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Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: Breaking Bad Still Good
BREAKING BAD COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON ($55.99 BluRay; Sony) -- It's the best show on
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THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM COMPLETE SERIES ($49.97; Shout) -- Silverman's TV
show is off-beat (of course), offensive (at times), funny (always), and unique. Whether she's trying to
marry her dog or suing the movie Home Alone (a personal favorite and I would have joined in on the
lawsuit but I've never actually seen Home Alone ), Silverman projects a naif attitude towards the world
that is somehow both cynical and sweet. Shout presents the entire series with care, including bonus
features like commentaries, the original pilot, a ComicCon appearance and more. If you like her, you'll
like it.
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WILFRED SEASON ONE ($39.99 BluRay; Fox)
LOUIS SEASON TWO ($39.99 BluRay; Fox)
EPISODES THE FIRST SEASON ($29.98; Showtime/CBS) -- Wilfred is the story of a lonely guy
(Elijah Wood) who imagines his neighbor's dog is talking to him. He sees the animal Wilfred as a lumpy,
middle-aged guy with an Australian accent (Jason Gann), a walking, talking, crotch-sniffing id whopushes our hero to do stuff he'd never think of on his own. Sometimes the series goes off track into amean and petty vein. But when the story stays focused on Ryan and Wilfred and we can see their oddcouple friendship growing and each one making the other a better man/dog, there's precious little like it.Gann is quite funny but it is Wood's sad sack persona that anchors this series into the real world andmakes it not just funny but affecting. Louie C.K. is the star of his own sitcom, another thoroughly originalblend of skewed observations on the world, a backdoor peak into stand-up and despite itself, occasionalwarmth. Finally, Matt LeBlanc has fun trashing his own image -- as well as Hollywood -- in Episodes , the
story of a British writing team who get a chance to take their Britcom and bring it to America. The sitcomis in very good health indeed.
LANCELOT LINK: SECRET CHIMP COLLECTOR'S EDITION ($24.98; Film Chest)
RAGS TO RICHES COMPLETE SERIES ($29.98; Image) -- I'm sorry, did you say a TV spy spoof
starring chimpanzees and apes and the such? Not a human in sight? The sets built to 3/4 size so thisworld of monkeys would be as convincing as possible? The most expensive kids show in history, up tothat time? No, it's not an acid trip, it's Lancelot Link , that very show dimly remembered by kids in the
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early 1970s. It's by no means good, but by God it's unusual and we're finally getting the entire 17 episodes
in nice, cleaned up fashion. For the final psychedelic touch, the show also featured musical numbers with
our spy chimps rocking out. Yes, The Monkeys. Literally. The primetime series Rags To Riches centers on
businessman Joseph Bologna who needs to burnish up his public image. Naturally, he adopts five orphangirls and they turn his world upside down. Unexpectedly, there are also musical numbers, which happily
were classics from the 1960s and earlier, rather than original tunes. That probably held up the DVD
release (music rights are the reason we still can't watch The Wonder Years ) so it's nice to see the entire
series available on DVD. It's not a particularly good show from 1987, but I'm a firm believer everythingshould be available in some form so it's a welcome release. Now where's Cop Rock ?

TRUE BLOOD SEASON FOUR 9$79.98 BluRay; HBO)
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM SEASON EIGHT ($39.98; HBO)
ENTOURAGE EIGHTH SEASON ($39.98; HBO)
TOO BIG TO FAIL ($19.97; HBO) -- I hate to say it. I've resisted it because money is tight. But I think
HBO has become an essential purchase again. Entourage is walking into the sunset (bye, you lovable
Hollywood playas and wannabes). But here is just a new batch of HBO shows: the red hot True Blood,
Curb Your Enthusiasm (which some fans are now scandalously claiming is even better than Seinfeld ),
and TV movies like the Wall Street scandal Too Big To Fail, with HBO's usual stellar cast. Throw in
Game Of Thrones, Veep, Girls, Real Time With Bill Maher and now The Newsroom and darnit if HBO
has become a must-have again.
CASABLANCA THE COMPLETE SERIES ($39.95; Olive) -- Even as a 17 year old kid, I was
scandalized when NBC launched a TV drama prequel to Casablanca , one of the greatest films of all time.
But at least they attempted this doomed-to-fail enterprise with a top-notch production. They recreatedthe sets of the film beautifully (the show received two Emmy nominations and won for Cinematography)and delivered a strong cast including Scatman Crothers, Ray Liotta, Hector Elizondo and David Soul asRick. (Since the show was a prequel, no one had to be cast to play Ingrid Bergman, who at the time of thefilm was perhaps the most beautiful woman in the world). It ran for five episodes, with NBC very
tentatively beginning the run in April of 1983, about the oddest time to launch a new series one can think
of back in those days. It is a curiosity now and would make an excellent bonus feature on a deluxe boxed
set celebrating the movie. On its own, it's strictly for completists, though if you pretend it's not actually
Casablanca but just a TV series, it was quite ambitious and had some promise. Such a bad idea -- and
not the first time it had been acted on. There was an earlier TV series in 1955 that ran for ten episodes,and several musical adaptations have been tackled over the years. But no one really wants to hear Rickbreak into song, do they?
FALLING SKIES FIRST SEASON ($49.99 BluRay; Warner Bros.)
DOCTOR WHO RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS ($34.98; BBC?Warner Bros.)
THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES SEASON FIVE ($19.98; BBC/Warner Bros.) -- Steven
Spielberg's Falling Skies is a heartfelt family drama with an alien invasion as the backdrop. That is both
the show's strength and failing, though Noah Wylie anchors the series nicely. Hopefully, the action will
pick up a bit in season two. Having just watched the classic British drama All Creatures Great AndSmall, I especially looked forward to seeing costar Peter Davison (who played a ladies' man of an animal
veterinarian) as the good Doctor. The BBC loads up these multi-episode collections telling one long storywith excellent bonus features. But this is still absurdly over-priced at just 90 minutes (though they docontain the slightly longer, rawer four part version which -- oh, if you're a Who fan you probably know
and if you're not you don't care). Good silly fun. Sarah Jane has always been the most popular companion
for the Doctor and she finally got her own series. Doctor Who has always been family fare but the recent
reboot tilts slightly more adult and mature whereas this spin-off is definitely geared to kiddies. Sadly, the
star Elizabeth Sladden died suddenly during the filming of this season and the show has ceasedproduction, so this is the final goodbye for Sarah Jane.
DAMAGES COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON ($45.99; Sony)
WASHINGTON: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS ($59.99; Acorn) -- Glenn Close continues to tear it up
in the legal drama Damages . But you're only as good as your client or opponent and Close has a juicy one
with John Goodman as the corrupt CEO of a security firm doing business in Afghanistan. (It's clearly
inspired by the controversial firm Blackwater, which has now redubbed itself the hilarious inaptAcademi.) Goodman always tears into good dramatic roles when given the chance and doesn't disappointhere. A similar tale of power and corruption can be enjoyed in the 1977 miniseries Washington: BehindClosed Doors, based on John Ehrlichman's post-Watergate novel The Company. He knew something
about paranoid presidents and this nearly 10-hour miniseries has a lot of fun, thanks to a stellar cast thatincludes Jason Robards, Cliff Robertson, John Houseman, Robert Vaughn, Stefanie Powers and Andy
Griffith. It's down and dirty rather than lavish like Shogun or The Holocaust but it's still fun.

WHITE COLLAR COMPLETE THIRD SEASON ($39.98; Fox)
FRANKLIN & BASH FIRST SEASON ($45.99; Sony)
BURN NOTICE SEASON FIVE ($49.98; Fox))
TOP GEAR COMPLETE SEASON 18 ($24.98; BBC) -- I love boundary pushing, provocative
television. But sometimes you just want to zone out. That doesn't mean you want something stupid and
with the right charismatic cast and clever than average scripts, junk food television that you can dip intoanytime without worrying about complicated story lines can be just the thing. White Collar is a sterling
example, thanks to devilishly handsome leading man Matt Bomer (almost the perfect name) as a con
man-turned-FBI consultant. Bomer should be answering calls from Hollywood when they want a new
leading man but for the moment he's having great fun here. "We're totally lawyers" is a great tagline that
perfectly captures the appeal of Franklin & Bash, a buddy show about two dudes who practice law. Stars
Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar have excellent chemistry. Toss in Malcolm McDowell into the
mix and you've got yourself a breezy bit of fun. Ditto Burn Notice , which had so much long-anticipated
action (our hero returned to the CIA -- briefly -- faced down the person who burned him and so on) thatit almost felt like a series finale. They're back for a sixth season, however, so catch up if you want. Unlikethe other shows, this one does have a serious overarching plot but you can still enjoy it week to week.Finally, Top Gear always gets compared to the radio show Car Talk because they both entertain even if
you don't give a hoot about cars. This set contains the entire 18th season (including the India special anda look at China's automotive industry) plus an episode from the U.S. spin-off. With Car Talk fading into
permanent reruns, this is the last refuge for gearheads.
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Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
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10:01 AM on 06/25/2012
I figured I'd blindly check out the first episode of Episodes.
SO glad I did! The show is great and the season finale was laugh out loud funny (I'm not a loudlaugher).
09:30 AM on 06/25/2012
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Coincidentally, I just watched the premier episode of Breaking Bad...last night.
I'm hooked.
02:21 PM on 06/26/2012
Terrific. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Hasn't missed a beat since day one.
05:57 AM on 06/25/2012
hing brba at the beginning of s4 because it was sooooo boring. i might pick up the dvd once they're
super cheap or watch it on netfix.
10:00 AM on 06/25/2012
To each their own, but if you thought "Box Cutter" (S4E1) was boring, Breaking Bad isn't ashow for you."Well, get back to work."
10:21 AM on 06/25/2012
i loved the first 3 seasons.
10:12 PM on 06/24/2012
I don't know that I'd say Breaking Bad is the best show -bar none-.
Mad Men is great. And while BrBa's season 4 wasn't as good as season 3 (in my opinion), Mad
Men's season 5 was its best season so far (again, in my opinion).
Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire are also magnificent. And on the BBC, there's Sherlock
and Luther.
06:00 AM on 06/25/2012
i've yet to see the last 5 epsodes of mad men. the last season kinda lost me. meanwhile i'm rewatching the partridge family and i'm thoroughly enjoying it. i'm convinced that the could bring about world peace.
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