TVScreener.com will resume with weekly TV-on-DVD columns (every Tuesday) next week, and in the meantime, here’s a little catch-up of must-see February releases:
MUST-SEE-TV DVDS OF THE WEEK:
Nurse Jackie: Season One (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Details: Nurse Jackie (Edie Falco) leads a dangerous double life: she’s a caring, competent nurse, wife and mother on one hand, and she’s a pill-popping adulterer on the other. She managed to juggle all her secrets in the show’s dramatic, often darkly funny first season, but a season finale cliffhanger promises much, much more drama and upheaval ahead for Jackie.
Bonus Features: Cast commentaries, an “All About Edie” featurette, real-life nurse stories and a making-of featurette.
Jersey Shore Uncensored: Season One (MTV Networks)
Details: If you’ve already seen it, trust me, it doesn’t get any less fascinating upon repeat viewings; in fact, someone should, and probably will, teach a sociology class that will dissect the show and its characters, er, stars. And if you haven’t seen it yet? You really should; not because Snooki, The Situation or DJ Pauly D and their overly-coiffed hair and overly-tanned bods are going to be around past the 15-minute mark, but because the show’s pop culture impact is likely to live on, in infamy, for quite a while.
Bonus Features: The reunion special, the cast’s Guido makeover of Michael Cera, deleted scenes and style tips from Snooki (now you too can get the Guidette hairdo without a Bumpit!).
BEST OF THE REST:
Army Wives: The Complete Third Season (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Details: Joan’s promotion … Denise and Frank’s marriage woes … Claudia Joy’s issues with daughter Emmalin … the show’s third season was another great one, and the Lifetime drama continues to be a timely look at military families as their real-life counterparts continue to feel the impact of so many American men and women being deployed around the world. Army Wives‘ fourth season, by the way, kicks off on Lifetime on April 11.
Bonus Features: Deleted scenes, bloopers, Webisodes and a cast-led behind-the-scenes look at Charleston, South Carolina, the town where Army Wives is filmed.
Small Wonder: The Complete First Season (Shout! Factory)
Details: One of the true cheesy, guilty pleasure classics of the ’80s finally hits DVD with this set, which follows the adventures of the Lawson family as they try to pass off their “Voice Input Child Identicant,” i.e. a robot, as a ten-year-old child named V.I.C.I. Madcap hilarity, of course, ensues.
Bonus Features: Commentaries with the cast and series creator, original episode promos and a fan art gallery.
Head Case: The Complete Series (Anchor Bay)
Details: Alexandra Wentworth, a.k.a. Jerry’s “Schmoopie” on Seinfeld, a.k.a. Mrs. George Stephanopoulos, starred in this underrated Starz sitcom about a therapist who works with Hollywood celebs. The real joke, of course, was that the good Dr. Elizabeth Goode was as nutty as any of her patients.
TV Screener Tidbit: Among the many celebs who played themselves as patients of Dr. Goode: Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Hefner, Tori Spelling, Marc Cherry, Jason Priestley, Ralph Macchio, Jeff Probst, Macy Gray, Andy Dick, James Denton, Greg Grunberg, Sandra Bernhard, Sean Hayes, Tom Sizemore and Larry Miller.
FlashForward (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Details: Now that Lost is winding down to its May series finale, there may be room in your channel surfing sked for another complicated, slowly-evolving mystery series, and FlashForward is a good candidate. The box set includes the show’s first ten episodes (which aired earlier this season), as well as a sneak peek at things to come.
TV Screener Tidbit: The series is scheduled to return to ABC’s line-up on March 18 with a two-hour episode, while the two-hour season finale is scheduled for May 27.
Lincoln Heights: Season 1 (Shout! Factory)
Details: Primetime still has a long way to go in presenting more racially diverse characters, and sadly, this fine drama, about an African-American cop who moves his family back to his tough neighborhood in an effort to help change it for the better, has run its course on ABC Family. And if you missed it during its original four-season run, now’s a great time to catch the first – and best – season on DVD.
TV Screener Tidbit: New York Times reviewer Virginia Heffernan once described Lincoln Heights as aspiring to be a PG-rated version of The Wire.
Gary Unmarried (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Details: Sure, it’s basically a dude version of The New Adventures of Old Christine, but it’s elevated by the charms of Jay Mohr, who has deserved another shot at a sitcom since his clever, biting and all-too-short-lived 1999-2000 Hollywood spoof Action.
Bonus Features: Tours of the Gary set with Mohr and the cast, season one bloopers and Ed Begley Jr.‘s guide to making the Gary set eco-friendly.
AND THE REST …
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths on Blu-ray (Warner Bros.)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Sixth Season (Fox)
Lock N’ Load with R. Lee Ermey: The Complete Season One (A&E Home Video)
Barnaby Jones: The Complete First Season (Paramount)
Adam-12: Season 4 (Shout! Factory)
Cannon: Season Two, Vol. 2 (Paramount)
Night Court: The Complete Third Season (Warner Home Video)
Project Runway: Season Six (Weinstein Co.)
JAG: The Final Season (Paramount)
American Chopper: Honoring the Uniform (Discovery Channel)
Ghost Hunters: Season Five, Part One (Image Entertainment)
My Three Sons: Season Two, Vol. 1 (Paramount)
Mr. Ed: The Complete Second Season (Shout! Factory)
MythBusters: Urban Legends (Discovery Channel)
Charlie Sheen, Russell Brand and Louis C.K. are getting most of the attention, but I’m most excited that one of the best new shows of last TV season — Wilfred — returns for its second season on FX tonight (10PM ET). Season one of the series ended with a cliffhanger — had Ryan (Elijah Wood) […]
“Cannon?” “Barnaby Jones?” That is Awesome Cheese-See TV!
Thanks for the heads up!