General

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

The thrilling conclusion to Futurama: Benders Big Score.Bender and the planet express crew must contend with a massive cosmic team that sends the world into panic.System Requirements:Running Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/CARTOON NETWORK Rating: NR UPC: 024543520931 Manufacturer No: 2252093

Studio description:
In Futurama's latest and most tentacle-packed epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. But what lies beyond? Horror? Love? Or maybe both, if it happens to contain a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions! Nothing less than the fate of human and robot-kind is at stake as the Futurama crew takes on The Beast with a Billion Backs.

The Beast with a Billion Backs will be presented in widescreen format with English Dolby Surround 5.1, along with French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include:

The second of four direct-to-DVD adventures featuring the Futurama crew, The Beast with a Billion Backs picks up where its predecessor, Bender's Big Score, left off while balancing multiple love stories and the arrival of a sexually voracious alien from another universe. Unlike Bender, the various story lines converge well here--the tentacled, Lovecraftian creature Yivo (voiced by David Cross), which wants to mate with the entire population of the universe at once, makes Fry (Billy West) its de facto leader (Pope, actually), which in turn plays havoc with his relationship with new girlfriend Colleen (Brittany Murphy). And Yivo's scheme causes the people of Earth to evacuate the planet, leaving it in the hands of robots--which is, of course, excellent news for Futurama's resident mechanical malcontent, Bender (John DiMaggio). Beast is probably best understood and enjoyed by longtime fans of the series, who will recognize and appreciate the countless "surprise guests" (Robot Satan, the Harlem Globetrotters, Bender's hero Calculon, the head of Stephen Hawking), though the feature is certainly well-written and performed by its voice cast, and should provide plenty laughs for first-timers with flexible attention spans. Parents, however, should note that the humor can be fairly suggestive at times, and should exercise caution in regard to younger viewers.

Extras include a very funny commentary track with creators Matt Groening and David X Cohen, stars West, DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche, and key members of the production team. Deleted scenes and a making-of featurette with the voice cast are entertaining, but the real features of value are Futurama: The Lost Adventure, which is culled from the Futurama game for Playstation 2, as well as a lengthy preview of the next direct-to-DVD movie, Bender's Game. Suffice it to say that the Lord of the Rings weighs heavily on the storyline. -- Paul Gaita

Beyond Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs on DVD

Full selection of Family Guy DVDs

Check out The Simpsons on DVD

See the new animated classic American Dad!

Stills from Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (Click for larger image)

Burn Notice - Season One

Michael Westen is a trained spy who receives a "burn notice" for an unstated reason & effectively is fired. Penniless he returns to his hometown in Miami and freelances while trying to find who burned him.System Requirements:Running Time: 530 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543519317 Manufacturer No: 2251931

Burn Notice is a canny, clever comedy-thriller show about a covert operative with a heart of gold. Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is in the middle of a top-secret mission when he discovers he's been "burned"--basically, fired without warning. After barely extricating himself from danger, he wakes up in Miami, where the government has abandoned him and locked him out of his own bank account. To make ends meet, he takes on private detective jobs (helping an old lady who's fallen victim to a con artist; rescuing a young girl who's being tricked into white slavery; helping a mother whose son has been kidnapped by the boy's father... only it turns out the father is the rightful parent and the "mom" is an assassin sent to kill him--a nice guest star appearance by Lucy Lawless, Xena: Warrior Princess), while trying to figure out who burned him and why. Westen tries to remain clinical in his approach to these problems, but he always ends up protecting the helpless with his sophisticated spy skills. Over the course of the first season, he gradually uncovers a mysterious conspiracy that plans to use his talents for their own nefarious ends. Burn Notice deftly mixes the old and the new. The old: Our hero has a hot ex-girlfriend (Gabrielle Anwar, Scent of a Woman), a goofy sidekick (cult hero Bruce Campbell of the Evil Dead movies), and a meddling mom (Sharon Gless, Cagney & Lacey) who help and hinder him in his investigations, as well as a MacGyver-esque skill for making deadly devices out of common household products. The new: A media-savvy way of deconstructing the tricks and techniques of spies and government agencies, often resulting in smart and highly entertaining plot twists. Donovan, handsome but cheeky, combines a light comic touch with a convincing secret agent cool, and the supporting cast fill their niches with aplomb. Their escapades are pretty breezy and occasionally skirt being glib, but most of the time the show finds an extremely entertaining balance between action, romance, and humor. The extras are few (some montages of characteristic moments from the series, including one of the many bikini-clad girls the Miami locale provides) and the commentaries, rather than covering entire episodes, just discuss a few select scenes from each show. Fortunately, the series itself holds up; imagine a cross between Magnum, P.I. and The Wild Wild West (the classic series, not the insulting Will Smith movie) and you're on the right track. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Burn Notice on DVD

Watch 24 on DVD

Check out Saving Grace starring Holly Hunter

Catch up on Prison Break on DVD

Stills from 24 (Click for larger image)

Weeds - Season Three

Weeds: Season Three continues the dark line of comedy that emerged in the previous season for this Showtime series. The story picks up exactly where it left off, with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) faced with a half-dozen guns pointing at her in her own kitchen, while an Armenian gang and Nancy's buyer, U-Turn (Page Kennedy), both demand she turn over her entire stash of marijuana (worth several hundred thousand dollars). Problem is, the pot is in the trunk of on-again, off-again friend Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), whose car has been stolen by Nancy's oldest son, Silas (Hunter Parrish). Silas wants in on mom's business, but his timing couldn't be worse as Celia and a police officer show up to reclaim the car while Nancy is still at gunpoint. The fallout from all this is that Nancy ends up working for U-Turn to repay her debt to him, a dangerous relationship that sends Nancy down a rabbit hole of underworld threats and violence. Meanwhile, Celia gets booted out of her home by her husband and becomes estranged from her young daughter, Isabelle (Allie Grant), who insists she's a lesbian. Celia rebounds a bit when a corrupt developer (Matthew Modine) gives her a house in exchange for her support on city council for one of his schemes. That goes wrong, too, when Celia allows Nancy, Doug (Kevin Nealon), and Conrad (Romany Malco), all of whom go into business after U-Turn stops being a problem, to put their endangered trove of marijuana plants in her house. Nancy's other son, Shane (Alexander Gould), claims he can see and talk to the ghost of Nancy's late husband, and Nancy's brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) goes AWOL from the U.S. Army after his comrade is deliberately killed in an experimental missile test. As always, it's one thing after another on Weeds, and the blend of humor and suspense is uniquely compelling. Parker and the rest of the cast pull off some pretty surreal situations with great credibility. The show's lead star, particularly, can carry moments of blended terror and comedy: one of the season's most memorable moments finds Nancy forced to put on a sexy dance for a group of drug dealers in order to pick up a package U-Turn requires. The scene is humiliating, frightening, sexy, and comical all at once. Few actresses could have pulled it off, but Parker does. --Tom Keogh

America's favorite pot-dealing soccer mom is more addictive than ever in the third season of WEEDS, the highly acclaimed Showtime(r) Original Series. Emmy (r) and Golden Globe(r) winner MARY-LOUISE PARKER stars as Nancy Botwin, a single mom who resorts to dealing pot after her husband dies suddenly. But when an off beat way to make ends meet grows into a mini-empire, the mother of all dealers finds she may be in over her head - and on the verge of taking everyone else with her. Hilarious and subversive, WEEDS is the hit that put the herb in suburb.

Californication - Season One

Sophisticated and unique this comedy centers on novelist Hank Moody (David Duchovny) who struggles to raise his 13-year-old daughter while still carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend. His obsession with truth-telling and self destructive behavior -- drinks drugs and relationships -- are both destroying and enriching to his career.System Requirements:Running Time: 340 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368920941 Manufacturer No: 892094

"You can't always get what you want." The Rolling Stones may have said it best, and it seems to be writer Hank Moody's theme song. David Duchovny (X Files) was born to play this sly, sarcastic, self-loathing, and--despite all the meaningless sex, booze, and fist fights--kind character. Writer Moody hates the Los Angeles world he lives in; a world that turned his sharp best-seller into a cheesy date movie, where his young daughter and should-have-been wife (Natascha McElhone) are slipping away into the hands of a rich play-it-safe guy, and where everything he truly wants seems just out of his reach. But the man hasn't lost all hope. "Happy endings may get a bad rap, but they do happen," he assures his daughter. "And when they do, they're just as true as the unhappy ones." One can't help but hope Hank finds his happy ending, because it's with his family that his soft side surfaces. Hank takes no shame in trying to woo back his "wife" Karen, even if it is in front of her new fiancé. He knows he's meant to be with her--plain and simple--and there's a glint in her eye that always makes you wonder if she's really thinking the same thing. And his daughter Becca? Well, any guy would melt against this guitar-wielding cutie (played by the adorable Madeleine Martin), but Hank really captures the "I'll kick a lot of ass for my daughter" mentality that so many dads harbor. He's also fully prepared to drop a gorgeous woman at a moment's notice to heed his daughter's call.

The rest of the cast, including Evan Handler (Sex and the City) and Pamela Adlon (Lucky Louie), provide some surprisingly interesting and hilarious side stories. Just when it seems situations in this show can't get any more ludicrous or disgusting, they most certainly do. That's the beauty of it. Californication is a dark, coarse, edgy adult comedy. It's also very real, and quite intelligent. --Jordan Thompson

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Seasons 1 & 2

Three best friends own a Irish Pub in Phili and get into sticky situations resulting from bad judgment.System Requirements:Running Time: 425 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543444169 Manufacturer No: 2244416

Take the best elements from Seinfeld and Arrested Development and you have It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Combining the social-degenerate-buddy formula (three men, one woman) with the beyond-dysfunctional-family element, Philadelphia creates scenarios that are so hysterical, wrong, appalling, familiar, embarrassing, uncomfortable, and entertaining, the show is addictive like staring at a car wreck when you know you shouldn't, but you just can't look away; it's invigorating like a fresh, loud, wake-up slap on the face. The writing, the quick timing, and the performances are so natural, one wonders if anyone is even acting (but hopes to heaven they are). Danny DeVito joined the cast in the second season, in one of the best roles on TV. DeVito is "Frank," the buddy dad that just wants to be part of the gang, the dad that looks good on paper, but the experience for his kids is more like taking care of a vicious dog that isn't potty-trained. Three of his four talented cohorts (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney) not only star in the series, but write it as well. Thanks to their new take on old themes and a willingness to stretch the boundaries of appropriateness and exploit the audiences' inner insecurities, originality is back on TV.--Rachel Moss

Beyond It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Groundbreaking TV: Arrested Development

Fox TV Store

More from Danny DeVito

Stills from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2

Sex and the City - The Complete Fourth Season

Each episode of Sex & the City deal with the romantic challenges that single women face when they start seeing the big three oh in the rear view mirror & start finding new suitable mates. These challenges are revealed through the eyes of several friends each of whom has their own ideas on how to catch Mr. Right. There's Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) who pushed the envelope of dating & sex in the name of journalism; Samantha (Kim Catrall) a PR Executive who has seen (& done) it all; Charlotte (Kristin Davis) an art deal who believes love conquers all despite a tottering marriage; & Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) a lawyer now contemplating motherhood.Running Time: 540 min.System Requirements:Running Time 450 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 026359920820 Manufacturer No: 99208

The fourth season of Sex and the City is just as smart and sexy as ever, mixing caustic adult wit and sharply observed situation comedy on the mean streets of Manhattan, though this time the quartet of singleton city girls must endure even tougher combat in the unending war of love, sex, and shopping. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) finally seems to have found her ideal life partner when she is reunited with handsome craftsman Aidan (John Corbett). But can their relationship survive trial by cohabitation? Meanwhile Charlotte (Kristin Davis) seems to have both her dream Park Avenue apartment and a solution to her marital problems with Trey (Kyle MacLachlan). But when the subject of babies comes up, everything starts to unravel for her, too. It's not just Charlotte who has baby issues either: after what seems like an eternity of enforced sexual abstinence Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is horrified to discover she's pregnant. And as for the sultry Samantha (Kim Cattrall), she's on a quest for monogamy, first with an exotic lesbian artist, then with a philandering businessman, with whom to her utter dismay she just might have fallen in love. --Mark Walker

The Office - Season Three

Fill your Inbox with hilarious moments from The Office Season Three in this four-disc collection that's crammed with extensive bonus features and all 22 episodes of the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Comedy Series! Steve Carell is back in his Golden Globe-winning role as earnest but clueless boss Michael Scott who can't help but contribute his own irreverent commentary to the daily happenings at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. As the staff deals with potential office closures mergers romances and advancement Michael's always there to say all the wrong things at all the right times. Including five supersized episodes and over three hours of deleted scenes The Office Season Three is packed with classic moments from the show that TIME magazine praises for "satirizing the culture of coffee cubicles and Chili's with heart and laser precision."Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: PG UPC: 025195008204 Manufacturer No: 61100979

After a shaky first season of finding its footing, and a second season of establishing itself as one of the funniest shows on TV, the third season of The Office finds the show in its strongest form yet, thanks in large part to the addition of some new characters and stronger plotlines centered on office romances. A corporate merger brings the Stamford staff to the Scranton office of Dunder-Mifflin a quarter of the way through the season giving a nice boost to the season's arc of story lines, especially the addition of Andy (Ed Helms, another Daily Show alum in a role that seems custom made for him) who serves as yet another foil to Dwight (Rainn Wilson) in his unending fight for Michael's approval. As the season begins, the focus is more on Michael (Steve Carell) and his unique "leadership" style in the Scranton office. "A good boss gruntles the disgruntled," and despite his best intentions, he proceeds to somehow screw it up, as in the opening episode, "Gay Witch Hunt," in which he accidentally outs a gay employee. In the second episode, "The Convention," Michael tries to get the party started at the Mid-Market Office Supply Convention ("fun jeans"), and ends up revealing his insecurity about Jim's (John Krasinski) decision to move to Stamford. It leads up to "The Coup," where Dwight meets with Michael's Boss Jan (Melora Hardin) in a misguided attempt to take control of the office. The merger of the two offices into the Scranton location provides the fuel needed to continue the Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) subplot as Jim returns with his new girlfriend, Karen (Rashida Jones) who also transferred, and with Pam no longer engaged to Roy, the tension among them increases significantly. Other major plot points this season include: Dwight shows his true feelings for Angela in an excellent climax to one of the funniest subplots on the show; Michael negotiates a raise after learning he barely makes more than his subordinates; new office suck-up Andy is forced into anger management classes; and finally, in what may be the most bizarre company retreat in history, a day at the beach ends with Pam revealing her true feelings for Jim in front of the entire office. The season wraps up in unpredictable fashion when Karen, Michael, and Jim all travel to headquarters to interview for the same position. The strength of this season just continues to solidify The Office's place as the preeminent satire of today's cubicle culture. --Daniel Vancini

Weeds - Season Two

Funnier darker and more daring the second season of this acclaimed Showtime series reaches a higher ground. Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin the soccer mom who had to learn how to deal - pot that is - after the death of her husband. Now her business is a hit. But keeping up with the neighbors in this suburban utopia isn't easy. She's joined up with a few of her closest friends and together they're facing life's highs and lows - because even in paradise nobody's perfect. Don't miss WEEDS an addictive comedy the highest grade TV has to offer. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 012236215677 Manufacturer No: 21567

The first season of Weeds ended with a shocker: Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) found a dreamy new boyfriend, but he turned out to be a DEA agent (Martin Donovan). Luckily, she manages to find some pretty creative ways to "deal" with it. Despite that new obstacle, she decides it's also time to "grow" the business to higher levels, and all these risky moves lead up to another fabulous season finale cliff-hanger. Elsewhere in suburban utopia, comic relieving brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) tries to dodge his army commitments by joining Rabbi school, while the hilarious Doug (Kevin Nealon) battles it out with Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) to maintain power over the Agrestic City Council. Plot aside, Season 2 of Weeds took this potentially great show to the next level. No matter how hard they tried in the first season, the show's makers had a heck of a time trying to shake the impression that they were mimicking the edginess of HBO's original programming. (Some might have gone as far as to say they were trying a little too hard.) This time around, the characters and the story have grown into their own skins, and they offer something much more authentic and convincing. The second season also starts a great new tradition: Malvina Reynolds `s "Little Boxes" is still the opening theme song, but it is performed by a different artist for each episode (from Elvis Costello to The Shins). Just one more thing to keep us "addicted." --Jordan Thompson

Weeds - Season One

With its fantastic comedy series Weeds, cable network Showtime finally gave up its also-ran status to HBO and found itself with a controversial, buzz-worthy show that was as hilarious as it was dark, one about a truly desperate housewife. A recent widow with two growing sons, Nancy Botwin (Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker) looks like a typical resident of the affluent Southern California suburb of Agrestic. She keeps a clean, upscale house (with the help of a live-in maid), attends PTA meetings, goes to her kids' soccer games, makes frequent stops at the local coffee franchise.... and sells marijuana in order to make it all possible. Left with no way to support herself after her beloved husband's fatal heart attack, Nancy turns herself into the "suburban baroness of bud," dealing to her neighbors in the area, with the help of her supplier Heylia (Tonye Patano) and point man Conrad (Romany Malco). Nancy's clients run from the local councilman (Kevin Nealon) to the just-barely-legal students at the local community college, but many in Agrestic are still in the dark as to how she keeps her family afloat, including her best friend, the sardonic Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), a wife and mother whose blistering, withering put-downs could make Dorothy Parker cringe in fear. But like many small-business owners, Nancy yearns for more success and cash, and like her workaholic neighbors, finds keeping a balance between work life and home life to be extremely precarious at best.

While Desperate Housewives yearned to be a suburban satire with bite, Weeds was the real deal, skewering upper-middle class mores with a sharp eye, a keen wit, and a mostly forgiving heart. In episode after episode, the show's creative team (led by creator Jenji Kohan) pulled back the layers of Agrestic's superficiality to show what lies beneath the squeaky-clean exteriors and smiling faces; it turns out that hunger, fear, desire, and, yes, desperation aren't that far down. However, Weeds forsakes pulpiness and florid drama for biting yet affectionate humor--its heroine is a woman with sliding morals, but one you'll root for to the very end. The effervescent Parker, the only actress who can mix perkiness with morbidity in just the right amounts, anchored the show with her amazing turn as Nancy, who by the end of the first season had become a kind of soccer-mom version of Michael Corleone, entering a corrupt world with both trepidation and fascination--and totally enamored of the power it brought her. Also perfectly cast, Perkins found the role of a lifetime as the bitterly hilarious Celia, and entering the show in its fourth episode, Justin Kirk (Parker's co-star in Angels in America) proved to be a potent secret weapon as Nancy's brother-in-law Andy, a slacker who wasn't above peddling t-shirts to elementary school kids. As icky as these characters might appear on the surface, Weeds made them all immensely appealing and great company to be around. Don't say we didn't warn you: one hit and you'll be hooked on this show. The DVDs feature six episode commentaries with cast and crew, outtakes, original featurettes, a music video, and most enjoyably, Agrestic Herbal Recipes (for entertainment value only, we assume) and the "Smoke and Mirrors" marijuana mockumentary. --Mark Englehart

Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996)

The timeless themes of love and marriage in Jane Austen's superb romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice have captured readers for generations - the novel has sold more than 20 million copies and has never been out of print. Now A&E and the BBC have brought this beloved classic to life in a compelling production directed by Upstairs Downstairs' Simon Langton. This stunning production captures the celebrated beauty of the English countryside and its glorious stately manors. It features lavish costumes and an exquisite soundtrack from noted composer Carl Davis.Pride and Prejudice is the story of the lively and rebellious Elizabeth Bennet one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th Century England. IN a world where obtaining an advantageous marriage is a woman's sole occupation Elizabeth's independent manner threatens her family's future. Will her romantic sparring with the mysterious and arrogant Darcy end in misfortune - or will love's true nature prevail?System Requirements:Starring: Jennifer Ehle Colin Firth David Bamber Crispin Bonham-Carter Anthony Calf Anna Chancellor Susannah Harker Julia Sawalha Alison Steadman Benjamin Whitrow. Directed By: Simon Langton. Running Time: 310 Minutes Color. This Film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2001 A&E Television Networks. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 733961702545 Manufacturer No: AAE-70254

Jane Austen's classic novel of 1813, Pride and Prejudice, still wins the hearts of countless schoolgirls with its romantic story of Elizabeth Bennet and her Mr. Darcy. Now, the 1996 BBC miniseries is winning over adults, with its faithful adaptation, gorgeous scenery, and superb acting.

The essence of the story is the antagonism between Mr. Darcy, a wealthy single man who believes Elizabeth to be beneath him, and Elizabeth, who upon being insulted at a dance by the aloof Darcy refuses to associate with him in any manner. Austen evokes incredible tension with the wit and flirtation of the two characters, and director Simon Langton (who also directed Upstairs Downstairs) successfully translates the repartee and conflict in this six-hour miniseries. Dialogue, for the most part, is painstakingly replicated, except when fleshing out and smoothing for modern sensibilities was necessary. Darcy, for instance, is drawn out, giving his personality significantly more depth. The acting sweeps you away to Regency England: Jennifer Ehle (of Wilde) is convincing as the obstinate Elizabeth, who, despite her mother's attempts to marry her off, spurs the attentions of Darcy. And Colin Firth (of The English Patient) will have women everywhere longing for a Mr. Darcy of their own.

For those who have been on an Austen binge--enjoying such excellent adaptations as Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion--this miniseries will round out the ultimate Austen video library. For those new to these romantic period pieces, this version of Pride and Prejudice will have you hooked and longing for more. One caveat, however: plan to watch it in an entire day, because very few have the self-control to not watch all six hours in a single sitting. --Jenny Brown