DVDpedia : Library : Title : N

Theatrical: 1995

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Television

Duration: 535

Summary: Before Debra Messing ("Will & Grace") won an Emmy and Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways") was nominated for an Oscar, they starred in "Ned and Stacey". Although the screwball sitcom only lasted for two seasons, it confirmed that Church ("Flying Blind", "Wings") deserved the promotion to lead and that Messing ("NYPD Blue") was a talent to watch. In the pilot, mutual friends introduce the couple. Those friends are Stacey's sister, Amanda (Nadia Dajani, "Flirting With Disaster"), and Ned's co-worker, Eric (Greg Germann, "Ally McBeal"), who just happen to be married. It's dislike at first sight. Ned is a self-satisfied ad exec and Stacey is a free-spirited freelance writer. He needs a wife to advance his career and she can't afford her own apartment, so they embark on a marriage of convenience. Except for the (heterosexual) marriage part, "Ned and Stacey" provides the blueprint for "Will & Grace" as the roommates will continue to see other people, and Amanda and Eric will appear as frequently as Karen and Jack. During the first year, the newlyweds will learn a lot about matrimony. In "Portrait of a Marriage," for instance, they'll find that their relationship, unconventional as it is, is actually pretty healthy compared to Ned's colleagues' highly dysfunctional unions. As Ned puts it, theirs is "a marriage minus the love, sex, and intimacy, which...is more real than the real kind." Notable writers include Oscar winners Alan Ball ("American Beauty") and Charlie Kaufman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), while guest stars include Olivia Newton-John ("Reality Check"), Jason Batemen ("Pals"), and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s Susie Essman ("Thanksgiving Day Massacre") as Stacey's aunt. Executive producer Michael J. Weithorn would go on to create "The King of Queens". "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

Theatrical: 1984

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Television

Duration: 313

Summary: One of the zaniest and bawdiest shows to hit network primetime in the 1980s, "Night Court" starred Harry Anderson as the Mel Tormé-loving, magic-playing, too-young judge Harry Stone presiding over the night beat of New York. Joining him were lecherous assistant district attorney Dan (John Larroquette), bald Bunyanesque bailiff Bull (Richard Moll), uptight court clerk Lana (Karen Austin), earnest public defender Elizabeth (Paula Kelly), and grizzled bailiff Selma (Selma Hacker).
In between cases involving ladies of the evening, a derelict who thinks he's Santa, and sparring spouses, the court staff spends most of their spare time trying to figure out the judge's age and background, making jokes about Bull's imposing appearance, or, in Dan's case, propositioning any woman who comes along. Among the first-season guest stars, Michael J. Fox takes a break from "Family Ties" to play a young tough, while Soviet comedian Yakov Smirnoff (there's a flashback for you!) plays a Russian who threatens to blow up the court. Created by Rheinhold Weege (who co-produced and wrote for "Barney Miller"), "Night Court" took off in later years, as the cast solidified with court clerk Mac (Charles Robinson), sexy public defender Christine (Markie Post), and glib bailiff Roz (Marsha Warfield). With better people to bounce off of, Laroquette took home four consecutive Supporting Actor Emmys beginning with the second season. Those were the only major statuettes the series won during its nine-season run, but it did hold down the 9:30 slot of NBC's "must see" Thursday lineup between "Cheers" and "L.A. Law". "--David Horiuchi"

Theatrical: 1993

Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone

Genre: Kids & Family

Duration: 76

Summary: For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas", which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", "Beetlejuice", "Edward Scissorhands", and the first two "Batman" movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called ... Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful " James and the Giant Peach"), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen." "--Jim Emerson"

Theatrical: 1993

Studio: WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 76

Summary: For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas", which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", "Beetlejuice", "Edward Scissorhands", and the first two "Batman" movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called ... Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful " James and the Giant Peach"), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen." "--Jim Emerson"