MI-5: Volume 6 courtesy BBC Video and Warner Home Entertainment
New releases announced today, September 11:
Jonathan Creek - Season 3 will be coming out January 20
Lovejoy - The Complete Season 4 will be coming out January 13
MI-5 - Volume 6 will be coming out January 20, prior to the USA broadcast debut of these episodes!
Saxondale - The Complete Seasons 1 and 2 will be coming out January 13
Skins - Volume 1 will be coming out January 13
Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com for the complete stories on these and other news items.
read more
MI-5, Volume 5 courtesy BBC Video and Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video, which distributes DVDs on behalf of BBC Video, has issued an immediate recall notice for their recently released MI-5 - Volume 5 package. Since the set hit stores on January 8th, consumers have reported that episodes on the third disc simply will not play. The studio has verified the issue, and initiated this recall "due to a manufacturing error on Disc 3."The defective version being recalled can be identified with UPC # 794051423429, and the new release (which is expected to ship on January 31st) will have UPC # 883929017317. Not everyone's copy is defective; fellow DVD Team member Gord Lacey tells me that his third disc works just fine! However, if yours doesn't, then you may get a free replacement for the 3rd Disc by calling 1-800-553-6937. Be ready to provide the agent you talk to with your name, address and telephone number. — David Lambert
read more
MI-5, Volume 5 courtesy BBC Video
The British equivalent of the FBI, MI-5 is the UK’s domestic security agency. MI-5 kicks off the fifth season with an explosive two-part special which sees Britain on the verge of anarchy. A series of sinister terror strikes, combined with chronic fuel shortages, has plunged Britain into crisis. As a desperately weakened Prime Minister fights to hold onto power, the public mood turns increasingly anarchic. MI-5 supremo Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) and team leader Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones) begin to face the horrifying possibility that the country is under attack from sinister forces right at the heart of the establishment. So begins a dangerous game of bluff and counter-bluff. This 5 disc set includes all 10 episodes from the 5th season, plus 2 commentary tracks, a trailer for season 5, sneak peek for season 6, and some cast interviews. The bonus material falls short of the extras on previous sets, but the show is excellent. — Gord LaceyBuy MI-5: Season 5 on Amazon.com.
read more
Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer by Darren Micheals/TNT
As the threat of a Writers Guild strike continues to loom, network suits are considering perhaps using finished and already aired-elsewhere episodes of international hits and/or cable series to fill schedule gaps should the stop-action happen. According to Variety, non-U.S. programming such as the U.K.'s Footballers Wives and MI-5, CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie and CTV's Corner Gas could make their way to the Big 3 — and Warner Bros. is said to be shopping around The Closer — though execs maintain such acquisitions would be a last resort. "Right now," says NBC entertainment cochair Ben Silverman, "we're just hoping there's not a strike." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Non-American Broadcasting Cooperative says, "Hey, whatever you do, don't send Black Donnellys our way."
read more
Question: Is it possible that BBC America will pick up MI:5? It's the last thing I've watched on A&E, which I thought once stood for "Arts and Entertainment." I now find it stands for neither. And speaking of good cable networks going bad: Is the History Channel going down the same road? I noticed it will be airing Planet of the Apes. What is the possible logic behind that?
Answer: Hmmm, maybe they're doing an Alternative History Channel month? (Because we all know how the first Planet film ends, right?) Otherwise, I can't fathom what History is thinking. But here's some good news: In announcing a pretty radical makeover of its schedule last week, BBC America let slip that it has acquired rights to air MI-5, which sure would be welcome right about now as we fret over what's left of 24. At the moment, BBCA has rights to only the first two seasons (no airdate yet), but I think we can assume all parties would like it not to stop there, so let's be patient. Anything to get it away from th ...
read more
Question: Thanks for your updates on MI-5. Do you have any idea why A&E would seemingly and purposely not advertise the show's return, air just two episodes, then pull the plug without so much as a warning to viewers who have fervently but patiently waited for its return? This is a crime, and shame on A&E. I used to think "quality" whenever I heard A&E. Now, it's gone so downhill, I don't know what to think.
Answer: You know how I often say that it's silly to think that networks purposely try to kill shows? Well, in this case, it's true. A&E did everything in its power to keep MI-5's return a secret after an unconscionably lengthy hiatus, and when no one came to the party when the show was annexed to Fridays at 11 pm/ET, it was yanked off the schedule. I bring this up to remind the show's fans that a marathon of the remainder of the current season will be airing this Saturday, 11 am to 7 pm/ET. But it wouldn't surprise me if the network canceled the marathon midway through, it has suc ...
read more
MI-5 fans, mark your calendar. The date: Saturday, Oct. 21. The time: 11 am-7 pm ET/PT. This is when the remainder of the new season of MI-5 will be shown. NOT on Fridays anymore. I just opened a flood of panicked e-mails from fans of this terrific British spy import, who have waited more than a year for a new season to be broadcast, wondering why the show suddenly vanished after only two episodes to be replaced by yet another vintage CSI: Miami episode.The reason seems pretty obvious: I'm assuming the numbers for MI-5's return in the inhospitable 11 pm/ET Friday slot were subpar. It's not as if A&E had gone out of its way to promote it, since a top-notch drama like this no longer fits into the channel's mandate for bottom-feeding reality. (Did you see the announcement earlier this week for a celeb-reality series about faded child stars Corey Feldman and Corey Haim? 'Nuff said.)Anyway, for those worried about seeing episodes 3-10 of the new MI-5 season, don't miss this mid-Octob...
read more
Question: Ausiello has seen the Gilmore Girls Season 7 premiere. Have you? What did you think?
Answer: An impatient lot, aren't you? While I'll be writing more about it closer to the premiere (Sept. 26), I will say that I tend to look at Gilmore Girls as being in the same boat as Desperate Housewives. I still like much about each show, but feel that the writers/producers have painted their characters into such unpleasant and uninteresting (to me) corners that it's going to be a long and tiresome journey to watch the shows fix themselves. With the Gilmore opener, I enjoyed much of the writing (David Rosenthal has a flair for Gilmore-style banter and overall lunacy), but hated the main story, if that's what you can consider the Luke-Lorelai rift, which I find even less enjoyable that the Rory-Lorelai split (since that at least made dramatic sense). That said, and as an acknowledged non-fan of Logan, I loved the twist involving Logan's going-away gift to Rory. I'll reveal why at a late ...
read more
Question: I appreciate your comments to Uwe B. in Monday's column. I have to disagree with you a little, though. While I am not into creating my own fall lineup, I do get disappointed when the networks prematurely cancel a show. I know that ratings are king, but it is next to impossible to allow a show to create buzz when you don't give it time to grow. Firefly, My So-Called Life and Love Monkey were all canceled without even giving viewers half a season to "find" the show. One of my favorite shows, Party of Five, was not a fan favorite, but the fan base was incredibly loyal and the series lived for a number of seasons. By today's network standards, it wouldn't have lasted 12 episodes. I can't blame viewers for their "skittishness and cynicism." The ironic thing is that with people on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen, it almost dictates that more quality shows will be casualties before their time. TV is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Answer: Only if we let it be.
...
read more
Question: I've tried to find some information on the Internet about when MI-5 will be back on, and I am getting nowhere fast! Back in the spring, you said that as far as you knew, it should come on sometime in the third quarter (July-Sept.). Is that still valid? I have been hearing some rumblings that it won't be coming back. I hope that's not true!
Answer: This question came in before Tuesday's announcement by A&E, which I blogged about, that the third season has finally been confirmed. The show returns with 10 new episodes, starting Sept. 15 at 11 pm/ET. Took them long enough ...
read more
