DVD Release Date: February 21, 2006 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/1999
MSRP: $24.98
Number of discs: 2
Number of episodes: 13
Running Time: Approx 299 Minutes
Total Runtime of Special Features: 93 Minutes
Languages: English
Closed Captioned
Special Features: Episode Filmmakers’ Commentaries;
Making of Featurette; Interactive “Hollywood Insider”
Dictionary.
Portions of “Action” may be inappropriate for younger
viewers. This program is recommended for mature
audiences.
Introduction:
Way too edgy for network TV, this funny, uncensored
naming-names series peels off the glitter of Hollywood
moviemaking and exposed the duplicitous but totally
addictive, behind-the-scenes truth. Campy,
uncensored, and very controversial, this
“too-close-to-reality” show features several guest
stars over its short run.
Superstar producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr, host of
TV’s “Last Comic Standing”) builds his stellar career
on the three pillars of show business: prostitution,
nepotism, and dishonesty. Adding to that an ego as
big as a Beverly Hills mansion, the aptly named
Dragon and his cohorts manage to be politically
incorrect, backstabbing, phony, petty, pissy, and most
of all ingeniously funny! Also in the show are
legendary comedian Buddy Hackett as Uncle Lonnie,
Jarrad Paul as Adam Rafkin, Illeana Douglas as Wendy
Ward, and Jack Plotnick.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Let’s do the guest star list first - it’s easier.
Obviously, any TV series based on the entertainment
industry is going to have stars FROM the entertainment
industry involved. The show seems to jab at The
Matrix often, and given the spirit of the show, it’s
not surprising to see Keanu Reeves in episode 1
(Pilot). In episode 2, Re-Enter the Dragon, Salma
Hayek portrays herself. In episode 4, Sandra
Bullock guests. In episode 5, David Hasselhoff
(Germans love him) guests. In episode 6, Twelfth Step
to Hell, legendary pro-skater Tony Hawk as well as
co-star of Party of Five Scott Wolf appears. In the
episode “Lights, Camera, Action”, David Leisure
(“Empty Nest”) appears as himself as well. I may have
missed a spot here and there, but I went by the cast
list given to me.
When I first watched the show, honestly, I thought it
was just BAD. But as I watched more and more of more
and more episodes, I started to get it, and it got
good. Some of the jokes in this series are classic -
the joke about stars in drug rehab is a personal
favorite. Pilot is a great episode, as it
introduces us to this genuinely screwed up gang of
people. Re-enter the Dragon is also great, as Peter
wants to hire Wendy as his vice president of
production and needless to say her pimp isn’t that
happy about it. Yes, those of you unfamiliar with the
show, you read that sentence correctly. Watching
Peter trying to, uh, clean up his image in Mr. Dragon
Goes to Washington is classic television as well.
Twelfth Step to Hell features the aforementioned
celebrities/drugs joke I loved so much, as well as
many more. In Lights, Camera, Action, production
starts…and Peter dies from a heart attack. In the
next episode, Peter is recovering from his heart
attack (I know what I said), only to witness his
production falling apart. Episode 12 is notable
really for one thing: It was written by future SNL
cast member Will Forte--still a pretty good episode.
Last Ride of the Elephant Princess is the finale, in
which Peter breaks his TOP rule, and has to invest his
own money in Beverly Hills Gun Club. Good series.
Packaging:
Obviously, it would have been silly for Sony to use a
Digipak for this release, as there are only 13
releases. That raised the question as to whether
Sony would go with the old traditional black
Amaray-style casing, or whether they would go with 2
slim cases inside an outer box, as has been a trend
recently among other sets. Sony has ultimately
decided to go with the Amaray cases. The 2nd disc
holder is molded into the case itself, while disc 1 is
snapped in place by two plastic open-ended hinges.
This same setup was used on another Sony setup, Barney
Miller, and as with Barney Miller, the disc 1 holder
has a tendency to come un-snapped. I’m not the
biggest fan of this type setup. Front cover has Jay
Mohr, Illeana Douglas, and the late Buddy Hackett
standing in front of an aerial view of Hollywood/Los
Angeles, with movie premiere-style lights in the
background, and the Action title at the top. In the
back, the Hollywood sign and hill is on the lower half
of the back cover. Jay Mohr is on the left side,
while the sky has been replaced with white. Disc 1
features Jay Mohr doing the rectangular hand box
gesture commonly stereotyped to producers/directors,
in front of a bunch of palm trees with an orange sky.
Disc 2 just has the principle cast at the bottom of
the disc, with the Action logo on the top. Disc 1
contains episodes 1-8, while D2 has episodes 9-13 plus
the Making Of featurette and the Hollywood Insider
dictionary.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu design initially seems fairly complex and
well done, but ultimately is another simple Sony menu
with a couple bits of polish. The main menu on both
disc starts with an extremely short version of the
Action main title, leading into the main menu. On the
main menu, you see a coffee, a 1999-esque cell phone,
a script with post-it note attached and handwriting,
and a fake Variety-style newspaper (called “Action”).
The episode selections essentially opens up this
“newspaper.” Each episode essentially assumes the
space where an advertisement would normally be. As a
bit of text on the paper notes, episodes with an
asterisk denote episodes with commentary. The
special features menu is certainly well done - a menu
and Reservation book from Le Prix. A small visual
thing for those that pay attention to such: Every
celebrity (not including Leisure, who, let’s admit it
it, isn’t in the same “list” as the other guests) in
the series is listed as having a reservation….there is
also a listing for “Mohr”, obviously referring to Jay
Mohr, the show’s star. The feature titles are the
reservation notes, while the Episode Selections and
Main Menu options are, appropriately enough, on the
menu. For menus I knocked not even 45 seconds ago as
simple, these menus hide a LOT of clever sight gags…
Previews menu is actually worth noting. The option to
access them is selectable from the cell phone on the
main menu. When accessing them, you get a notepad
regarding previews and a production meeting. On at
least two separate locations on the menu are a series
of three dollar signs, a sight gag representing the
money made by shilling other sets on another DVD. In
a related story, apparently panda rental is costly
(buy the set and you’ll understand). Previews are for
An Evening With Kevin Smith, Laurel Canyon, Living in
Oblivion, NewsRadio Seasons 1 + 2, Spaceballs
Director’s Edition!, and Stripes Extended Cut.
Video and Audio Quality:
Video is impeccable, minor compression artifacts.
One thing I loved was that the titles changed
depending on the episode. The video on the green
screen changed with the episode Twelfth Step to Hell
has flames around the episode. No grain, colors are
great. Audio is great for a 2.0 track. No hiss,
music and dialogue balance out well. There are
chapter stop after episode titles, at mid-show, and
before the final credits.
Episodes in 1999 are supposed to run in the 22:30
range, so…
Episode Runtimes:
Pilot: 22:36
Re-enter The Dragon: 22:35
Blood Money: 22:34
Blowhard: 22:33
Mr. Dragon Goes to Washington: 22:35
Twelfth Step to Hell: 22:35
Dragon’s Blood: 22:34
Love Sucks: 22:33
Strong Sexual Content and Adult Themes: 22:33
Lights, Camera, Action: 22:34
Dead Man Floating: 22:33
One Easy Piece: 22:33
Last Ride of the Elephant Princess: 22:35
Edits Summary: None
Special Features:
Hollywood Insider Glossary: Surprisingly well done;
has a number of words. When you click definition, you
get a clip from the series--surprisingly well-done.
No runtime.
Getting Into the Action (Making of Featurette):
DragonFire Films Logo at start. Wow. This is just an
all-over-the-place look at the show. Cast and crew
interviewed. Interview with Will Forte during the
episode Will is now a cast member on SNL. Runtime for "Getting Into the Action: 26:07
Commentary:
Love Sucks: Jim Vallely, Don Rio, Ron Zimmerman, Jared, Paul, Dave Jesser, Matt. Silverstein. 22:33. Became one of the unaired episodes, though it was intended to be episode 7.
Dead Man Floating. 22:33. Jim Vallely, Don Rio,
Matt Silverstein, Ron Zimmerman, Jared Paul, Dave
Jesser. “You babysit my Daughter. I need to say
nothing else."
One Easy Piece: 22:33. Jim Vallely (writer). Don
Rio. Ron Zimmerman. Jared Paul. Will Forte. Dave
Jesser. This is a great commentary. Taped breasts +
… Hell, I don’t even need to finish this equation.
This episode is all over the place. “Even the
actors and crew wanted to get off of this show”. SNL
Fans: Will wrote this episode. It’s the little
touches, folks. I know this is wildly incoherent;
you’ve got to watch this to understand.
Final Comments:
Buy this set. Buy this set. Buy this set (Shotgun
loading sound). What? All I said was buy this set
(aims gun).
Whoops, wrong show (there’s a cookie in it for whoever
gets the reference). But given the way this show
referenced anything and everything, I thought it was
apt. AAAAAAAAAPT! (Reference #2)
Honestly, I loved this show. Initially, I didn’t
think I would, but after a little bit, it really
started to become funny. Near the end, I was really
starting to say “Whooooa” to myself (#3).
There is no, no, NO reason not to own this set. It’s
a hilarious show that went underappreciated in its
initial run I didn’t even get to enjoying it until
now. Highly recommended.
