Fans of The Carol Burnett Show will be thrilled to see 16 of the earliest episodes of her show, which have been out of circulation for decades, arrive on DVD this week.
The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes (Time Life/DVD, 1967-72, six discs, 16 episodes, bonus skits, featurettes, bloopers, an excerpt from the 1971 TV special Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center; 16-page booklet). Lost Episodes is as relative a label here as it was with those lost Honeymooners episodes some years back. They werent really lost, just sitting on a shelf for more than 40 years.
Chosen personally by Burnett, the episodes collected here are from her variety shows first five seasons. So, unless your memory is better than mine, even if you saw them when they initially aired, you wont remember them. To me, they were all new, and my wife and I laughed a lot as we watched Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and such guests as Lucille Ball, Burt Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Andy Griffith, Flip Wilson, Don Rickles and many more.
And if youre concerned that Tim Conway might be absent since he didnt become a regular on Burnetts show until Season 8, worry not. Conway guests on several episodes, including the first show he did with Burnett, Korman, Lawrence and the gang in the first season, and a bonus skit of Conway and Korman performing as dentist and patient in what would become their signature routine.
Midsomer Murders: Series 17 (Acorn/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, two discs, four episodes, featurettes). Neil Dudgeon and Gwilym Lee return as police detectives Barnaby and Nelson in this still-terrific mystery procedural set in a rural English countryside. These feature-length stories include the murders of two women by electrified roulette wheels, a church organist killed when a magic trick goes awry, a ritual killing during a popular folk-music festival, and a hit-and-run death tied to a winery. Claire Bloom guest stars in the latter episode.
Arthur & George (PBS/DVD, 2015, three episodes). At the turn of the 20th century, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his fictional detectives methods to unravel a mystery surrounding an Indian solicitor falsely accused of a crime. Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) plays Arthur Conan Doyle in this British miniseries adapted from a novel by Julian Barnes that was loosely based on a true incident.
Sisters: Seasons One & Two (Shout!/DVD, 1991-92, seven discs, 29 episodes, featurettes). This 90s prime-time soap opera, complete with cheating spouses, unwanted pregnancies, betrayed siblings, an alcoholic matriarch, etc., was distinguished by good writing that included a fair amount of humor, and by virtue of taking its point of view from female characters, led by the four sisters of the title, well played by Sela Ward, Swoosie Kurtz, Julianne Phillips and Patricia Kalember. In Season 2, Ashley Judd plays the daughter of Kalembers character.
The Bold Ones: The Protectors (Timeless/Universal/DVD, 1969-70, six episodes, two-hour pilot). Before he was the comic police detective on The Naked Gun, Leslie Nielsen was a serious actor, as borne out by his portrayal of a California deputy police chief in this solid but short-lived show that was part of the Bold Ones rotating series (with The New Doctors, The Lawyers and The Senator). Nielsen is a conservative advocate of law and order, butting heads with the liberal district attorney (Hari Rhodes).
CSI: Cyber The First Season (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2015, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, promos, bloopers). Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette stars in this CSI spinoff as an FBI agent in charge of a task force investigating cybercrimes across the country, including Internet-related killings. Co-stars include James Van Der Beek and Peter MacNicol. (Ted Danson, as his Las Vegas CSI character, joins the cast for Season 2, which begins Oct. 4 on CBS.)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The Final Season (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2014-15, five discs, 18 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes). Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue head the cast for this 15th and final season of the long-running police procedural set in Las Vegas. The main story is the season-long pursuit of a serial murderer known as the Gig Harbor Killer. Guests include Sharon Osbourne, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Eric Roberts and Barry Bostwick. (A TV movie that wraps up the series, with founding stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger returning, will be shown Sept. 27 on CBS.)
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigation Service The Best of Abby (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2004-13, three discs, 12 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes). These 12 shows from the top-rated military crime procedural focus on the beloved offbeat goth science nerd Abby, played with animation by Pauley Perrette. Fans voted for the episodes included here. (Season 13 of the show begins Sept. 22 on CBS.)
The Returned (A&E/Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, two discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). In a small town, a number of people who have been dead and buried for years suddenly begin to reappear, which is confusing and disruptive to those who knew them. Supernatural series adapted from a French television show. (The A&E cable show was canceled after one season.)
Happy Valley: Season One (BBC/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). In this British series, a tough police sergeant (Sarah Lancashire) whose daughter was assaulted and committed suicide discovers that the man she believes responsible has been released from prison and is hanging around town. Is it a coincidence when another young girl goes missing?
Cracked: The Darkness Within (BBC/DVD, 2013, two discs, seven episodes). This collection of episodes is mostly from the first season of this Canadian series about a traumatized detective (David Sutcliffe) in the newly formed Psych Crimes Unit, partnered with a psychiatrist who is also evaluating him.
DCI Banks: Season Three (BBC/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). Three two-part episodes of this British police procedural that stars Stephen Tompkinson in the title role, with Andrea Lowe and Caroline Catz in support.
Los Heroes Del Norte 3 (Cinedigm/DVD, 2012, three discs, 16 episodes, in Spanish). Top-rated Spanish-language sitcom follows a popular country-music band that is shipwrecked and winds up in North Cuba. Their goal is to get back home to Mexico.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, six episodes). Documentary miniseries looks at reclusive millionaire Durst, currently being held in a New Orleans prison mental-health unit. Among a variety of crimes, he is implicated in the disappearance of his wife in 1982, the shooting death of writer Susan Berman in 2000 and the 2001 death and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black.
Counting on Birds: Tales of Migration (PBS/DVD, 2009-15, two discs, five episodes). These special Windows to the Wild episodes, hosted by Willem Lange, cover various bird subjects, including the title show, Bird Tales, Saving Songbirds, Plight of the Grassland Birds and Journey of the Broad-Winged Hawk.
Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV show (PBS/DVD, 2014). TV fans will find much to enjoy (and some suspicions confirmed) with this look at people who oversee television programs and all the hoops they jump through to get them on the air. Interviewed are J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, Helen Hunt, Ray Romano, Don Cheadle and many more.
Van Morrison: Another Glorious Decade (MVD/DVD, 2015). Documentary look at the Irish musician, focusing on the years following his return to the music scene after a self-imposed hiatus in the mid-1970s, during which time he vowed to regain his independence as an artist and to explore spirituality in his work.
Misery Loves Comedy (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, deleted scenes). Documentary by comedian/actor Kevin Pollak interviews current and former stand-up comics about why they get up on a stage and ridicule themselves (and others). Funny, insightful commentary by a wide array of familiar faces, led by Jimmy Fallon, Jim Gaffigan, Tom Hanks, Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, Lisa Kudrow, Larry David and Jon Favreau, among many others. (Some offensive language.)
Bossip Comedy Series, Part 1 (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, deleted scenes). Comedians on and offstage are at the center of this mix of documentary, riffing with people on the street and stand-up comedy routines. Billy Sorrells, Coco Brown and many others are highlighted.
Seven Wonders of Brazil (PBS/DVD, 2014). Hourlong PBS documentary from British academic theologian Robert Beckford, whose previous documentaries include Who Wrote the Bible? and The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples. Here, Beckford explores Brazilian Christianity, traveling to the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, the Sao Paulo See Metropolitan Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Aparecida, etc.
Gameplay (PBS/DVD, 2014). Documentary chronicles the history of the gaming industry, from the earliest incarnations in the 1970s to the sophistication of todays computer-animated games, from arcades to consoles, from Pong to Grand Theft Auto. Those interviewed include talents behind Atari, Activision, Google, etc.
Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles (Disney/DVD, 2014, four episodes, alternate ending for Clash of the Skywalkers). This animated series is a prequel to the first films in the Lego series, focusing on Yoda as he trains Padawans at the Jedi Academy but is compelled to go into battle after a disturbance in the Force.
Peanuts: Emmy Honored Collection (Warner/DVD, 1975-90, two discs, 11 TV specials). Remastered for improved picture and sound quality, these 11 charming Peanuts cartoons have either won or been nominated for Emmys, and they include Youre a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, Snoopys Getting Married, Charlie Brown, Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown among others.
Barbie Rock n Royals (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, motion comic, music videos). Another straight-to-video movie in the animated franchise, this one with Barbie as Princess Courtney, a modern-day royal, switching places with a famous rock star.
Pups United (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG, featurettes, trailers). Live-action juvenile comedy with talking dogs foiling the plot of villains out to sabotage the Youth World Cup soccer finals. Rob Schneider provides one of the dog voices.
Digimon Fusion: Season 1, Volume 1 (Flatiron/Cinedigm/DVD, 2013, three discs, 15 episodes). The first 15 episodes of Season 1 of the Nicktoons cable anime series (the sixth series in the Digimon franchise) about a human boy in a digital realm helping digital monster friends save their world.
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Season 2 (Flatiron/Cinedigm, 2009-10, eight discs, 59 episodes). This second anime spinoff of Yu-Gi-Oh! is set in the futuristic New Domino City where class divisions are sharp and a lower-class hero seeks revenge on his uppercrust rival.
The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes (Time Life/DVD, 1967-72, six discs, 16 episodes, bonus skits, featurettes, bloopers, an excerpt from the 1971 TV special Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center; 16-page booklet). Lost Episodes is as relative a label here as it was with those lost Honeymooners episodes some years back. They werent really lost, just sitting on a shelf for more than 40 years.
Chosen personally by Burnett, the episodes collected here are from her variety shows first five seasons. So, unless your memory is better than mine, even if you saw them when they initially aired, you wont remember them. To me, they were all new, and my wife and I laughed a lot as we watched Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and such guests as Lucille Ball, Burt Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Andy Griffith, Flip Wilson, Don Rickles and many more.
And if youre concerned that Tim Conway might be absent since he didnt become a regular on Burnetts show until Season 8, worry not. Conway guests on several episodes, including the first show he did with Burnett, Korman, Lawrence and the gang in the first season, and a bonus skit of Conway and Korman performing as dentist and patient in what would become their signature routine.
Midsomer Murders: Series 17 (Acorn/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, two discs, four episodes, featurettes). Neil Dudgeon and Gwilym Lee return as police detectives Barnaby and Nelson in this still-terrific mystery procedural set in a rural English countryside. These feature-length stories include the murders of two women by electrified roulette wheels, a church organist killed when a magic trick goes awry, a ritual killing during a popular folk-music festival, and a hit-and-run death tied to a winery. Claire Bloom guest stars in the latter episode.
Arthur & George (PBS/DVD, 2015, three episodes). At the turn of the 20th century, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his fictional detectives methods to unravel a mystery surrounding an Indian solicitor falsely accused of a crime. Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) plays Arthur Conan Doyle in this British miniseries adapted from a novel by Julian Barnes that was loosely based on a true incident.
Sisters: Seasons One & Two (Shout!/DVD, 1991-92, seven discs, 29 episodes, featurettes). This 90s prime-time soap opera, complete with cheating spouses, unwanted pregnancies, betrayed siblings, an alcoholic matriarch, etc., was distinguished by good writing that included a fair amount of humor, and by virtue of taking its point of view from female characters, led by the four sisters of the title, well played by Sela Ward, Swoosie Kurtz, Julianne Phillips and Patricia Kalember. In Season 2, Ashley Judd plays the daughter of Kalembers character.
The Bold Ones: The Protectors (Timeless/Universal/DVD, 1969-70, six episodes, two-hour pilot). Before he was the comic police detective on The Naked Gun, Leslie Nielsen was a serious actor, as borne out by his portrayal of a California deputy police chief in this solid but short-lived show that was part of the Bold Ones rotating series (with The New Doctors, The Lawyers and The Senator). Nielsen is a conservative advocate of law and order, butting heads with the liberal district attorney (Hari Rhodes).
CSI: Cyber The First Season (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2015, four discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, promos, bloopers). Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette stars in this CSI spinoff as an FBI agent in charge of a task force investigating cybercrimes across the country, including Internet-related killings. Co-stars include James Van Der Beek and Peter MacNicol. (Ted Danson, as his Las Vegas CSI character, joins the cast for Season 2, which begins Oct. 4 on CBS.)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The Final Season (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2014-15, five discs, 18 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes). Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue head the cast for this 15th and final season of the long-running police procedural set in Las Vegas. The main story is the season-long pursuit of a serial murderer known as the Gig Harbor Killer. Guests include Sharon Osbourne, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Eric Roberts and Barry Bostwick. (A TV movie that wraps up the series, with founding stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger returning, will be shown Sept. 27 on CBS.)
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigation Service The Best of Abby (CBS/Paramount/DVD, 2004-13, three discs, 12 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes). These 12 shows from the top-rated military crime procedural focus on the beloved offbeat goth science nerd Abby, played with animation by Pauley Perrette. Fans voted for the episodes included here. (Season 13 of the show begins Sept. 22 on CBS.)
The Returned (A&E/Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, two discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). In a small town, a number of people who have been dead and buried for years suddenly begin to reappear, which is confusing and disruptive to those who knew them. Supernatural series adapted from a French television show. (The A&E cable show was canceled after one season.)
Happy Valley: Season One (BBC/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). In this British series, a tough police sergeant (Sarah Lancashire) whose daughter was assaulted and committed suicide discovers that the man she believes responsible has been released from prison and is hanging around town. Is it a coincidence when another young girl goes missing?
Cracked: The Darkness Within (BBC/DVD, 2013, two discs, seven episodes). This collection of episodes is mostly from the first season of this Canadian series about a traumatized detective (David Sutcliffe) in the newly formed Psych Crimes Unit, partnered with a psychiatrist who is also evaluating him.
DCI Banks: Season Three (BBC/DVD, 2014, two discs, six episodes). Three two-part episodes of this British police procedural that stars Stephen Tompkinson in the title role, with Andrea Lowe and Caroline Catz in support.
Los Heroes Del Norte 3 (Cinedigm/DVD, 2012, three discs, 16 episodes, in Spanish). Top-rated Spanish-language sitcom follows a popular country-music band that is shipwrecked and winds up in North Cuba. Their goal is to get back home to Mexico.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, six episodes). Documentary miniseries looks at reclusive millionaire Durst, currently being held in a New Orleans prison mental-health unit. Among a variety of crimes, he is implicated in the disappearance of his wife in 1982, the shooting death of writer Susan Berman in 2000 and the 2001 death and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black.
Counting on Birds: Tales of Migration (PBS/DVD, 2009-15, two discs, five episodes). These special Windows to the Wild episodes, hosted by Willem Lange, cover various bird subjects, including the title show, Bird Tales, Saving Songbirds, Plight of the Grassland Birds and Journey of the Broad-Winged Hawk.
Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV show (PBS/DVD, 2014). TV fans will find much to enjoy (and some suspicions confirmed) with this look at people who oversee television programs and all the hoops they jump through to get them on the air. Interviewed are J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, Helen Hunt, Ray Romano, Don Cheadle and many more.
Van Morrison: Another Glorious Decade (MVD/DVD, 2015). Documentary look at the Irish musician, focusing on the years following his return to the music scene after a self-imposed hiatus in the mid-1970s, during which time he vowed to regain his independence as an artist and to explore spirituality in his work.
Misery Loves Comedy (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, deleted scenes). Documentary by comedian/actor Kevin Pollak interviews current and former stand-up comics about why they get up on a stage and ridicule themselves (and others). Funny, insightful commentary by a wide array of familiar faces, led by Jimmy Fallon, Jim Gaffigan, Tom Hanks, Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, Lisa Kudrow, Larry David and Jon Favreau, among many others. (Some offensive language.)
Bossip Comedy Series, Part 1 (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, deleted scenes). Comedians on and offstage are at the center of this mix of documentary, riffing with people on the street and stand-up comedy routines. Billy Sorrells, Coco Brown and many others are highlighted.
Seven Wonders of Brazil (PBS/DVD, 2014). Hourlong PBS documentary from British academic theologian Robert Beckford, whose previous documentaries include Who Wrote the Bible? and The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples. Here, Beckford explores Brazilian Christianity, traveling to the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, the Sao Paulo See Metropolitan Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Aparecida, etc.
Gameplay (PBS/DVD, 2014). Documentary chronicles the history of the gaming industry, from the earliest incarnations in the 1970s to the sophistication of todays computer-animated games, from arcades to consoles, from Pong to Grand Theft Auto. Those interviewed include talents behind Atari, Activision, Google, etc.
Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles (Disney/DVD, 2014, four episodes, alternate ending for Clash of the Skywalkers). This animated series is a prequel to the first films in the Lego series, focusing on Yoda as he trains Padawans at the Jedi Academy but is compelled to go into battle after a disturbance in the Force.
Peanuts: Emmy Honored Collection (Warner/DVD, 1975-90, two discs, 11 TV specials). Remastered for improved picture and sound quality, these 11 charming Peanuts cartoons have either won or been nominated for Emmys, and they include Youre a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, Snoopys Getting Married, Charlie Brown, Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown among others.
Barbie Rock n Royals (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, motion comic, music videos). Another straight-to-video movie in the animated franchise, this one with Barbie as Princess Courtney, a modern-day royal, switching places with a famous rock star.
Pups United (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG, featurettes, trailers). Live-action juvenile comedy with talking dogs foiling the plot of villains out to sabotage the Youth World Cup soccer finals. Rob Schneider provides one of the dog voices.
Digimon Fusion: Season 1, Volume 1 (Flatiron/Cinedigm/DVD, 2013, three discs, 15 episodes). The first 15 episodes of Season 1 of the Nicktoons cable anime series (the sixth series in the Digimon franchise) about a human boy in a digital realm helping digital monster friends save their world.
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Season 2 (Flatiron/Cinedigm, 2009-10, eight discs, 59 episodes). This second anime spinoff of Yu-Gi-Oh! is set in the futuristic New Domino City where class divisions are sharp and a lower-class hero seeks revenge on his uppercrust rival.
