Consider DVD gift ideas for TV fans on your list
DVD sales are down, but they're not out. Hollywood studios are issuing some TV-show sets in the Blu-ray format, and complete-series and special-edition DVD collections remain easy, but pricey, holiday gifts for TV fans.
Luckily for consumers' wallets, the retail prices listed here tend to be for show only. In reality, sticker prices are lower — sometimes as much as 40 percent lower.
If you're considering giving the gift of entertainment, allow our reviews of some of the year's new TV-on-DVD releases to be your guide.
- "Smallville: The Complete Series": The last words spoken on the next-to-last feature on the last disc of the 62 that comprise the new Ultimate Collector's set of "Smallville: The Complete Series" ($339.88, Warner Home Video) say it all: "A hundred years from now, kids will want to know what Superman is up to."
Smartly cast, wonderfully written, "Smallville" stood as a contemporary reinterpretation as well as empathetic calling card to every teen caught in the clutches of alienation. This gorgeously packaged set is an opportunity to revisit Clark Kent (Tom Welling) as he acquires the moral compass that will guide him ultimately to Metropolis and his destiny. But it is the five-plus hours of this masterwork that places it apart from other boxed sets.
- "Barney Miller: The Complete Series": Revisit New York's 12th precinct in its 1970s glory with "Barney Miller: The Complete Series" ($159.99, Shout! Factory), a meticulously curated box set that includes all eight seasons plus the first season of the spinoff series "Fish."
But it's the extras that make this an outstanding box set, including a featurette on the making of the series with cast interviews, including Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Steve Landesberg and Max Gail.
This box set also contains the show's unaired pilot, "The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller," and a 40-page episode guide.
- "ESPN Films Collection": After celebrating its 30th anniversary by producing 30 sports documentaries, ESPN and the producers of "30 for 30" started a film series that continued to explore some of the most dynamic sports stories of our time. These new documentaries are even more compelling and sophisticated than the original "30 for 30" series.
This new collection ($49.95, ESPN Films) contains five ESPN documentaries, highlighted by two outstanding films — "Renee," a film about transsexual tennis player Renee Richards, and "Catching Hell," the story of Steve Bartman, directed by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney. (Bartman was the Chicago Cubs fan who interfered with a possible fly-ball catch in game six of the 2003 playoff series and was blamed for the Cubs losing the NL pennant to the Florida Marlins.)
- "Band of Brothers/The Pacific Special Edition Gift Set": If you've already purchased HBO's "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" World War II miniseries separately, there's no need for this new set ($159.98 DVD and $199.99 Blu-ray, HBO Home Entertainment) that contains both programs. But for anyone who hasn't watched these excellent shows, it's an ideal collection.
"Band of Brothers" debuted in 2001 and chronicles Easy Company's march through Europe; "The Pacific" aired last year and follows events in the Pacific Theater through the eyes of members of the 1st Marine Division.
- "The Office Collection Special Edition": The original British version of "The Office," starring Ricky Gervais, has been out on DVD in the past, but the new "Office Collection Special Edition" ($39.98, BBC Home Video) includes what Gervais calls "extra bits" in his new introduction to the first episode. He calls these introductions, included on all first-season episodes, "a retrospective of A-listers talking about why they think 'The Office' is genius."
The box set contains both the first and second seasons and the special that wrapped up the show.
- "The L Word: The Complete Series": "The L Word: The Complete Series" DVD set ($129.98, Showtime Entertainment) offers hard-core fans great behind-the-scenes footage of the "women who long, love, lust/women who give" in Showtime's over-the-top but very entertaining Sapphic soap opera.
From the pilot to the series finale, "Last Word," the 25-disc set includes something for everyone.
In addition to all 70 episodes from seasons one through six (2004-09), each season has myriad bonus features on "L Word" wardrobe, fashion, photos, fan mail, music videos and video shorts. Other extras include cast and creative-staff interviews and cast biographies.
- "Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 1": Available only on Blu-ray ($79.98, Warner Home Video), this three-disc compilation features 50 "Looney Tunes" cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Tasmanian Devil and Pepe Le Pew.
Bonus features are plentiful, with featurettes about the making of cartoons such as "What's Opera, Doc?" and "One Froggy Evening." There's also the film "Chuck Amuck," about animator Chuck Jones, and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" pencil test.
If you don't have a Blu-ray player or are looking for something a little less pricey, try "The Essential Daffy Duck" DVD ($26.98, Warner Home Video), which contains more than 20 Daffy Duck cartoons and a career profile aptly titled "Daffy Duck: Ridicule Is the Burden of Genius."
- "Big Love: The Complete Collection": HBO's "Big Love" was a fantastic series for the first three of its five seasons, so if you haven't seen it and are interested in a smart, well-acted family drama then by all means snatch up "Big Love: The Complete Collection" ($199.99, HBO Home Entertainment).
But if you're a collector who already owns the first four seasons, there's nothing new here that you don't already have in those individual season box sets or in the new fifth-season release ($59.99), which also has "Inside the Episode" featurettes and "End of Days," about the history of the show. It contains cast and producer interviews I've seen before either on HBO or maybe at HBO.com.
Consider DVD gift ideas for TV fans on your list
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