The DVD of “On the Road in Iraq with our Troops and Gary Sinise”  will be released Friday, February 6th.   Order from Amazon here for $19.95.

What a pleasant surprise to learn of this! At long last, Gary’s Emmy-winning performance in George Wallace is finally being released on DVD.  For those of you who’ve never seen this due to lack of availability, you are in for a real treat.

Preorder from Amazon here for $18.49.  Excerpts from the official press release are below the artwork.

George Wallace, the acclaimed TNT original mini-series chronicling the career of the three-time Governor of Alabama and four-time Presidential candidate, will come to DVD for the first time when Warner Home Video (WHV) releases a special 2-disc set January 20, 2009. Based on the book by Marshall Frady, this epic bio directed by the legendary John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, Ronin, Reindeer Games) stars Academy Award® -nominated actor Gary Sinise (CSI:NY, Forrest Gump, Ransom) as the infamous politician and segregationist George Wallace. 

Wallace has traditionally been branded a racist, but Frankenheimer’s film suggests that his lust for power and status drove his cronyism with white supremacists, securing his place in history as one of the most destructive and hated American politicians of his time. Sinise – who won an Emmy® Award for this performance – brilliantly captures both the corruption and the belated search for redemption. Mare Winningham (Grey’s Anatomy, Wyatt Earp, St. Elmo’s Fire) plays his first wife and Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Changeling, Kung Fu Panda, Beowulf) – in her first major role - his adoring second.

In addition to Sinise, both Frankenheimer and Winningham won an Emmy® for their work (Best Director and Best Supporting Actress respectively for 1997).

The film also won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series for 1997 and Jolie won the Golden Globe that year for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries.

“The release of this moving political drama on January 20^th coincides with the inauguration of this country’s first African-American president, and serves as reminder of the tremendous strides the United States has made since Wallace’s day,” commented Rosemary Markson, WHV Vice President, TV and Special Interest Marketing. “The combination of the top tier talent in this film combined with the outstanding directorial skills of John Frankenheimer have resulted in a true classic.”

George Corley Wallace was elected Governor of Alabama as a Democrat for three terms (1963-1967, 1971-1979 and 1983-1987) and ran for U.S. President four times, running as a Democrat in 1964, 1972 and 1976. On May 15, 1972, while campaigning in Laurel, Maryland, Wallace was shot five times, leaving him paralyzed and wheelchair-bound until his death in 1998.

George Wallace will feature a newly-created bonus featurette including exclusive interviews with Jolie, Sinise and Winningham and archival interview footage of the late Frankenheimer, writer Marshall Frady and executive producer Mark Carliner. Frankenheimer’s widow, Evans Frankenheimer, also gives a new interview for the piece.

CSI Stuff:

• Season 4 of CSI: New York will be premiering on CBS on Wednesday, September 26 at 10 pm ET/PT.
• The third season of CSI: New York is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
• The UK’s Daily Mail has an interview with Gary. (Thanks to Bettina for the link.)
• Gary will apparently appear on CSI mothership this year on a night of crossovers.

LDB Updates:

• Pictures from the band’s recent European trip are available in the LDB’s gallery.
• Two current dates are scheduled in July and August: July 21 in Catingy Park, Illinois, and August 11 in Brooklyn, New York.

Gary is also scheduled to return to Epcot Center this year for the Candlelight Processional, December 23-25.

Finally, even though we haven’t been blogging about it, we’re well aware of the persistent Star Trek rumors… you can stop emailing us about them, honest! We’re told that official announcements will be made at Comic-Con next week, so that should settle the matter one way or the other. (And just for the record, I’d personally be thrilled if it were true.)

Our friends at tvshowsondvd.com posted today that CBS/Paramount has announced that season 3 of CSI:NY will be released on DVD on October 9. It’s not available for pre-order at Amazon yet, but we’ll let you know when that changes.

Greetings and happy 2007! We hope you all had a great holiday season. Now that the last carol has been sung, the final champagne cork popped, etc., we’ve got some news to catch you up on.

• A New Year’s message from Gary, as well as new concert dates, have been posted on the Lt. Dan Band web site.
  
• You might remember that Gary and the LDB performed for Operation Support Our Troops Illinois back in July. A chunk of the funds raised at that event have gone to help provide internet access to wounded veterans at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill. (If any of you are visiting — a very special hello!)
  
• Kim Basinger and Gary are officially the new ambassadors for Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier. They participated in a photo session with celebrity photographers Jeff Lipsky and Black Little. The proceeds from the rights to the images have been donated to charitable organizations - environmental protection and the education of underprivileged children, two causes supported by Baume & Mercier’s charitable campaign. You can see one of the photos of Gary here.
  
• Open Season will be released on DVD on January 30.
  
• Gary was mentioned in an article about celebrity philanthropy in the Ottawa Sun.
  
• In an article about the CSI franchise from the Independent (UK) (via tvgrapevine.com) Gary’s character is referred to as “the most modern and complex and the least archetypal of the trio, his greyness suiting the post-September 11 Manhattan location.” And the National Post (Canada) has a Q&A with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.
  
• Finally, OMG, are people really still asking this question? (At least they are asking someone who isn’t me.) Did this guy miss the first hour of Forrest Gump? Really, I want to know.

The TNT network is launching a new broadband service called “DramaVision” starting August 15. This initiative will make a wide array of its archive original programming available. “George Wallace” is expected to be among the offerings, although no dates have been set. (Note to The Powers that Be: This doesn’t get you off hook for the DVD.)

A special DVD edition of The Green Mile will be released on November 14. There’s no indication of Gary’s participation, but for fans of this film, this set looks like it will be something special.

The release date has been bumped to October 17, but you can now pre-order CSI: New York season 2 at Amazon.com. The preorder price is $45.99, discounted from the retail price of $64.99.

(Using our link helps keep this web site ad and popup free. Thanks!)

Our friends at TV Shows on DVD have a list of extras that will be featured on the DVD release of CSI:NY season 2. Check it out here.

We’ll post a pre-order link just as soon as it’s available.

This doesn’t apply to most of us yet (including me) but here’s a review of something we can hopefully look foward to — Apollo 13 on HD-DVD.

The good folks at TVshowsonDVD.com have posted information regarding the season 2 DVD release for CSI: New York. Season 2 will be released on October 3, 2006, and we’ll post a link for preordering just as soon as its available.