On DVD and Blu-ray Disc

"Emergency! Season Five”
Set in Los Angeles, this '70s staple follows the efforts of paramedics Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) as they aid the stricken. A scrambling ambulance ride pulls the rest of the story into the ER, where the smoldering Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and the no-nonsense nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) tend to the wounded. More than 30 years later, the show is pure corn for the hungry, just dated enough to be satisfyingly retro. But only just. Grade: B-

“The Love Boat: Season Two, Vol. One”
Given its unbridled kitsch, there’s no waiting for this second season to hit its stride. Amid the romantic dilemmas offered by those love-pushing pimps--sorry, the cheerful staff--of the Pacific Princess, the show has lost none of its Club-Med vibe. The guest appearances alone are a faded red carpet of throwbacks, and they are reason enough to watch. In this edition, look for Grant Goodeve, Sonny Bono, Brett Somers, Vincent Price, Janet Leigh and Joan Blondell to take to the high seas for messy adventures in love, limbo and loss, all of which naturally are fueled by the incessant grind of the show’s looping laugh track. Grade: B-


“Matlock: Season Two”
Andy Griffith’s career--recharged. After years of slogging through such humiliating guest appearances on such shows as “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “Hotel,” Griffith took a cue from Raymond Burr’s “Perry Mason” and realized one of his greatest career successes in a similar show that ran from 1986-1995. The second season includes 23 episodes, most of which focus on one culprit, such as “The Gigolo,” “The Annihilator,” “The Lovelorn,” etc. Griffith’s easy Southern charm is in stark contrast to the grisly crime series pop culture now favors, but for many, that’s exactly what will sell it. Grade: B+

“The Notebook” Blu-ray
From Nick Cassavetes, a beautifully shot melodrama that overcomes its contrivances by striking just the right romantic tone. It’s a retro heartwarmer filled with likable characters whose story weaves around the lives of two charismatic young lovers whose romance is threatened due to class differences. The film is divided into two stories, with its core mystery allegedly hinging on how those stories will collide. Only the dimmest of bulbs won’t figure it out, so it’s good news that the movie’s success doesn’t rely on it. The film opens at a swank nursing home with the elderly Duke (James Garner) reading to the elderly Allie Calhoun (Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes’ mother), a handsome yet frail-looking woman suffering from Alzheimer’s. The story Duke shares with her is a romance set in 1940s North Carolina between working-class Noah (Ryan Gosling) and wealthy Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams), who share a summer romance that blossoms into fierce first love doomed for failure. McAdams and Gosling are wonderful together--fresh and spontaneous--while Garner and the underused Rowlands make you pine for what can be lost in old age, and for what can be found. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+

“The Pink Panther” Blu-ray
Ooh-la-la-so-so. Steve Martin takes on Inspector Jacques Clousea, which essentially means that the actor is taking on Peter Sellers--a bold move, for sure, but not entirely successful. Initially, Martin’s exaggerated French accent, squinting eyes, double-takes and endless pratfalls are funny, but midway through, they grow as tiresome as the increasingly uninspired script. Where’s the joie de vivre? It's not always here. In the end, the movie lets Martin down, as well as us. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+