BY DAVID BIANCULLI
Monday, November 07, 2005
With the avalanche of new releases of TV shows on DVD, it's not too early to begin ordering sets as gifts - or dropping hints to friends and family - in anticipation of the coming holidays.
Here are some DVD boxed sets worth considering (but don't buy them as gifts for me - I already got my review copies).
. "Sex and the City: The Complete Series" (HBO Home Video, 20 disks, $299.99). You're likely to find this mammoth "Sex" set substantially discounted - but even so, this is an ultrahefty price tag. It's also a hefty, handsome set - and if you know someone who hasn't purchased the individual-season sets already, this mega-collection, enhanced by the sorts of cool extras that will make die-hard fans swoon, would make a huge high-end gift for any Sarah Jessica Parker enthusiast. Among the bonus-DVD treats: a tour of the New York hot spots and other locations showcased in the show's 94 episodes.
. "The Dick Cavett Show: John & Yoko Collection" (Shout Factory, two disks, $24.98). Shout Factory is among the best when it comes to packaging its sets - at least when it comes to liner notes and letting consumers know what to expect on each disk, how to find it and its historical context. With John Lennon and Yoko Ono's appearances on Cavett's late-night ABC show - two from 1971, one from 1972 - all of that is especially welcome. No matter how much you "Imagine" this rare look at post-Beatles Lennon on TV is, it's even better.
. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season One" (Universal, three disks, $39.98). The packaging on this set, by contrast, is infuriating: There's not even anything on the packaging to identify the stars, writers or directors of these first-season stories from 1955-56.
Regardless, these 50-year-old TV short stories - Hitchcock calls them "situation tragedies" - are a revelation to see in order, and in such crisp condition. From the first moment Hitchcock says "good eeeve-en-ing," you're in great hands - and the stories, beginning with the Hitchcock-directed "Revenge," are delightfully creepy.
. "Arrested Development: The Complete Second Season" (20th Century Fox, three disks, $39.98). If you're not watching this series on Fox, the least you can do is buy it on DVD. You'll love it, and it's such a dense show (in the best sense of the word) that it rewards repeated viewing. Like "Scrubs" and the British version of "The Office," it's the sort of show that truly deserves to be seen uninterrupted, several episodes at a time, for maximum enjoyment. The laughs-per-minute quotient here is insanely high, making it great value as a home library purchase.
. "Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection" (MTV, three disks, $39.99). Released tomorrow, this triple-disk set allows Judge to handpick his own favorite episodes and present most of them in director's-cut versions. He's a good Judge, and the selection is thorough without being indulgent. The third disk includes 11 music videos, for which the animated bad boys watch and provide snarky commentary - the missing MTV link between showing videos and showing original programming only.
The videos, though, are hardly the A material. The best is the Beastie Boys' "Pass the Mic"; otherwise, it's stuff not even Beavis could love, like "Push" by Moist - or is it the other way around?
. "The White Shadow: The Complete First Season" (20th Century Fox, four disks, $39.98). Mark Tinker, who got his start on this show from his dad Grant's MTM Production company, is on hand to provide audio commentary and explain why this Bruce Paltrow drama was so influential and significant. Even if he weren't, suffice it to say that "Shadow," starring Ken Howard as the basketball coach at an inner-city high school, brought quiet realism, continuing story arcs, sudden deaths and other now-common elements to the weekly episodic-drama vernacular. It's great to have it released. Now how about Paltrow's next series, the classic "St. Elsewhere"?
