"The Bride Possessed" from One Step Beyond
Moss and Roy hatching a plan A-Team-style in The IT Crowd
New Release of the Week
The IT Crowd Season 3 (DVD only)
Audio Commentary with Graham Linehan, An Interview with Graham, Set Tour, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Original Title Sequence Animatic
My favorite sitcom on television does not air on an American station that I get on my cable package (IFC). The most recently-completed season contains my new favorite episode, wherein Jen (the IT manager who knows nothing about com-puters) is named employee of the month and the B plot features boss man Douglas romancing a woman with..."a past". A fourth season is being written as we speak, and I can't wait.
Catalog Release of the Week
One Step Beyond Season 1 (DVD only)
Extended Pilot Episode (The Bride Possessed), Next Episode Promos, Alcoa Sponsor Version Opening, 1990s Rerun Opening, Archival Audio Interview with Dan Mankiewicz
There are super-cheap, super-shite public domain versions of this show on DVD that are low-quality, incomplete, and out of order. CBS has properly remastered and restored this paranormal TV fiction classic five decades after it originally aired. Just ten months before The Twilight Zone hit, host & director John Newland's show began its first year on the air. Different than Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond dealt specifically with paranormal cases substantiated to have actually happened. Like Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, and the Alfred Hitchcock Hour/Presents, One Step Beyond is still thrilling to watch thanks to a solid creative team in front of and behind the camera.
Catalog
Bonanza Season 1 Vol. 1 & 2 (DVD only)
Volume 1: Archival Interviews w/ Creator-Producer David Dortort, Galleries of Extensive Episodic and Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Original Network logo/bumpers/RCA promo on A Rose For Lotta, 1953 Fireside Theater episodic Man of the Comstock, Original Promos on selected episodes, Early Credits Concept Drawings
Volume 2: Archival Interviews w/ Creator-Producer David Dortort, Galleries of Extensive Episodic and Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Original Network logo/bumpers/RCA promo on A Rose For Lotta, Original Promos on selected episodes
Similar to One Step Beyond, CBS has properly remastered these episodes for official release on DVD and included some better-than-you'd-expect extras. I've only ever watched Bonanza out of order in reruns. At this point, anything Western is actually a bit of a rarity, and I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but: I can't wait to dig into Bonanza from the beginning.
X-Men Volumes 3 & 4 (DVD only)
These two volumes roughly comprise the third and fourth seasons of the highly-regarded X-Men animated series from the 90's. The reason I say "roughly" is that episodes are out of order (based on airdate) and enough are missing so that a Volume 5 release won't seem lacking with only the ten episodes produced for the afterthought fifth season. The fact there are no extras on these sets doesn't bother me in the least, but it would have been nice to see a "how it was all made" doc or set of featurettes. Those minor quibbles are small in the face of the quality presented here, which is rather impressive compared to the VHS copies that included two episodes each (!).
The X-Men cartoon handled classic storylines and characters loads better than Fox has in any of their four live action attempts. Fox only had a hand in the show's success by airing the episodes in their Saturday morning kids' block, since Saban Entertainment teamed with Marvel to produce X-Men.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment handled the DVD release of these two volumes and their predecessors, which reminded me of the fact that pending tons of hurdles get cleared, Disney will have an active hand in actually producing X-Men and other Marvel properties in animated form. Just the possibility of that thrills me.
The Transformers Season 2 Volume 1 (DVD only)
This set includes the first 28 second season episodes from the original Transformers animated series. If you're a fan but aren't interested in the gigantic complete series set coming to more than direct mail order soon, this is a good set to pick up. It includes the "Dinobot Island" episode among other notable ones. These episodes are from what many fans consider the "sweet spot" in the series, before robot (toy) proliferation made the show more of an advertisement than a narrative.
Reissue/Repackage
Fame Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD only)
Fame: Then and Now featurette (Season 2)
The delightful thing about this release is that many fans of the show will want the DVDs no matter what and have their trip to see the do-over/remake subsidized and guilt-free. The attached Movie Cash voucher lasts until the end of October. The first season was previously released separately and discontinued.
New Release
Grey's Anatomy Season 5 (DVD only)
Unaired Scenes, Outtakes, 100th Episode: Tales from the O.R., Extended Episode ("Stairway to Heaven"), featurette Heaven Sent (Jeffrey Dean Morgan talks about popularity of his character)
I've never really had the time to get fully invested in Grey's Anatomy, and it's one of those very type of shows: the kind you have to invest a great deal into. This season saw the addition of the wonderful Sara Ramirez, which makes me wish I were into it. There's a seasons 1-4 recap that seems to pretty capably get me up to speed, but the last thing I need is one more show to keep up with.
Private Practice Season 2 (DVD only)
Deleted Scenes and Bloopers, Extended Episodes ("Crime and Punishment", "Nothing to Fear"), Life Through the Lens: The Pictures of Chris Lowell, Patient Confidentiality: Examining Season 2
As tough as it is for me to fathom getting in to yet another show, it's more difficult to conceive getting into a spin-off of yet another show. A cast including Audra MacDonald, Taye Diggs, and Amy Brenneman makes it tempting. Anyone remember when lead actress Kate Walsh had but a two word part in Anchorman ("Mr. Burgundy!"...or was that in Wake Up, Ron Burgundy or the trailer?)?
CSI: Miami Season 7 (DVD only)
Audio Commentaries: Episodes 6 & 8
Featurettes: Miami Classified, The Miami Sound Machine, The New AV LAB, CSI Miami - Heating Up Season 7
David Caruso's still stringing things along in the Florida-based CSI spinoff nearly a decade later. I find myself watching about half an episode before deciding I should just get ready for bed. I invariably come back about 15 minutes later.
Disc Roundup (TV) is generally posted a few days after the corresponding week's Disc Roundup and covers the week's TV releases on DVD & Blu-ray. Unless otherwise noted, screener copies of titles reviewed were provided by the respective studio.
If you think I've missed something, feel free to send me an email.