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The Muppet Show–Season 3 (Buena Vista) If you can’t picture watching Charlie’s Angel Cheryl Ladd high-stepping it, cowboy singing stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans warbling together, or actress Lynn Redgrave doing a love scene, all with fuzzy puppets, then you’ve never seen The Muppet Show, the bizarrely entertaining series that ran for five seasons in syndication. This third season from Jim Henson’s troupe also includes a celebrity guest list from Alice Cooper to Liberace, Gilda Radner to Sylvester Stallone, along with largely forgotten names like Leo Sayer and Marisa Berenson. EXTRAS: Muppets on Puppets, a one-hour program hosted by Jim Henson, from 1969; behind-the-scenes featurette; Muppets TV commercials.
The Noël Coward Trilogy (Kultur) One of the century’s most urbane and witty raconteurs, Coward is fondly remembered in a trio of programs about his life, art and cultural legacy: The Boy Actor shows his early fame; Captain Coward recounts his wartime activities in the 1940s, including entertaining the troops and making the films In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter; and Sail Away covers the rest of his glittering career, with reminiscences by Coward’s life partner, Graham Payn, and the star of Sail Away, the inimitable Elaine Stritch.
The Odd Couple–Season 4 (Paramount) In their fourth season as TV’s favorite mismatched Manhattan roommates, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were at the height of their popularity, and their comic chemistry was as strong as ever. The trouble, however, was that the scripts weren’t always up to their level: at first imperceptibly, but silly plotting began gumming up the works. It wasn’t a series-killer, and The Odd Couple never jumped the shark, but Felix and Oscar had only one season left after this one.
Our House (First Run) Meema Spadola’s 1998 documentary—originally made for PBS—is an affecting account of how children of gay and lesbian couples cope with the often unspoken stigma of having two moms or two dads. Some kids are forthright in their opinions, whether denying that they themselves are gay or sick of having to constantly talk about why they are different. Spadola acutely shows that these children are regular kids, and that America has far to go until it truly is one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. EXTRAS: Filmmaker interviews; follow-ups with participants.
Remembrance of Things to Come The Sixth Side of the Pentagon/The Embassy (Icarus Films) Two Chris Marker releases from Icarus Films: Remembrance is Marker’s and Yannick Bellon’s fascinating study of French photographer (and Yannick’s mother) Denise Bellon, with so many still pictures that it reminds one of Marker’s own sci-fi short, La Jetee; the double bill Pentagon/The Embassy are late ‘60s artifacts showing the political climate of that volatile era as well as any other film. And more Marker is coming from Icarus, always a good thing. EXTRAS: Yannick Bellon’s short film, Colette.
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