Fox TV

Firefly - The Complete Series

As the 2005 theatrical release of Serenity made clear, Firefly was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or "Browncoats") knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show's original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only 11 of these 14 episodes had aired on the Fox network, but history has proven that its demise was woefully premature. Whedon's generic hybrid got off to a shaky start when network executives demanded an action-packed one-hour premiere ("The Train Job"); in hindsight the intended two-hour pilot (also titled "Serenity," and oddly enough, the final episode aired) provides a better introduction to the show's concept and splendid ensemble cast. Obsessive fans can debate the quirky logic of combining spaceships with direct parallels to frontier America (it's 500 years in the future, and embattled humankind has expanded into the galaxy, where undeveloped "outer rim" planets struggle with the equivalent of Old West accommodations), but Whedon and his gifted co-writers and directors make it work, at least well enough to fashion a credible context from the incongruous culture-clashing of past, present, and future technologies, along with a polyglot language (the result of two dominant superpowers) that combines English with an abundance of Chinese slang.

What makes it work is Whedon's delightfully well-chosen cast and their nine well-developed characters--a typically Whedon-esque extended family--each providing a unique perspective on their adventures aboard Serenity, the junky but beloved "Firefly-class" starship they call home. As a veteran of the disadvantaged Independent faction's war against the all-powerful planetary Alliance (think of it as Underdogs vs. Overlords), Serenity captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) leads his compact crew on a quest for survival. They're renegades with an amoral agenda, taking any job that pays well, but Firefly's complex tapestry of right and wrong (and peace vs. violence) is richer and deeper than it first appears. Tantalizing clues about Blue Sun (an insidious mega-corporation with a mysteriously evil agenda), its ties to the Alliance, and the traumatizing use of Serenity's resident stowaway (Summer Glau) as a guinea pig in the development of advanced warfare were clear indications Firefly was heading for exciting revelations that were precluded by the series' cancellation. Fortunately, the big-screen Serenity (which can be enjoyed independently of the series) ensured that Whedon's wild extraterrestrial west had not seen its final sunset. Its very existence confirms that these 14 episodes (and enjoyable bonus features) will endure as irrefutable proof Fox made a glaring mistake in canceling the series. --Jeff Shannon

Five hundred years in the future there's a whole new frontier, and the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. But things get a bit more complicated after they take on a passenger wanted by the new totalitarian Alliance regime. Now they find themselves on the run, desperate to steer clear of Alliance ships and the flesh-eating Reavers who live on the fringes of space.

Arrested Development - The Complete Series (Seasons 1, 2, 3)

Season One: Winner of the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy its first year out, Arrested Development is the kind of sitcom that gives you hope for television. A mockumentary-style exploration of the beleaguered Bluth family, it's one of those idiosyncratic shows that doesn't rely on a laugh track or a studio audience; it's shot more like a TV drama, albeit with an omniscient narrator (executive producer Ron Howard) overseeing the proceedings. Holding the Bluths together just barely is son Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the only normal guy in a family that's chock full of nuts. Hardworking and sensible, Michael's certain he's going to be given control of his family's Enron-style corporation upon the retirement of his father (Jeffrey Tambor). The fact that he's passed over instead for his mother (Jessica Walter) is only a blip when compared to his father's immediate arrest for dubious accounting practices, and the resulting freeze on the family's previously limitless wealth.

Bereft of money, and even less family love, the Bluths have to band together in their moment of need--not easy when everyone's looking out for number 1. In addition to his scabrous parents, Michael has to contend with his lothario older brother (Will Arnett), his basically useless younger brother (Tony Hale), his greedy twin sister (Portia DeRossi), and her sexually ambiguous husband (David Cross). Michael's only comrade in sanity is his son George Michael (Michael Cera), but then again, the teenage boy harbors a secret crush on his cousin (Alia Shawkat). A peerless ensemble led by the brilliant Bateman (who ever knew he could be this good?), all the actors are pitch-perfect in their roles, delivering the dryly funny, sometimes absurdist dialogue with the speed and flair of classic farce. The unusual tone of Arrested Development takes a bit of getting used to--it's far different from anything you'll see on TV, even HBO--but once you buy in to the Bluths' innumerable dysfunctions, you'll be laughing your head off for hours.--Mark Englehart

Season Two: The axe of cancellation dangled perilously over Arrested Development during its second season, but the award-winning comedy fought against fate to deliver a hilarious if scattershot 18 episodes (reduced from the original show order of 22), and stayed alive for the beginning of a third season. Most likely, the creators and actors knew the clock was ticking down, so they didn't hesitate to throw their all into these manic, hilarious episodes, which have only the thinnest of plot arcs but an electrifying energy that makes them hard to resist. Some of the story antics were more of the same: good son Michael (Jason Bateman) tries to keep his company afloat, but is often foiled by older brother Gob (Will Arnett); the precarious marriage of Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and Tobias (David Cross) undergoes a trial separation; and young George-Michael (Michael Cera) fights his attraction to his cousin Maeby (Alia Shawkat). Other show developments, though, were new and stunningly, uproariously bizarre: Buster (Tony Hale) joins the army, but later finds his hand bitten off by a seal (yes, a real seal), and Oscar (Jeffrey Tambor), the hippie brother of jailed George Sr. (also Tambor), rekindles an affair with sister-in-law Lucille (Jessica Walter), which may have resulted in Buster's conception years ago.

Jokes flew fast and furious, as did guest stars--Ben Stiller, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Christine Taylor, Thomas Jane, Ed Begley Jr., Ione Skye, and Zach Braff among them--making it hard to keep straight who was doing what and why. No matter, as each of the episodes was in and of itself was a perfect gem of comedy, strung together by sharp writing and fantastic performances. In addition to the regular cast, both Liza Minnelli, reprising her role as "Lucille Two," and Martin Short, as an, um, eccentric family friend, deserve special mention, with the episode both appeared in, "Ready, Aim, Marry Me," a frenetic exercise in slapstick farce. Typical examples of the show's offbeat humor were found in "Afternoon Delight," in which various members of the Bluth family discover the true meaning of the '70s ballad, "Meet the Veals," wherein the Bluths encounter the conservative parents of George Michael's girlfriend, and "Motherboy XXX," surrounding an unsettling mother-son traditional dance. The entire cast cohered perfectly through this season, and their give and take provided a perfect balance among the actors, all of whom were even better than the previous year. However, it's Bateman who should be singled out as the show's anchor, mixing dry sarcasm with impeccable comic timing. Despite plummeting ratings, Arrested Development didn't just keep its head above water, it swam with grace and hilarity. --Mark Englehart

Season Three: Arrested Development--one of the greatest comedies in the history of television--went out in a blaze of glory. The truncated final season packed more biting humor per minute than ever before. In only 13 episodes, dozens of intertwining storylines spun in all directions: In addition to the overarching story about the fractious infighting of the Bluth family and the family's housing development company being investigated for treason in Iraq (a plot arc that comes to a dazzlingly surreal conclusion), the put-upon "good son" Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman, Teen Wolf Too) pursues romance with a lovely British woman (Charlize Theron, Monster) who turns out to be woefully inappropriate; swaggering magician Gob (Will Arnett, Monster-In-Law) flees from his newly-discovered teenage son while still pandering for the affection of his self-absorbed father (Jeffrey Tambor, The Larry Sanders Show); flighty Lindsay (Portia de Rossi, Ally McBeal) and her sexually blurry husband Tobias (David Cross, Mr. Show) both get the hots for the family's new lawyer, Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio, Charles in Charge); and much, much more. It's difficult to describe what makes Arrested Development so brilliant. The ensemble is uniformly superb (Jessica Walter, as the family's boozing, scheming matriarch, is particularly devastating this season) and the surprising guest stars (including Andy Richter, James Lipton, Justine Bateman, and many others) are perfectly cast; the characters' abominable behavior defies conventional television notions of "likability", yet they only grow more endearing the more you watch; the humor embraces wild slapstick and sharp satire, often within a single scene; and the nimble documentary style allows for sly glancing references to jokes and scenes from long-past episodes, rewarding devoted fans. But the key is that, no matter how screwball Arrested Development becomes, the show offers a rich, textured, and wonderfully coherent world in which these characters feel genuine, a world completely unlike the flat, plastic simulacrum offered by the average sitcom. Arrested Development was true to itself to the end. Its followers will cherish it forever. --Bret Fetzer

Bones - The Complete Second Season

Detectives Bones and Booth create undeniable chemistry and humor while solving crimes using frequently clashing investigative styles.System Requirements:Running Time: 946 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543460459 Manufacturer No: 2246045

Beginning with the death of a senator and ending with a marriage, the second season of Bones builds on the momentum created during the Fox drama's debut year. Bones' sophomore season (which includes all 21 episodes that originally aired during 2006-2007) centers on the collaborations between FBI special agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), whom Booth has nicknamed "Bones." While Booth doesn't completely believe in Bones' method, he can't argue with her success rate at solving crimes. As for Bones, she is meticulous at what she does and is a borderline genius, but she has issues. Seemingly oblivious to her own good looks, she is all but socially inept. Booth may be blunt, but he's comfortable dealing with the public. Bones, on the other hand, would rather be sequestered away with the dead, trying to figure out what happened before their uncertain deaths. Of course, while viewers can see that Bones and Booth would be a perfect couple, the characters aren't quite there yet. Their friendship becomes a little more complicated this season when it turns out that Bones' new demanding boss, Dr. Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), is a former girlfriend of Booth's. And the two women aren't getting along.

Still, everyone is able to work together to solve a series of crimes, such as identifying the remains of an all but unidentifiable teenage boy and dealing with a serial killer who is emulating the crimes depicted in Bones' latest mystery novel. (Yes, she's not only a brilliant scientist but also an ace author.) Like many television dramas where forensic evidence is a driving force in the plots, Bones offers up the gross-out autopsies. But it also serves up a lot of humanity in the way the characters interact with one another. It is giving nothing away to reveal that Bones and Booth are not the couple getting married in the season finale. But the episode does reveal that beneath their tough exteriors, marriage and all that it implies is something they wouldn't mind... perhaps even with each other. --Jae-Ha Kim

Prison Break - Season 3

PRISON BREAK: SEASON 3 (DVD MOVIE)

How I Met Your Mother - Season Two

The sweet, snarky charms of How I Met Your Mother are in full force on this clever sitcom's second season. The show's conceit is that it's all from the point of view of the future self of Ted Mosby (played in our time by Josh Radnor, voiced in the future by Bob Saget), telling his kids the story of how he met their mother--a character that, two seasons in, has yet to be introduced. Instead, the show revolves around Ted's romantic pursuit of Robin (Cobie Smulders) and the cozy relationship of Ted's best friends, Lily (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's beloved Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel from another cult show, Freaks and Geeks). Careening through these two love stories is Barney (Neil Patrick Harris, the former Doogie Howser, M.D.), an aggressively single womanizer, whose intimate friendship with this largely sincere and domestic bunch doesn't make much sense...but often makes for excellent comedy. This goofy quintet of late 20somethings flounder their way through life in New York, wrestling with love and careers. When the first season ended, Ted and Robin had finally hooked up, but Marshall and Lily had suddenly split up. Season two runs with this, enriching the relationships among all the characters over the season's progress while spinning out all sorts of stand-alone plots that make each episode a treat. Examples: Ted discovers that his parents have been keeping a secret from him; Marshall, feeling burnt by love, starts doing couple things with a newly single male friend; Lily gets a job at Ted's office and is appalled by Ted's obnoxious boss; Robin tries to keep Ted from discovering her sordid past; and Barney...well, Barney is the gleeful source of a dozen cockeyed tales, ranging from asking Lily to paint a nude portrait of him to grappling poorly with his gay brother's sudden turn to monogamy to going on The Price is Right to find his father. The entire cast is superb (and much more confident this season), but Harris's inexplicably endearing smarminess really pushes the show into a higher comic bracket. That performance energy--combined with the cunning use of flashbacks and other twisty story techniques--makes How I Met Your Mother both sweet and spicy, a conventional sitcom that tweaks the formula enough to make it feel fresh and engaging. If the creators can keep this up, this show will become a classic. Season Two features an abundance of fan-pleasing extras, including cheerful commentaries, extended scenes, and a disturbing music video of the show's theme song. --Bret Fetzer

Bones - The Complete First Season

David Boreanaz (Angel Buffy the Vampire Slayer) stars as F.B.I. Agent Seeley Booth who teams up with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to solve some of the most baffling and bizarre crimes ever. Booth depends on clues from the living witnesses and suspects while Brennan gathers evidence from the dead relying on her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the bones of the victims. Their different investigative styles cause the two to frequently clash creating an undeniable chemistry and just the right touch of dark humor. Inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and state-of-the-art criminal investigation procedures Bones is a compelling cutting edge television.System Requirements:Running Time: 946 Minutes.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543267287 Manufacturer No: 2236728

A taut series filled with drama as well as great chemistry between its two lead stars, Bones is a strong addition to Fox's television lineup. Debuting in 2005 to favorable critical reviews, the series shares an audience of fans with the CSI franchise. Smartly written and well-acted, the first season of Bones focuses on the collaborations between FBI special agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), whom Booth somewhat sarcastically nicknames "Bones." Each of the 22 episodes follows a premise well-known to regular viewers of crime dramas--a murder has been committed and a body found. The team's job is to figure out who the victim is, how he or she was killed, and how it was done; that part doesn't differ from other shows on television. What sets the show apart is the humor injected into the episodes (Boreanaz is particularly good at delivering wry lines). There's some wicked humor in the episode focusing on Brennan's attempts at dating, which is nicely offset by the horrific crimes she has to deal with. And for a show with such attractive leads, Bones doesn't make a huge point of dwelling on any possible attraction between the pair. Rather, it takes advantage of their playful bantering, which is more akin to that of bickering siblings than repressed lovers--for this season, anyhow. The series is inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs (who stars in one of the featurettes on the four-disc set). In a nice play on art imitating reality, Kathy Reichs also is the name of the heroine in the murder mysteries that Dr. Brennan writes on the side. By the end of the season, viewers will learn enough about the characters to care, but not enough to completely understand why they are the way they are. That is an ongoing mystery. --Jae-Ha Kim

Beyond Bones: The Complete First Season

More "Edge-of-your-Seat" TV DVDs

Break No Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)

24: Season 5

Meet the Characters of Bones: The Complete First Season (click for larger image)

Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz)is a former Army sniper who mistrusts science and scientists - the "squints," as he calls them, who pore over the physical evidence.	Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel)is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institution and writes novels as a sideline.	Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), earthy and bawdy, is Brennan's friend and fellow scientist.
Zach Addy (Eric Millegan), is a young prodigy whose genius IQ actually gets in the way of his finishing the several doctorates he has begun.	Dr. Jack Hodgins (J Thyne), is an expert on insects, spores and minerals, but conspiracy is his hobby.

Stills from Bones: The Complete First Season (click for larger image)

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

24 - Season Six

It s 20 months after the end of season 5 and Jack is back. A series of suicide bombings across the United States has CTU pushed to their limits and the only way to stop the attacks will be to sacrifice their star agent. But are they being misled and can Jack uncover the real mastermind before the bombings begin? Of course it s going to take more than weapons to stop Bauer from uncovering the truth but what he finds it just the beginning of a much larger conspiracy involving nation states the U.S. government and a host of other factors that make this season of 24 the most exciting to date.System Requirements:Running Time: 1012 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543462927 Manufacturer No: 2246292

Creating and executing a TV series in which each season takes place in the course of just one day, with each episode occupying a single hour, is no mean feat, but the makers of 24 have pulled it off admirably. And while many of the show's longtime adherents seem to agree that this sixth season (with 24 episodes offered on six DVDs, plus a seventh disc loaded with bonus features) is perhaps its weakest, relative newcomers, freed from the expectations generated by the five that preceded it, will find it to be riveting entertainment. This is a show that hits the ground running and then proceeds to relentlessly ratchet up the tension, balancing its disparate elements--terrorism and espionage, political intrigue and treachery, personal drama--with remarkable aplomb. Indeed, the first episode is barely underway before we're told that a plague of terrorist bombings is sweeping the United States, killing many hundreds and leaving the nation in disarray. President Wayne Palmer (DB Woodside), in office for just three months following the assassination of his brother, agonizes over the proper course of action while some of his advisers counsel restraint and others urge him to adopt measures that will radically restrict Americans' (especially those of Muslim descent) civil liberties. Meanwhile, Jack Bauer (star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland) has been released after two years in a Chinese prison, but only so he can be handed over to Abu Fayed (Adoni Maropis), a particularly nasty villain who proposes to trade Jack's life for the location of Hamri Al-Assad (Alexander Siddig), who's suspected of being the mastermind behind the current reign of terror. That's only the beginning, of course. Soon Jack (who, despite being severely tortured during his imprisonment, is still cool enough to coordinate a manhunt while simultaneously disarming a bomb set to detonate in two minutes) and his counter-terrorism cronies are dealing with the specter of a nuclear holocaust on American soil, more political assassination, Jack's feckless family, and a good deal more. And that's only in the first twelve hours! It doesn't all work--especially in the second half. Some of the characters are less than convincing (Jack's brother Graem, portrayed by Paul McCrane, is weak in every respect; in fact, the entire family sideshow is fairly ridiculous), while the casting is sometimes off the mark (Woodside does his best, but he lacks the gravitas needed in a plausible Chief Executive) and the story contains multiple plot points that will challenge even those willing to totally suspend their disbelief. By and large, though, 24 more than lives up to its own hype as the tube's most addictive program. Bonus material includes commentary on selected episodes, deleted scenes, a preview of Season 7, several featurettes, and a whole lot more. --Sam Graham

How I Met Your Mother - Season 1

A love story in reverse: How I Met Your Mother is a fresh new comedy about Ted (Josh Radnor) and how he fell in love. When Ted's best friends Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lilly (Alyson Hannigan) decide to tie the knot it sparks the search for his own Miss Right. Helping him in his quest is his bar-hopping "wing-man" Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) a confirmed bachelor with plenty of wild schemes for picking up women. Ted's sites are set on the charming and independent Robin (Cobie Smulders) but destiny may have something different in mind. Told through a series of flashbacks Ted recalls his single days the highs and lows of dating and the search for true love.System Requirements:Run Time: 484 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543382034 Manufacturer No: 2238203

If the end of Friends left a hole in your life, take a look at How I Met Your Mother. Quirky young urban folk grappling with life and love--check. Charming, good-looking actors who aren't afraid of looking like idiots for the sake of a good joke--check. Crisp, solid writing that sticks comfortably within the sitcom format, but is fresh enough to nudge the show into surprising and inventive moments--check. In fact, the creators of How I Met Your Mother should be embarrassed by how close they hew to the Friends formula--except that they do it so well. Let's face it, Friends didn't invent this territory (tales of twentysomething life), they just refined it. How I Met Your Mother quickly cultivates its own flavor: A little more openly romantic than most sitcoms, willing to let a scene take a quiet or off-kilter turn, trusting that not every viewer has to get every joke.

The hub of the likable cast is Josh Radnor, who keeps Ted (a single guy ready to settle down) from being annoying, despite his neuroses and perfectionism. Cobie Smulders gives Robin (the girl Ted thinks might be the one, but who doesn't want to settle down) enough goofy, tomboyish charm that she feels like a person and not an idealized love interest. Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks) and Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Pie), plays Ted's soon-to-be-married best friends Marshall and Lily with enough lingering doubt in their engaged happiness to keep them from becoming too comfortable. And rounding out the cast is Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D.), shedding his good-guy image as Barney, a crass, lecherous cad who, nonetheless, comes through for his friends. Episode plots are pretty straightforward (Ted signs up with matchmaking agency; Marshall takes a well-paying job he doesn't like; when Ted gets a girlfriend, Robin realizes she has feelings for him after all; and Lily has second thoughts about getting married), but the show maintains a nice balance of single-episodes stories and a season-long arc--and as you grown attached to the characters, even fairly routine stories are made to feel fresh. This is good comfort television: Smart but not snotty, earnest but not cloying, oddball without being forced or wacky. Check it out. --Bret Fetzer

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