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DVDs great way to catch up on TV shows |
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Written by Aaron Barnhart, MCT
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Monday, 27 August 2007 |
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There will be 24 new TV shows airing on the networks in the next six weeks. Big deal! There'll be that many shows coming to DVD the day after Labor Day.
As we move inexorably toward an all-on-demand universe - where shows will not be judged by their place on the schedule but the character of their content - DVDs may not even be necessary. You may just be able to press a key on your remote or your computer and watch what you want. But for now we have shiny discs, and now is the time when they really pile up.
Almost 100 TV shows will release a season on DVD in the next month. For many it will be their first anthology; for others, like "Prime Suspect" and "Charmed," it will be their last. (Or ought to be, though we can't entirely rule out a "Charmed: Best of Alyssa Milano" release in the future. We'd like to, but we can't.)
Here are the DVDs I'd get into my Netflix queue ASAP if I were you:
"Friday Night Lights" (Aug. 28). Though disappointingly short on extras (and missing some of the goodies from the NBC video Web site), the best soap opera on TV was all about the episodes anyway. Watch the ones you missed and pass it on to someone who isn't yet a fan (be sure you tell them it really isn't about football).
"Gumby: Essentials Vol. 1" (Sept. 4). This latest repackaging of the popular kids' show from the 1950s and `60s (and revived in the `80s with an assist from Eddie Murphy's "SNL" parodies) features episodes that were selected from all three decades by the son of "Gumby" creator Art Clokey and with the original music.
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1 and 2" (Sept. 4). Though it has been on FX for a couple of years, most people haven't seen this very funny adult comedy. A poor man's "Seinfeld" features four underachieving young adults (and beginning with Season 2, Danny DeVito) bumming around the unpopular Philly bar they own.
"Grey's Anatomy: Complete 3rd Season Seriously Extended" (Sept. 11). Whenever I watch "deleted scenes" extras on a DVD, I can't help but think they were deleted for a reason. But these longer versions of four episodes offer a more coherent solution by working the scenes back into the story.
"Masada: The Complete Epic Miniseries" (Sept. 11). From the heyday of the network minis, this $25 million spectacular about a doomed rebellion against ancient Rome by Jewish zealots aired over four nights on ABC in 1981. It marked the American TV acting debut of Peter O'Toole as the lead Roman and miniseries megastar Peter Strauss as the lead zealot. This isn't the edited-down version that was released on bulky videotape a few years ago but the whole eight-hour enchilada.
"The Best of Cheaters: Volume 2 Uncensored" (Sept. 18). Strictly as a guilty pleasure for consenting renters, this bleep-free compilation follows up the first release of greatest hits from the tawdriest reality show in history. In case you've never seen this late-night TV staple and YouTube favorite, host Joey Greco takes infidelity caught on tape to the companion, leading to a confrontation between cheater and cheated-upon. It seems worse than "Jerry Springer" because everyone here seems like real human beings instead of cartoons. On the other hand, the show has admitted to using paid actors, and anyone whose face shows up here signed a release form.
"Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series" (Sept. 18). After all these years, there are still truckloads of shows just now making their DVD debuts.
Hanna-Barbera finally is releasing the 16 episodes from the 1970 cartoon show about an all-girl band (but not its spinoff, "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space"). It includes the singing of future Charlie's Angel Cheryl Ladd plus a documentary on the show's creator, Dan DeCarlo.
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Aaron Barnhart:
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