Lives Without Borders: Weeds and Secret Diary of a Call Girl

There’s really no such thing as an “alternative lifestyle” when you think about it, since every choice we make in life is an alternative to another choice, and they all end up being a lifestyle. It’s only when we justify, or make peace with, our own choices that we smugly label other people’s decisions as somehow deviant. Sure, some choices may not be as well thought through as others, borne as they are of desperation or fantasy, but they’re no more “alternative” than making that decision early in life to fit into the norm as it’s currently viewed at any given time. Those kinds of choices, though, are the stuff of dreams, though, and we live our lives vicariously through them. Deep down, there’s a little bit of outlaw in all of us, and we all dream about the what ifs in our life choices.

Admittedly, a lot of choices are thrown at us haphazardly, and we have to make the best of them. It’s doubtful Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) would have traded in her soccer mom lifestyle to deal pot in the suburbs had her husband not unexpectedly died. It’s also doubtful she could have known how many twisting paths such a choice would take her. But being the resolute woman she is, Nancy dove into her new lifestyle with a verve that any American could appreciate. It all seemed so natural, so suburban, after all, that we forgot that peddling pot is actually frowned upon by the constabulary.

All that’s behind Nancy as Season Four of Weeds (premiering 10P EST on Showtime) opens. She’s literally leaving her past behind, as the comfortable suburb of Majestic is consumed by wildfire. Family in tow, she heads south to the border town of Ren Mar, California. It’s not all fun at the beach, though. She’s branching out, and soon launches into a new career of drug smuggling. In the meantime, she has to deal with her ex-father-in-law, Lenny (Albert Brooks) while dealing with the rigors of keeping her family a cohesive unit.





Season Four of Weeds promises to delve more deeply into issues of immigration, border security, and good old-fashioned pot smuggling, all played out in a series that’s becoming more and more absurdist drama than dark comedy.

If some choices that Nancy makes are haphazard, the choices that Hannah aka Belle de Jour makes are carefully calculated—it’s all part of doing business as a high-priced London call girl. In Secret Diary of a Call Girl, immediately following Weeds Monday night, Billie Piper, of Dr. Who fame, acts as a tour guide to the world of happy hookers. Already something of a hit in the UK, Diary looks at the world of upper end prostitution through the eyes of Hannah/Belle, who leads a double life. By day, she’s an international legal secretary, and by night, a very expensive date. It’s all done with a wink and a nod, not to mention a one camera style.

Belle has no dark past—she tells us from the outset she was not abused as a child, has no children to support and has never done drugs. Her motives are simple: she enjoys sex and she likes money, so why not make a living combining the two?

Considering the subject matter and time slot, Diary is surprisingly pedestrian. There are flashes of nudity on the level of a Victoria’s Secrets fashion shoot, and there are sex scenes that barely go a step beyond PG fare. But sex is not what the show is really about—it’s more about one woman’s quest for liberation and independence. Consider it as the alternative version of Sex and the City, with all of the glam and more of the sleaze. It’s all veddy, veddy British, and all done with a nudge-nudge sense of humor.

What both Weeds and Secret Diary of a Call Girl illustrate above all else is that once it’s all broken down, we’re all in the same skin. None of us know what we’d do to protect our families or our dreams until we’re presented with the right set of circumstances. That both these series presents life in a series of absurdities is at the very least reassuring. There’s always a way to overcome obstacles. . .isn’t there?

It really doesn’t matter if you have Showtime. You can view the first two episodes of both these series here.

Thank whoever’s in charge for media convergence.

The Alternate Realities of The Dead Zone

TV series adapted from hit movies walk a very thin tightrope, especially when they’re based on movies that were based on genre novels or comic books. Generally, writers are either faced with altering the original concept, or backtracking to fill in the “gaps” the source material omitted. Especially in works based on fantasy, it entails a great deal of fleshing out, usually with very uneven results. It more or less worked in Beastmaster, in which the episodic version actually surpassed the rather lame movie, a reworking of a novel by Andre Norton. The Crow: Stairway to Heaven didn’t fare as well in its attempt to reinvent Eric Draven as a really cool Hulk, sans the green skin and such.

Every once in a very great while, the TV guys, enamored with the source material, get it right and make a series that actually transcends its origins. USA’s series The Dead Zone, inspired by the movie of the same name, which was, oddly enough, inspired by the Steven King novel of the same name, was one such rarity. While the original material focused on the premise of what would you do if you knew in advance a person of power would bring about global destruction, the series honed in on coming to grips with such a dubious talent. It had a phenomenal six season run on USA, and can still occasionally be seen in syndication markets.

Casting Anthony Michael Hall in the Johnny Smith role originally played by Christopher Walken was in itself a risky proposition. It required transforming the protagonist from a character mired in mood to a guy next door using his powers for good. What made The Dead Zone so successful as a series was that, with the exception of a few transitional episodes, it was largely episodic. Instead of welding itself to the premise that Vice-President Stillson will eventually bring on the Apocalypse, the series wisely dealt with more pressing day-to-day visions of changeable futures.

That approach made it possible for The Dead Zone to remain engaging throughout its six season run. It was by no means a rehash of the movie, or even the novel—it was about inalterable pasts, and futures with infinite possibilities. That being the case, The Final Season peppers its standard formula (bad thing may or may not happen, depending on how Johnny reacts to one of his visions.) This allowed the writers and producers rare latitude in the strorylines, with often unexpected plot twists. I won’t bore you with the teasers of each episode— suffice it to say that every episode of this season work as mini-movies, stand alone episodes that subtly weave more intricacies into the overall theme of the show.







This approach gave the production great latitude in presenting individual stories. Resultantly, every episode was a surprise—going from family drama to noir-inspired romance to puzzling mysteries to light-hearted adventures. At its core, though, The Dead Zone was the best kind of science fiction, making alternative realities a backdrop for the more important issues of the human condition.

This 3-DVD set features all thirteen episodes of the final season, presented in 1:78:1 aspect, enhanced for 16:9 screens. Sound is Dolby 5.1. The transfer on this set is flawless, both in picture and sound quality. It also includes a few special features, mostly in the form of featurettes:

“A New Home For The Dead Zone- After nearly a two-year hiatus. "The Dead Zone" returned for a sixth season and moved the production from Vancouver to the other side of Canada - Montreal. Join members of the series as they discuss the new challenges everyone faced with remounting the show.;

“All Aboard: Filming The Dead Zone On a Train”- Go behind the scenes of the episode "Switch" and discover how cast and crew tackled the difficult task of filming on a train and produced an episode that became one of the season's fan favorites;

Audio commentaries (4 episodes)

The Dead Zone was a rarity among science fiction TV series. It immersed the viewer in the concept, and then moved along as if its reality was a matter of course. It never pounded the audience over the head with the premise. That is the benchmark for not only science fiction, but fiction in general. That The Dead Zone was able to present engrossing episodes continuously for six seasons is a testament to the idea that good television drama exists. That it ended on an ambiguous note reinforces the idea of limitless futures.

Midnight Sun : A Thin slice of Brilliance

This much is true.

On 25 May 1928, returning from her third expedition to the North Pole, the airship Italia crashed on the Arctic icepack, killing one crew member on impact, and stranding nine more. The remaining six members of the crew were carried off in the envelope of the airship, never to be found. An international rescue effort ensued, but because of apathy and political considerations on the part of the Italian Fascist government, it took more than 49 days to find the survivors.

For whatever reasons, the crash of the Italia has become a footnote in history. Truth to tell, I was completely unfamiliar with the incident before happening, quite by happenstance, upon Ben Towle’s quietly brilliant graphic novel Midnight Sun. This is a work firmly entrenched with what makes historical fiction work when done properly, using the details of the event as a backdrop to tell a tale that touches the human condition.



History means precious little until it’s placed in the context of how its participants view it in their own lives. In Midnight Sun, we view the crash through the eyes of a reporter only identified as “A. J.”, an alcoholic whose last chance at redemption is covering the final fate of the Italia survivors. His paper books him passage aboard the Russian icebreaker Kasspin, headed to rescue the Italia survivors. Meanwhile, the survivors of the Italia grapple with survival on an ice flow moving inexorably north.

The ice flow is a metaphor for the story, to be sure—it represents salvation and death on several levels. And it works admirably, due in no small part to Towle’s storytelling gifts. What really hooked me on Midnight Sun, though, was the way he illustrated the story. His style is stark, simple, a bit reminiscent of Herge, but with atmospheric details that call to mind the detail work of Eisner. Towles refers to himself as a cartoonist—not an artist—and that modest attitude about himself leaves him free to concentrate on telling his story.

At its heart, Midnight Sun isn’t about a desperate rescue mission, or about coming to grips with one’s mortality or even about a final shot at redemption. It’s more about how events, seemingly unrelated, converge and influence each other, making for larger, equally unrelated events. Towle paints the story in stark lines, accentuated by minimal gray washes, creating an effect that reflects both the growing desperation of the stranded explorers and the edgy boredom of the rescuers and the reporter.

Midnight Sun isn’t a bombastic graphic novel—in fact, I’d liken it more to a cinema verite than a graphic novel. In the confines of a 6.5" X 5.5" format and a mere 136 pages, Ben Towle has managed to bring a historical environ to life. His ear for dialogue and his eye for little details make Midnight Sun a rare treat not only for comics fans, but a remarkable little piece of storytelling.

In Plain Sight Premieres Tonight

Basic cable network USA isn’t exactly known for groundbreaking programming. You’re not going to find a Sopranos or The Wire or Dexter or Weeds here. By the same token, USA doesn’t subject its audience to mindless game shows like Deal or No Deal or puerile comedy like Big Bang Theory. USA is more subtle than that.

What USA does best is take familiar TV themes, run them through a blender, toss them with contemporary spices and deliver a storyline that’s somehow nostalgic, yet fresh. Take Monk, for instance. The character is a little pinch of Inspector Clouseau, a large jigger of Columbo and a healthy portion of neurotic angst. Psych harkens back to sixties and seventies buddy shows like I Spy and Starsky and Hutch, sans the Grand Torino of the latter.

In Plain Sight (premiering on USA, Sunday 10P EST) loosely follows in that tradition. Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) is a U.S. Marshal assigned to the Witness Protection Program, or WITSEC (Federalese for Witness Security). That premise has been mined quite a bit in recent years, usually focusing on unsavory characters that the Feds must protect, usually portrayed as an unsavory task at best. This being a USA series, though, In Plain Sight twists the formula, humanizing the entire process.

Much of the premiere episode establishes the characters that drive the series. Mary Shannon is introduced as the embodiment of Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman,” hard drinking, tough as nails, equally comfortable as a seductress or as a barroom brawler, as conditions demand. Her partner, Marshall Mann (Fred Weller) is her counterpoint, is generally cool and collected, and has the annoying trait of seeming to know just a little bit about everything. He also has a penchant for black designer suits paired with open shirts. Mary, being more practical, favors tank tops and jeans, as the duo tear around their Albuquerque home base in a purple Ford Probe that’s seen better days.

That would be enough to drive most cop shows, but Mary’s life is complicated by familial subplots—her ditzy mom Jinx (Leslie Ann Warren) and her deadbeat sister Brandi (Nichole Hiltz), both of whom have taken up “temporary” residence at Mary’s home, languidly drinking and lounging at the pool and flirting with Mary’s casual Dominican boyfriend Raphael (Christian de la Fuente).

Sure, we’ve seen these plot devices before, but they’re used here to keep what would be another otherwise dry procedural drama lively, and more importantly character-driven. There are mysteries in Mary’s past, and in her relationships with her family, and though they’re an integral part of the show, they’re woven subtly into the main story. The ongoing subplots are played as comedy, by and large, but they yield clues to Mary’s personality. Consider them a diversion to break up the action.

What really makes In Plain Sight compelling is how it turns the episodes into character studies of the people involved. Beneath all the action, the sarcastic dialogue, the comedic turns and the overt sexuality, each episode focuses on how singular events alter one’s future. It’s all about cause and results, and the circuitous routes of life.
In Plain Sight is deceptively simple, an old-fashioned, albeit retrofitted,
cop show, that melds mystery with comedy, and leaves us refreshed for the work week.

And don't forget, to enter our In Plain Sight Giveaway, for your chance to score some pretty cool swag. (Scroll down for details.)

Try Forgiving the Franklins, Won't You?

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The biggest problem with Forgiving the Franklins is its promotional campaign, which describes it as “part morality tale, part sex romp.” It’s not titillating or puerile enough to fall into the latter category, and it lacks the subtle nuances that would elevate it to the status of the former. More accurately, Forgiving the Franklins is a none too subtle indictment against repression and hypocrisy in Fundamentalist religion.

To make his point, writer/director/producer Jay Floyd paints the movie in broad strokes of bright suburban landscapes and cartoonish characters. At the film’s beginning, the Franklins are stalwart members of their small, religious community—Dad Frank (Robertson Dean) is a lawyer, mom Betty (Teresa Willis) a doting housewife, son Brian (Vince Pavia) a high school football hero and daughter Caroline (Aviva) a star cheerleader. They’re a Norman Rockwall picture perfect family, conservative even by their neighbors’ standards. It’s all a façade, though, masking lives of deep-seeded repression.

Their lives take an abrupt turn en route to a church bake sale when the family car is broadsided by a truck, propelling all but Caroline into a collective three-day coma and an encounter with Jesus himself. In the netherworld they find themselves in, Jesus (Pop Padilla) is nothing like what they imagined him to be. He’s rough-hewn and cynical, spending his time chopping down crosses. The cross is a bad marketing ploy that actually represents the worst day of his life, not the version of salvation the Franklins embrace. Frustrated (or inspired) by their judgmental attitude, he literally plucks Original Sin from their heads, and sends them back to this mortal coil to live their lives. Ominously, three crosses appear on the horizon as they are sent back to Earth. “Those things pop up like weeds,” Jesus shrugs.

Awakening from their coma, (simultaneously, oddly enough) Frank, Betty and Brian return to their suburban home with a new outlook on life. They’re completely uninhibited and happy, which immediately puts them at odds with Caroline, who emerged from the wreck with a bum hip, forcing her to walk with a cane, and ruining her dream of being the perfect cheerleader. The neighbors also find their behavior peculiar, but at first dismiss it as lingering disorientation as the result of their collective coma.

It’s at this point that Forgiving the Franklins morphs from a contemporary send-up of fifties sitcoms to a stab at social commentary. Unfettered from the constraints of religious repression, the Franklins unwittingly challenge the mores of their tight-knit community, merely by being open about themselves and the world around them. This puts them on a collision course with their neighbors, and culminates with insidious, tragic results. Caroline serves as the center-weight in the subtle conflict, and ultimately proves to be the film’s last bastion of hope.Forgiving the Franklins, in

What with its inherently controversial themes, Forgiving the Franklins is the sort of movie that’s the darling of film festivals. It’s also the sort of first time effort that explores its themes gallantly, albeit clumsily, in many spots. That being said, Joe Floyd’s directorial debut also works for the most part. His pacing is unflagging, and his understanding of the psychological use of color signals the coming of a director destined to go places.

When all is said and done, Forgiving the Franklins is a movie worth seeing. It’s a little film exploring big issues, peeking into the contradictions between religion and spirituality. More importantly, it holds up those conflicts to the light, and forces us to laugh at ourselves in the process.

Our First Giveaway Is In Plain Sight

Every day convinces me more that whatever the future holds for television, it's going to premiere first on basic cable. The USA cable network just solidifies that belief. USA is the home to some of the more offbeat versions of the standard cop show. Brilliant detectives with OCD or con man cops posing as psychics were too quirky to pitch to mainstream networks, but Monk and Psych proved themselves on USA. Now, they're enjoying success in the mainstream, albeit in reruns, on NBC.

In Plain Sight is USA's newest entry into the genre the network does so well.

Catch the new series premiere on Sunday, June 1st on USA NETWORK, 10pm/9c. USA Network's newest original series stars Mary McCormack (Private Parts and The West Wing) as Mary Shannon. Her friends and family think she's just a glorified courier, but she's actually a U.S. Marshal, working for the highly secretive Witness Protection Program. Her job is to help relocate federal witnesses. Whether they're career criminals, or just people who had he misfortune to witness a crime, they all share one thing in common – somebody wants them dead. Co-starring Frederick Weller and Lesley Ann Warren.

I'm not given to hyperbole, but the pilot for this series is good-- I mean, really good. I'm so excited about it, I'm offering you a chance to be the first and only kid on your block to own an official USA branded gift bag commemorating the debut:

Enter to Win an IN PLAIN SIGHT GIFT BAG filled with -

In Plain Sight t-shirt -

In Plain Sight tank top -

TSA Approved Travel Kit (with 4 plastic toiletry bottles) -

In Plain Sight Luggage Tag

Pretty cool, don't you think? Here's the best part. To be in the running, all you have to do is leave a comment below. You don't even have to say anything beyond "RE: In Plain Sight.

The contest runs from 26 May to 26 June.

Good luck!

Don't forget-- In Plain Sight debuts on USA Sunday, 1 June, 9P, 10 P CDT. I'll have a review posted before then, but here's a little something to whet your appetite in the meantime. .

The Andromeda Strain Revisited

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Don't mourn the end of the TV season just yet. The Big Four networks may be taking a breather after subjecting us to one of the worst debut seasons in history, but summer is the time when cable networks flex their increasingly impressive muscle. While the Fox, the Mouse, the Peacock and the Eyeball are pretty much content to loll in reruns, reality and game shows in the lazy days of summer, cable trots out significant documentaries and big budget dramas. In the process, they garner a lot of critical attention and Emmy buzz.

A&E leads the charge this year, teaming up with Ridley Scott (Bladerunner, Gladiator) and Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Top Gun) to recreate the Michael Crichton best-selling debut novel The Andromeda Strain. The four-hour TV event, directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mikael Saloman (Backdraft, The Abyss) and starring Benjamin Bratt, Eric McCormack, Rick Schroder, Christa Miller and Daniel Dae Kim, will air in High Definition on Memorial Day, 26 May and Tuesday, 27 May at 9pm EST on A&E.

In The Andromeda Strain, a U.S. military satellite crashes in a small town and unleashes a deadly plague, killing all but two survivors. As the military quarantines the area, a team of highly specialized scientists is assembled to find a cure to the pathogen code-named “Andromeda,” and a reporter investigates a government conspiracy only to discover what he is chasing wants him silenced.

From the clips I've seen, this latest version of The Andromeda Strain looks to be an ideal way to cap off the Memorial Day weekend. I'll keep you posted.

Juiced on Joost

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It’s not that I hate TV—to the contrary, it’s the most effective means of mass communication on the planet. Anyway, it could be, if the currency of communication wasn’t devalued from the outset by pandering to the lowest possible common denominator. See, TV was never about entertainment or education—it was about advertising, and it still is. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that— from earliest times, commerce and culture have always worked in tandem in one way or another. Nobody ever did art purely for art’s sake and lived to tell about it.

The problem with network TV is that its content is largely controlled by advertisers who, understandably, prefer not to offend any potential customer. Art takes a backseat to the whims of the Great Unwashed as a result, and American Idol and Deal or No Deal become ratings juggernauts while offbeat scripted series like Life and Pushing Daisies struggle vainly to find an audience. It’s no coincidence that The Sopranos and Dexter garnered praise galore during their cable runs. Unfettered by advertising whims, premium cable is free to explore a full range of human emotion.

Now that broadband connections are more the norm than the oddity, TV is poised to enter into the next phase of its evolution. YouTube was a pioneer in this evolution, and its amazing growth forced the traditional outlets to take note. All the major networks offer next day reruns of their current shows on their respective websites, albeit with the obligatory “limited commercial interruptions.” There have been independent attempts at making Internet TV a reality, such as Hulu, but they tend to get swallowed up by the conglomerates before they can spread their wings.

The Internet, being the refuge of renegades and chancers of every stripe, continues to reinvent itself, and the promise of TV on demand is a battlefield rife with upstart entrepeneurs intent on reshaping cyberspace in their own vision. Of the current combatants, Joost , (created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, founders of Skype and Kazaa), holds the most promise in terms of shaking up the rules of television. Here’s a brief introduction:



Online Videos by Veoh.com

What Joost brings to the table is a refreshing irreverence towards the entire concept of television as culture. That’s not to say Joost dismisses TV as we know it-- it is, after all, a commercial venture—but it offers a dizzying array of viewing options, from international news to classic cartoons to scantily clad supermodels to cult TV classics, and its channels grow almost daily.

I’ve been exploring Joost for a couple of weeks now, and I have to admit I’ve only skimmed the surface of its content. With over 400 channels, that’s understandable. Even at that, I’m impressed. I’ve seen the original Star Trek. I’ve seen a beautiful presentation of the 2008 Geneva Auto Show. I’ve watched newscasts from a European perspective. I’ve seen sporting events, classic cartoons, cult movies, those aforementioned scantily clad swimsuit models, nonsensical video clips, cooking shows. lifestyle programs—the list goes on. For instance, the site has recently added the complete run of Jericho and the first three seasons of Beverly Hills 90210 to its roster. Clearly, there’s nothing elitist about Joost.

Joost isn’t perfect. It’s not web-based (yet, though rumor has it there may be a web-based version in the offing), relying instead on P2P technology. It does require a download and a subscription to access its content, but that’s a miniscule price to pay considering the wealth of content here. Yeah, you have to deal with an occasional ad because bills have to be paid. On the plus side, the ads are tiny pop-ups that occasionally appear in the corner of the screen, not full-blown adverts. Beyond that, I haven’t been bothered by video skips or jaggies—the video quality of any content I’ve viewed is at least equal to a conventional cable broadcast. Granted, my DSL connection offers me an average of 6mbs, but I don’t see any broadband connection faring much worse.

Television as we know it isn’t going away anytime soon (unless you count the Federally mandated all-digital transmission conversion in early 2009), and the Internet isn’t going to be the preferred method of viewing TV within months, or even the next few years. What is foreseeable, though, is a gradual convergence of the two platforms. That’s not news—Steve Jobs and Bill Gates envisioned the computer as innocuous appliance years ago. What we have now is a realization of those prophecies, However you slice it, Joost is a pioneering step in that convergence. Besides a remarkable llibrary that’s constantly expanding, it’s taking baby steps to that convergence, with forums, tech support and even user-based chat. In short, Joost has the potential to make TV fun again.

Perception of the Doors

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It’s easy to make a case that the Doors were one of the greatest bands in the history of rock. They were, after all, one of the first bands to top the charts by exploring the darker side of the flower power generation. It’s an equally simple matter to claim the Doors as the godfathers of pretension in rock. It takes a bit more than leather pants and concho belts to signal a death knoll to love power.

The one thing that can’t be argued is that the Doors’ eponymously titled debut remains, over forty years after its release, one of the most auspicious debuts in the annals of rock. As part of its continuing series, Classic Albums: The Doors explores the making of the album, as seen mostly through the memories of the survivors of those sessions. It’s equal parts retrospective and a fond remembrance, as seen primarily through the reminiscences of Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore, as well as recording engineer/ Bruce Botnick.

Love them or hate them, when their debut was released in January 1967, there was no band quite like the Doors. The members were educated—film school refugees (Morrison and Manzarek) and accomplished music theorists (Krieger and Densmore) who, consciously or not, would rewrite the rules of rock. They weren’t really interested in teen angst or Utopian visions of love—the Doors looked at what lay beyond those paths, and explored the more shadowy aspects of a world in the midst of a cultural revolution.

Classic Albums: The Doors touches on that mystique, but doesn’t waste a lot of time dwelling on it. Instead, it focuses mostly on the process of making the album. Much of it is anecdotal, of course, largely paced by the perpetually animated Manzarek, who often comes across with a Vegas veneer with his reminisces about the band’s origins. Botnick balances that vaguely schmaltzy exuberance with an engineer’s love of how the songs broke down technically.

Densmore and Krieger provide the greatest insights into how the band achieved its unique sound. Between the two of them, they managed to meld blues, bossa nova, flamenco guitar and funk in a single riff. With Manzarek, whose keyboard bass and soul and jazz inclinations cemented the Doors’ sound, they emerged as a band that sounded lie no other.

Despite all that, it’s impossible to discuss the Doors without placing Jim Morrison in the center of the context—not just of the album, but of the shift in American culture as a whole. The spectre of the Vietnam war would fragment the hippie movement, and Morrison’s lyrics, while not overtly political, reflected the gnawing restlessness of American society at the time. The Doors weren’t about love and peace so much as they were about inner turmoil.

The people involved in the album recognize that, as do such current personalities as Perry Ferrell and Henry Rollins, who provide a contemporary take on the legacy of the Doors. Sadly, aging Beat poet Michael McClure’s recitations of “Break On Through” only serve to diminish the impact of the song. His attempt to elevate the lyrics to the level of high poetry come off more as a Steve Allen routine than serious dissemination of the work.

All in all, Classic Albums: The Doors is an erstwhile addition to a series that is in itself proving to be an important chronicler of important pop music. As with the rest of the series, the Doors entry sidesteps hype in favor of focusing on how the album came to be, and what makes it an enduring classic. In the Doors’ case, this DVD focuses not on the decline and fall of a seminal band, but on the efforts that made them a seminal band. It’s objective reportage, laced with live footage and outtakes (notably the evolution of “Moonlight Ride”). Itdoesn’t shed any new light on the Doors mythos, but it does open a new perspective on the band. It’s been over forty years since The Doors was released, yet it remains a major influence on music today. By anybody’s standards, that constitutes a “classic” album.

This Day in History

We go through our day to day lives, blissfully unaware that every day has some small, sometimes major significance. We're so caught up in our present that we forget that every second of the past shaped us. With that in mind, I've decided to add a new feature to the sidebar, courtesy of the History Channel. Every day, you'll be able to see what happened on that date in history. Some days may be trivial, others, world-changing. Either way, it's guaranteed to broaden your perspective.