'Van Dyke' among DVD releases

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 3, 2004 | by Chris Hicks Deseret Morning News

Television series, specials and a documentary that premiered on the big, big screen are among new DVD releases.

-- "The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season Four" (Image, 1964-65, not rated, b/w, $69.99, five discs). After three years of enormous success, this excellent sitcom hit the ground running for season four, with a number of classic episodes and uncountable moments of hilarity and warmth.

The show where Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) gets her big toe stuck in a hotel bathtub faucet is a riot, with Van Dyke showing off his physical-comedy skills; the episode that has Rob (Van Dyke) the butt of a practical joke by Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) is also very funny; and Stacey Petrie (Jerry Van Dyke) returns for another two-part visit, announcing he plans to marry a woman he's never met.

Bonus features include the complete prime-time CBS special "The Dick Van Dyke Show Remembered," along with loads of other fun material.

Extras: Full frame, 32 episodes, audio commentaries (on select episodes), computer-animated excerpt from TV Land's "Alan Brady Show," excerpt from "Diagnosis Murder," rehearsal photos (by Roddy McDowall), new interviews, excerpt from Emmy telecast, original promo spots, Van Dyke accepting "Season One" DVD award, etc.

-- "The King of Queens: 2nd Season" (Columbia/TriStar, not rated, 1999-2000, $39.95, three discs). The second season of this reliable sitcom (which is, of course, still on the air) is a pretty funny one, with the ensemble really playing well off each other.

Highlights include a flashback episode that shows how Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leah Remini) met (with a climactic cameo by Donny Osmond), Doug discovering that Carrie cheats at board games, Arthur (Jerry Stiller) getting a job in a pretzel shop, and a visit from Ray and Debra Barone (Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton from "Everybody Loves Raymond").

Extras: Full frame, 25 episodes, audio commentary (on one episode), comic featurette on James, trailers, etc.

-- "Ghosts of the Abyss" (Disney, 2003, PG, $29.99, two discs). James Cameron, whose Oscar-winning blockbuster "Titanic" is still the biggest moneymaking movie of all time, followed that up with this documentary about the sunken luxury liner, taking "Titanic" co-star Bill Paxton with him.

Originally shown in the large-screen format, this Disney production is a fascinating exploration of the ship as it exists now on the ocean floor, with high-tech cameras going inside to explore areas not seen since it went down after hitting an iceberg in 1912. The use of actors doing ghostly re-creations puts things into perspective, and there are some remarkable artifacts that have held fast.

Cameron is obviously a fearless thrill-seeker, but most of us will identify more with Paxton, who is more of an everyman, and even a bit reluctant to go down in those three-man subs.

Extras: Widescreen, 60-minute theatrical film or 90-minute extended version, making-of featurettes, etc.

-- "Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire" (PBS/Paramount, 2003, not rated, $24.99). If you have a fascination with Japan, you should find this three-hour, three-part miniseries, which explores the history between the 16th and 19th centuries, most revealing. Narrated by Richard Chamberlain.

Extras: Widescreen, etc.

-- "The Spartans" (PBS/Paramount, 2003, not rated, $24.99). The Greeks who dedicated themselves to perfecting their warrior race are explored in this hourlong PBS documentary, hosted by historian Bettany Hughes and shot on location.

Extras: Widescreen, etc.

-- "Remember the Alamo" (PBS/Paramount, 2003, not rated, $19.99). This hourlong PBS "American Experience" program focuses primarily on the Mexican viewpoint of the battle for the Alamo.

Extras: Widescreen, interview, etc.

-- "Crash of Flight 111" (WGBH, 2004, not rated, $19.95). This PBS NOVA documentary dissects the crash of Swissair Flight 111, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing 229 passengers and crew. Investigators took four years and spent some $40 million to track down what caused the accident, and almost failed. In the end, however, the mystery is solved, though when it's revealed, it's not much comfort to future fliers.

Extras: Full frame, etc.

-- "Descent Into the Ice" (WGBH, 2004, not rated, $19.95). This NOVA documentary follows a team of scientists on a harrowing underwater journey inside the glaciers of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in western Europe. In subfreezing waters they try to determine whether the glacier might again burst free, as it did in summer 1892, when mud and water raged in a torrent that killed 200 people.

Extras: Widescreen, etc.

E-mail: hicks@desnews.com