TV on DVD Buzz

I’m excited this week for the release of Torchwood, Season 1 on DVD…just in time for the premiere of season 2 on BBC America next weekend. Also this week, the 40th Anniversary Megaset of Thunderbirds arrives, as do several TV classics, like Barney Miller, Season 2; The Odd Couple, Season 3; and Make Room for Daddy, Season 6. Here’s the complete list:

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3: Fire, Volume 2
Banacek - The 2nd Season
Barney Miller - The Complete 2nd Season
ER - The Complete 8th Season
The Girls Next Door - Season 3
Hawaii Five-O - The 3rd Season
Hustle - Season 4
The Jeff Corwin Experience - Season 1
Make Room for Daddy - Season 6
The Odd Couple - The 3rd Season
Simple Life 5: Simple Life Goes to Camp
Swamp Thing - The Complete 1st Season
Thunderbirds - 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Megaset
Torchwood - The Complete 1st Season

Following last Thursday’s announcement of the new Director’s Guild of America contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the  Writer’s Guild of America has agreed to begin informal talks with studio CEOs, perhaps as early as today. The hope is that these talks will resume the formal negotiations with the AMPTP and put an end to the strike.

The WGA was said to be studying the terms of the DGA’s contract this past weekend and the WGA board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday night.

Although this is just the first, minor step in ending toward strike, it does mark the first time the WGA and AMPTP have met since December 7. Perhaps both sides will be ready to negotiate and get this strike put to bed.

There are several great shows releasing this week, including the destined-to-be-legendary Family Guy Blue Harvest, Extras with the ever-hilarious Ricky Gervais, classic British series Allo! Allo! and for the kiddos Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and Medabots. Here’s the complete list:

Alex Haley’s Queen
All Creatures Great and Small - The Complete Collection
Allo! Allo! - Complete Series 7
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown: Remastered Deluxe Edition
Bump! - American Northeast
Bump! - Southern California
Criss Angel Mindfreak - The Complete Season 3
Extras - The Complete Series
Family Guy - Blue Harvest
Medabots - The Complete 1st Season
The New Adventures of Old Christine - The Complete 1st Season
The Rockford
Files - Season 5
The Royle Family - The Complete 2nd Season
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch - The Complete 3rd Season
Storm Hawks - Hawks Rise Again
Storm Hawks - Tales from the Atmos

Netflix announced yesterday that all subscribers on unlimited rental plans, which includes all but it’s lowest tier, will be able to stream as many movies and TV episodes as they want on their PCs, choosing from a library of over 6,000 familiar movies and TV episodes.

Previously, the number of hours per month was limited based on the subscription level. Now, subscribers on unlimited plans get unlimited DVD rentals from the 90,0000+ Netflix library plus the ability to stream as many movies and TV episodes as they want from the 6,000 title “instant watching” library.

“Unlimited has always been a very powerful selling point with our subscribers and a large part of what set us apart in the marketplace,” said Leslie Kilgore, the company’s chief marketing officer. “In talking with members about our streaming feature during the past year, it became clear that, as with DVDs, the idea of streaming unlimited movies and TV episodes on a PC resonated quite strongly. And we’re now in a good position to offer that.”

This service competes with Blockbuster’s MovieLink and it is rumored that Apple will be announcing a similar service with iTunes in the near future.

It’s a new year but it’s also a holiday, so we don’t get very many new releases today. Only two TV titles hit shelves today:

   SeaQuest DSV - Season 2
   Weird Science - Seasons 1 and 2

That may be a little disappointing so I’ll give you a preview of what you can expect in the weeks to come to give you a little hope on this first day of 2008:

January 2
The Tudors - The Complete 1st Season

January 8
All-Star Family Feud starring Richard Dawson
Two and a Half Men - The Complete 2nd Season

January 15
The New Adventures of Old Christine - The Complete 1st Season
The Royle Family - The Complete 2nd Season
Thunderbirds - 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Megaset

January 22
ER - The Complete 8th Season
Torchwood - The Complete 1st Season

January 29
Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete 6th Season
Emergency! - Season 4

Happy New Year DVD Lovers. I hope you had a great start to 2008!

I apologize for my absence over the holidays. I’ll get back to writing in the morning. I’ll let you know what is releasing on New Year’s Day (although it may be slim pickings) and give you a heads up about what you can expect in the weeks to come. I’ll also update you on the TV writers’ strike.

Get some sleep and check back with us in the morning! Happy 2008!