DVD REVIEW - “MY THREE SONS” TELEVISION SERIES, THE BUB YEARS

Growing up, I used to watch My Three Sons on television. At that point, they were just beginning to be syndicated in reruns. For some reason, they only showed the episodes from the later years, the ones featuring William Demarest as Uncle Charley. To be honest, I watched because it was mildly entertaining, plus as a kid in the 1970's with about 4 channels to choose from, you couldn't be too picky. I must say, the premise of a widowed father with three growing boys sounds promising, but I always found Uncle Charley to be kind of a miserable grouch. Not that the show centered around him necessarily, Fred MacMurray as the father was solid, and the boys were fun. But I always felt Uncle Charley kind of ruined the show with his overbearing, sarcastic scowl (by the way it's hard to find a picture of William Demarest where he's not scowling; even when he's apparently smiling). Fast forward, to the dvd release of My Three Sons- the Bub years. As a kid, I'm not sure I was even aware that William Frawley had played "Bub '' the boys grandfather, to me he was always Fred Mertz from I Love Lucy. However, about 12 years ago CBS started to release My Three Sons from the beginning, with William Frawley as Bub. For some odd reason after releasing the first two seasons, CBS stopped issuing any more seasons of My three Sons until last year, when they started up again. To cut to the chase, if you're looking for good, wholesome entertainment, with clever, funny dialog, plus loveable characters, this is a great show to escape with. I mentioned earlier that William Demarest was a grouch. To a degree, so was William Frawley. But I must say, there's a difference between being a lovable grouch (William Frawley) and a miserable grouch (William Demarest). Later interviews with the cast of the show confirms this, they said Willliam Frawley played the character as a kind of grouch,but really had a heart of gold and had a real fondness for the boys, whereas William Demarest was as he appeared; not really a very happy man. It shows, and I think that's why the chemistry is much better on the early shows. I think the writing was better in the early episodes too, they were more creative, some even surreal if you can imagine that, plus the fact that after the first five seasons the cast started to change. William Frawley had to retire due to his health and died shortly after. Tim Constidine, who played MIke, the oldest brother, already well known from appearing in the Mickey Mouse club, and several Disney movies, wanted to direct and moved on. They also went from black and white to color, which I guess should be a plus, but doesn't do much for the overall quality of the show. I think the shifting characters, and probably weaker writing made the show less interesting in the later years. Although, they must have done something right, because this show ran for 12 seasons, which is quite an accomplishment when shows like the original Star Trek barely made it to three seasons. Overall, I'd give the dvd release of the show a B. Not because of content, I'd give the early shows an A. But because there's no extras, no interviews with the surviving cast, no commentary, not even closed captioning. Sometimes, I get the impression that these releases are put out by people who have no real interest in the shows, or care about making them appealing to people who appreciate them. They also split the seasons in two, which I always think is unnecessary. Having said that, I'm really glad I gave this show a second chance. The difference in the early "Bub" years, as opposed to the later ones, is like night and day. In closing, I must relate a strange occurrence, about a month ago, just before the covid-19 quarantine went into effect, I started to watch season three. Just a day after the quarantine went into effect, I started to watch an episode eerily similar; in "Caged fury" Robbie, one of the sons, and the wrestling team must quarantine at their house because one of the boys gets diphtheria. How they deal with it is quite interesting and even amusing. So with that, I'm off to watch another episode. Thanks for watching, er ah, reading my review.

NETFLIX REVIEW - TIGER KING, A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY FOR ADULTS ONLY

The Tiger King Memes popping up on Social Media piqued my curiosity. Tiger King has also been trending number one on Netflix. I thought it was another superhero adventure. Ahhhhhhh, nope!

Not sure how to approach this train wreck of a story. First, as previously mentioned, you can find it on Netflix under the trending and documentary sections.

Without giving too much away, it is a story with plenty of “what in the world moments “that will make your head spin and jaw drop. It follows Joe, a.k.a The Tiger King, living his life while running a zoo. Joe is… how should I put this… a character like no other. Yes, that’s it. He craves the spotlight and enjoys singing a country music tune or two.

His story is interesting enough until other tiger keepers enter stage right. Apparently, there is a whole community of these tiger keepers. Oh what a zany evil plot they weave. This documentary has it all: murder, mystery, drugs, sex, and sorry, no rock and roll.

This reviewer could not stop watching it. Not because it was educational or uplifting. It is one of those stories that you just can’t believe is real. Episode after episode (there are seven), I kept saying out loud, “Come on, these are just actors playing out some sort of twisted tale. Someone is going to come on screen anytime now and yell, ‘Gotcha.’

I cannot stress enough that this is NOT a Disney movie. Animal Lovers brace yourself.