This week, I'm reviewing a 2007 Betty and Veronica story called "Westward, Huh?".

One major thing about the identity-switch subplot that doesn't make sense is the fact that the host families should have received pictures of Betty and Veronica.

Anyone that still has old VHS tapes of the series, what are the various songs and artists that were played on the series (but removed for DVD)? I'd like to get a list going.

Also, I created a Sabrina Pandora station (with some Josie and Riverdale added):

https://www.pandora.com/station/play/3489452158586590813

It turns out that I can't review "Riverdale" at the moment, because the file format of the episodes is incompatible with the video editor that I use to watch episodes and take screen captures.

So I'm reviewing a Betty and Veronica story from 1990 called "Way Out West".

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
Betty Cooper's mom is creepy.

Not creepy, just a hardass. I'm glad that Betty finally stood up to her.

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
Josie and the Pussycats are jerks. Sheesh.

Well, Josie is. Mel and Val are just there at this point.

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
No Midge. Darn it, I wanted to see Moose beat people up! Now I'm going to have to wait until Betty finally snaps.

How are those related?

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
The Grundy/Archie subplot. Ugh. I know you had to get Archie at the lake to be connected to the mystery--but it really gave a blow to the character.

Yes, she probably did.

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
Cheryl Blossom was awesome as the alpha ....witch.

Yup, Cheryl is awesome. I think Camilla Mendes as Veronica stole the show, though (even my 76-year-old mom loves her). I love the moment where she confronted Cheryl at cheerleader tryouts, and you could tell Cheryl was intimidated by her. Good acting all around.

By the way, one of the trailers was cut in a way that insinuated both Betty and Veronica would go into the closet with Cheryl.

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
Jughead, well, he narrated and didn't do much...and yet I wish he was more of a main character than Archie. And I like his hat.

I'm trying to make sense of Jughead's narration. The end of the episode had him narrating stuff that didn't even happen yet, such as the arrest that will come halfway through fifth period (which I'm guessing the next episode will actually show).

By the way, that will be Cheryl, judging by one of the trailers, which shows her being escorted by police. It's way too early for them to have caught the real killer, though.

Quote from: PTF on January 30, 2017, 01:37:09 AM
But I guess Reggie is stuck with dumb jock friend if going by the pilot.

Yeah, Mr. Hot Cougar Ass didn't impress me. Also, the actor's way too old.

Just curious if anyone's actually reading this. Because it's gotten zero reviews and follows on FanFiction.Net and not too many views (most of which are on the first chapter). Oddly, this is in stark contract to my other two Betty fics from previous years, each of which has racked up over 4,000 views and some reviews and follows (even though they're single-chapter fics).

This is a bit late, but I've written up a history of Archie comics on radio, TV, and film and have taken a look at the actors on "Riverdale".

Two days late, but I've reviewed the first episode of "Archie's Weird Mysteries", "Attack of the Killer Spuds".

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 14, 2017, 01:01:27 PM
Not sure what you mean by the "de-aging of other adults". Who, specifically?  I guess there was Cousin Ambrose, which I don't think they explained in the comic, but he was a different story from the aunts, not having appeared much (if at all) since the early 1980s.

I meant in the Archieverse at large, specifically Betty's parents - especially her dad, who morphed from "Old Man" Cooper to a grey-haired Hal to a brown-haired Hal. Alice also started out with grey hair and then got her hair color back.

Heh, I assumed all of that stuff WAS in the comics, and the TV series simply copied it.

I was aware the aunts were de-aged in the comics to match the show, but it's lame that they felt the need to explain it. They never explained the de-aging of any other adults.

The comics to look at to see what was changed would be this one-shot special and the following ongoing series:

http://www.comics.org/series/19972/

http://www.comics.org/series/11973/

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 13, 2017, 12:27:59 AM
When I looked this up on Wikipedia, I was kind of surprised to find out that the original TV movie featured a title character named Sabrina Sawyer, and other characters unfamiliar to me like Seth (the boy at school that Sabrina has a crush on) and Katie La More (popular girl and Sabrina's rival for Seth at school). I don't know if the TV movies (there were 2 later ones after it began as a series) are included on the DVD set or if the series sort of 're-origined' Sabrina after the pilot movie.

The pilot movie is not included in the series set. It was released on DVD previously and is now insanely expensive, but someone uploaded it to YouTube, which is where I saw it.

The second movie ("Sabrina Goes to Rome") is included in the series set. The third movie ("Sabrina, Down Under") isn't, but it will finally be getting a DVD release in February.

I don't know if the original movie was intended to lead to a series or not. I can't find any "From A to B" info. All that I know is the movie was shot in Canada with a primarily Canadian cast (MJH being the notable exception), but the series was shot in California, probably explaining why most of the cast got changed out.

The movie isn't part of the series' canon. The first episode actually retreads some stuff from the movie (although, obviously, Sabrina learns she's a witch much quicker).

Interestingly, the girl that played Katy Lemore in the movie went on to reprise the role on the AU series, "Sabrina: The Animated Series". She's actually a fairly prolific voice actor, often doing anime roles.

So I never really watched this show when it was on (outside of maybe a few scenes), but I decided to buy the Complete Series DVD set for my birthday, and I just finished season 1 last night.

Overall, it's really cute. I like it.

The DVD set does have music replacement and footage removed, due to licensing issues. I'd like to see a master list compiled of everything that's been changed for the DVD release, since there doesn't seem to be one place to look up all of this info.

MJH is "in talks" for a reunion:

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Sabrina-Teenage-Witch-Coming-Back-Here-What-We-Know-128117.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/sabrina-teenage-witch-making-comeback-7656447

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-news/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-could-make-a-comeback-as-melissa-joan-hart-reveals-shes-in-talks-34584444.html

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/sabrina-the-teenage-witch/39622/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-talks-afoot-for-a-revival

Libby, Hilda, and Morgan's actors are interested in coming back.

A day late, but I review the first episode of the 1996 live-action Sabrina series, the creatively-titled "Pilot". 

I also updated the reviews list for the first time since I posted "In Search of Change" (and the second time overall), giving you one page from which you can jump to any review.

I'm sorry that this is nine days late, but I've reviewed the 1996 Sabrina movie. This is another massive post with over 400 screencaps.

BLOODBATH!

From today's press release (snarky comments in brackets are mine):

Sears Holdings Announces Steps To Enhance Liquidity, Stabilize Operating Performance Actions will facilitate strategic transformation [Brick-and-mortar retail is hard! We wanna go online-only!]
Jan 5, 2017  HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) today announced a series of additional strategic actions to increase its financial flexibility and improve long-term operating performance. These actions will facilitate the transformation of Sears from a store-based, asset-intensive business model into a membership-focused, asset-light business model. As such, the Board of Directors has determined to:

   
• Close an additional 150 non-profitable stores, comprised of 108 Kmart and 42 Sears stores, to stem losses;
• Enter into an agreement to sell the Craftsman business for a cumulative $775 million, together with use of a perpetual license for the Craftsman brand, royalty free for 15 years, and a 15-year royalty stream on all third-party Craftsman sales to new customers;
• Generate up to $1 billion in liquidity through both a newly entered $500 million real estate backed loan, secured by real estate properties valued at over $800 million; and a previously announced standby letter of credit facility of up to $500 million from certain affiliates of ESL Investments, Inc., issued by Citibank, N.A., each subject to the terms thereof; [Our boss is loaning us money, so he'll be the first in line to profit when the company fails!]
• Market certain properties within the company's real estate portfolio to further unlock value and increase liquidity.

"We are taking strong, decisive actions today to stabilize the company and improve our financial flexibility in what remains a challenging retail environment," said Edward S. Lampert, Chairman & CEO of Sears Holdings. "We are committed to improving short-term operating performance in order to achieve our long-term transformation." [Going online only!]

"Going forward, Sears will be more focused on our Shop Your Way membership platform, a network with tens of millions of active members, and our Integrated Retail strategy in order to be a more nimble, innovative and relevant retailer that is better able to provide value and convenience to our customers. We are confident that concentrating on these key initiatives will lay the foundation for growth over the long-term," Mr. Lampert continued. [Fast Eddie's still touting Shop [Y]Our Way Rewards as the future of retail.]

Here's the list of stores closing:

http://searsholdings.com/docs/010417_store_closing_list.pdf