Topic: Pete's Pilots

[addicted2dvd]

The Incredible Hulk
"...Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Mild-mannered research scientist David Banner (Emmy® nominee Bill Bixby) finds he must offer this heroic warning after exposure to gamma radiation transforms him into the terrifying and enraged Hulk (Lou Ferrigno). Bursting from comic book pages into this 4-disc DVD set, the Complete First Season of 'The Incredible Hulk' boasts all ten heart-pounding episodes, the two original feature-length films, a preview episode from Season Two, and in-depth commentary from producer Kenneth Johnson.

Intense. Immense. Incredible!

The Incredible Hulk (Pilot)
In this thrilling two- hour movie, Dr. David Banner inadvertantly exposes himself to a high amount of gamma radiation and is horrified to discover that in moments of frustration and anger he is transformed into the incredibly powerful Hulk. Susan Sullivan guest stars.

My Thoughts:
This was always one of my favorite shows at the time it originally aired. I still enjoy it very much. I like this origin story they made... even if it don't stay accurate to the comics.  At this point I have the first 2 seasons as well as all the TV movies in my collection. But I do hope to get the final 3 seasons eventually.

My Rating:

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Invasion
Hurricane Eve slams into Homestead, Florida. Its tragic aftermath is what you'd expect: destroyed homes, downed power lines, uprooted lives. And what you wouldn't expect: townspeople eerily and profoundly transformed into... something different. Frighteningly different. And possibly extraterrestrial.

Follow every twist, turn and shocking revelation of this suspenseful series from the mind of Shaun Cassidy as two blended Homestead families, the Varons and the Underlays, uncover the truth about themselves and their town. Their families are just like ours — loving parents, kids who need guidance, and of course, one black sheep. In this case it's Dave, an amiable out-of-work blogger who sees a conspiracy behind every event and alien behind every conspiracy. Only this time he may be right!

Pilot
A massive hurricane leaves destruction in its path. Dave is convinced it's left something more: extraterrestrials who arrived in the midst of the chaos.

My Thought
This is a series I bought blind 4 years ago. When I got it I watched about half the set... put it up and never return to it for some reason. Definitely not because it is a bad series. As I remember I got into the show pretty heavy there for a while. This is a good pilot episode... it keeps you interested and in suspense. A good idea for a storyline. I really need to finish off this series some time soon.

My Rating:

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JAG
Get ready for action, adventure and suspense in Season One of TV's longest-running military drama, JAG. The first season of its 10-year reign introduces former flying ace Harmon "Harm" Rabb of the Navy's Judge Advocate General. Now an attorney, Harm investigates, prosecutes and defends military criminals in cases that often take him behind enemy lines... both in Washington and overseas. Catch the action from the beginning with all 21 episodes, including the rarely seen "Skeleton Crew." Starring David James Elliott, this Emmy® Award-winning series is one of television's best.

Pilot
Lt. Harmon "Harm" Rabb, a JAG lawyer who investigates and litigates crimes committed by Navy and Marine personnel, looks into the mysterious death of a female pilot aboard an aircraft carrier. Harm is convinced the female pilot who fell overboard didn't commit suicide, but was actually pushed, with all the suspects still aboard the aircraft carrier.

My Thoughts:
This is another of my favorite shows... unfortunately I have fell way behind on collecting this series... as I only have the first 5 seasons (of 10) so far. While this is a good pilot episode... I did enjoy every minute of it. I definitely prefer seasons 2 on. I like the character of Mac much better then any of his other partners. Gotta love Catherine Bell!  The storyline for this episode is very good. It really keeps your attention!

My Thoughts:

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The Jeff Foxworthy Show
At last, a family comedy fit for the whole trailer park! Jeff Foxworthy, popular stand-up comic, stars as a hardworking husband and father. With his loving wife Karen (Anita Barone), precocious son Matt (Haley Joel Osment) and trouble-making kid brother Wayne (fellow comedian Jay Mohr), Foxworthy has a single-family house full of double-wide laughs! Together, the Foxworthy clan is giving the Midwest a taste of Southern hilarity. As the owner of a heating and air company, Jeff takes his signature brand of humor and turns the American dream on its ear. Between paying his mortgage, running his business and raising his son, he learns what every self-respecting redneck knows: tractor pulls come and go, but family is forever!

Jeff's Life, 101
As soon as Jeff repays half of a loan from his Father-in-law, he gets hit with a series of unexpected expenses and has to figure out how to get the check back.

My Thoughts:
I actually forgot how funny this show is. Of course I have always been a fan of Jeff Foxworthy.  I had to laugh at the opening of this episode. Jeff's son asked what a redneck is... that he was called a redneck at school. So of course we get a good little string of redneck jokes to open the series with. This is a series that didn't last long. Only 2 seasons... but it is one full of laughs. Especially for someone like me that was raised around rednecks.

My Rating:

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Joan of Arcadia
Joan of Arcadia, the Emmy®-nominated, People’s Choice Award-winning series, stars Amber Tamblyn as Joan Girardi. An average 16-year-old, Joan is going through the growing pains typical of any teenager. But after she and her family (Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Ritter, Michael Welch) relocate to Arcadia, her life gets especially interesting when God starts paying her visits.

Pilot
Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) is sent on a mission to get a job - by a cute boy who claims to be God. Meanwhile, Joan's dad Will Girardi (Joe Mantegna), the new chief of police, struggles to solve the case of a serial killer.

My Thoughts:
This is a series I never missed when it originally aired. It is a good Fantasy/Drama series. This pilot episode does a good job at introducing everyone. And it has a good storyline. After watching this episode I feel like I could watch the entire run (2 seasons) again. But I will hold off on that. Besides... just the idea of doing it reminds me of how it was canceled after the second season... when the second season ended on a cliffhanger! How I hate that!

My Rating:

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Joey
Joey Tribbiani leaves New York for a chance at show biz fame in Hollywood - and a reunion with his left-coast sister and nephew. Take off on a new life - and new laughs with Matt LeBlanc, the 2005 People's Choice Award Winner as Favorite Male Television Star, and another great TV comedy ensemble cast! This Deluxe 4-Disc Set of the Complete Season One features all 24 hilarious episodes. For grand, goofy fun, Joey's your guy.

Pilot
Hooray for Hollywood! Things are golden in the Golden State until Joey's series is cancelled, the show he turned down is a smash, and Michael decides to leave home and move in with his cool uncle.

My Thoughts:
This Friends spin-off... while not nearly as good as Friends... is still pretty enjoyable. I thought the idea of Joey moving off to California to be an actor was a good idea for a spin-off... and I like how he has his nephew (a total opposite compared to him) living with him this time. But unfortunately this show just didn't have the magic that Friends had. Even though it is a series I still found to be worth watching.

My Rating:

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Kindred: The Embraced
Enter the dangerous and sexy world of the undead when vampires clash with mortals and each other in a modern-day San Francisco. Five clans of vampires are known as the KINDRED, and in their terrifying embrace, one becomes forever young...forever beautiful...forever doomed.

From the savagery in the premiere to the chilling climactic finale, the KINDRED draws you into a mysterious realm of Mafia wars, forbidden liaisons and inhuman hunger in a spellbinding saga of erotic danger and unworldly suspense!

The Original Saga
An affair with a vampire leads detective Frank Kohanek to the world of the undead ruled by the Prince of Vampires, Julian Luna.

My Thoughts:
This was a very short-lived series. Only lasting 8 episodes. It is a series I bought blind when I found it on sale cheap years ago (bought it in 2004). After buying it I checked the net to see what I can learn about it. It appears they canceled this show because the main star was tragically killed in.. if I remember right... a motorcycle accident after producing the 8 episodes. And instead of trying to write in a replacement somehow... they decided to just cancel the series.

This episode is good... I enjoyed it. Though the series has a slower pace then I am normally used to. I do like how they played with the vampire legend. In this as long as they feed they can seem to be human... have a heartbeat, go out in the sun for short periods of time and such.

My Rating:

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King of Queens
The man. The myth. The driver. Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) is THE KING OF QUEENS, but his wife Carrie (Leah Remini) really rules the roost. Doug is the ultimate guy's guy, but he loves Carrie so much he's willing to sacrifice his tricked-out rec room (plus his 70-inch TV) so that her father Arthur (Jerry Stiller) can move in, a decision he's regretted ever since. Doug's free time is split between quality time with his wife and play time with his buds. A parade of crazy neighbors and oddball citizens of New York's middle-class borough help make this show the reigning comedy champ. THE KING OF QUEENS proves you don't have to have a huge castle to live like royalty.

Pilot
Doug gives up his personal paradise to make room for Carrie's dad, Arthur.

My Thoughts:
This is a fun show with likable characters. Leah Remini is fun to watch... and is definitely cute in this show. Jerry Stiller is hilarious to watch. Kevin James is pretty good as well... though I never really cared much for him. This is another show I am very behind in collecting as I only have the first season.

My Rating:

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Knight Rider (1982)
Gear up for action with Superstar David Hasselhoff and his supercar, K.I.T.T., as they throttle crime in every high-octane episode from the first season of Knight Rider, finally available to own for the first time on DVD.

The series follows the thrilling adventures of Michael Knight, a detective thought to be dead, who's been given a new face and identity. His assignment: to fight crime with the help of an artificially intelligent, talking car named K.I.T.T., a high-speed, futuristic weapon outfitted with high-tech gadgets and a personality of its own. Driven by justice, they set out to take down criminals who operate above the law in this 21-episode DVD set tricked out with loads of Special extras, including a bonus disc featuring the movie sequel, Knight Rider 2000.

Knight of the Phoenix
Michael Long, a policeman, is shot and left for dead. The shot is deflected by a plate in his head, but ruins his face. He is saved and his face reconstructed. He is reluctant, but agrees to use K.I.T.T. to help the Foundation for Law and Government fight.

My Thoughts:
Another series that I grew up watching. And one I always loved. The pilot episode does a great job of introducing the characters. And offers a few laughs. I loved the running gag in this episode of the crooks trying to steal K.I.T.T. And the demolition derby was a fun way to show off things K.I.T.T. could do.

My Rating:

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Knight Rider (2008)
An iconic TV classic is back and better than ever in the reinvented, updated, and super-charged Knight Rider Season One. From executive producers Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity franchise), David Bartis (The O.C.) and Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) comes this action-packed series about the coolest car ever created, K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand), that's equipped with artificial intelligence capable of hacking into any computer, the weapons system of a jet fighter, and incredible custom body technology that allows it to transform into other vehicles. Relive every Season One episode as an elite team of crime-fighters work with K.I.T.T. to track down elusive, high-tech villains. Presented in uninterrupted Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you won't want to miss this fast-paced ride to the wild side!

Knight Rider 2008 Pilot Movie
When it's reclusive inventor is placed in imminent danger, K.I.T.T. revs into action to save him. But even though his super high-tech car is able to self-regenerate, deploy weapons, and change color and shape, it needs a reluctant ex-soldier named Mike Traceur to shift gears and help in the desperate mission.

My Thoughts:
OK... I know the popular view of this series is that it is no where near the series that the '80s version was. But you know... I have liked this one since the very first time I have seen it. Not only that... but the more I watch it (this is the 3rd time I have seen the pilot movie now) the more I enjoy it! That is not to take anything away from the original version. It is awesome too. But I really enjoyed the upgraded features of K.I.T.T. and I liked the characters as well as the storyline. After watching this pilot movie today... I feel like I could watch the entire series again.

My Rating:

[Najemikon]

Nope, can't see it. Especially not the pilot, which I thought was possibly the worst mainstream show I have seen for years. Absolutely dreadful and downright insulting! I really don't get your love for this one, Pete.

[addicted2dvd]

  That's ok! Nothing is for everyone... and everything is for at least someone!

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Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the uniquely eerie mystery series that paved the way for The X-Files, comes to DVD for the first time with all 20 original one-hour episodes of the 1974-75 series. Emmy® nominee Darren McGavin stars as Carl Kolchak, a headstrong investigative reporter on the trail of the paranormal: zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, succubi and even aliens. No matter how unnatural or unbelievable, Kolchak is there to uncover the truth...one supernatural threat at a time. Join the hunt in the dark alleys and creepy hidden lairs of Chicago with such sensational guest stars as Scatman Crothers, Antonio Fargas, Sharon Farrell, Dick Van Patten, Jamie Farr, Larry Linville, Jim Backus and more. Kolchak: The Night Stalker is finally on DVD, digitally restored to capture every shiver, every scream and every bump in the night.

The Ripper
A serial killer who is terrorizing women continually avoids capture, and Kolchak comes to believe that the murderer is none other than the original Jack the Ripper.

My Thoughts:
When I popped on this pilot episode the first thing I did was check the running time. This is a good example of how much commercials take up today compared to the '70s when this show aired. This episode runs for almost 52 min. Today's series runs for about 42 min. That is a good 10min. extra of story they got back then!

This is an old series that I blind bought because I thought it sounded good. I bought it four years ago... and yet to watch it all. I have purposely took my time on this show since only 20 episodes exist. It is a series I found I enjoy quite a bit. And this is a good pilot episode. But it is not a favorite episode. It is a little on the slow side. But it does have a fairly interesting story.

My Rating:

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Land of the Lost
Marshall, Will and Holly on a routine expedition met the greatest earthquake ever known. High on the rapids it struck their raft and plunged them down a thousand feet below to the Land of the Lost.

Take a journey back in time with the Marshall family through this incredible world of breathtaking wonder, pulse-pounding danger and mind-boggling special effects. Only in the Land of the Lost will you battle dinosaurs one day and encounter beings from other dimensions the next.

The Pylons, the Pakuni, evil energy storms...they are all part of the awesome adventures created by legendary Sid and Marty Krofft. Relive all your favorite Saturday morning thrills as you rediscover all 43 action-packed original episodes in the Land of the Lost Complete Series.

Cha-Ka
The Marshalls make a new friend, Cha-Ka the Paku, and a new enemy... a hungry T-Rex.

My Thoughts:
I used to watch this series every Saturday morning when I was a kid. It was one of my favorites at the time. So this show brought back some memories for me. When I first got this set I watched a few episodes with Brittany... and she liked it too so I know that this show can still appeal to kids. But I am sure it offers nothing for adults. Not unless of course you watched the show as a kid and want to watch it for nostalgic reasons. And for that reason I still find this series to be a fun distraction from real life.

This is one of those shows where the starting theme serves tells you the story on how they got there. In the first episode they are already in The Land of the Lost and they meet their new friend Cha-ka. Not to mention figure out how to fend off a T-Rex. I am probably enjoying this more then I should... but hey... this is my childhood we are talking about here. It is a reminder of simpler and better times.

My Rating:

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Life on Mars
Immerse yourself in the groundbreaking series that captivated fans and critics from coast to coast. With an irresistible soundtrack and one of the most celebrated casts on television, including Jason O'Mara, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol and Harvey Keitel, Life On Mars is smart, suspenseful drama with a finish that will blow you away. "It's one of those endings I believe will make you watch the series again," says Executive Producer Josh Appelbaum.

There's a fine line between delusion and reality. NYPD detective Sam Tyler finds himself walking both sides of that line when he is suddenly hurtled back in time to 1973 after being struck by a car in 2008.

Journey back to the '70s and uncover the secrets of Life On Mars. It's a "strange and exhilarating ride" raves The New York Times. Plus, with unique and exciting bonus features – including an insider's view of where the show's concept began, a six-million dollar moment in which '70s legend Lee Majors steps back into the past with the cast and crew, and much more – Life On Mars is unforgettable on DVD!

Out Here in the Fields
After an accident, NYPD detective Sam Tyler inexplicably finds himself back in 1973, where he must help solve a murder that is eerily similar to a case he was investigating in 2008.

My Thoughts:
I know this series is an American version of a series from the UK... but I never seen the original UK version so I can not compare this one to that. What I can do is tell you about this show as it stands on it's own. This pilot epiosde is a very good introduction to the characters. It has a very good, entertaining story that keeps your intrest throughout the entire episode. I like that his 2008 partner is played by Lisa Bonet (Denise on The Cosby Show)... and they made it clear how important she is to him. I also like how they do not make it clear if he is crazy, in the hospital in a coma dreaming it all or if he really somehow traveled through time. Even though the evidence points in a certain way you don't know for sure. This is the first time I seen this show since it originally aired in 2008... so it is fun watching this again now... as there is so much I forgotten about this show since then!

My Rating:
NOTE: This review was taken from my marathon thread from a while back.