Lateline - The Complete Series

Lateline - The Complete Series
by Andy Ackerman, Barton Dean, Jay Sandrich, Jeffrey Melman, Ken Levine

Lateline - The Complete Series
List Price: $35.98
Our Price: $18.99
You Save: $16.99 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.09 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Ajay Naidu, Al Franken, Megyn Price, Miguel Ferrer, Sanaa Lathan
Director: Andy Ackerman, Barton Dean, Jay Sandrich, Jeffrey Melman, Ken Levine
Writer: Al Franken
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 417 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount

Movie Reviews of Lateline - The Complete Series

Movie Review: Better than average
Summary: 3 Stars

Just saw the complete series and although I did enjoy it I'd have to say it's just better than average. I appreciate the effort made to try and cover real life topics but I just wish the story lines would have been written better (sorry Al). A similar but funnier series, in my opinion, is News Radio. Also, it doesn't hurt that Megyn Price is in it. Anyone seen her in "Love Happens"?

Summary of Lateline - The Complete Series

LATELINE - THE COMPLETE SERIES, a spoof of the evening news program "Nightline," stars Al Franken as Al Freundlich, a correspondent for the late night news program called "Lateline." Best known for his stint as Stuart Smalley on "Saturday Night Live," Al Franken not only stars in LATELINE, he also is the creator, writer and executive producer. While the show is fictional, it features real-life special guests playing themselves in this show-within-a-show.
Clever, funny, and occasionally groundbreaking, Lateline was a victim of its own intelligence. Had it been conceived as a bolder, more abrasive HBO series it might have caught on, but as a formulaic network sitcom (initially airing Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on NBC) it offered a slightly schizoid combination of conventional comedy and cutting-edge socio-political satire. A few years before becoming a bestselling author, pundit, and Air America radio host, Saturday Night Live veteran Al Franken (with series cocreator John Markus) served up this sharp, topical send-up of TV news magazines like Nightline, about the on- and off-camera antics at Lateline, a Washington, D.C.-based news program anchored by Pearce McKenzie (Robert Foxworth), a wealthy egomaniac with a penchant for dating dim-witted supermodels. Franken plays a thinly-veiled version of himself as beleaguered correspondent Al Freundlich, while producer Gale Ingersoll (the wonderful Megyn Price) and sourpuss boss Vic Karp (Miguel Ferrer) struggle to deliver "kick-ass" shows with the help of their overworked colleagues (Catherine Lloyd Burns, Ajay Naidu, and Sanaa Lathan).

The gimmick of Lateline--later used in the HBO drama series K Street--is the inclusion of real-life movers and shakers from politics, news media, and Hollywood--a long list of cameo appearances lending an unpredictable edge of satirical spontaneity. Most of these power players add to the fun when the writing occasionally slumps into familiar sitcom territory, and the show's fullest potential is triumphantly displayed in "The Seventh Plague," an classic episode in which Freundlich, in a stubborn quest for "verisimilitude," single-handedly ruins an epic-scale disaster film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Martin Sheen as (you guessed it), the U.S. President. Office politics and hot-button issues fuel the humor (the Christian right, social security reform, etc.), but despite the noble efforts of its writers, directors, and superb ensemble cast, Lateline suffered in the ratings, was briefly rebroadcast on Showtime after cancellation (including NBC's unaired episodes, also included here), and then died prematurely. As a prescient farewell, future presidential candidate John F. Kerry appears at the end of the final episode, suggesting that Lateline was slightly ahead of its time. --Jeff Shannon

Comedy DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in TV on TV.
Monday Night Mayhem ImageMonday Night Mayhem
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2002-09-10; DVD
Best price: $1.05
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Late Shift ImageThe Late Shift
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-08-30; DVD
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops: $9.97
The Larry Sanders Show - The Complete First Season ImageThe Larry Sanders Show - The Complete First Season
Sony; Release date: 2007-04-17; DVD
Best price: $19.70
Price in other shops: $39.95
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Complete Series ImageStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Complete Series
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-16; DVD
Best price: $17.33
Price in other shops: $59.98
30 Rock - Season 1 Image30 Rock - Season 1
Universal; Release date: 2007-09-04; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $49.98
Sports Night - The Complete Series Boxed Set ImageSports Night - The Complete Series Boxed Set
Release date: 2002-11-05; DVD
Best price: $72.88
Lateline - The Complete Series ImageLateline - The Complete Series
Release date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $15.24
Price in other shops: $35.98
Murphy Brown - The Complete First Season ImageMurphy Brown - The Complete First Season
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-08; DVD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $27.98
Buffalo Bill - The Complete First and Second Seasons ImageBuffalo Bill - The Complete First and Second Seasons
Lions Gate; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $19.98
SCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set) ImageSCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set)
Uni; Release date: 2004-06-08; DVD
Best price: $17.58
Price in other shops: $59.98
Similar DVD Movies
Buffalo Bill - The Complete First and Second Seasons ImageBuffalo Bill - The Complete First and Second Seasons
COLEMAN,DABNEY; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops: $19.98
Men Behaving Badly - The Complete Series ImageMen Behaving Badly - The Complete Series
SHOUT FACTORY (UNDER GENIUS); Release date: 2007-02-13; DVD
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops: $34.99
Left of the Dial ImageLeft of the Dial
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series ImageThe Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series
Koch International; Release date: 2009-05-05; DVD
Best price: $33.45
Price in other shops: $59.98
The Dana Carvey Show ImageThe Dana Carvey Show
Uni; Release date: 2009-05-12; DVD
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops: $24.99
The Newsroom - The Complete First Season ImageThe Newsroom - The Complete First Season
FINKLEMAN,KEN; Release date: 2005-12-13; DVD
Best price: $3.10
Price in other shops: $24.98
Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot ImageRush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot
by Al Franken
Dell; Published: 1999-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Worst Person In the World: And 202 Strong Contenders ImageThe Worst Person In the World: And 202 Strong Contenders
by Keith Olbermann
Wiley; Published: 2007-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.74
Price in other shops: $14.95
Why Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency ImageWhy Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency
by Al Franken
Delta; Published: 2000-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.33
Price in other shops: $14.00
Al Franken - God Spoke ImageAl Franken - God Spoke
NEW VIDEO GROUP; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $13.19
Price in other shops: $26.95
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners