This Week in DVD

The State The Complete Series: This long-awaited DVD release, with musical replacement a-plenty but also bonuses a-plenty, is gonna make a lot of people happy, including my old friend Eric, the guy who got ME into this show. If you're reading, Eric, all I'll say is..."Dude!" To the rest of you, I opine that while the cast has gone on to do a lot of stuff, it hasn't topped the best of "The State." You know, I must admit, MTV did trot out some good programming in the nineties.

For All Mankind: Criterion presents the 1989 "documentary" about the space race and the so-called moon landing. You know, for you true believers out there.

Peyton Place Part Two: I still have never seen an episode of this, but kudos to Shout plowing ahead with this old soap. It's great to see them putting classic shows out there.

American Gladiators (The Battle Begins) and GI Joe Season 1.1: Uh, and Shout also puts out stuff like this. I'll tell you one thing I find simultaneously awesome and hilarious: The "Gladiators" set has audio commentaries!

"Uh, so this is where I smashed the guy in the face. That was rad."

Mad Men Season 2: I STILL haven't gotten around to seeing all of season 1 yet. So...moving on here...

The Haunting in Connecticut: I STILL haven't gotten around to seeing "The Haunting in Rhode Island" yet. So...

1,0001 Classic Commercials: I'm just the kind of idiot that would ask for a complete listing of all the commercials on this one just because I already have some classic commercial DVDs. I don't have 16 hours' worth, though, so I think I'll get my money's worth if and when if I pick up this "budget" set. It's funny--I fast-forward through TV ads whenever possible now, but I'm fascinated by vintage commercials...and will even pay for the privilege of seeing them.

Tales of Wells Fargo Collection: I was much more excited about this set when I thought Cultureshark Icon William Demarest was involved. Turns out, he joined the show after the time frame covered in this collection. It still may be a very good TV western; I just feel disappointed. Hey, I might have been bummed the first time I saw "Casablanca" had I been expecting Bill Demarest.