio and visuals, and fixed visual continuity mistakes that were made in the late '80s and early '90s when the show was originally in production. And while the remastered version of TNG has aired on TV since 2013, and is on the Blu-ray releases, it did not replace the original standard definition version present on the DVDs during subsequent DVD releases that happened in the 2010s. Having DS9 on Blu-ray would be pretty cool if it ever happens.

Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Airing from January 16th, 1995 to May 23rd, 2001 on UPN in the United States, and on CFCF 12, CityTV, The New RO, and Space Channel/CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, Star Trek: Voyager was the fourth live action Star Trek series and the first to air on Network Television since TOS was canceled in 1969. While I enjoy DS9, Voyager is my favourite Star Trek series besides TNG. The reruns on The New RO got me through high school and it was a comfort show for me as it not only helped me become closer with my sister, but also connected me to others who weren't and aren't Star Trek fans and I treasure those memories.

All seven seasons were released on DVD in the 2000s, and the show had a complete series box set in 2018 or 2019, but the show hasn't been released on Blu-ray yet either, due to the low sales of the TNG Blu-ray releases. However, to my mind, because Voyager has more digital elements to it due to the ships being mostly digital models, rather than physical models, though the show didn't go completely digital until halfway through season 3 in 1996, it would be easier to upscale the show to 1080p for Blu-ray release since they have the digital elements available to them.The cost would also be worth it since, despite its low ratings on UPN during its original run, Voyager has become more popular thanks to streaming and DVD releases. Especially since the show's 30th anniversary is coming up in 2025.

Star Wars: Droids (1985-1986)

Star Wars: Droids aired on ABC from September 7th, 1985 to June 7th, 1986 for a total of 13 episodes, with Anthony Daniels reprising his role as C-3PO and the original sound designer for the Original Trilogy, Ben Burtt, providing the "voice" of R2-D2. The show takes place about fifteen years before Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), with Threepio and Artoo entering the services of several people through a Droid service agency, as their masters take on petty warlords, bounty hunters (including Boba Fett), the Empire itself, and other criminal elements. The show was produced by Nelvana in co-operation with Lucasfilm. I remember watching Droids on Global, alongside the next show I'll be talking about in this post, in the early '90s. It also aired alongside other '80s and '90s cartoons such as Dennis the Menace, Beetlejuice, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Inspector Gadget, The Care Bears Family, Astro Boy, and The Real Ghostbusters.

In 2005, to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary, Droids did get a single DVD release containing two movie compilations of two four episode story arcs, "The Pirates and the Prince" (Episodes 5-8), and "Treasure of the Hidden Planet" (Episodes 10-13), leaving out episodes 1-4, episode 9, and the TV special, The Great Heep. With the show having been on Disney+ since 2021, it'd be nice if Disney released the full series, including The Great Heep, on DVD.

Star Wars: Ewoks (1985-1986)

Star Wars: Ewoks was a companion series to Droids that aired on ABC from September 7th, 1985 to December 13th, 1986. It served as spin-off of the Ewoks TV movies that Lucasfilm had produced in 1984 and 1985. It also aired alongside Droids on Global TV here in Canada. Being that I wouldn't see any Star Wars movie until my dad got the Original Trilogy on VHS in 1995, Ewoks was the show I preferred since I had no connection to Threepio and Artoo, and the Ewoks resembled other bear related characters that were on TV at the time, particularly the Care Bears. I also owned one of the show's few VHS releases for a brief time in the mid '90s.

Like with Droids, Ewoks also got a single DVD release to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary in 2005. And like with the Droids DVD, this release had two movie compilations of two four episode arcs, "The Haunted Village" (season 1, episodes 1, 2, 3, and 9), and "Tales from the Endor Woods " (Season 1, episodes 4, 5, 7, and 13). Ewoks also went up on Disney+ in 2021 and with the show's 40th anniversary coming up next year, Disney should release both Droids and Ewoks on DVD.

Stargirl (2020-2022)

Originally produced for DC Comics's failed streaming app, DC Universe, Stargirl moved to The CW for the second and third seasons. I watched the first two seasons on Blu-ray and I loved it. As you can see from my reviews of both seasons, which I have on this blog in early 2023. So, why is this show on the list?

While seasons 1 and 2 are on both DVD and Blu-ray, for whatever reason, season 3 only got a DVD release. That's the only reason Stargirl is on this list. If you still haven't checked this show out, despite my glowing recommendations in both reviews, I highly recommend watching it. I still haven't seen season 3 yet, because I don't have it on physical media yet. But as soon as I can get it, I'll definitely be watching it.

Superman & Lois (2021-2024)

Airing on The CW, starting on February 23rd, 2021, Superman & Lois is one of the best comic book based TV shows ever made, and it's the last vestige of the once powerful Arrowverse continuity, having disconnected itself from that continuity by the end of the first season, despite the creators originally intending it to be a spin-off of Supergirl (2015-2021), coming off of the massive 2019-2020 crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. While season 3 was a bit difficult for me to watch due to Lois having a cancer storyline, and both grandmothers of mine having died from cancer as the season was ending, this is one of the best comic book based shows ever produced, and is the best Superman show ever.

While the first two seasons have both DVD and Blu-ray releases, season 3 has neither. It's been almost a year since season 3 debuted, and we haven't even gotten announcements about whether or not the season is getting any physical media releases. Normally that would've been out by the end of 2023, but so far, we've had nothing. Even coming into 2024, we've had nothing. Even though the fourth and final season is coming out this fall.

The Goldbergs (2013-2023)

Airing on ABC from September 24th, 2013 to May 3rd, 2023, The Goldbergs basically kicked off the wave of '80s nostalgia shows, as it began three years before Stranger Things debuted on Netflix. Created by Adam F. Goldberg, and was a fictional biography of his childhood, the show never had strong ratings during its ten season run, but obviously it had good enough ratings to warrant a ten season run. Which surprised me, because as a fan of the show, I was expecting it to be canceled after only a season or two. It's one of my favourite shows of the 2010s.

The show is on DVD, so why is it on this list? Well, because only seasons 1-6 have been released on DVD. Despite all ten seasons being available on digital for purchase on iTunes, and is available on streaming on Hulu in the U.S., it's not streaming anywhere in Canada, and for whatever reason, seasons 7-10 haven't been released on DVD. For no apparent reason. It's never been mentioned at all. Which sucks because it's an awesome show and I love it.

The Orville (2017-2022)

Airing on Fox for its first two seasons and then moving over to Hulu and Disney+ for season 3, The Orville surprised me. While I'd watched Family Guy and American Dad in the 2000s, and saw Ted (2012), I wasn't a fan of Seth McFarlane. At all. So I didn't have high hopes for this show. And, while the pilot was a bit rough around the edges, the show blew me away and gained a cult following due to it following the classic Star Trek formula better than what the modern Star Trek shows and movies had been doing up to that point. As I mentioned, Fox canceled it after two seasons and Hulu and Disney+ picked it up for its third season. Despite its critical and audience success, it doesn't look like that the show is returning for a fourth season. It's not canceled or anything like that. It's just not coming back. Seth's a bit busy with Ted, the series on Peacock based on Seth's 2012 movie of the same name.

Even though seasons 1 and 2 got DVD releases, there hasn't been any word if season 3, The Orville: New Horizons, is getting a physical media release. Even Seth himself hasn't said whether or not season 3 will get a DVD release. Which sucks, because it was the best season and if it is the final season, then it needs to come out on DVD to complete the series on that format.

The Smurfs (1981-1989)

Airing on NBC from September 12th, 1981 to December 2nd, 1989, The Smurfs was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. I remember watching The Smurfs on Global TV, alongside the other shows that I mentioned in a previous section of this long post. While the show does have DVD releases, only one season and a handful of volumes containing random episodes from the first two seasons were released on DVD in North America. Those came out in 2009 and 2013 respectively. Hopefully we'll at least get individual season sets for all five seasons of the show.

The Wuzzles (1985)

 Airing on CBS from September 14th to December 7th, 1985, The Wuzzles reran on ABC from 1986 to 1987. I didn't watch this show when I was a kid because it didn't air in reruns here. I was aware of the franchise through the toys and books that Disney released. I owned a Butterbear figure and I owned several of the books. Naturally, I had no idea that they were based off of an animated TV show. There aren't any home video releases for the show at all. Not even on VHS. Which is interesting, given that every other animated Disney show at the time got at least one VHS release if not more. I doubt this show will ever get a DVD release, as it's not even on Disney+, but one never knows with this sort of thing.

Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983-1986)

Airing on the Disney Channel from April 18th, 1983 to May 30th, 1986, the costumes for Welcome to Pooh Corner were bult by Alchemy II, Inc. the company owned by Teddy Ruxpin creator, Ken Forsse, and involved Phil Barron and the late Will Ryan, who voiced Teddy and Grubby respectively in the Teddy Ruxpin franchise. The show also aired on Family Channel here in Canada from 1988, when the channel launched, until 1997. I watched it on Family Channel whenever I was either in the hospital or at my grandparents's place because we didn't have Family Channel at my house until the late '90s, after Welcome to Pooh Corner had left the channel.

Walt Disney Home Video released six VHS volumes of the show, containing four episodes per tape in the mid '80s during that time when the home video business was really coming into its own at Disney. I'd love for this show to get a DVD release, but, it's unlikely ever going to happen. I don't even know if it's even a remote possibility or not. It would be interesting though. Certain episodes, taken from their original broadcasts, have been uploaded to YouTube in parts, and are also on the Internet Archive.

Willow (2022-2023)

Streaming on Disney+ from November 30th, 2022 until January 11th, 2023, Willow was a sequel to the 1988 movie of the same name that Ron Howard had directed. The show was canceled in March, 2023 and then was removed entirely from Disney+ on May 26th, 2023. Which is why this show is on the list. It needs a DVD release, or at the very least a Blu-ray steelbook release like Disney has been doing with the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe shows they've already put out like The Mandalorian and Loki. 

Zoobilee Zoo (1986-1987)

Airing in syndication from September 15th, 1986 until March 27th, 1987, Zoobilee Zoo's theme song was written by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, the creators of Power Rangers. The show has a total of 65 episodes and I loved it when I was a kid, watching it in reruns and on VHS, even dressing up as Van Go Lion for Halloween when I was four or five years old. I'm pretty sure I watched it on PBS as it was on several different channels, even in reruns, and I remember watching several episodes on VHS that my parents rented for me from Rogers Video. It was also on The Learning Channel (TLC) in the mid '90s and I watched it on that too.

As mentioned, Zoobilee Zoo had several VHS releases and I remember renting one or two of them a couple of times. I don't remember which episodes, but I remember sitting in my siblings's and my playroom in the common area outside our bedrooms on the second floor of our old, refurbished log farmhouse that we lived in from 1993 to 1996. Hallmark Properties currently owns the show, but I have no idea whether the show will ever get released to DVD.

And that my friends is it for this list and this blog post. It's a long one, but it's something I've been thinking about lately, especially with shows like The Goldbergs being incomplete on physical media, despite being a traditional network show, is weird to me. 

That's it for me for this week. I'll be back next week with lots more blog posts and reviews. So until then have a great night and a wonderful weekend and I will talk to you all later. Take care.