Pop Culture Safari!

There's a lot of excitement about the "Saturday Night Live" season 1 DVD set due out.

The eight-disk box includes full episodes: Sketches, musical performances and all. To give you an idea of what all is featured, here's a listing of all the first season's lead and musical guests:

Ep. Guest/Music

1. George Carlin/Janis Ian & Billy Preston
2. Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel, Randy Newman, Phoebe Snow (featuring a Simon and Garfunkel reunion on "Scarborough Fair")
3. Rob Reiner/John Belushi as Joe Cocker
4. Candace Bergen/Esther Phillips
5. Robert Klein/ABBA, Loudon Wainwright III
6. Lily Tomlin/Howard Shore and His All Nurse Band
7. Richard Pryor/Gil-Scott Heron, Thalamus Rasulala
8. Candice Bergen/The Stylistics, Martha Reeves
9. Elliott Gould/Anne Murray
10. Buck Henry/Bill Withers, Toni Basil
11. Peter Cook, Dudley Moore/Neil Sedaka
12. Dick Cavett/Jimmy Cliff
13. Peter Boyle/Al Jarreau, The Shapiro Sisters
14. Desi Arnaz/Desi Arnaz, Jr.
15. Jill Clayburgh/Leon Redbone
16. Anthony Perkins/Betty Carter
17. Ron Nessen/Toni Basil, Patti Smith
18. Raquel Welch/Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian
19. Madeline Kahn/Carly Simon
20. Dyan Cannon/Leon and Mary Russell
21. Buck Henry/Gordon Lightfoot
22. Elliott Gould/Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson
23. Louise Lasser/Preservation Hall Jazz Band
24. Kris Kristofferson/Rita Coolidge

Other guests during the first season include Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson's Muppets on several episodes along with Albert Brooks, Al Franken and Billy Crystal.

The set is due out Dec. 5. It's available for pre-order now for $48.99 from Amazon.

DVD: The Complete Uncensored Private Snafu

This one-disk collection is due out Dec. 5 and is available for pre-order for $10.99 now from Amazon.

Commissioned by the military during World War II, this collection of propaganda cartoons has not been seen in over fifty years. Created by the famed animators at Warner Bros. from 1943-1946 and voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc, this DVD presents all twenty-eight Private Snafu cartoons ever released:

DVD Charlie Chan Collection Vol. 2 out Dec. 15

This second set of 1930s Charlie Chan movies starring Warner Oland features four movies plus the original film trailers and three original documentary features on the films.

It's available for pre-order now for $41.99 from Amazon.

Films included:

Charlie Chan at the Opera, 1936
While ostensibly on vacation with his wife and twelve children, famed detective Charlie Chan visits a circus at just the right time to become involved in the murder of one of the circus owners. Chan is prevailed upon to travel with the circus in hopes of discovering the killer before he, she - or it - strikes again.

Charlie Chan at the Olympics, 1936
Regarded by many as the best of the Charlie Chan series. The opera star Gravelle suffers amnesia. He is a recent escapee from an insane asylum, accused of murdering fellow performers (his wife and her lover). Included in the movie is the opera "Carnival", composed for the picture by Oscar Levant.

Charlie Chan at the Race Track, 1936
While steaming from Honolulu to Los Angeles the owner of a prize racehorse headed for the Santa Anita Handicap is killed, apparently kicked to death by his stallion. Not so, deduces Charlie. Leter he exposes efforts to fix a race at the famous track.

Charlie Chan at the Circus, 1937
Spies have an invention which will allow its posessor to remote-control flying aircraft. The U.S. Navy, the Berlin police, and No. 1 son Lee Chan (a member of the U.S. Swim Team at the Berlin Olympics) help Charlie capture the spies.

Doctor Who season 2 set up for pre-order

The second season of "Doctor Who" is now available for pre-order for $69.99 via Amazon.

The release date is Jan. 16.

Extras on the set include:

* Out-takes
* Deleted scenes
* Audio Commentary available on nine episodes, with In Vision commentary available on five episodes - featuring cast and crew including David Tennant and Billie Piper
* 13 Doctor Who Confidential Episodes (edited versions)
* David's Video Diaries
* Billie's Video Diary
* Children in Need special
* Audio description and subtitles available on each episode

The set also includes all 13 episodes from the season:

1. The Christmas Invasion
2. New Earth
3. Tooth And Claw
4. School Reunion
5. The Girl In The Fireplace
6. Rise Of The Cybermen
7. Age of Steel
8. The Idiot's Lantern
9. The Impossible Planet
10. The Satan Pit
11. Love & Monsters
12. Fear Her
13. Army Of Ghosts
14. Doomsday

See the Best Doctor Who Sites on the Web

Pop Artifact! Pebbles Halloween costume

Halloween Comics!

Image from the Grand Comic Book Database

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 23, 2006

A 59-year-old notebook once belonging to country music legend Hank Williams has been reported stolen.

...the notebook, which contains lyrics to several unpublished Williams songs and has a value as high as $250,000.

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Mike Sterling provides some comic book investment advice.

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Fans of the Doors will wanna check out NPR's Fresh Air for interviews with drummer John Densmore, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and Elektra Records head Jac Holzman.

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Happy first blogging anniversary to On My Mind.

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Via PCL LinkDump an extensive UK Nancy Sinatra fan club site.

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Sharity: Forrest J. Ackerman and Frank Coe Music For Robots

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Yahoo! has a sneak peek at tonight's ep of "Heroes."

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Monty Python's Terry Jones is recovering from cancer surgery.

Ms Shields said: "Terry's doctors are very cheered with an early diagnosis of possible colon cancer for which he has now had routine surgery in a London private hospital."

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"E.C. Segar's Complete Popeye" Vol. 1 out Nov. 30

Here's cover art and details on Fantagraphics' first volume reprinting all of E.C. Segar's Popeye comic strips. You can pre-order it now from Amazon for $19.77.

E.C. Segar's Complete Popeye Vol. 1: I Yam What I Yam

Most folks are familiar with Popeye through a variety of incarnations that have ensconced the character in the public consciousness for almost 80 years—the animated Popeye cartoons, the feature film Popeye, etc.—but far fewer have been exposed to the original brilliance of Popeye's creator, E.C. Segar. Now, comic strip fans can experience Segar's original comic strips through this new six-volume series.

In 1929, Segar took his eccentric Thimble Theatre comic strip (which began in 1919) and introduced Popeye, transforming the strip almost overnight into one of the most popular works of art in American history. Segar's entire cast of characters, such as Olive Oyl, Wimpy, Eugene the Jeep, the Sea Hag, and Alice the Goon became a part of American culture. This outwardly farcical gaggle of vaudevillian-esque antiheroes, bumbling about on picaresque chases was one of the most sophisticated—and hilarious—comic strips in history.

Fantagraphics' Popeye will collect the complete run of Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strip (dailies and color Sundays) featuring Popeye, re-establishing Segar as one of the first rank of cartoonists who have elevated the comic strip to art. He was the most popular cartoonist of his day, his sense of humor coming straight out of Mark Twain, who also balanced exaggerated tall tales and a perfect ear for everyday speech with dark themes that undercut his laugh-out-loud stories.

In this first volume, covering 1928-1930, Popeye's initial courtship of Olive Oyl takes center stage while Olive's brother Castor Oyl discovers the mysterious Whiffle Hen. Also, the entire cast meets the Sea Hag for the first time in their pursuit of the "Mystery House" (Popeye's first extended daily narrative), and Castor Oyl attempts to turn Popeye into a boxing champion in a series of hilarious Sunday strips.

These strips are masterpieces of comic invention. Popeye's omnipotence pre-figures the rise of superheroes in the 1930s and 1940s, though Popeye is a much more sympathetic character, and his very name announces his vibrant personality. He's a scoundrel with a heart of gold, and a tongue of silver: "My sweet patootie loves me because I yama high-voltage poppa, and she is my hotsy-totsy momma!" His mangled English pulsated with the vital spirit of immigrant America, its rhythm poetic in its own vulgar way: 'I yam what I yam and tha's all I yam.'"

Segar blended complex narrative, slapstick traditions, brilliant characterization, and an inimitable cartooning style to create the most exciting and profound humor of its era, rivaling even the great film comics of his era, such as Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers.

See the Best Comic Strip Sites on the Web.

Beatles' Love cover art revealed, up for pre-order

Here's the cover art for the Beatles' Love, out Nov. 21. You can pre-order both the
special edition and standard versions of the album now on Amazon.

Produced by George and Giles Martin, the album is the soundtrack to the Cirque de Soleil show of the same name, now running in Las Vegas.

The father-and-son production son created the score using both released and unreleased studio recordings of the Fabs and mashed them up--putting vocals tracks on top of the backing track of other tunes, etc.

The special edition includes the standard CD plus a DVD audio disk with the music in both stereo and 5.1 sound.

Here's the track list:

1. Because
2. Get Back
3. Glass Onion
4. Eleanor Rigby/Julia (Transition)
5. I Am The Walrus
6. I Want To Hold Your Hand
7. Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing
8. Gnik Nus
9. Something/Blue Jay Way (Transition)
10. Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You (She's So Heavy)/Helter Skelter
11. Help!
12. Blackbird/Yesterday
13. Strawberry Fields Forever
14. Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows
15. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
16. Octopus's Garden
17. Lady Madonna
18. Here Comes The Sun/The Inner Light (Transition)
19. Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry (Transition)
20. Revolution
21. Back In The U.S.S.R.
22. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
23. A Day In The Life
24. Hey Jude
25. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
26. All You Need Is Love

See the Best Beatles Sites on the Web

Pop Culture Safari!

CD new releases Oct. 24, 2006

DVD new releases Oct. 24, 2006

DVD: Saturday Night Live season 1 - what does it include?

DVD: The Complete Uncensored Private Snafu

DVD Charlie Chan Collection Vol. 2 out Dec. 15

Doctor Who season 2 set up for pre-order

Pop Artifact! Pebbles Halloween costume

Halloween Comics!

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 23, 2006

"E.C. Segar's Complete Popeye" Vol. 1 out Nov. 30

Beatles' Love cover art revealed, up for pre-order

More "Fantastic Four 3" set pictures: Invisible Woman in action

Boston Legal DVDs

Star Trek Animated Series DVDs

How I Met Your Mother DVDs

St.Elsewhere DVDs

Criminal Minds DVDs

Bones DVDs

Go-Go Gophers DVDs

Tennessee Tuxedo DVDs