Pop culture Q&A

July 17, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. In the movie “Angel Eyes,” with Jennifer Lopez and Jim Caviezel, there is a trumpet solo played by Caviezel’s character. What is the name of the song, who plays it, and is it on CD?

A. The song is the jazz/pop chestnut “Nature Boy,” famous also for renditions by Nat King Cole and others. The movie uses a recording by trumpeter Jon Hassell. It is on the “Angel Eyes” soundtrack, which is available on CD, and on a Hassell CD called “Fascinoma.” You can learn more about Hassell at his website, www.jonhassell.com.

Q. We often watch TNT and USA, which run episodes/marathons of “Bones,” “Law & Order” and its spin-offs, and “NCIS.” Is there a reason we don’t see “JAG” on these stations?

A. “JAG” was repeated for many years on USA, and it still indicates on its website that it has the show, although I have not seen it listed on the upcoming schedule. If you get the Sleuth channel, it has scheduled “JAG” replays on Thursdays. And the entire series is on DVD.

Q. I remember a TV series back in the ’70s. It was about a guy turning into a wolf. It was called “Lucan.” I can’t find anything on the TV series.

A. The reference Total Television says the series aired occasionally on ABC in 1977-78. Kevin Brophy played Lucan, a young man who had lived with wolves until he was 10, and who was searching for his birth parents and his real identity. The series also starred John Randolph as a researcher at the university where Lucan had been studied (and where he escaped) and Don Gordon as a bounty hunter pursuing Lucan. There are some clips from the show on YouTube.

Q. I’m interested to know whether the television series “China Beach” is officially available on DVD. If not, the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the series occurs in 2013, and it would be a great opportunity for Warner Home Video to release it.

A. Any day would be a good one to get this series available again. But published reports over the years have indicated that the cost and difficulty of getting rights to the music used so extensively have kept the series off DVD. (The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows sounds irritated, and more than a little stuffy, in alluding to the show’s “incessant 1960s rock ’n’ roll songs.”) Some series have issued home-video versions with different music substituted, but that has almost always proved disappointing, and that would especially be the case with something as carefully structured as this 1988-91 Vietnam drama. Unfortunately, it is not alone among shows that readers long to see again but have not made it to video.

Q. Many years ago, there was a series called “Brooklyn Bridge.” It was the story of a grandmother, grandfather, married daughter, her husband and their two boys. They lived in an apartment building in Brooklyn, N.Y. Has it ever been on DVD?

A. Based on the childhood of “Family Ties” creator Gary David Goldberg, “Brooklyn Bridge” was a lovely comedy-drama that aired on CBS over two seasons from 1991-93. Goldberg once said that the first or second question people ask him is whether “Brooklyn Bridge” will be on DVD. And in 2009-10, there were signs that it had gotten past the various clearances (music, old TV clips) to get a DVD release from CBS Home Entertainment. Unfortunately, that has not happened, and the TV Worth Watching website — www.tvworthwatching.com — has reported at length about Goldberg’s dismay over the delays. (Goldberg’s own website, www.garydavidgolberg.com, links to the TV Worth Watching report.)

2011, Akron Beacon Journal

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