TV on DVD Buzz

You can pretty much find every Christmas movie and special on DVD now, so there’s no need to check the TV schedule to figure out when you can watch. They seem to show them all in November anyway, and I’m just not ready then! So I say just buy the DVD and enjoy it anytime. You may decide you have the Christmas spirit in the middle of August, right?

Here are some of my favorites. Share some of yours!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Of all the Christmas specials this was my favorite growing up. It’s hard to imagine Christmas without Rudolph! And he’s really relatively new to the Christmas scene. Did you know Rudolph didn’t really even exist in Christmas lore until 1964?

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Remember the Heat Miser? What a great villain he was. This Rankin-Bass special came out in 1974 and I’m sure I’ve seen it every year since then. But it’s got to me one of my all-time faves!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

This is where we learn that Santa had red hair before he went gray and that he sounds remarkably like Mickey Rooney when he speaks. My son, who is a redhead, is particularly fond of this one which came out in 1970.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Who doesn’t love Charlie Brown? This special from 1965 is a staple in our household. I love to watch the transformation of Charlie Brown’s lonely little Christmas tree every year.

Many of the Rankin-Bass favorites are available on DVD collections now, as Susan at RetroTV mentioned. This is the most affordable way to get all the favorites on DVD. Make sure to look for them at Amazon.com or your favorite retailer.

The list of DVDs releasing this week is a little light. All of the major holiday releases have already hit the shelves and the next several weeks will be very lacking in new releases. We won’t get another major release day until January 8.

The biggest releases this week are One Tree Hill’s 4th season, the complete Underdog collection and volume 2 of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.  Here’s the complete list:

The Bronx Is Burning - World Championship Edition
The Mod Squad - The 1st Season, Volume 1
One Tree Hill - The Complete 4th Season
Rawhide - The 2nd Season, Volume 2
Sonic Underground - Volume 1
The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour - Lone Ranger/Zorro: Volume 1
Underdog - The Ultimate Collection
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles - Volume 2: The War Years

Amazon.com is having a big sale on some of our favorite titles on DVD. Right now you can find most seasons of Smallville and Veronica Mars for only $14.99 each, most seasons of Gilmore Girls for $23.99, most Friends seasons for $17.49 and most of Full House for $16.99 each. I also saw titles like The Sopranos, Big Love, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras, The O.C. and more in there.

There are dozens more titles in the TV department, plus sales on BBC titles, movies and more. Prices start as low as $3.99!

In that $5.49 and under section I saw several TV collection DVDs (not full seasons but collections of several epidoses). Some of the collection titles were Maverick, Alice, Friends, Night Court and F Troop. There may be others as well.

These would make great stocking stuffers…but at these prices, you may need a bigger stocking!

The top selling DVDs for the week of December 2 include The Office, seasons one and two…probably fueled by that Amazon.com sale where I bought both of them. Two seasons of House are also on the list. Animated favorites for grown-ups, South Park and Family Guy, also make an appearance and the BBC’s popular Planet Earth series seems to be a favorite Holiday gift. The Original Christmas Television Classics is a great set that includes all the Rankin-Bass favorites we all grew up with and it comes with a bonus music CD.

1. The Office: Season Two
2. House M.D.: Season Two
3. The Office: Season One
4. South Park: The Complete Tenth Season
5. Family Guy: Volume Four
6. House M.D.: Season One
7. Planet Earth: The Complete Series
8. The Original Television Christmas Classics (5 DVD Set)
9. 24: Season 5
10. Seinfeld: Season 8

It’s finally here! LOST: The Complete Third Season — The Unexplored Experience released today. My copy hasn’t hit the mailbox yet, but rest assured a LOST marathon is in my near future. The rewatching of Season 3 must occur before Season 4 premieres in February.

With the writers’ strike still going strong, rewatching my faves is pretty much the only option anyway. Most of the shows have finished up their runs and it’s not looking like a resolution is even close.  

 LOST: The Complete Third Season is a 7 disc set which includes all 23 episodes and a plethora of bonus features:

*One-on-one with star Matthew Fox
*Featurette on “The Others,”
*Documentary chronicling 24 hours in production and a selection of never-before-seen flashbacks.
*Behind-the-scenes looks at 10 episodes
*Audio commentaries
*Deleted scenes
*Bloopers

I’m excited about this week’s releases because one of my favorites, LOST, has arrived with Season 3. I need to rewatch before the show premieres, plus I’ve already promised to loan it out to one of my friends. Here’s the rest of this week’s list:

Beverly Hills, 90210 - The Complete 3rd Season
Big Love - The Complete 2nd Season
Dirt - The Complete 1st Season
Disneyland Secrets, Stories & Magic: Walt Disney Treasures Limited Edition Tin
Flight 29 Down - Season 1
Flight 29 Down - Season 1, Volume 3
Frasier - The 10th Season
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete 3rd Season
LOST - The Complete 3rd Season: The Unexplored Experience (also on Blu-ray)
Masters of Horror - Season 1, Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
Masters of Horror - The V Word (Ernest Dickerson)
Voltron: Defender of the Universe - Collection 5: Black Lion

Wonderfalls is a show I have heard many good things about, but have never been fortunate enough to see. Created by Tim Minear (Firefly), the show was originally slated to premiere in the fall of 2003 but for some reason was delayed until March of 2004. It premiered to critical acclaim. Viewers were hard to come by though, at what should have been the end of the TV Season rather than the beginning. A timeslot change after the first episode wasn’t promoted and didn’t really help their plight either. After airing only 4 of the 13 episodes, the network pulled the show. Immediately after the show’s cancellation, its producers attempted to interest other networks, including The WB, in picking up the series but nobody was interested.

The show centered around Jaye Tyler, a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who instead of going on to a job in her field, works as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop. Her job is quite ordinary until one day when inanimate objects start talking to her, instructing her to help others in need. Jaye reluctantly agrees and ends up becoming the reluctant hero.

The cast included:

Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler
Tracie Thoms as Mahandra McGinty
Tyron Leitso as Eric Gotts
Lee Pace as Aaron Tyler
Katie Finneran as Sharon Tyler
William Sadler as Darrin Tyler
Diana Scarwid as Karen Tyler
Neil Grayston as Alec “Mouthbreather”
Jewel Staite as Heidi Gotts

I couldn’t help but note that Lee Pace starred in this show. You might know Lee from another off-the-beaten-path show, which I happen to love, Pushing Daisies.

As with most cancelled-before-their-time shows, Wonderfalls had developed a loyal fanbase. A fan-led campaign was launched to try and get the show released on DVD. They garnered support of many of the cast and crew. 

They got their wish on February 1, 2005 when 20th Century Fox released a DVD set including all 13 episodes. Also included is commentary by the producers and cast members, a behind-the-scenes documentary, an examination of the show’s visual effects, and one of the two music videos produced for the theme song, “I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls” by Andy Partridge. 

New this week, we have Battlestar Galactica’s movie Razor as well as the HD release of season 1. If you’re looking for comedy, check out Crank Yankers or Saturday Night Live. If it’s sitcoms you’re after, Will and Grace Season 7 might be on your list. Favorite dramas 24 and Law and Order: SVU also show up in this week’s releases. There’s a little something for every taste.

These sets would make great gifts so make your list and check it twice, find out who’s naughty and nice - then give them some TV on DVD! And remember, the TV writers strike isn’t ending anytime soon, so you’ll need to stock up on DVDs to get you through the rest of this TV season (at least)!   

24, Season 6
30 Days, Season 2
7th Heaven, The 5th Season
Battlestar Galactica, Razor: Unrated Extended Edition
Battlestar Galactica, Season 1 (HD-DVD)
Bump!, Great Britain
Bump!, Mexico
Crank Yankers, The Best of
Dante’s Cove, The Guilty Pleasure Collection
Diagnosis Murder, The Complete 3rd Season
Grafters, The Complete 2nd Season
Highlander: The Animated Series, The Complete Series
House of Payne, Volume 1: Episodes 1-20
Instant Star, Season 2: Director’s Cut
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The 4th Year
Super Mario Brothers 3 Complete & Adventures of Sonic Volume 1
New Street Law, The Complete 1st Season
Saturday Night Live, The Complete 2nd Season
Tom and Jerry Tales, Volume 3
Touched by an Angel, Season 4, Volume 2
Will & Grace, Season 7
The Wire, The Complete 4th Season