Release Info:
DVD Release Date: September 30, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

Having an animated comedy on PBS may seem a bit like an oxymoron to some. By and large PBS is not really a funny station. If I want a laugh it’s generally not the place that I go to when I am in need of a laugh. In fact, this is not really a show that I am familiar with. When I received Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns in the mail I had absolutely no idea what it was. I had never heard of it.

After watching it I have to say that the potential is there, but this show is far from what it could be, which will make a lot of people toss it to the side without a second glance. If this was all the show ever had to offer I have to say that I wouldn’t blame them either.

Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns is based on NPR’s Car Talk with the Tappet Brothers. I have never heard this show, but I do know that it is an advice-based show that is filled with humor. If you want the humor from this show you should continue to enjoy Car Talk and not venture over to PBS and Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns . The humor should be here, but it isn’t. The jokes are weak and the timing is bad. At best this will be a better option for kids. For adults, it feels like it has been dumbed down and that’s always a harder pill to swallow when you’re watching something that isn’t that good to begin with.

This isn’t going to be a show that adults embrace. They may like the fact that kids like it or that it’s otherwise harmless in the scheme of things. They won’t want to watch it though unless the issues are worked out to make it worth watching. In its current state the animation is crude, which doesn’t bother me in the least. What does bother me is that the writing is subpar and while the potential is so close you can taste it, there are no results appearing at all. Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns is the show that could be good, but isn’t.

Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns is offered for $20 at Amazon. Most people will pass the show by because they probably have never heard of it. If they are aware of the NPR show they might seek this out, but will be sadly disappointed. I am not sure if they rushed to get this out, but the plots are thin and the voiceover delivery lacks comic pizzazz. It’s just a really depressing effort overall when you consider how good this could be.

The Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns Plot
Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns airs on PBS in thirty minute increments. Season One offers ten episodes of this show based on NPR’s hit show, Car Talk. The show is based on Click and Clack Tappet (Tom and Ray Magliozzi). I don’t know what these guys are like in real life or on the show, but in this show they appear as a couple of lazy, unmotivated car mechanics from Boston that also run a talk radio show.

The characters here offer promise, but at the end of the day they don’t offer enough promise for you to go out of your way to watch this. Along with Click and Clack there are several other characters that are involved in the Tappet brothers’ lives. Crusty (Cornell Womack) is the older voice of wisdom (or something like that) and Stash (Manu Narayan) is the no nonsense type that will always cut to the chase. Also around for the not-so-interesting antics are Fidel (Juan Hernandez) and Beth (Kelli O’Hara), the producer that is less than thrilled with these lazy, no good radio hosts.

The entire show seems to revolve around the Clack brothers getting out of work. In fact, in just the first episode, the brothers manage to avoid fundraising for PBS. The network then requires them to raise $5 million or they will lose their show. They realize the only thing they can do is run for president to get the money, so they do. These themes seem funny, but they don’t play out the way they should. Another should have been funny episode is “Outsourcing.” In this episode, the brothers outsource their work to India and end up with a raise when the show gets higher ratings.

The episodes included in this set are:

Campaign
Outsourcing
Boston Blackout
Pasta Wars
Gigantic Motors
Fidel Vs. Zuzu
Abercrombie & Wrench
A Pocketful of Motor Oil
Gotcha!
Casino

It is sad to see the amount of potential that many of these episodes have. Hopefully what that means is that in future seasons (if there are any) the kinks will be worked out and the show will be better than ever.

Storyline/Plot: 1 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 1 out of 5 stars
Acting: 1.5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 1 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
Click and Clack comes in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio that has not been enhanced for widescreen viewers. I was surprised by the decision of aspect ratio without making the show anamorphic. What this ends up meaning is that you are offered a clean picture that has more grain and compression errors than it should have. The colors are good and the blacks are rich, which is nice. Unfortunately there are many errors here that could have been avoided.

The audio is available in Dolby Digital 2.0. Most 2.0 tracks work fine and this is no exception. I have certainly heard better representations of 2.0, but this one works just fine. The sound is kept pretty firmly at the center channel and playing with the volume is usually not necessary.

Visual: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Audio: 3 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns is void of any bonus features. I have to say this is one of the best things about this 2-disc set. I couldn’t be happier that no bonus features are here because so often, bad shows are filled with them. That being said, if you are a fan you may not share my zeal for the lack of features.

Bonus Features: 0 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns is filled with promise, but currently has nothing to offer. You might want to keep an eye on this in future seasons but for now, I highly recommend either skipping it altogether or trying to catch it on television before renting or buying it.

Overall Rating: 1.43 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: DVD Review, Paramount Home Video, Click and Clack, As the Wrench Turns, NPR, PBS, Animated

I’ve always found the study of a person’s ancestry to be absolutely fascinating. After watching Roots and reading about the controversy over the authenticity of the story Alex Haley told I’ve been quite fascinated by the ancestral roots of famous African Americans. Thanks to the African American Lives series I’ve been able to go along with many African American celebrities as they trace their fascinating roots.

Harvard intellectual and educator Henry Louis Gates Jr. not only hosts the show, he produces it. Alone the way, Gates explores his own unique lineage, which has followed the path of his white ancestry as well as his African American ancestry. In this installment, which debuted as a series of mini-series episodes starting in February of 2008 on PBS, Gates looks back at his connections in Ireland, as well as his ancestors within an African American tribe in Nigeria. Whatever way you cut it this is some pretty interesting stuff!

Release Information:
With the success of the first African American Lives miniseries, which aired in 2006, and featured Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg amongst other famous individuals, it only seemed right to do a follow-up series. This is why African American Lives 2 was produced. A new set of famous individuals as well as one, everyday woman, who was accepted from a list of 200 applicants, have the chance to find out where they came from and who their ancestors are.

The miniseries spans through four episodes, each one delving deeper into the past of each celebrity. The series premiered on PBS on February 6, 2008. The first two episodes of the series aired on this date at 9:00 and 10:00 PM. The second two episodes aired on February 13, 2008 at 9:00 and 10:00 PM. Now, it is available through the distribution efforts of PBS and Paramount. African American Lives 2 was released on DVD May 6, 2008. You can pick up your own copy of this DVD at Amazon (or any online/local retailer) for $21.49.

The African American Lives 2 Plot
There really isn’t a plot for African American Lives 2, in the way you would expect to talk about the plot of a movie. The purpose of the miniseries is to explore the lives of a select group of African American celebrities and individuals in the intellectual community to see where they come from and how their ancestry branches out.

Hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard professor and all around interesting individual, African American Lives 2 looks at a diverse group of people. The group includes Tina Turner, Chris Rock, Morgan Freeman, Tom Joyner, Don Cheadle, Peter Gomes, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Maya Angelou, Bliss Broyard and Linda Johnson Rice. The show also explores the lineage of Kathleen Henderson, who works as a college administrator. Henderson was chosen from a list of applicants to be on the show.

The show is split up into four episodes, with each one delving further into the African American individual’s past. The episodes are:

“The Road Home”
“A Way Out of No Way”
“We Come from People”
“The Past is another Country”

Throughout the episodes, roots are traced back to Africa, Europe and various other locations around the globe. More than one guest learns about their Native American roots and one learns that her father wasn’t white like he had claimed. He was Louisiana Creole with African American roots. There is also a look into more recent relatives including two who fought during the civil war, a man who might have been wrongly executed by an all-white jury for a crime he probably didn’t commit, a slave to the Chickasaw Nation, and a man who helped to build the school their relative later attended.

The histories are compelling and make me want to trace my own roots, just to see what I find. Additionally, the stories presented, plus additional information found will be included in a new book that is being written by Gates Jr. “In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past”. Originally intended for a spring 2008 release, the book is going to be released by Crown publishing in January of 2009.

Enjoyability: 5 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 3 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality in full frames at a 1.33:1 aspect ratio is typical for any television show that is put on DVD. There really isn’t any change in quality from the quality you’ll find when watching this on PBS. The picture is clear. The amount of problems with the visual quality is limited, but it really isn’t dynamic. While the colors are bright and contrast is sharp, an anamorphic transfer could have made this DVD even more beautiful than it already is.

The standard Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound is typical for a documentary of this sort. I can’t imagine using anything bigger for this diluted soundtrack. A 5.1 would be wasted on the dialogue-driven series. This is your standard sound mix. No volume toggling was necessary and everything manages to come through loud and clear.

Visual: 3 out of 5 stars
Audio: 3 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
There are no bonuses included on this DVD. I didn’t really think there would be so I’m not going to penalize the DVD by listing a rating for something that really shouldn’t be included on this kind of DVD.

Bottom Line:
African American Lives 2 is a compelling, four part series on the connection we all share as Americans and the story our roots can tell us about ourselves and who we’ve become. While not everyone is going to enjoy this series, those who love history, true storytelling and genealogy will want to pick this up. This comes highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: African American Lives 2, DVD Review, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou, ancestry, Chris Rock, Don Cheadle