Man from U.N.C.L.E. DVDs...easy come, easy go

The Digital Bits (DVD news website) is reporting "We've got some Anchor Bay news for you. The company will deliver The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete First Season on DVD as a 4-disc set on 7/25. We're told at least some extras will be included."

With luck, the rest of the series will follow not far behind.

This hasn't shown up on either Amazon or the Anchor Bay sites, but TDB's been really good about making it clear when their release information is tentative, and this wasn't on the Rumor Mill page.

ETA 2006-05-25: "No sooner did we post the news to The Bits yesterday, we got an update from The Bay's PR firm indicating that the 7/25 release of the series' first season has been pulled indefinitely. Word is, there's a dispute over who actually owns the home video rights to the series. So the planned 4-disc set is cancelled for now... at least until the whole mess can be sorted out. D'oh!" Bah.

Charlie Victor Romeo

The American Repertory Theater (at Zero Arrow Street, near Harvard) is running Charlie Victor Romeo for a few more days.

It's a 90-minute play based on cockpit voice recorder transcripts from accidents, but it is definitely not just for the aviation enthusiast. (The cast, writers, and director have had no aviation experience at all.) The set is minimal, but the acting is wonderful and the sound design...oh, the sound design. Each of the six accidents is introduced by a simple text slide, giving the flight, aircraft, date, number of people aboard, and cause. At the end of each, another slide gives the aftermath: survivors (if any) and casualties.

After the show, there's time to discuss the play with the cast and creators; you should stick around for it if you're curious about how they interpreted it, why they chose those accidents, or anything like that. The audience questions tonight ranged from discussion with a former pilot to questions from people without aviation experience, but all enjoyed it.

Had I seen it sooner, I'd have blogged it sooner. As it is, it's only showing through Sunday. If you're staying in town, or if you can go Thursday even if you're headed for Wiscon, I highly recommend going if at all possible.