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Issue Date: December 5, 2004
Retro television returns (on DVD)
We asked marquee stars from "Dallas," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The Munsters" and "Star Trek" to rate how well their shows have been resurrected DVD-style.
By Kelly DiNardo
Call it couch potato nirvana: Classic TV fare has come to DVD. And many of these discs not only let you revisit your favorite shows, but they also pack in hours of bonus features. With last-minute holiday shoppers in mind, USA WEEKEND Magazine asked stars of four cult-TV classics to reminisce about the Good Old Days and review their shows' newly minted DVDs.
Dallas: Larry Hagman (J.R.)
The first two seasons of "Dallas," the soapy tale of oil thug J.R. Ewing and his family that ran from 1978 to 1991, recently hit shelves. The DVD set is loaded with bonus features, including commentary by J.R.'s alter ego, Larry Hagman.
"It was fun to do and brought back a lot of memories," Hagman tells us. "The first five shows were shot in "Dallas" on a very small budget -- we didn't even have our own trailers. I had a bread van I converted into a camper. We used to meet in my van, so I always had a case of champagne ready."
The commentary is chock-full of insider information -- like the tidbit that "Dallas" spinoff "Knots Landing" actually was supposed to come first -- but Hagman would like to add outtakes to the next season on DVD.
"We made some gag reels that are pretty good," he says. "For the 'Who shot J.R.?' sequence, we did a gag reel where everybody came on and shot me: Bobby, Pam, the script supervisor, the dialogue coach."
Why is "Dallas" still so appealing? "It's the quintessential nighttime soap," Hagman says. "It has sex, greed and business."
The Dukes of Hazzard: Catherine Bach (Daisy)
Yee-haw! The good ol' boys are back with the first season of "The Dukes of Hazzard," which began its six-year run in 1979. Featuring interviews with John Schneider (Bo Duke) and Catherine Bach, and a video on how to drive like the "Dukes," the DVD has gone whole hog. But the real news? Daisy's cutoffs almost never came to be!
"Warner Brothers wanted me in a short poodle skirt and white vinyl go-go boots," Bach reveals. "It was sort of a Dolly Parton thing. I told them it was awful and asked if I could come up with something. I pulled out my jeans and went to work. They were so happy with those shorts and how they looked."
Thousands of fans were thrilled with the Daisy Dukes, too, but Bach worked hard to maintain her sex-goddess appeal. "Even if I had to be on the set at 5 a.m., I was up beforehand to work out," Bach says. "At night I had a trainer waiting for me. I still had times when I thought, 'Who's washing my shorts in hot water and putting them in the dryer?' They got tight on me."
The Munsters: Butch Patrick (Eddie)
It aired for only two seasons, but "The Munsters" just won't die. The DVD's 38 first-season episodes, plus the never-aired pilot with different actors playing Lily and Eddie, scare up enough laughs to satisfy fans. Those weren't the only cast changes: Partway through the first season, Pat Priest replaced Beverley Owen as Marilyn.
"With Beverley, the show was more about a beautiful blonde," says Butch Patrick, who lets us in on some behind-the-scenes drama. "She left the show under bad circumstances. She was homesick, but they wouldn't let her out of her contract. Fred Gwynne (Herman) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) went to the producers and told them, 'If you don't let her go, we'll walk with her.' The producers brought in Pat Priest, and the show became more about the 'Munsters.'"
The DVD doesn't have many extras, and Patrick wishes the show's makeup artistry had been featured. "I only had an hour a day of makeup, but Fred had the roughest go of it: two hours of makeup, plus a half-hour of wardrobe. He wore a big foam-rubber suit. It was a hot set; he was dehydrated constantly."
Still, Patrick gives the DVD two creepy thumbs up: "'The Munsters' are timeless. It's great storytelling."
Star Trek: William Shatner (Capt. Kirk)
Now you can boldly go again and again and again where Trekkies have gone for almost 40 years: The 1966-69 show that started the phenomenon has been beamed up to DVD with "Star Trek: The Original Series." Despite a plethora of bonus features -- a featurette on William Shatner, the story of "Star Trek's" origins, a reflection on the character of Spock by Leonard Nimoy, and more -- even Capt. Kirk himself doubts die-hard fans will be satisfied.
"Rabid people continue to froth at the mouth," Shatner says. "They need to be sated in other ways. But the other fans will be very satisfied. People involved with "Star Trek" spoke honestly, because they realized this was an important moment in the show's history. Everybody gave a lot of time and energy to make this interesting."
Shatner, who is now on ABC's "Boston Legal," shared what life is like on his ranch for a DVD feature. "Horses are my passion," Shatner says. "I show you a little bit about what a working horse will do and the communication between a horse and rider."
But he's not horsing around when he sings the praises of the show: "I think 'Star Trek' is the most popular cult show. Just by dint of its popularity it's outlasted everything. It doesn't rely on foul language or nudity. It relies on good storytelling. That's classic."
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