Literary Illusions is proud to be giving away a copy of Grey’s Anatomy - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD. To enter all you need to do is leave us a comment. Please be sure to only leave one. Comments are moderated to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Jonny Lee Miller, Victor Garber, Natasha Henstridge, Loretta Devine, Sam Jaeger, Laura Benanti, James Saito, Matt Letscher, Julie Gonzalo, Jason Winston George
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Disney/ABC

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: January 31, 2008 - Present
Season Air Dates: January 31, 2008 – April 17, 2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: September 2, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon
Episodes: All 13 episodes from Season One.

In the war between the television stations CBS used to be my favorite. With shows like Criminal Minds, Jericho, and Numbers it’s easy to see why. After Jericho was canceled, CBS still had a few shows I liked, but I found my love for television switching more towards ABC. I had been a fan of Lost from the beginning, but with shows like Ugly Betty, Eli Stone, and Grey’s Anatomy I found myself watching ABC all the time.

I have watched Eli Stone since the day that it premiered on ABC. Like just about everyone else that watches television, I had caught many of the previews that aired for the show and considering the cast (Johnny Lee Miller, Victor Garber, and Loretta Devine) I knew that I had to check it out. The thing that originally caught my eye where Eli Stone is concerned was the somewhat original concept that came along with these great actors

Eli (Miller) is a ruthless lawyer that thinks he has everything until one day he wakes up to George Michael singing in his living room. Before he knows it, he discovers that he has a brain aneurysm that is causing him to see things. His aneurysm wants him to be a good person, so it gives him clues (many of which are frighteningly real) to let him know which cases he needs to take and who needs his help. While this wasn’t the type of life that Eli wanted to live, it’s obvious that he learns to adjust with the help of a nosy secretary (Divine), a disgruntled boss that is set to become his father-in-law (Garber), and an acupuncturist (James Saito) that is just trying to survive any way he can.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, Kelly Rutherford, Matthew Settle, Kristen Bell
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Bros

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: September 19, 2007 - Present
Season Air Dates: September 19, 2007 – May 19, 2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: August 19, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $36.99
Episodes: All episodes from the 1st Season

If you take a healthy dose of Beverly Hills 90210 and mix it up with Sex in the City you will have something akin to the new pop sensation, Gossip Girl. While some have said that Gossip Girl was meant to fill the void of The OC I never watched it so I cannot comment one way or another, though I can certainly see fans of the other shows I mentioned enjoying the plotlines and performances here.

The life of high society can be interesting in any form, but when you focus on the drama of teenagers with too much time on their hands, not enough parental supervision, and the need to break free and get wild before going off to college (if they go at all) you are pretty much guaranteed a hit on your hands. Despite just entering it’s second season, which this first season box set release was set to coincide with, Gossip Girl already has a huge following.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Various Others
Director: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Eric Stough
Cast: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mona Marshall, April Stewart,
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Comedy Central

Release Info:
Original Air Dates:August 13, 1997 - Current
Season Air Dates: March 7, 2007 – November 14, 2007
DVD Box Set Release Date: August 12, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $29.99, Wal-Mart for $29.86
Episodes:All 14 episodes from Season 11

Thanks to the use of current events and the best (and worst) moments of pop culture, South Park is something that will only get old when the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, want it to get old. Now, well over a decade old, this show about the misadventures of some elementary school kids in a sleepy mountain town is nothing short of classic. Even if you don’t watch the show, you’ve likely heard plenty about it. If you don’t watch, now might be the time to pick up a copy and reacquaint yourself, because things just continue to get better.

The eleventh season had a lot to live up to after the tenth season, which included the extremely popular (and seriously hilarious) “Make Love Not Warcraft.” That being said, I have to say that Trey and Matt always find a way to make things funnier than before because the eleventh season has some seriously funny episodes. In this season, you can see the entire class in South Park Elementary get lice, Hillary Clinton visits South Park and you learn about the importance of elementary school girls and the lists they make. You will also learn more about the Easter Bunny than you ever needed to know and Butters gets a chance to learn what bi-curious means…maybe. You even get a special appearance by Bono, who has it out for Randy when he is replaced as the person who took the biggest crap in the world.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Kenny Hotz, Spencer Rice
Director: Kenny Hotz, Spencer Rice
Cast: Kenny Hotz, Spencer Rice
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Comedy Central

Release Info:
Original Air Dates:November 2007 – Present (2002 in Canada)
Season Air Dates: 2007-2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: August 12, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $17.99, Wal-Mart for $17.86
Episodes: the first half of the first season

Considering the fact that I am not familiar with Canadian television, like most Americans I had no clue about this show until it hit Comedy Central last year. Had I known that you could make a show by being a gross guy I would be a millionaire by now. My friends and I used to have a show like this, but we called it life. We would dare each other to see who could do the most ridiculous things only to force the loser into awfully humiliating tasks. It was great fun. Our competitions ranged from eating contests to things at work that I can’t even talk about, to little silly things like who could spit the furthest. We took them seriously though. Hell, I even practiced! So, it is nice to see such an interesting show land on my desk.

The rules of the show are simple. Kenny and Spenny (Spencer) are roommates that live together. These contests occur frequently. The loser is forced to go through with some humiliating task, usually picked by the winner of said competition. Depending on the competition, the rules include an agreed upon time period and special rules in case they are necessary. The show is not funny just because of the outrageous competitions they put themselves in, but because of the personalities of Kenny and Spenny. If I wasn’t laughing at the contest I was laughing at one of the two guys. It makes for a great show, assuming it’s in the right demographic, which it seems to be doing just fine with the Comedy Central crowd.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Wendy Aaron, Lisa A. Bannick, Kate Boutilier, Susan Borowitz
Director: Matthew Diamond, Alan Berqmann, Kent Bateman, Debbie Allen, Peter Baldwin
Cast: Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Tina Yothers, Meredith Baxter, Justine Bateman, Brian Bonsall, Marc Price, Scott Valentine
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: CBS/Paramount

Release Info:
Original Air Dates:1982-1989
Season Air Dates: 9/26/85 – 5/8/86
DVD Box Set Release Date: August 5, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $29.99, Wal-Mart: $29.86
Episodes: All Season Four Episodes, plus the Family Ties vacation movie that aired prior to the beginning of the season

Season four of Family Ties was a good year. Emmy nods were high, ratings had them in the number two spot, and things were only going to get better for this show. It was one of those shows that everyone you knew was watching. I was just in grade school back then, but I never missed it. As far as family programming that the whole family could enjoy went, you weren’t going to find anything better than this. Sadly, all these years later you might be hard-pressed to find something better on television that both parents and kids can thoroughly enjoy.

This was the year that Michael J. Fox won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe. This was just one of many nods though, with acknowledgement also going to the series as a whole, Justine Bateman (Lead Actress), and outstanding writing. Add in the fact that this was on right after The Cosby Show and there was no logical reason to miss this hour of family entertainment.

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TV Show Info:
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Yancy Butler, David Chokachi, Will Yun Lee, Anthony Cistaro, Eric Etebari
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: June 12, 2001-August 26, 2002
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $49.99
Episodes: The Complete Series of episodes (two seasons) is available - 24 episodes in total (one TV movie and 23 full length episodes)

Yancy Butler just doesn’t do it for me. Sure, she can act, but I just don’t feel she brought the sex appeal needed to make the Witchblade series more interesting to me. That being said, her acting, at least part of the way through, was solid. Still, in a comic inspired drama, I want to see equal parts hotness, equal parts excellent acting/portrayal elements. Perhaps that’s why I found Witchblade - The Complete Series to be a disappointment.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Plenty of men think Yancy Butler is hot. I’m not one of them. There are still many fans of this show who’ve been waiting for the release of Witchblade - The Complete Series on DVD. Fans have been waiting practically since the end of the series, in 2002. The consensus for this box set (fans or not) is that the first season was really good and the second season pretty much sucked. Either way, I felt blasé about the entire experience, but then again I just couldn’t get into this show.

I admit it. I didn’t grow up in a place where comic books were huge. I lived in a small town so getting comic books to read wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. Still, in my mature age, I’ve found a great fondness for comic books and I always like to see how the stories of my favorite heroes translate to screen. Give me Batman, X-Men, or any of the other, more popular DC and Marvel comic book characters. Top Cow’s Witchblade just isn’t my style. It didn’t help that the show aired on TNT (I’ve never been overly fond of the Ted Turner networks). That pretty much guaranteed this show wasn’t something I’d watch. I’m more the HBO and Showtime, premium channel kind of guy.

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TV Show Info:
Writers: Richard Carpenter, Anthony Horowitz, Andrew McCulloch and John Flanagan
Directors: Ian Sharp, Robert Young, Ben Bolt, James Allen, Gerry Mill, Sid Roberson and Alex Kirby
Cast: Michael Praed, Jason Connery, Ray Winstone, Clive Mantle, Phil Rose, Peter Llewellyn Williams, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, Nickolas Grace, Robert Addie, Philip Jackson, John Abineri
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Acorn Media

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: April 28, 1984-June 28, 1986
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $74.99

I really like shows about Robin Hood. I’m into the time period in which the show is most often set. I’m not really sure what it is about a simpler time in Britannia, but I really like to find well written shows and movies that explore this specific period in history. This is what prompted me to request a copy of Robin of Sherwood – The Complete Collection. I’d never heard of this series before reviewing it. Released on DVD by Acorn Media, this show aired on British television in the mid-1980s. The show was a collaborative effort by HTV and Goldcrest Films.

It’s not just that I didn’t have a channel that aired Robin of Sherwood. The show first aired when I was four years old. I was much more interested in Sesame Street and The Smurfs then any of the adult shows my parents were watching. Had I been a teenager (or older) I am sure I would have enjoyed watching this show, but I was just too young to appreciate or even know that Robin of Sherwood existed.

Now that I’m in my 20s, I can enjoy this show for what it is. I love British television shows, especially those that are well written. Robin of Sherwood is no exception. I’d say that this series is the definitive version of the legend of Robin Hood. The story sticks close to the myths and the historical aspect, which even included filming in a location that was historically accurate with the setting, made this show a step above all other versions of the Robin Hood tale.

It’s hard to explain exactly what makes this the best version. You just have to watch Robin of Sherwood to appreciate the show for what it is. With excellent writing, a stellar cast that includes Ray Winstone, interesting storyline progression and snippets of humor that are interwoven with drama Robin of Sherwood has all the elements of an exceptional television series. You hear those of us who grew up in the 80s or before say “they don’t make television series like these anymore”. Well, I believe that for Britain, the same can be said about Robin of Sherwood.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, Gabrielle Carteris, Tiffani Thiessen, Kathleen Robertson
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: CBS/Paramount

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: 10/4/90 – 5/17/2000
Season Air Dates: 7/12/94 – 5/24/95
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $39.99, Wal-Mart: $39.86
Episodes: All season five hour long episodes are included

Once upon a time Beverly Hills 90210 was a weekly part of my life. It used to be my favorite show. Admittedly, I was a teenager back then, but still it was one of those things that I couldn’t miss. These days I cannot recall finding a nighttime soap opera that compared to the drama and closet entertainment that 90210 provided. That being said, I did not watch the series from beginning to end. I was there at the beginning, but left regular viewing about the time that this season started. I would occasionally tune back in to see what the old gang was up to, but the addition of cult storylines and David (Brian Austin Green) becoming a smack-head was just too much for me.

This season is known for the change in cast, especially where the bitches of the show are concerned. Brenda (Shannen Doherty) has headed off to London and has not returned (Doherty was fired). With a free bitch spot to fill, Brenda’s spot was filled with Valerie Malone (Tiffani Thiessen, who at this time had an Amber in there somewhere). Like Doherty, she was meant to be the sexy, troublesome siren. I can’t feign particular attraction to either, though I see why some guys might like them.

Fans of Thiessen will love this season just because she is in it. I am not sure that was enough to do it for me, but there were some good moments here that reminded me of why I watched the show in the first place. Granted, this feels like a weakening shell of what the show used to be, but it still had a few redeeming moments. There were many episodes here that I watched for the first time. It’s certainly not the best of 90210, especially if you prefer Doherty over Thiessen, but you might still find this season to be enjoyable. I know that when I least expected it those old feelings crept back in and I found myself enjoying the show.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Adam Divello
Director: Jason Sands, Hisham Abed
Cast: Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, Kelly Cutrone, Whitney Port, Audrina Patridge, Stephanie Pratt, Spencer Pratt
Rating: Unrated
Studio: MTV/Paramount

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: May 31, 2006 - Present
Season Air Dates: August 13, 2007 – May 5, 2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon, Wal-Mart: $24.86
Episodes: 28 episodes

I have nothing against reality shows. Personally, I don’t watch too many, but I realize that for one reason or another, our current culture seems to be obsessed with them. I am guessing that the primary watchers of reality shows are older (possibly senile) adults and teenagers along with the younger 20-somethings. Unfortunately, I buy into the craze as much as the next guy, but there are some reality shows that I won’t watch. Most of them are on MTV or have associated plotlines that make them appear as if they could be on the network.

Shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, or any other dating shows are definitely avoided, and when they are watched by my mother I cringe just by having to hear the sound of them permeating throughout the house from her living room. This is also my reaction to shows like The Hills. I mean seriously, I know that I have 25 or so MTVs and that most of them play music, but is it necessary to keep a time slot open for one of the most asinine, unnecessary shows on television? I would have expected better from MTV (a station that once aired cool stuff like the long defunct Remote Control). Shame on you.

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