Change Your Image
humilitas
Reviews
Fresno (1986)
A terrific spoof
Every once in a while I remember watching this back in 1986 and have to smile. We were die-hard Dallas fans in my family (God knows why), so the tremendous evening soap-opera send-up worked very well for us. I won't ever forget the Raisin Capital of the World, DDDLT, or other giggle-producing memories (Carol Burnett's Dynasty-inspired wardrobe, e.g.). Will this ever be available on home video?? I hope so! I would love to see it again.
No one who ever watched Dallas, Dynasty, Falconcrest, or other 70s-80s vintage evening soaps can find this anything but hilarious and spot-on. Its skewering of every soap/melodrama formula ever over-used will leave you howling and hoping it will go on for much longer. The week we spent watching it was one of the funniest of my television life, and made all those Friday nights soaking up South Fork seem worthwhile.
It seems as though television has grown/withered to such an extent that this kind of miniseries no longer has any place in prime-time or anywhere else. It is a great pity! I am a great fan of smart entertainment, which is more often than not treated as an oxymoron by the industry these days. TV needs more of this kind of thing.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1998)
Video/DVD release?
I have enjoyed Helen Hunt in numerous productions and liked Paul Rudd in "Clueless", but was quite unprepared for their transformation in this lovely rendition. The staging, music, and direction all conspired to make this one of the most enjoyable productions I have seen.
When it was broadcast on PBS I taped it more as a matter of course than anything else, having no idea what a mesmerising and alluring production it would be of one of my favourite plays. Since then I have been jealously guarding my increasingly decrepit tape from the predations of my friends, and hoping against hope that it might be released on DVD or at least videotape so I could have a more enduring copy (and so could my friends). Any chance that will happen?