The Bionic Woman: Season One Review

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(More customer reviews)Ever since the advent of digital video discs consumers and fans of classic television shows have been hoping and demanding to see "The Bionic Woman" on DVD. The series that starred Lindsay Wagner and made her into a household name was released in Europe on Region 2 dics, but the North American marketplace was virtually ignored due to ownership issues. Now, this wonderful and innovative series about a woman who possesses bionics and works undercover for the OSI while being a school teacher by day, comes to DVD on October 19, 2010. I for one am a very happy boy! I grew up watching Lindsay Wagner fight the bad guys and would watch with anxiety week after week to see what adventures the bionic woman would get herself embroiled in.
"The Bionic Woman" got her start on a two-part "Six Million Dollar Man". At the end of the second episode Jamie Sommers actually died. Overnight ABC was inundated with letters demanding Jamie live and be given her own series. Fred Silverman, president of the network and keen on seeing potential Nielsen ratings, especially those of a young demographic, caved in and Jamie Sommers was brought back to life and given her own weekly show, sometimes garnering higher ratings than that of Lee Major's series ("The Bionic Woman" finished at #5 in the 1975-1976 Nielsen Ratings).
"The Bionic Woman" was pure comic book fluff with a strong, intelligent woman as the lead, but the series would have been a bomb if not for the excellent acting chomps of Lindsay Wagner. Wagner was very likeable in her portrayal which explains why any girl watching "The Bionic Woman" during its original run wanted to be her and the boys wanted to marry her. Lindsay Wagner even won an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1977. This was no small feat as Lindsay's competition that year was Angie Dickinson for "Police Woman", Kate Jackson ("Charlie's Angels"), Sada Thompson ("Family"), and Michael Learned for "The Waltons".
This oustanding four disc DVD box set will feature all 13 season one episodes that began airing in January, 1976 (the show was a midseason replacement) along with a slew of bonus features. The bonuses include a brand new featurette with Lindsay Wagner being interviewed called "Bionic Beginnings", audio commentary from Kenneth Johnson who created and directed the series, a gag reel (this is not to be missed as the bloopers are hilarious and Lindsay proves she has a tongue like a sailor!), and photo gallery. To make things even more appealing this set will feature two crossover episodes from "The Six Million Dollar Man" that showed how Jamie Sommers came to be. These episodes are entitled "The Bionic Woman-Part 1" (aired March 16, 1975) and "Part 2" (March 23, 1975), "The Return of The Bionic Woman-Part 1" (September 14, 1975) and "Part 2" (September 21, 1975)".
Important to note too is that it has been long thought by fans and critics of "The Bionic Woman" that the episode entitled "Welcome Home Jamie Part 1" was first aired on ABC as a "Six Million Dollar Man" episode. The truth is that is not the case. Recently in October, 2010 research consultants from Timelife who are bringing the entire "Six Million Dollar Man" series to DVD have discovered that "Welcome Home Jamie Part 1" was indeed the first ever "Bionic Woman" episode to be telecast on network television. It was long thought that particular episode was telecast as a "Six Million Dollar Man".
UPDATE: "THE BIONIC WOMAN-SEASON 2" COMES TO DVD ON MAY 17, 2011!!!
Here is a list of "The Bionic Woman-Season 1" episodes along with their airdates:
1. "Welcome Home Jamie-Part 1", January 11, 1976
2. "Welcome Home Jamie-Part 2", January 21, 1976
3. "Angel of Mercy", January 28, 1976
4. "A Thing of the Past", February 18, 1976
5. "Claws", February 25, 1976
6. "The Deadly Missiles", March 3, 1976
7. "Bionic Beauty", March 17, 1976
8. "Jamie's Mother, March 24, 1976
9. "Winning Is Everything", April 7, 1976
10. "Canyon of Death, April 14, 1976
11. "Fly Jamie", May 5, 1976
12. "The Jailing of Jamie", May 12, 1976
13. "Mirror Image", May 19, 1976
14. "The Ghosthunter", May 26, 1976

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She can run faster than 60 mph, bend massive steel bars, jump from insane heights, and hear sounds you can only imagine. She’s no ordinary schoolteacher…she’s The Bionic Woman. Relive the excitement of this iconic TV series starring Primetime Emmy® Award winner* Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers, a woman leading the ultimate double life. After her unforgettable appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man as Colonel Steve Austin’s (Lee Majors) true love, Jaime’s story begins anew in these entertaining Season 1 episodes as she learns to deal with her new bionic abilities, becomes a top-secret agent for the Office of Scientific investigations, and deals with her changed relationship with Steve. Now available in a four-disc set that includes five original episodes featured in the Six Million Dollar Man and a never-before-seen Bionic Beginnings featurette. The Bionic Woman: Season 1 promises nonstop action, excitement, and adventure with the world’s first female cyborg.

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The Paper Chase (1973) Review

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(More customer reviews)I always warned students at the beginning of each year that I had screened "The Paper Chase" once again and was interested in using the Socratic method to spin the little tumblers of their minds. Certainly this was the film that made me want to curb my innate desire to stand up in the classroom and pontificate on every subject under the sun.
Ostensibly the film is about the pressures of first year students at Harvard Law School, but since most of us do not want to become lawyers, know any lawyers, have any dealings with lawyers or even watch television programs with lawyers, "The Paper Chase" ultimately succeeds as a film about wanting to learn and learning to think. At the heart of the film is James Hart (Timothy Bottoms), come from Minnesota to learn at the feet of the great Professor Charles Kingsfield. Despite some painful moments of confrontation in the classroom with his would be mentor-my favorite: "Mr. Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer"-Hart finds he can play the game and play it well. Having given his mind over to Kingsfield, the question then becomes whether his heart and soul will follow as well. The other members of his study group (which includes Edward Herrmann and James Naughton), make different choices and take different paths in order to survive the year. By the end of the film Hart is more alone than he was at the beginning.
As Kingsfield, John Houseman is the powerful center of the film. A producer and drama teacher for almost half a century, Houseman won the 1973 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and began a new career as an actor in films and a pitchman in television commercials (however, this was not Houseman's first film, since I know he played an admiral in the political thriller "Seven Days in May"). Indeed, Houseman went on to play the Kingsfield character in the ambitious television versions of the movie. However, it is important to note that those who knew Houseman as a producer or teacher were always quick to point out that he really was acting in "The Paper Chase." There might be Harvard professors fighting over the honor of being the real Kingfield, but Houseman was indeed just doing a role.
As the autocratic master of his domain, Kingsfield is very much the antithesis of the traditional dedicated teacher usually presented in films about school, a point driven home in the film's final meeting between Hart and Kingsfield. If there is a happy ending in this film, it is achieved by Hart's character on a personal, almost private level.
The original novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr. was brought to the film my director James Bridges, who also did the screenplay. Although the sub-plot where Hart discovers the young woman of his affections (Lindsay Wagner) is in fact (gasp!) Kingsfield's daughter is decidedly contrived, overall the film is an intelligent and thoughtful piece. If you are a teacher, or are thinking about becoming a teacher, "The Paper Chase" is just as much recommended viewing as the more conventional fare as such classics as "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "To Sir, With Love," "Up the Down Staircase," or more contemporary efforts such as "Songs of the Heart."

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Item Name: The Paper Chase; Studio:20th Century Fox

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Hallmark Collector Set V.1 (6-Movies) Review

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(More customer reviews)This set includes the titles:
THICKER THAN WATER
ORDINARY MIRACLES
THE COLT
FIELDER'S CHOICE
A CHRISTMAS VISITOR
ANGEL IN THE FAMILY
I was not familiar with any of these movies when I purchased this set but I enjoy most Hallmark movies and the price was very reasonable. You can't rent them for any less. It turned out they are all pretty good dramatic movies. Most of the family should enjoy them. The Amazon descriptions will give you a good idea of what the movie titles are, and a general overview of the stories. Good quality DVDS with decent replayability. If you enjoyed this catch Hallmark Collector Set V.2 (6-Movies).
CA Luster

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THICKER THAN WATERA faded photograph leads powerful attorney Natalie Jones to the secrets of her late father's past. She takes to the sprawling countryside, where horses run free, families are bound by honor, true love really exists, and Natalie discovers her own past - and an enlightened future.ORDINARY MIRACLESTough and unyielding, Judge Kay Woodbury is weathering her own share of personal crises. Now, a new complication has arisen. Her name is Sally Powell, a four-time loser when it comes to foster homes; the teen faces time in the juvenile section of a women's correctional facility. Kay opens the door to her own home, where Sally's past comes to light as well as her secrets about her father, Jim, who abandoned his daughter for desperate and selfless reasons.Kay locates Sally's father and hires him as a landscaper. Unaware of their ties, Jim and Sally find a natural kinship, but as the relationship between the three deepens, so does Kay's apprehension about revealing the truth. When she does, it will change their lives in ways no one imagined and open Kay's eyes and heart to a miracle. THE COLTIt's 1864, and the First Michigan Cavalry is stranded in a Virginia forest, choking with smoldering fires and smoke and chilled by the distant cries of falling men. Among those stranded is trooper Jim Rabb, who counts his brother among the casualties, yet still rides his beloved mare Jen with a true soldier's indomitable will to survive. Then one morning Jim discovers that Jen has given birth and by her side is a newborn colt, shaking and afraid, and clinging to his mother for life. The camp is suddenly taken by Confederates, Jen and the colt are stolen, and Jim spurs a horse in a long chase and shoots the fleeing soldier to retrieve the mother and baby. The incident has left him in darkness, afraid, lost, and separated from his brigade, with a dying enemy on his hands. But honoring the Confederate Reb's last wish sparks in Jim a journey of honor and duty toward enlightenment and danger. FIELDER'S CHOICELife is perfect for promising advertising executive Phillip Fielder. No disruptions, no disorder. Out of the blue, Phillip's life is first shaken by the death of his sister Jill and then by the news that he's been given temporary custody of Zach, his autistic eight-year-old nephew whom he barely knows. But as he and Zach get to know one another, two hearts open up - along with a future of unexpected possibilities, including one that Phillip never counted on: an enlightening change of pace called fatherhood.A CHRISTMAS VISITORIn the small American town of New Chatham, Christmas is approaching for the Boyajian family. But father George, mother Carol, and their daughter, Jean, have lost the desire to celebrate. Immersed in grief since the death of their son on Christmas Eve 1991, in the Persian Gulf War, George and Carol have forgone the familial comfort and pleasures of the holidays. But this year, George's annual visit to his son's grave has renewed faith in a heartsick father. It begins when he picks up a young man named Matthew, a hitchhiker presumably without a place to stay. Accepting the invitation to spend the night at George's house, he also agrees to a well-intentioned charade: to pretend that he knew their son in the war. But once inside the Boyajian home, Matthew has a few surprises in store for all of them.ANGEL IN THE FAMILYSarah Bishop and her estranged sister Beth, are reunited after their father Buddy suffers a mild stroke. Buddy, who's never accepted the loss of his wife, wants only one thing - to return home for Christmas. Sarah makes a wish that her mother could be there, too. Bearing a message of hope, healing, and everlasting love, a miracle has arrived...

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