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FEATURED TV ON DVD REVIEWS:

SOME OF MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS ON DVD
People seem to like lists so here's one of my own, my favorite TV on DVD collections of the past year. As I look over this list, these are all television programs I was thrilled to discover for the first time on DVD, shows I hadn't experienced before. Oddly, I've never been a fan of TV dramas but they crowd my list of favorites this year, a testament to just how incredible they are.

I selected these sets not so much for the extras or bonus features but based solely on the content of the programs - after all, that's the main reason you buy TV shows on DVD.

10: ‘24’ - Season 7
Jack is back and better than ever - 24 season 7 is a heart-pounding thrill ride that had me on the edge of my seat more than once. Every year Jack finds himself more and more isolated, this go around there's no CTU and no Jack - he's been relocated in secret and given a new identity. When his cover is blown and his former colleagues are murdered he's forced to return to Washington and save the country two or three more times.

Read the entire review here...

 

9: Lost: The Complete Fifth Season
The penultimate season of Lost is out on DVD; one of my all time favorite shows is coming to an end and it's high time to start getting some answers about the questions and conundrums the series has so blithely pitched to us. Consistently one of the most intriguing dramas ever, Lost is the rare television series that can actually keep you on the edge of your seat with mind-blowing storylines and a locale that transports you to a verdant paradise. I suppose it's natural that some of the bloom would come off this desert rose as the writers start revealing what it all means. After all, they've thrown up so many trippy anomalies - polar bears on a tropical island, a killer smog monster, an island that travels through time - that whatever explanations are offered up are bound to be a disappointment.

Read the entire review here...

 

8: 30 Rock - Season Three
One of network television's funniest and game changing comedies, 30 Rock, begins to lose a little of it's luster and fall into a predictable pattern with season 3. Year three delivers plenty of laughs, that's for sure, but it's hit and miss. An excellent episode of 30 Rock is a delicate mix, too much of any character seems to upset the formula. That's unfortunate because standard operating procedure for maturing sitcoms is to develop storylines around the supporting characters.

Read the entire review here...

 

7: The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season
Kyra Sedgwick kills in the role of her lifetime - her character, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, takes passive aggressive behavior and hubris to new levels. For the fourth season look for a very funny guest turn from Amy Sedaris. This DVD collection is a real winner, one of the best written TV dramas of 2009.

Read the entire review here...

 

Read the entire review here...

 

5: Rome: The Complete SeriesRome, undoubtedly one of the finest historical dramas the television medium has ever created, has been released in a gorgeous, fully appointed package, a handsome book style box with the 11 discs encased in pictorial cardboard page sleeves with a foldout booklet that helps you keep track of who's who. It's a release richly appointed with numerous film features that detail both the making of the production as well as giving the viewer some historical perspective. Every aspect of this production was tip top, maybe they fudged the history a little for dramatic reasons, but this was a fascinating storyline from start to finish, a deliriously devastating adventure of epic proportions. Intrigue drips from every frame, with art direction so rich you can almost smell the bathhouse sweat and misting magic potions that permeate the smokey atmosphere.

Read the entire review here...

 

4: Eastbound and Down -
The Complete First Season
After months of hearing how unbelievably funny Eastbound and Down is the DVD collection of the first season hits the stores and now I'm singing the praises of this riotous HBO redneck romp. Our protagonist here, former big league pitcher Kenny Powers, is a hopelessly self-absorbed Southern fried jerkoff who finds himself back in his North Carolina hometown teaching middle school gym class.

Read the entire review here...

 

3: Big Love: The Complete Third Season
Oh, do I love Big Love. This is the twistiest, trippiest, wittiest drama ever. I was talking about this show to a friend the other day and she turned her nose and said, "Is that the show about the polygamist Mormons?" You might not think such a seed would yield such a bumper crop of intrigue and devastation but you'd be wrong.