:: theLogBook.com DVD Reviews ::

Editor’s note: This series has since been released in its entirety in North America.

One of the highlights of UPN’s short-lived bid to appeal to a wider audience than wrestling fans, urban sitcoms and Star Trek spinoffs, Dilbert: The Animated Series was a nicely-done version of what may be the most relevant comic strip to emerge in the 90s. I remember feeling some trepidation that the Dilbert TV series was being steered by producer Larry Alexander, formerly one of the guiding lights of Seinfeld, though it was evident from the pilot episode that he and the show’s writers had done their homework. Maybe the voices weren’t quite what we had all imagined in our heads over the years (though Daniel Stern at his most sarcastic is, in fact, a perfect fit for Dogbert), but despite its exceedingly short run on UPN, Dilbert was one of UPN’s best-ever ideas. (more…)

2001 was a very good year for fans of Electric Light Orchestra, with a new album, five remastered classic albums containing unreleased material, and the promise of a nationwide tour. It’s the breaking of that last promise that left most fans heartbroken, including myself since there was a Little Rock show on the itinerary. However, in hindsight, it may be a moot point - the cancellation of the tour in August 2001 probably would’ve happened in mid-September anyway. In any event, the lack of a tour stalled the momentum of Zoom, Jeff Lynne’s finely crafted comeback album, which in turn killed Sony’s enthusiasm for the series of remastered albums, and the rest is history. (more…)

Ahhhhh, the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have such fond memories of spending the entire summer of 1990 watching and re-watching The Best Of Both Worlds Part I, reading all those wacky, zany BBS rumors about Patrick Stewart not renewing his contract and Elizabeth Dennehy being signed up as a regular. Those were the days when, as a freshman in college, I discovered that even people who weren’t Trek fans were caught up in it to some extent. (more…)

I’m going to save you a little bit of time here and make a rather brash statement - if you get only one DVD that has anything to do with the Beatles, Yellow Submarine should be it.

My mother, something of a retired hippie in sensibility if not in practice, introduced me to this bizarre gem of oft-imitated animation sometime around 1983. Not even in my teens, I drank it all in and gained an appreciation for the distinctly 60s design aesthetic that wasn’t so much represented as created by this movie, as well as a healthier appreciation for the music of the Beatles. (more…)

In a way, I’m amazed that I’m doing this review. Despite the fact that Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, which started life as a groundbreaking radio serial and later went on to spawn a series of bestselling novels, has a seemingly permanent cult appeal, it’s generally well known that the TV version of it didn’t come off quite as well as it might have. Lasting only six episodes (though more were planned), Hitchhiker’s boasted - on average - far higher production values than its two chief BBC science fiction contemporaries, Doctor Who and Blake’s 7, while also falling victim to the kind of logistical pitfalls that seem to trip up every BBC SF series sooner or later: location filming in rock quarries, cheap sets, that sort of thing. The series is well loved and fondly remembered by a loyal following that still, nevertheless, knows that it isn’t all that it could have been. (more…)