Thursday Thirteen # 15: TV Shows That I Own On DVD

Thirteen TV Shows That I Own On DVD
I love the idea of TV shows on DVD. The format gives life to many series that are rarely rerun. I also love that you get the series uncut, commercial free, and without annoying split screen or sped up credits. Sorry, but if I am watching "The Golden Girls" on Lifetime, I don't need to be reminded about the woman in peril/all men are scum movie that they'll will be showing later on in the day. If the set has special features, that makes it all the better. Below are some of the series that are in my collection.

1. Degrassi Junior High: Season 2: The original Degrassi is arguably the best school-based TV series ever. I first discovered this show back on PBS in the 1980s. I liked that they used kids who were actually school-aged and didn’t look like they were aspiring models. Plus, the acting and the storylines were realistic as well.

2. Eerie, Indiana - The Complete Series: I used to watch this series when it orig. aired Sunday nights on NBC in the early 90s. The best way for me to describe it is what would happen if you crossed The Wonder Years with The Twilight Zone.

3. Family - The Complete First and Second Seasons: I was too young to catch this series during its orig. 1976-80 run. However, I watched it religiously when it was briefly rerun while I was in high school. Although the set doesn’t have any special features, it is still worthwhile. Some of the guest stars in the first and second seasons include: James Woods, Tommy Lee Jones, and Genie Francis.

4. Freaks and Geeks- The Complete Series: Set in suburban Detroit in 1980, "Freaks and Geeks" is one of those series that belongs in the "brilliant, but cancelled" category. Although I did catch it a couple of times when it aired on NBC, I didn’t really get into it until I checked out the complete DVD set from a local library. Some of the special features include: multiple commentaries by several cast members, audition footage, and deleted scenes.

5. Good Morning World: This sitcom ran for 26 episodes during the 1967-1968 season. It starred Ronnie Schell (Duke Slater from Gomer Pyle) and Joby Baker as the hosts of a morning radio show. One of the supporting players on the show was a pre-Laugh In Goldie Hawn. The set also includes a new interview by Ronnie Schell.

6. The Greatest American Hero- Season One: I used to watch this superhero spoof all the time on ABC back in the early 80s. No matter how many times it happened, I never got tired of watching Ralph (played by William Katt) crash into wall, bushes, etc. because he didn’t know how to use his superhero suit properly (he misplaced the manual when the aliens delivered it to him... don’t ask). The DVD set also includes new interviews and the unsold pilot for a spinoff called “The Greatest American Heroine”.

7. In Living Color: Season 1: It’s fun to go back and watch such skits as the “Homeboy Shopping Network”, “Lean On Me Beautiful”, and the classic Star Trek spoof “The Wrath of Farrakhan”. Although the set includes a featurette on The Fly Girls, Jennifer Lopez is nowhere to be found (she didn’t become a member until the 2nd season).

8. The Monkees: Season 1: Along with the antics of Mike, Micky, Davy, and Peter, this set has some really cool features, including: some of their commercials that they did for Kelloggs’ and Yardley Black Label after shave, audition call sheets, and the original pilot (which features songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart handling the vocals instead of The Monkees). Another cool feature is that if you don't want to watch the complete episodes, you have the option of viewing just the song "romps".

9. Picket Fences- Season 1: I had been waiting for this to hit DVD for quite some time. Although I didn’t watch it this when it first aired, I gave it a try when TNN started showing reruns a few years ago. This is one of those rare series that can be laugh out loud funny, thought provoking, and touching all in one episode. The lone special feature on the set is a documentary short that includes current interviews by cast members.

10. Police Squad! The Complete Series: Although only 6 episodes were produced, this to me is still one of the funniest shows to ever air on TV. If you are a fan of “Airplane” style humor, you will love this show. If not, don’t even bother. Some of the features on the set include a new interview with Leslie Nielsen, a gag reel, and selected commentary.

11. Scrubs- The Complete First Season: Another one of my all-time favorite shows. It can make you laugh and make you cry all in the span of 22 minutes. I also love the unexpected pop culture references that the show throws at you: the 1st season has people like Jimmie Walker, Carrot Top, and Louie Anderson appearing as themselves in some of J.D.’s fantasy sequences. Also guest-starring in episodes from the 1st season are John Ritter (as J.D.’s dad), Markie Post (as Elliot’s mother), and cast members from “St. Elsewhere”.

12. What's Happening- The Complete First Season: I used to watch this one all the time with my family back in the late 70s. Although the DVD set contains no special features, it’s still cool to catch such episodes as “The Burger Queen” (where Dee is chosen to star in a fast food commercial), “My Three Tons” (which features the dance troupe The Lockers), and “The Hospital Stay” (where Dee befriends an embittered ex-Negro League baseball player).

13. Wonderfalls- The Complete Series: In case you aren’t familiar with the show (which briefly aired on FOX in 2004), it’s about a Brown University grad who gets a job working at a tourist shop on Niagara Falls. In each episode, she hears the voices of inanimate objects (a wax lion, a brass monkey, a wind-up penguin toy, etc.) --which instruct her to help out total strangers. Of course, no one else can hear them. It’s sort of like an acid-drenched version of “Touched by An Angel”. I read somewhere that the show was originally titled “Touched by A Crazy Person”. One of the co-creators of "Wonderfalls" also produced the Showtime series "Dead Like Me".

What TV series do you have in your DVD collection?

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