TV on DVD Buzz

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the mystery/crime drama category.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Eighth Year - This release is of the 8th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. This release is a five disc set.

Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Ninth Season - This release contains the 22 episodes in the ninth season of this show. It is a five disc set. This season seems to have a lot of New York City set episodes along with the normal Cabot Cove set ones as well as some other settings such as New Mexico, Italy, and Ireland.

Wycliffe: Series 1 - This is a British crime drama about Detective Wycliffe solving murders in Cornwall. This release is a 3 disc set containing 6 episodes.

This week’s TV on DVD Season I am going through and doing wrap ups of is the six disc CSI Season 1 set. I will be posting about one disc each day until this Saturday.

“Pilot” - This episode begins with a recording of a suicide note and then flashes to police arriving on a scene. Grissom plays it for the mother. She says the picture is her son, but the voice is not her son’s. The next scene is Holly arriving for her first day as a CSI. This scene shows the pig in the jar for the first time. After taking the blood required for all police personel, Holly feels light headed and Grissom offers a grasshopper. Another body/case is introduced relate to a man saying he shot the guy for kicking in his door. This case is taken by Warrick and Catherine. Holly has to observe the autopsy of the first body, but she cannot stand the smell and when she looks for the bathroom she ends up locked in one of the rooms they keep the bodies in, but Grissom soon saves her from her while she is freaking out. Holly ends up working a crime scene on her own and the owner of the store starts waving a gun at her. She calls for backup and Catherine saves Holly this time. Nick works on a case involving men being robbed by women that seduce them and knock them out with a chemical on their nipples, which then knocks them out later as it absorbs through their skin. Warrick ends up leaving Holly at a scene on her own when a the guy the is arrested for shooting the supposed intruder who was not one. Nick becomes a CSI Level 3 for solving his 100th case. The episode ends with the news that Holly was shot at the scene she was left at alone and Warrick is put on administrative leave for leaving her.

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Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the comedy category.

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Third Season - This is the complete third season of The Beverly Hillbillies. I noticed Amazon also has a special season 2 and 3 combined pack for about $5 cheaper than if you buy the two separately at the current prices.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death - This is a TV movie originally shown on Showtime. This is based on the Dead Like Me show that had two seasons some time before the movie release. It is supposedly some sort of dark comedy movie and is pretty good if you are into that sort of thing.

Dead Like Me: The Complete Collection - This release contains the movie, which is packaged as a separate release, as well as the two seasons of the show.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Fifth Season - This is the season in which Sabrina goes to college and in the first season that was on the WB. I kind of like how the series changed when she went to college, although I do like the whole series and wish it went longer.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the drama category.

Dennis Potter: 3 to Remember - This release contains three of Dennis Potter’s British television dramas. It includesBlade on the Feather, Rain on the Roof, and Cream in my Coffee. It also includes Dennis Potter: The Last Interview.

Faerie Tale Theatre: Tales from the Brothers Grimm - This release contains four episodes from Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre. The episodes included are “Hansel and Gretel,” “Rapunzel,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Melrose Place: The Fifth Season Volume 1 - This is the first half of the fifth season. Supposedly, the fifth season was canceled for release and then because of fan complaints the studio is releasing the first half and holding off on planning to release the second half based on how this sells. It is still a 4 disc set of 15 episodes, so it is still a pretty lengthy DVD release.

I Love You - This is a release of a Korean television drama.

Route 66: Producer’s Picks - This release contains the top 11 episodes of the series as chosen by the producer’s. Note the episodes are the same as on the now discontinued Best of Route 66 - Eleven Original TV Series episodes.

Simon & Simon: Season Two - This release is a six disc set containing the 23 episodes from the second season of this San Diego detective series.

What Makes Sammy Run? - This is a release of the 1959 television play that was broadcasted in two parts and for years the second part was considered lost. This DVD release’s special features include Audio commentary with Dina Merrill and Barbara Rush and Interview with Budd Schulberg (author of the book this is based on).

Wild at Heart: Series One - This is the first series/season of the British drama about a family moving to Africa to restore a game reserve and along the way heal their own emotional wounds.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the animated/kids category.

Backyardigans: Robin Hood the Clean - I am not exactly sure what episodes are on this DVD besides the title episode called “Robin Hood the Clean.” This episode is premiering on DVD and will probably eventually be on Nick Jr., but they tend to like to release the DVD title episodes first on DVD for a few months.

Dora the Explorer: The Egg Hunt - This is a rerelease. The episodes on this Dora volume are “Egg Hunt” and “El Dia de la Madres.” The bonus episodes are “Dora, La Músico” and “Pablo’s Flute.”

Dragon Ball GT: Season Two - This release contains the second season of the show digitally remastered. It includes Super 17 & Shadow Dragon Sagas. It also includes the bonus A Hero’s Legacy movie.

DragonBall Z: Super Android 13/Bojack Unbound - This release contains two classic DragonBal Z movies, Super Android 13 and Bojack Unbound. This is also coming out in a Blu-Ray version.

Dragon Ball Z: Season Eight - This release contains the digitally remastered episodes from the eighth season of Dragon Ball Z. Season 8 is made up of the Babidi and Majin Buu sagas.

Naruto Uncut Box Set, Volume 12 - This release bridges seasons six and seven of the show. It also comes with the second of six playing card sets that are being released with the box sets 11-16.

Phineas and Ferb, Vol. 2: The Daze of Summer - This one disc release is supposed to contain the unseen new episodes called “Unfair Science Fair” and “Return of Science Fair” as well as the previously aired episodes called “Greece Lightning” and “Leave The Busting To Us.”

Shin Chan: Season Two, Part One - This release is of a Cartoon Network Adult Swim show. It is a two disc set.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the comedy category.

Faerie Tale Theatre: Funny Tales - This release contains four of the funny episodes from Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre. The episodes included are The Tale of the Frog Prince, Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs, and The Princess Who Never Laughed.

One Foot in the Grave: Season 5 and Season 6 - One Foot in the Grave is a British comedy show. The fifth and sixth seasons are coming out as separate releases on the same day. They are both are two disc sets.

She Stoops to Conquer - This release is of Oliver Goldsmith’s classic comedy of errors that first debuted as a play in the 1770s. This film version was filmed at a 17th-century English manor house. The DVD’s special features include a 50 minute documentary on Oliver Goldsmith called A Gooseberry Fool: Oliver Goldsmith Stoops to Conquer.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Season 2 - This is a sketch show that mostly spoofs public access television. It is part of the Adult Swim stuff on Cartoon Network. This release contains the second season of the show.

The Wizards of Waverly, Vol. 2: Supernaturally Stylin’ - This Disney Channel show is often funny, especially involving Alex’s crazy magic mishaps that tend to always happen. The special features including the cast talking about their personal styles and a look at the show’s wardrobe, which sound fishily like the special features on volume one and make me wonder if they are the same special features.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the documentary/non-fiction category.

3rd Annual World Salsa Championship - This release is in two volume with each volume being released separately on the same day.

60 Minutes No Peace Deal - This is one of the rip off releases with a segment from the January 25, 2009 episode.

60 Minutes Presents: Obama: All Access Barack Obama’s Road to the White House - This is actually not a rip off 60 Minutes release. Most of the releases seem to be 12 minute segments of the show, but this one is supposed to have a run time of 225 minutes, so not bad for its current Amazon price of $16.99.

60 Minutes - Wine RX - This is another rip off release with just one 12 minute segment from the January 25, 2009 episode.

60 Minutes - “The Winter of Our Hardship” - Yet another on of the rip off releases of a 12 minute segment from the January 25, 2009 episode.

Chihuly in the Hotshop - This is a PBS documentary related to glass making.

The Inauguration of Barack Obama on CNN - This is a two hour disc of the Inauguration. I assume it will be pretty much as they showed it on CNN with nothing added. It is also one of the weird DVD-R Amazon on demand made releases, which I have heard some people have had problems viewing.

Kennedy: The Complete Series - This is a two disc set containing the whole mini series that looked mostly at the presidential years of the Kennedys.

Living with the Mek - This is a two disc set of the show that originally aired on the Travel Channel.

New Detectives Season 1-2 - This is a four disc set containing seasons 1 and 2 of the Discovery Channel series that looked at real life forensics and crime solving. It contains 16 episodes.

Over Arizona - This is the PBS documentary that tells about Arizona while showing footage taken from the air. There are also several other episodes in this series being released the same day including Over Alaska, Over California, Over Florida, and Over New England.

Rona Barrett’s Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth - This includes celebrity interviews done by Rona Barrett in the 1970s.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the science fiction/horror category.

A Haunting - Demon Angels - This contains four episodes of the Discovery Channel show that recreates haunted happenings based on eyewitness accounts. The episodes included are “The Possessed,” “The Presence,” “The Wheatsheaf Horror,” and “The Unleashed.”

A Haunting: House Of Fear - This contains another four episodes of the show. The episodes included are “The Forgotten,” “The Attic,” “Fear House,” and “Hidden Terror.”

Friday the 13th the Series: The Second Season - 2009 is a big year for fans of Friday the 13th with the movie remake, movie rereleases on DVD, and the second season of the show coming to DVD. This is a 6 disc set of the second season.

Tales from the Darkside: The First Season - This release is a three disc set of the series first season.

Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the sports category.

The WWE: The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event - This contains a lot of the matches/episodes shown on network television (NBC and later FOX) between 1985 and 1992. This is a three disc set. There are also some extras, such as first ever match on SNME, “Real American” music video, Brother Love Interviews Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels Talks About Winning His First Intercontinental Title, and Matt Hardy Talks About Boxing Evander Holyfield.

This week’s TV on DVD Season I am going through and doing wrap ups of is the four disc The Jetsons Season 1 set. Today I am doing the wrap up of the episodes and special features on the final disc.

“Private Property” - This episode begins with construction starting next to Spacely Sprockets and it ends up being Cogswell Cogs new building. Mr. Spacely has George look at a blueprint and figure out putting up a fence between the buildings. George does not want to do it because he finally has tickets to take Jane to My Space Lady, but Mr. Spacely tricks him into giving him the tickets. Elroy discovers Cogswell’s building is six inches over Mr. Spacely’s property line. Mr Spaceley then makes Cogswell move his building and George Vice President. Cogswell then discovers the plans were upside down and actually Spaceley’s building is over Cogswells line. Thus Cogswell then asks Spacely to move his building instead and George is fired. Cogswell then convinces Spacely to buy the building. Then George finds out the building is six inches too tall and it will have to be destroyed. George then gets Spacely to sign a letter saying he will never fire George again. Spacely is mad, though, because he had bought the building before he learned about this.

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This week’s TV on DVD Season I am going through and doing wrap ups of is the four disc The Jetsons Season 1 set. I will be posting about one disc each day until this Thursday. Today I am wrapping up the episodes on Disc 3.

“Millionaire Astro” - This episode begins with Astro coming to George’s work because he missed George. A guy comes to take Astro because supposedly he belongs to a millionaire. The whole family tries to keep him from taking Astro. Even George gets involved because he does not want the rest of the family to be sad for losing Astro. They end up going to court to try and keep Astro. The Jury Vac decides Astro goes to the millionaire, but the Jetsons are awarded reasonable visiting hours. In his new home Astro gets a lot of luxury, but he missed the Jetsons. The millionaire finally realizes that Astro belongs with the Jetsons and legally gives Astro to them.

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Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the animated/kids category.

Clifford’s Puppy Days: Practice Makes Perfect - This release contains the following episodes: “Pratice Makes Perfect,” “Fair is Fair,” “Fine Feathered Friend,” “Sing a Song of Norville,” and “Best Nest.”

My Fair Madeline - This is a rerelease of the feature film shown on Nickelodeon. In this film Madeline goes to London to attend finishing school in London after she tries to stop two strangers from stealing the Mona Lisa. She then ends up stopping them in a plot in London to steal Britain’s crown jewels. The special features include Did You Know Fun Facts & Trivia with Inspector Gadget, Pencil Test, and Bloopers Hosted by Inspector Gadget.

Noddy Volume 6: Good Neighbor Noddy - This contains over 60 minutes of the Noddy cartoon show for kids. It includes 5 “Say it With Noddy” segments that teach kids how to say a certain word in several languages.

Pinky Dinky Doo: Where Are My Shoes - This release contains 4 episodes of the show.

Strawberry Shortcake: Happily Ever After - This release contains two new Strawberry Shortcake adventures. The stories are both based on fairy tales. They are “Sleeping Beauty” and “A Princess Named Rap.” The special features include some Valentine’s greeting cards, downloadable color games, and a memory game. I also expect it will have the Meet the Characters scrapbook thing that most of the other releases have.

Tom and Jerry Tales Volume 6 - This release contains 15 episodes from the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! A Little Help from My Friends - This collection has a total of 8 episodes of the show. I think that by episode it means half episode, as each episode on television is actually made up of two parts. I think for the DVD release they are calling each half an episode, thus why the run time is only 93 minutes.

This week’s TV on DVD Season I am going through and doing wrap ups of is the four disc The Jetsons Season 1 set. I will be posting about one disc each day until this Thursday. Today I am wrapping up the episodes on Disc 2.

“Rosey’s Boyfriend” - This episode begins with Judy in a love fog because she is in love with Booster, which almost leads to being hit by a car as she floats out of the pedestrian lane. She keeps thinking everyone looks like Booster. Henry makes a robot called Mac to help him with his work. At first Mac is a little uncoordinated and is wrecking things. Mac does slowly get better at being helpful. When Mac goes to the Jetsons’ apartment to find the vaccuum cleaner Rosie and Mac fall in love with each other. Henry ends up having to deactivate Mac because he causes too many mistakes and upsets many of the tenants. Rosey starts to mop around when she learns Mac was deactivated. Elroy finds Mac and decides to turn him back on. Rosey becomes her normal self again by being able to talk to Mac on the videophone for five minutes every morning.

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Here is this week’s edition for TV on DVD Releases in the comedy category.

Becker: The Second Season - This release contains the second season of Becker. I do not know if it is just me, but this releases cover art makes Becker look quite odd and not how I remember him looking. The Season 1 art looks right, but perhaps he really looks way different in Season 2. I think it might just be the cover art, though.

Bewitched The Complete Seventh Season - This is the second to last season of Bewitched, which interestingly ended early because the actress left and not because the network canceled it. This season is said to have the best Christmas special of the series, as it was written by tenth graders and dealt with racism.

Dave’s World: The Second Season - This release is of the series second season. It appears unclear whether closing scenes will be edited out like they were on some of the episodes in the first season.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XIV - This volume contains the following four episodes: “Mad Monster,” “Manhunt in Space,” “Soultaker,” and “Final Justice.” The special features include a new interview with Joe Estevez, a new interview with Final Justice star Greydon Clark, the original Mad Monster trailer, and four limited edition mini-posters.

Night Court The Complete Second Season - After four years the second season of Night Court is finally being released on DVD. Amazon also has a first and second season set, but it is currently more expensive than buying the seasons separately.

The Partridge Family The Complete Fourth Season - This is a three disc set containing the 22 episodes from the fourth season and final season of The Partridge Family.

This week’s TV on DVD Season I am going through and doing wrap ups of is the four disc The Jetsons Season 1 set. I will be posting about one disc each day until this Thursday.

“Rosey the Robot” - This episode begins with Jane wearily watching a wake up exercise show with a push button exercise. Judy interrupts asking if she can go swimming in Acapulco after school and not Hawaii as her mom (Jane) thought. As Judy leaves she shows her instant stretch model swimsuit, which expands when it touches water. Now would not that be great for those scanty things some people wear these days. Jane makes Elroy breakfast using a machine and then ejects her husband, George, from bed. The food making machine is acting up and not giving the right things or preparing them wrong. Jane tries to convince George they need a new food making machine, but George says they cannot afford it although she convinces him to try to get a raise from his boss, Mr. Spacely. Jane ends up asking her mother for advice and she tells her to try a robot maid with the free day trial from U Rent A Robot Maid. When George goes in to ask for a raise he ends up instead having Mr. Spacely inviting himself to dinner at the Jetsons’. She ends up with the robot maid named Rosey, who helps her clean, helps Elroy play football, and helps Judy study her tapes for school. Mr. Spacely ends up not wanting to give George a raise and even fire him because he finds out he has a maid, but after he tastes Rosey’s pineapple upside down cake he gives George a raise. George then has to find Rosey who left because they could not afford her and bring her back to be their maid.

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