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Note: I'll be on vacation through Oct. 23 and probably won't respond to most e-mail until then.

 

ANDY IHNATKO AND HIS DVD'S

"Young Frankenstein"

Moody and menacing Castle Frankenstein, hidden in the misty hills of Transylvania and vacant since Doctor Victor von Frankenstein caused a bit of trouble a while back, is welcoming three new guests. They're being shown around by the castle's longtime caretaker, the crone-ish Frau Blucher, whose palpable darkness resonates on such a sub-molecular level that whenever her name is uttered anywhere on the premises, it causes horses to rear up and whinny in terror.

Read Andy's review with complete DVD details

Pick to click

Like many CBS shows, you don't hear much about "Becker" (9:30 p.m., CBS), the Ted Danson sitcom now in its third season. Yet most of those overhyped NBC comedies would do well to match the writing and ensemble of "Becker," which shares the grumpy sensibility of its lead-in, "Everybody Loves Raymond."

The impolitic Dr. Becker (Danson) runs a clinic supposedly in the South Bronx, though there is a small-town feel here that suggests some other borough or state. He doesn't really like his patients, or people generally, and lets them know it. But Danson is surrounded by equally jaded foils: Margaret (Hattie Winston), the overworked clinic nurse; Reggie (Terry Farrell), the sweet-and-sour coffee-shop proprietor; and Jake (Alex Desert), the blind newsstand owner who rings up some of the show's biggest laughs.

Tonight: Becker gets irritated trying to find a movie to watch.

On this date...

in 1980, anchor Dan Rather refuses to pay his cab fare, so the CBS network agrees to pony up twelve dollars and fifty-five cents.

November 11: in 1952, In Los Angeles, inventors Wayne Johnson and John Mullin demonstrate "Crosby Video," the first magnetic-tape video recorder. The machine uses an eight thousand foot reel of one-inch tape to record 16 minutes of black and white video.

November 12: in 1977, NBC begins running "The Godfather Saga — Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television," a nine-hour, four-night event consisting of Godfather's I and II reedited in linear form with added footage. A similar project, "The Godfather 1902-1959: The Complete Epic" is released four years later on videocassette, but with different "bonus" footage. -- Tom Heald

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