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Tina Fey As Sarah Palin: One of the All-Time Greats In the "SNL" Political Pantheon
She's only been strutting her stuff on the national stage for a month now, yet she gets more confident, more riveting, and more anticipated with each appearance. She's amazing to watch, and more talked about, right now, than anyone else with whom she's staring the stage. I'm talking, of course, about Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- as played by Tina Fey... (more)
Here, for your holiday shopping ease, is a collection of new and classic TV shows on DVD. All of them guaranteed to please, so long as you match the right gift to the right person. That's your job. Presenting high-quality options, that's mine.
Prices shown below are suggested retail. Usually, they can be found at a substantial discount, at such websites as Amazon. And if you buy from Amazon after clicking directly from this list, I get a small percentage of each DVD sale.
Costs you nothing more. Helps me stay alive.
And if you like TV WORTH WATCHING, it's a way to send two, two, two gifts in one. The people for whom you're shopping will appreciate what you purchase here... and so will I.
-- David Bianculli
The Best of The Colbert Report Comedy Central/ Paramount, 1 disc, $19.99 Perfect gift for college students, smart high-schoolers, and anyone who thinks young - and somewhat skeptically. For full review, and to purchase, CLICK HERE. |
Chappelle's Show: The Series Collection Comedy Central/ Paramount, 6 discs, $49.99 Another one for twentysomethings, especially: Chappelle's comedy is razor-sharp, cuts deep, and is unparalleled when it comes to joking about race. It takes no survivors. This new set includes some new extras, and packages both seasons of Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show with its Lost Episodes follow-up - all uncensored on DVD. |
Christmas Time in South Park Comedy Central/ Paramount, 1 disc, $19.99 This brand-new South Park release is definitely not for kids. It collects seven themed Christmas episodes, the first of which, from the show's inaugural 1987 season, introduced "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" - and the South Park guys literally were just getting started. Other episodes include 1998's "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!" and, most recently, 2004's "Woodland Critter Christmas." And yes, it's recommended - for the right recipient. |
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Fifth Season HBO Video, 2 discs, $39.98 The just-completed sixth season won't be released until January, so this is the latest Larry David set you can give for the holidays. For Curb fans, it's a great one, including some delightful documentaries and audition tapes as extras, and, of course, 10 episodes so funny, fans will smile just by reading their titles: "Lewis Needs a Kidney." "The Larry David Sandwich." And, especially, "The Ski Lift." |
The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series Image Entertainment, 25 discs, $249.99 Here's a good example of a discounted item, available at Amazon for $70 less. This set is two years old, but it's still one of the best, in terms of program quality and the caliber of extras. It's a great gift for a parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent who was enjoying TV in the 1960s. Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke and series creator Carl Reiner made for a very potent, and very delightful, combination. |
Firefly - The Complete Series Fox Home Entertainment, 4 discs, $49.98 If you know someone who's a big Joss Whedon fan, it's likely they already possess copies of his breakthrough fantasy series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. (If not start there.) It's less likely they own this 2002 Fox sci-fi series, which Whedon later reprised in the feature film Serenity, using the same cast. But the captivating story started here, and the set includes episodes not televised before Fox cancelled the series. Fantasy fans will love it, especially for its intelligence. |
Flight of the Conchords HBO Home Video, 2 discs, $29.98 Flight of the Conchords is the name of a musical duo, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, from New Zealand, who are the best musical parody team since The Smothers Brothers. This comedy series transplants them to New York City, and imagines them trying to make it as struggling musicians - strangers in a very strange land. The more you see and hear, the more addictive they become. A home run for twentysomethings. |
Freaks and Geeks - The Complete Series Shout! Factory, 6 discs, $69.98 Anyone who loved Seth Rogen in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up will be just as delighted by this one-season NBC wonder, a high-school comedy-drama created by Paul Feig, with Apatow as a writer-producer and Rogen as one of the high schoolers. Shout! Factory did a great job with this 2004 video release - and giving it as a gift is a way to find it even more grateful fans. |
Heeere's Johnny: The Definitive DVD Collection from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson R2 Entertainment, 12 discs, $99.99 This big-box set takes the six discs available previously, including the hilarious highlights package The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection, and packages them with six discs previously available only to Carson Club members. The highlight here is the nearly complete 1969 Tonight Show in which Bob Hope, Dean Martin and George Gobel all sit on the same panel - and Martin keeps flicking cigarette ashes in an unsuspecting Gobel's drink. Carson fans will love it, and the rest of the set, too. |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC Video, 2 discs, $34.98 Eons before the 2005 movie version, but after the original BBC Radio version, this 1981 miniseries presented a very low-budget, high-concept version of Douglas Adams' fabulously inventive space oddity. It's all here, from the talking galactic book guide to the deadly Vogon poetry. This set is five years old now, but a real bargain - and, for Adams-come-latelies, a real eye-opener. |
Hopalong Cassidy: Complete Collection Infinity Entertainment Group, 12 discs, $79.98 The older your gift recipient, the more he or she will swoon over this comprehensive new collection. Not only is every episode of the 1952-54 Western series included here, but so are 10 of the films that preceded it, and a Starz Western documentary that puts it all in perspective. To an older Baby Boomer, this should provide many Hoppy returns. |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Collection Time Life, 41 discs, $249.95 I wrote the liner notes for the third season of this set, but that doesn't mean I'm biased - other than to say that seeing these shows again, after so many years, is an absolute blast. Open Channel D! Open Channel D! As much as any scripted show of its time, this series evokes the 1960s in all its goofy glory. Robert Vaughn, David McCallum star, and this collection is beautifully boxed - in its own U.N.C.L.E. attaché case. |
The Mayor of Casterbridge Acorn Media, 3 discs, $59.95 Let's say you're shopping for an Anglophile, and a Dennis Potter fan, and someone who already owns The Singing Detective. Okay, that may be a long shot, but this is a full-service TV WORTH WATCHING website. So what's your next gift? How about something more obscure, not at all musical, but still remarkable: Potter's 1978 miniseries adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy novel, starring Alan Bates as the powerful man with a powerful secret. Bates, and Potter's adaptation, are equally bold. |
My So-Called Life: The Complete Series Shout! Factory, 6 discs, $69.99 This new release of the 1994 series, a pivotal TV memory for young people now in their mid-twenties, is worth praising for its new material, with documentaries and audio commentary all adding extra value. The real reason to buy this and give it to someone, though, is because Claire Danes, as a conflicted teenager, was positively perfect. For full review, and to purchase, CLICK HERE. |
Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 4 discs, $49.95 HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, starring Garry Shandling as a fictional, brooding late-night TV host, was one of the shows that made HBO's reputation. Co-stars Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor are fabulous, the roster of famous faces playing themselves is endless, and just as many famous faces play fictional characters in Larry's universe. This set includes hours of newly filmed material in which Shandling revisits such Sanders players as Jerry Seinfeld and Sharon Stone - hours that are like a new TV show in themselves. |
The Office - The Collection BBC Video, 5 discs, $59.92 Here's a gift for almost anyone who loves pitch-perfect comedy. Yes, the Americanized NBC version has developed its own voice and reputation, and has turned into a funny show in its own right - but this British original, starring Ricky Gervais, is undiluted brilliance from start to finish. Especially the finish, because its telemovie finale, wrapping up the entire show, affords one of the best endings of any TV series in history. This set has it all: both seasons, plus the finale. |
Planet Earth / The Blue Planet: Special Collector's Edition BBC Video, 10 discs, $119.98 What could be better than giving someone the superb Planet Earth nature documentary series as a holiday gift? How about giving them the same production crew's preceding masterwork, The Blue Planet, as part of the same gift pack? Another great reason to explore this Planet: It presents the original narration by Sir David Attenborough, not the Sigourney Weaver narration re-recorded, inexplicably, for the Discovery Channel telecast in the United States. |
The Point BMG Video, 1 disc, $14.98 Trust me, please: If you're looking for a gift for a young child, or anyone with any vestiges of childhood left in them, this DVD release of the 1971 animated TV special, with music and story by Harry Nilsson, is perfect. This is where "Me and My Arrow" came from, and lots of other songs, images and punch lines I've never forgotten - and never wanted to. A children's classic that's a joy to watch with them. Or without them. |
The Prisoner: Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition) A&E Home Video, 10 discs, $99.95 This 1968 Patrick McGoohan series is a great gift for two very different kinds of recipients. It's perfect for anyone old enough to have seen this baffling existential masterwork the first time around, with McGoohan as the enigmatic political prisoner Number 6. Yet it's also perfect for anyone who thinks Twin Peaks was the first word in surrealistic TV, or for those who love television that challenges them, but never heard of The Prisoner. This show is still ahead of its time. |
Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - The Complete First Season Classic Media, 4 discs, $21.95 And now for something you'll really like. Three seasons of these incomparable Jay Ward cartoon series are on DVD by this point, starting with 1959's Rocky and His Friends and continuing with 1961's The Bullwinkle Show. You should know if the animated antics of Rocket J. Squirrel and his buddies are suitable for the gift recipient you have in mind. If in doubt, ask yourself this? Do they like puns? If so, buy this immediately. |
Route 66: Season One, Volume One Infinity Entertainment Group, four discs, $29.98 Another Baby Boomer treat, this newly released set presents the first 15 episodes from the initial 1960-61 season of Route 66, starring Martin Milner and George Maharis as friends going on an extended road trip just after John F. Kennedy was elected. Shot entirely on location, the series covers everything from shipboard romances to small-town lynchings, and features such guest stars as Robert Redford and Julie Newmar. Like the series concept itself, this re-release is quite a trip. |
Seinfeld - The Complete Series Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 32 discs, $283.95 One of the best comedies ever made, presented in a solid, comprehensive, classy mega-package. For full review, and to purchase, CLICK HERE. |
The Singing Detective BBC Video, three discs, $39.98 You didn't think I'd forget to suggest my favorite TV miniseries of all time, did you? This British drama with music isn't everyone's cup of Earl Gray - but for Dennis Potter fans, or adventurous and thoughtful TV viewers, this is the ultimate. For full review, and to purchase, CLICK HERE. |
Spike Jones: The Legend Infinity Entertainment Group, 4 discs, $49.98 Because of the high costs of securing DVD rights for performers in variety shows, complete variety-show releases are very rare. That's why this exhausting, if not exhaustive, collection of Spike Jones' musical shenanigans is so delightful. Astoundingly clear copies of four shows guest hosted by Jones during the early '50s - two each of Colgate Comedy Hour and All Star Revue - are here, along with a DVD of extra material, and an audio CD of previously unreleased radio pilots. TV historians, rejoice! |
Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition CBS/Paramount, 10 discs, $108.99 The pilot, season one, season two - all of this David Lynch-Mark Frost mystery series boasts moments that rank among the most original and unforgettable ever done on teevision. For full review, and to purchase, CLICK HERE. |
Undeclared - The Complete Series Shout! Factory, 4 discs, $49.98 Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow of Knocked Up worked here, too, before that successful comedy film and after they both toiled on the NBC cult comedy Freaks and Geeks (another holiday pick). What Freaks did for high school, Undeclared did for college - and did so just as inventively. Loudon Wainwright III, as a loose-cannon dad, is an especially welcome addition. Another sure winner of a gift for twentysomethings, even if they've never heard of it. |
The War - A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS Video, 6 discs, $129.99 If you saw this 2007 WWII documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, you know it's a masterpiece worth owning. If you didn't see it, buy it as a gift, because it's the best work of Burns' long and impressive career. Then borrow it and watch it yourself. Just remember to return it. This is one of those series that's even better on DVD, because you can navigate through it with ease, and watch at your own pace. |
The West Wing - The Complete Series Collection Warner Home Video, 45 discs, $299.98 This opulently packaged complete West Wing set was released last year in time for the holidays. That's good news for shoppers this year, because it's still available, but at a hefty markdown. And since the first few seasons of The West Wing are as good as a dramatic series can get - or has gotten to this point, anyway - it's a nice cornerstone to a high-quality, high-end DVD collection. |
