The Bold And The Beautiful Where It All Began Box 5 Announced!

Great news for fans of The Bold and the Beautiful after the success of the first for box sets (which included episode 1-100) the fifth box set collection containing episode 101-125 has been announced!

The box set similar to the first four will include both English and German audio and will be released on July 13th 2012!

Are you excited to see the set get released? Will you be purchasing it? Let me know in the comments below.

Guiding Light From 1979 Coming To DVD In Germany!

Fans of Guiding Light have been clamoring for old episodes since the soaps cancellation in 2009, now thanks in part to Soap Classic we are getting the entire series from 1979 released on DVD! The only down side is the sets are currently only available in Germany!

Die Springfield Story (Aka The Guiding Light) Where it all began (Wie alles begann) season 1 (staffel 1) aka 1979- will be released on June 22nd and will include both German and English audio! While I have not placed my order just yet I have to say I am very tempted! Are you?

Neighbours From The Beginning Volume 1 Artwork Revealed!

After much anticipation the artwork for Neighbours From the Beginning Volume 1 has been revealed! As previously reported this six disc set will include the first 56 episodes of the series!

The series is being released as PG- for mild themes, sexual references, and infringement course language - So was Neighbours in the beginning the Neighbours after dark that our @SoapOperaBabble really wants? Nope. But it is a bit different than the G rated series we have today.

Are you going to check this dvd set out?

Neighbours From the Beginning Coming to DVD!

Great news Neighbours fans, Shock Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Neighbours from the beginning on DVD!

The 6 disc DVD set will be released on April 4th 2012, and will include the first 56 episodes.

Take a trip down memory lane for fans of one of Australia’s most successful TV dramas. Neighbours, the long-running Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. Through its entire run in Australia, Neighbours has been screened as a twenty-two minute episode each week night in an early-evening slot. The show has been sold to over fifty countries around the world, making it one of Australia's most successful TV series! Watch the very first 56 episodes of Neighbours and relive these memorable moments on DVD!

Shock Entertainment is not new to the soaps on DVD game, as they have released the entire Prisoner (Prison Cell Block H) series on DVD also! So this is very promising news! Here's hoping a Region 1 DVD set will be released as well!

'Emmerdale: Dingles for Richer, for Poorer' DVD Review

iTV recently released an exclusive dvd spinoff tale entitled Emmerdale: The Dingles - for Richer, for Poorer.
This spinoff is a nice 'what if' the Dingles would have won the lottery. The movie by its own merits was a cute flick, but when it comes down to it, the movie was rather confusing. The editing and continuity were off, or done in a weird way that it didn't really seem to fit.

I would have really liked it had the dvd been tied closer into the real show, and maybe show the Dingles go on yet another family vacation, or something to that extent, because this movie really let me down.

If you are already an Emmerdale fan you should check the dvd out and form your own thoughts, but whereas I would recommend Coronation Street: Out of Africa to everyone, I think this movie is really only for the 'hardcore' Emmerdale viewers.
Have you seen the movie? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know your take in the comments below.

This is Coronation Street: The 1st 5 Episodes

For anyone out there who, like me, loves classic soaps and is curious about non-US shows, here's a tip for you: Netflix has a series of Coronation Street DVDs available to rent, including This is Coronation Street: First 5 episodes & The Anniversary Special, Coronation Street: Farewell to Mike, and Coronation Street Family Albums. I can't wait to watch these dvds and figured I'd blog my thoughts here for fellow Denial Islanders who might be interested in checking them out.

First up: This is Coronation Street: The First 5 Episodes

First, a warning: I am almost a complete newbie to Coronation Street. Besides watching this dvd, the Farewell to Mike dvd awhile ago and a couple of random eps on YouTube, I'm pretty clueless about the show. So please forgive the lack of knowledge I'll be displaying here, lol.

Here's what I do know: the show premiered on December 9, 1960, in B&W, airing two evenings a week. From what I could tell in the first 5 episodes, the show is set in a working class town and deals with the lives of the various people who live on Coronation Street. A nice surprise at the end of two episodes is the camera panning down the street, listing the actors credits in front of their characters' homes - a fun way of letting the audience know where the characters live in relation to one another.

I enjoyed these episodes tremendously and found myself disappointed that I could never watch the rest of the show. Within just a few episodes I began caring about these characters and wanting to know what ended up happening to them - though the dvd features 'Character Profiles' which answered some of my questions (it includes character bios, years they appeared on the show, and their various addresses during their time on the show.)

A special shout-out to my favorite character on the show: Ena Sharples (played by Violet Carson)

Separated at Birth?

Corrie's Violet Carson (Ena)

and

Character Actress Anne Ramsey

At first, I thought Ena would be a character I loved to hate, but I have to admit, I just loved her. A churchgoing, bar-dwelling, tough, judgmental, busybody who seems to always be getting into fights with people - this character is hardly original. Yet, Ms. Carson played her with such gusto, dignity and genuine pathos - I found myself caring for the curmudgeon in spite of myself. I just can't let this character go! I'll have to try and find some clips of her on YouTube.

As most of you may know, there is only one actor who has stayed with the show through its entire run: William Roache (as Ken Barlow). 50 years of playing the same character is not unheard of (Don Hastings was Dr. Bob Hughes continuously for 50 years on ATWT), but it's impressive nonetheless. From what I've read on wiki, the character is considered a bore, but I was intrigued by him. What I liked about these first 5 episodes is that it dealt with realistic problems: difficulty in marriages, a mother dealing with a son just out of prison, romantic woes, and most intriguing, University student Ken's conflicting feelings regarding his working class roots. While being close to his family, and not wanting to be ashamed of where he comes from, you can tell there's a desire to break free and pursue a more intellectual and prosperous life. How ironic then that out of everyone, it would be Ken who remained on Coronation Street for his entire life.


Thanks for reading my Coronation Street babbling! I highly recommend this dvd to Soapies with an interest in soap history. I'll be watching the other dvds as well. Next up will be This is Coronation Street: The Anniversary Special. (FYI: The Anniversary Special and The First 5 Episodes are actually part of a 2 disc collection under the name This is Coronation Street, however, Netflix has them listed separately.)
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938