TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Black Adder - Black Adder 1, II, III, IV, and V (All remastered) and Ultimate Edition
• Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - Complete Series (New package)
• Eleventh Hour - Complete Series
• Faerie Tale Theatre - Bedtime Tales and Magical Tales
  

We've talked a lot here about theme songs and how they just don't make them like they used to. The openings to shows used to be a lot longer, a real part of the show. Today we're lucky if we get a few bars of music and maybe a credit or two. Heck, one show, Lost, only plays one note and shows the logo.

The Popcorn Trick has a list of the Top 25 Opening Credits of '80s Action Shows, and you can't argue with most of the picks. Magnum P.I. is on the list, as is Riptide, Miami Vice, and The A Team. I would quibble a little bit with the choice of The Rockford Files. One of my favorites, but it was really more of a '70s show than '80s (it ended in 1980). I was 13 years old when Vegas premiered (in 1978 - it ran until 1981) and I wanted to be Dan Tanna and live in Vegas and have hot girlfriends and drive around with a lion in my sports car.

Cagney and Lacey shouldn't be on the list though. It should be replaced with one of several other shows from the '80s. After the jump, the five shows they missed.

I just finished watching the now cancelled Viva Laughlin and I can totally understand why nobody watched the show. It was a total mess!

I was a fan of the BBC version (Viva Blackpool) and I really had high hopes for the Americanized drama. Sadly, the producers made way too many mistakes for this show to have even the slightest chance.

The first mistake they made was the decision to have the leads sing over the original songs. In the original version of the show, the actors lip-synced all the musical numbers which gave the show a really creepy quality. Especially when the male characters are doing a number like "These Boots Were Made for Walking." It was creepy and funny and weird and enjoyable to watch.

While we all mourn the demise of the celebrity Roast, I thought this might be a good time to reflect back on a time when the master, Don Rickles, used just the right combination of acerbic wit and what would today be called "political incorrectness" for hilarious results.

All comedians, in their own way, are skilled at keeping an audience engaged, but very few can match the likes of Don Rickles. There are a lot of angry comedians out there, and even some who aren't afraid to take a few shots at the audience, but Rickles' act was only ostensibly about insults. At its core, it was about creating a kind of communal moment in which no one was the butt of the joke because everyone was the butt of the joke.

• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother: All-Stars, followed by a new Rock Star: Supernova.
• NBC has a new Fear Factor at 8, followed by a new Last Comic Standing.
• AMC has Jaws at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The 2006 World Series of Poker (circuit championships, from Atlantic City and Las Vegas).
• At 9, ABC has a new ep of The One.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• TLC has a new Overhaulin' at 9, followed by a new Miami Ink.
• There's a new episode of Work Out on Bravo at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi Channel has a new Eureka.