TV (Not) on DVD: Part Two

Apparently, I've still got TV on DVD on the brain...

Following my article on TV (Not) on DVD, I asked Televisionary readers which television series they were most anxious to have released on DVD and the answers were surprising. Quite a few votes for some of my selections (why, oh, why isn't Andy Richter Controls the Universe available yet?), and a few interesting choices as well.

The general consensus is that, while lots of series have made it onto our shelves in that handy digital format, there are still quite a few beloved programs which haven't yet made the leap.

I went to the source. Or, as close to the source as I could get. TVShowsonDVD.com's Gord Lacey is the expert on this issue and, via a rapid-fire email exhange, I asked him for some answers on what's going on with your favorite shows. Without further ado:

Televisionary reader Carrie wants to know, what's the deal with Beverly Hills 90210?

Gord Says: "Paramount/CBS announced plans to release 90210 overseas (Australia), but nothing here yet."

Grosse Point?

Gord Says: "Grosse Point was announced, then pulled from release in order to release it at a better time (no clue what that means)."

Twin Peaks?

Gord Says: "Twin Peaks season 2 should be coming in November; that's all we know about right now."

The State?

Gord Says: "The guys behind The State keep saying the DVDs are coming, but they've been saying that for a few years and the people at MTV have said nothing has been started on them."

Cupid?

Gord Says: "Sony doesn't seem interested in releasing Cupid, even though Veronica Mars is doing well and Jeremy Piven is on Entourage." [Editor's note: Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas also created Cupid]

What about my man Ticknart's favorite, Daria?

Gord Says: "A Daria [release] would be a problem because of all the music used in the show."

And finally, Sisters? High Society? The Lot? Welcome Back Kotter? Thirtysomething?

Gord Says: "As for the others... no word on them coming out, or why they haven't been released yet."

But fear not, studios are always liable to change their minds if they see that there's enough fan interest to warrant a particular release. So what can you do? Log on to TVShowsonDVD.com, register, and cast a vote for your favorite show, whether you want the series released in a "best of" format, season box sets, or individual episodes. And keep checking Gord's site, TVShowsonDVD for updates.

And who knows? We might soon find ourselves watching DVDs of Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Thirtysomething... or the entire Gross Point series that so many of us have been jonesing for. Fingers crossed.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The King of Queens/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Treasure Hunters (NBC); 7th Heaven (WB); Wife Swap (ABC); Hell's Kitchen (FOX); One on One/All of Us (UPN)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Treasure Hunters (NBC); 7th Heaven (WB); Supernanny (ABC); Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); Medium (NBC); Supernanny (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Spaced on BBC America.

If you missed Friday's Stateside airing of the hilarious and surreal 1999 sitcom Spaced (starring Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg), here's your chance to catch the fourth episode before another episode airs Friday. On tonight's episode ("Battles"), Daisy wants to get a dog, while Tim meets his ex's new boyfriend.

8:30 pm: Peep Show on BBC America.

Another chance to catch the second episode before a new episode on Friday. On tonight's episode, Mark, still despondent over losing Sophie, makes a new friend at the office, while Jeremy meets an old friend, one he used to bully, who invites him to work on his latest indie film.

9 pm: Hell's Kitchen.

Ah, how I've missed thee, Hell's Kitchen. The culinary "challenge," lead by tantrum-prone chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay, returns tonight with a new episode ("7 Chefs"). In tonight's installment, Gordon hopes to complete an entire dinner service. Oh, Gordon, talk about setting yourself up to fail...

11 pm: Lovespring International on Lifetime.

I know, it's on Lifetime of all places. The improvised comedy returns with a new episode tonight ("Lydia's Last Night"), in which Lydia (the superlative Wendi McLendon-Covey of Reno 911!) is fearful that Phillip, her married boyfriend, will hurt her after she threatens to tell his wife about their twenty-year affair. Tune in for Wendi McLendon-Covey, stay for Jane Lynch.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj

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Comments

Anonymous said…

Ah, Cupid. How I loved thee.

At least there is a Welcome Back Kotter "favorites" dvd. At least those fans have a bone.

7/10/2006

I can't believe they haven't released "Melrose Place" or "Beverly Hills 90210" yet. What are they waiting for? Another one of Kimberly's rage blackouts?

Thirtysomething is long overdue. Not releasing the 3rd season of Once and Again has been kind of cruel.

Good list. Lots of crossover with
a list that I did on my site a couple of months ago.

The cool thing is that some of those have been announced.

7/21/2006

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