Adam-12 - Season 2 - Buy from Amazon
A police procedural that ran from 1968 to 1975. It was created by Jack Webb, who is most famous for Dragnet. Like that show, this one is a very "by the book" kind of show. This makes it seem rather old-fashion compared to a lot of the flashy shows today, or the ones that have a more unusual hook, but I think it helps the show last. In 20 years some of the flashy shows will seem very dated, while this show will still have drawing power.

Martin Milner plays Patrolman Pete Malloy, veteran of the LAPD who lost his partner on the job and is now helping a newcomer, Officer Jim Reed played by Kent McCord. The two deal with a lot of the crimes that took place in the Los Angeles jurisdiction at the time the show was made, including drugs and burglaries to more serious crimes like dealing with a serial killer, or a child kidnappers. The whole time the cops are shown in a very realistic manner, for the most part. (The commentators on one episode note that the cops tend to get a lot more done over the course of one shift than is realistic, but that's obviously for dramatic effect and is not a big deal in the grand scope of things.) The police force is shown in a good light, but they are not deified, or even glamorized, and are shown to make mistakes from time to time and shown having a real down-to-earth life. For those who think too many modern police procedural shows let flash get in the way of a good story, this is a great relief.

Four episodes, one per disc, have audio commentary tracks with Sergeant Frank Mika and Officer Rob Nobile. These tracks focus not on the behind-the-scenes and production of the series, but instead on the law and the police procedural matters. This includes a lot of the changes in the laws, technology, procedures, etc. Very interesting to listen to. There is also a pop-up trivia track on one episode, and two image galleries. Sadly, there are no subtitles, but there are play-all buttons and proper chapter placement.

They don't make shows like Adam-12 anymore. Although looking at the current crop of police procedural shows, Law & Order feels like the most direct descendent. If you picked up Season 1, then grabbing Season 2 is obvious, since it's a better value with more extras than expected. If you've never seen the show but like Law & Order, then it is worth checking out, but start with Season One.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
Two quick notes. One, I actually got a review done early. That hasn't happened in a long time. Two, I only have the Blu-ray at the moment, but I expect to review the DVD for next week.

The movie starts with a woman giving birth in a castle, and shortly after an older man rushes in and helps the young Prince escape before troops are sent in to kill him. Shortly after, we return to England to the four children (Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy). It's been a year since they've returned from Narnia, and some have not adjusted very well from being kings and queens to being school children. But they are soon called back to Narnia, only to discover that hundreds of years have passed since they were there last. Now the creatures of Narnia have been driven nearly to the point of extinction by the forces of Telmarine, of which Prince Caspian is the rightful heir.

The original film earned excellent reviews and became one of the biggest hits of 2005, so there was a lot of pressure on this film. For the most part it does live up to its predecessor, at least critically. (At the box office, it was another story.) It shares some of the same strengths, and some of the same flaws, but it is hard to imagine many people who enjoyed the first movie who will be turned off by this one. Conversely, if you didn't like the first movie, there's little to change your mind here. I did like how Susan's character is a little more proactive in the movie, but the film as a whole didn't have as much emotional strength. On a side note, and I admit I'm being picky here, there was a shot when the forces of Narnia were traveling underground during the final climatic battle where there was one shot with effects that were bad enough to take me out of the movie. It was a very short shot (I figure less than a second) and I am very anal about these things. There were a few other times where I thought, "That could have be worked on a bit." But that is unavoidable.

Moving onto the Blu-ray presentation, it looks and sounds fantastic. This is one of the best-looking live action Blu-ray releases I've seen. This is not surprising since when it comes to new releases, Dinsey is arguably the best studio out there. (I have had issue with some of their catalogue releases, on the other hand.)

Extras on the first disc are limited to an audio commentary track with the director and the five main actors (Anna Popplewell, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, and Ben Barnes). They enthusiastically give plenty of information and maintain a high level of entertainment. The only other extra on the first disc is Circle-Vision Interactive, a 360 degree look at the sets complete with text, images, behind-the-scenes video, and some clips from the movie with audio commentary track. There's a lot of stuff to go through and it takes a long time to get through it all. But fans of the movie will want to do just that. Also, the Blu-ray is BD-Live enabled.

Over on Disc Two, there are a huge number of featurettes starting with Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns, a 35-minute long making-of featurette; Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life, a 24-minute long featurette on the locations where this movie was shot; Big Movie Comes to a Small Town, a 23-minute long featurette on the town of Bovec where one of the climatic scenes was shot. Previsualizing Narnia is just over 10 minutes and deals with the previsualizing process, which is like animated storyboards done in rough computer animation. Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia runs 5 minutes long and is about the creatures in the movie. Secrets of the Duel is a three-minute featurette on the fight between Peter and King Miraz. There are also two featurettes on becoming Trumpkin and Nikabrik. Finally, there are 12 minutes of deleted scenes, with intros, and three minutes of outtakes.

Finally, disc three has the digital copy for portable devices.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was a very good movie, but not a great movie. It is worth checking out, but it doesn't feel like a classic of the genre and I have doubts that the franchise can survive much longer. That said, the Blu-ray has more than enough here that it is worth picking up, and since it is only $2 more than the DVD, there's little doubt which format is the better deal.

The special starts with Stephen Colbert in his cabin up in the mountains preparing for Christmas. However, as he tries to return to New York to film his Christmas special, an enraged bear blocks his door. Over the course of the next 40 minutes (one hour with commercials), a series of musical guests come and sing original Christmas songs while Stephen tries to figure a way to elude the bear and make it back in time to film his Christmas special. Many of these songs are quite good, particularly the opening song, Willie Nelson's song that includes the best one-liner from the show, "I'm so high, you're hallucinating.", and the Stephen Colbert / Jon Stewart Hanukkah duet. (Feist has arguably the best song in a technical sense, while the previous three mentioned are more on the funny side.) On the other hand, there needs to be a law to prevent Toby Keith from acting again. For that matter, the actual plot and acting itself was the weakest part of the show. I understand it was a parody of TV Christmas specials from a certain era, which I only vaguely remember, but not enough worked that I can be enthusiastic in my recommendation.

As for the extras, there are quite a few to be found on the DVD, including the option of listening to it with or without the live studio option. Next up is a Book-Burning Video Yule Log, which is cute, but has no replay value. There is a Video Advent Calendar that includes 25 short clips of Stephen Colbert giving Christmas advice (avoid injuries while unwrapping Christmas gifts by warming up unwrapping other people's gifts), and other tidbits. It's funny, but the lack of a play-all button is annoying. Up next are three Alternate Endings, which were too strange even for this show. Finally, there's a bonus song called "Cold, Cold Christmas", which is a great parody of a Country 'love' song. I assume it was cut for time, because it is a great song.

A Colbert Christmas - The Greatest Gift of All is not as funny as I was expecting it would be, but it is still worth checking out. Meanwhile, the extras are on par with expectations, but I'm still not sure the DVD is worth picking up over just renting. Call it a solid rental, but a toss-up for a purchase.

Desperate Housewives - The Complete Fourth Season - Buy from Amazon
Not the most late DVD I've ever reviewed, but it is high on that list. In my defense, it arrived more than a month late, and during one of the busiest times of the year.

Desperate Housewives is a primetime soap opera that follows the lives of five women who live on Wisteria Lane, who have to deal with health problems, marriage problems, faked pregnancies, fake marriages, being married to a serial killer, suicide attempts, and more. Unfortunately, less than half of these are remotely interesting. In fact, Felicity Huffman's character again is the only one that I find interesting to watch. Most I have zero empathy for, while a couple I actively hate. The best part of this season was Nathan Fillion, who had a recurring show as Dr. Adam Mayfair, the new husband of an old neighbor who returns to the neighborhood, but while she has a new husband, she has old secrets. Everyone has secrets in this show, and most run the gamut from ludicrous to preposterous. If the show were played for laughs, like Ugly Betty, this wouldn't be a problem, but I suspect they are supposed to be dramatic. And that time warp ending that takes place five years in the future just didn't work.

Extras on the show include audio commentary tracks on seven of the seventeen episodes, mostly in the form of 'couples commentaries.' (The two actors playing husband and wife get together and do a commentary track on an episode that features their characters prominently.) The rest of the extras can be found on disc five starting with Getting Desperate: From Beginning to End, a 27-minute look at the creating Something's Coming, the episode where a tornado hits Wisteria Lane. Spare Time: Hanging With the Men of Wisteria Laneruns eight-and-a-half minutes and has the actors on the show talking about their roles. Cherry-Picked has the creator, Marc Cherry, doing audio commentary for several of his favorite scenes from this season. There's an alternate ending and 12 deleted scenes, also with audio commentary track. And finally there are nearly five minutes of outtakes.

I've never been a fan of Desperate Housewives, but I've reviewed it in the past, and I think it's getting worse. I did like Felicity Huffman's storyarc, and adding Nathan Fillion was a smart move, but its not enough to save Season Four, at least not in my mind. However, I will admit that there are enough extras on the 5-disc set to compensate for the strike-shortened season, and for fans it is still worth picking up.

Eli Stone - Season One - Buy from Amazon
Almost done all of the late reviews. Woo hoo!

Eli Stone stars Jonny Lee Miller as the titular character, a less than idealistic lawyer who one day starts hearing music, specifically George Michael's "Faith." Then after he makes an appearance in his living room, Eli heads in for an MRI, and then to an acupuncturist, to try and find out what is wrong with him. The doctor says it's an inoperable brain aneurysm while the acupuncturist says he is a prophet. He'd rather have an inoperable brain aneurysm, and I agree. I would prefer to live in a world with set rules that one can learn and anticipate, even if that means bad things happen to me. However, that said, the way the show plays out makes for a fun journey, for the most part. I'm not as interested in the on again, off again relationship with Natasha Henstridge's character; sadly it takes up a lot of this strike-shortened season. Also, the song and dance numbers lose their novelty quite quickly. Overall it is still a good show and one that is worth checking out, but I don't know how long the writers will be able to keep it up. But given the rumors surrounding it, that might not be a problem.

Most of the bonus features appear on the final disc of this four-disc set (an audio commentary track on disc three is the lone exception). Extras on disc four start with an extended version of the pilot episode, complete with an audio commentary track. Next up are seven deleted scenes that run 8 minutes. There are also a quartet of featurettes starting with the 12-minute Turning a Prophet: The Creation of Eli Stone, which is what like it sounds. Acting on Faith: Eli & George Michael is a four-and-a-half minute long featurette on the episode where George Michael had a guest spot, "I Want Your Sex." This is the episode where he had a guest appearance as an actual person, not just as an hallucination. (A very fun episode, by the way.) Up next is Creating Visions: The Effects of Eli Stone, which is a five-and-a-half minute featurette on the special effects. The final featurette is Inside the Firm: The Natasha Henstridge Tour; it runs five minutes and it is exactly what it sounds like. Rounding out the extras are three-and-a-half minutes of outtakes.

Eli Stone is a show that has a quirky edge to it, which helps pull viewers in initially, but it is also dangerous as this quirkiness can grow tiresome quickly. Since Season One was cut to just 13 episodes thanks to the writers' strike, it is hard to tell if this will be a problem. However, the similarly quirky Pushing Daisies was recently canceled, and rumors are this show could be next. So if you like it, grab the DVD right away, because strong DVD sales might help the studio decide to keep it.