Sunday, November 21, 2010
By Rich Heldenfels
McClatchy Newspapers
Q. I remember a movie starring Andy Griffith as a salvage-yard owner who builds a spacecraft to go to the moon and salvage the stuff the astronauts left behind. What was the name of it, and is it available on DVD?
A. The 1979 TV movie was called “Salvage” and starred Griffith, Joel Higgins, Trish Stewart, Richard Jaeckel and J. Jay Saunders; it launched a weekly TV series called “Salvage 1,” which also aired in 1979. But I do not know of an authorized video release.
Q. Why is Major Garrett not on Fox News anymore? He was assigned to the White House. Then the anchor introduced him and wished him well with no explanation.
A. After eight years with Fox News (and a stint at CNN before that), Garrett became congressional correspondent for the National Journal, a print and online publication that calls itself “Washington’s premier source of nonpartisan insight on politics and policy for more than four decades.” You can find it online at http://www.nationaljournal.com.
Q. Is that hourlong program “Cleveland Rocks” — hosted by Monica Robins on WKYC — available on DVD? I’m a former Parma and Worthington, Ohio, resident who would love to view this special episode.
A. Because of music-rights issues, the program is not being released on DVD. WKYC has made it available at http://www.wkyc.com/cleve landrocks. The special is on the right side of the page, in eight segments. You can expand the image to fill your screen by right-clicking the image and then hitting “go full screen.”
Q. Last year I got hooked on a quirky show starring Jason O’Mara, Harvey Keitel and a few other actors called “Life on Mars.” What happened to it? They left us hanging. I looked it up on the Web, and there was a reference that it was going to start again in 2010, but it never has.
A. “Life on Mars,” an American adaptation of a British series with the same name and concept, was canceled in 2009 after making 17 episodes. It had enough warning to wrap up the story in its final telecast, which you might have missed. You can catch up, because the complete series is on DVD. (I won’t spoil it here.) You might also want to look for the DVDs of the British version, which is better. The 2010 reference you saw may have been to “Ashes to Ashes,” a British sequel which, like the original, took its title from David Bowie’s music.
Q. I am inquiring about a PBS series that was on many years ago called “Blott on the Landscape.” It starred David Susskin, I believe. Do you know if they made any tapes of this series? I remember it as one of the funniest series I had seen.
A. Originally made for British television in 1985, the miniseries was based on a book by Tom Sharpe and starred David Suchet (also known as TV’s “Poirot”). It involved a member of Parliament who wants a highway built to his home. It is on DVD but not in a format compatible with standard U.S. players. There apparently was a VHS release, but I do not know where it can be found.
Q. What has happened to “24”? If it is still on, what day and time? If not, why, and also is there any DVD for previous seasons?
A. “24” has ended, after eight seasons, a made-for-TV movie and general creative exhaustion. Seven seasons and the movie have been released on DVD; the seventh season also is on Blu-ray. The eighth season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Dec. 14, the same date as a complete-series DVD box. As I mentioned not long ago, plans for a big-screen “24” have been announced, but the timetable is unclear.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.