TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

If you loved The Rockford Files and you own the season sets, you'll probably want to buy Volume 1 of the movies (four in this batch) that is being released tomorrow. They weren't as good as the series, of course (sort of like the Spenser: For Hire movies that Robert Urich did after that series ended), but they're actually pretty good.

And season 6 of Kate & Allie is out. That reminds me: I still have to get season 5.

• Afro Samurai - Complete Murder Sessions
• The Clone Wars - Season 1
• Doctor Who - The War Games and The Black Guardian Trilogy
• Edge of Darkness - The Complete BBC Series
  

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wow, I didn't even realize that season six of Kate and Allie was being released this week (Canada only). Reminds me that I haven't bought season five yet. I think I was waiting for it to be released in the U.S., but now Amazon doesn't have any copies, so I'll guess I'll get them both this week at the same time.

Not sure what's up with the Elvis Ed Sullivan Show DVD. There was a very similar DVD set released a few years ago, so maybe this is a re-release or a re-master?

• The Adventures of Black Beauty - Series 2
• Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
• The Ed Sullivan Show - Elvis Presley

I don't get RTN (Retro Television Network) where I live. If you go to their web site and scroll down, you'll see that the network isn't in every state yet. But it's something I'd like to see on my local cable system.

RTN is a channel that shows a lot of old TV shows. It's sort of what TV Land used to be, a long time ago, before they started to get into reality shows, movies, and Extreme Makeover.

The channel is still at a time in their history where they have the freedom to not only air cult-yet-mainstream shows like the original Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It To Beaver, and Magnum, P.i., they're also airing such shows as Delvecchio (!), It Takes A Thief (!), Kate and Allie (!), the original 50s version of Mike Hammer (!), Run For Your Life (!), and The Bold Ones (!). As you can see, this is one eclectic network. They also have original programming such as talk shows, RTN Mystery Theater, and Offbeat Cinema. Robin Leach is going to host a show on the network, too.

Are there TV shows and/or movies that you watch every Christmas? If you're like me, you try to catch It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Bad Santa, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph and other specials. And on Halloween we have, well, Halloween and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

But what about Thanksgiving? Do you have any TV traditions for this holiday?

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Every week I hope and pray that I don't have to spend a lot of money on DVDs - or anything else, really - and each week there's something new I need to have. This week there are three DVD sets I'm going to order. How about you?

• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Animated Christmas Blast
• Alvin & The Chipmunks - Daytona Jones and The Pearls of Wisdom
• CSI: Miami - Season 6
• Casper - Spooktacular New Adventures: Vol. 2
• Grey's Anatomy - Season 4
• Gulliver's Travels - Miniseries
• A Haunting - Season 4 and Seasons 1-4 set
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 3
• Judge Judy - Second to None
• Kate & Allie - Season 5 (Canada only)
• Keeping Up Appearances - Life Lessons From Onslow and The Full Bouquet
• Medium - Season 4
• Riptide - Complete Series
• Smallville - Season 7
• The Spectacular Spider-Man - Attack of the Lizard
• The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries - Season 1
• To The Manor Born - Silver Wedding Anniversary and Complete Series
• Ugly Betty - Season 2
• Wings - Season 7

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Larry Haines: He portrayed Stu Bergman on Search For Tomorrow for the entire series, from 1951 to 1986. He won two Emmys for the role. Haines also appeared in many other shows, including Kojak, Maude, The Defenders, The Nurses, Another World, and Loving, as well as the movies The Odd Couple (he played Speed) and The Seven-Ups. He died at age 89.

Let's talk about cereal commercials (again).

I thought of all of the cereal commercials we've had over the years after seeing the latest ads for Fiber One. Yes, to answer your question, that is Kate and Allie's Fred Koehler playing the store clerk who calls the manager over after the customer has a question about the lack of twigs in his cereal (that's Koehler with Johnathon Schaech). At first I thought to myself, "why is he doing cereal commercials instead of TV shows and movies?," but then I figured, hey, we all have to pay the bills, and Fiber One cereal is good! I just saw a sequel to the ad that features new Fiber One/Yoplait Yogurt and in it you see Kathryn Joosten, a great actress who played Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing and Mrs. McCluskey on Desperate Housewives and...well, a million other roles. So it's actually very cool to see them doing this stuff along with their many other roles.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Gloria Cromwell: She appeared in a number of TV shows over the years, including Kate & Allie (she played Janet, their landlord), Ryan's Hope, Murder, She Wrote, Moonlighting, Hill Street Blues, The Golden Girls, Hunter, Cop Rock, Designing Women, Coach, L.A. Law, and many others. She was also in many films, including Say Anything, The Odd Couple: Together Again, The War of the Roses, and The Parent Trap II. She died on March 3 (age unknown).

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Baa Baa Black Sheep - Vol. 2
• Batfink - Complete Series
• Chancer - Series 1
• Degrassi: The Next Generation - Season 5
• Dora The Explorer - Summer Explorer
• Eureka - Season 1
• George Lopez: America's Mexican (HBO standup special)
• Ghostbusters - Vol. 2
• Kate & Allie - Season 4 (Canada)
• Slings & Arrows - Season 4
• WWE - One Night Stand

Summer is my least favorite season, by far. And not just because most TV shows are in reruns 'til the fall, though that's part of it. But nowadays the networks and cable are giving us more new stuff during June, July, and August, and it's also a good time to get caught up on shows you missed and those DVDs on your coffee table. Here's what I'm looking forward to this summer.

1. Mad Men (AMC): This is an original drama series for AMC, and it centers on the men (and women) who work for a big Madison Avenue ad agency in 1960. Advertising! 1960! Cool clothes! Cool music! Smoking! Drinking! I can't wait for this show to start. Premieres in July.

Recently, Bob made an aside about how he can't find Kate and Allie anywhere on television. Well, I have good news for Bob and for anyone else who was a fan of that sitcom: WE (that's the Women's Entertainment network, not the pronoun) will begin showing episodes in June.

In fact, the popular '80s sitcom will be introduced with a marathon running from noon until 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 2. The series will then slip into its regular Monday night slot at 7:00 p.m.

Kate and Allie focused on two divorcees who decide to move in together and help raise each other's children. The series starred Jane Curtin (Allie) and Susan Saint James (Kate), and while I watched it a lot growing up (my mom loved the show), I think I was a bit too young to appreciate it. One of the things I love about having a Tivo is recording those old shows I only vaguely remember to see how good they really are. Lately, I've been watching a lot of Alice, but now I'll have to add Kate and Allie to the lineup, too.

New TV DVDs in stores tomorrow.

• Anything But Love - Vol. 1
• Baywatch - Season 3 (Syndicated)
• Charlie and Lola - Vol. 3
• Charmed - Season 7
• Kate & Allie - Season 3
• Mad About You - Season 3
• Teen Titans - Trouble in Tokyo
• Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles - Season 6

Everything you need to know about the web site Television Without Pity - and why I hate it so much - can be found in the subtitle of their new book. It's called Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love To Hate (And Hate To Love) About Television.

Why does it have to be like that? Why do they either have to "love to hate" or "hate to love" what they see on television? Is it not "hip" to really like television? I've long suspected that these people don't really like TV, they just find it a convenient place to use all of their snarky tools and be sarcastic. Of course, that doesn't mean that a book about television, even from them, couldn't hold some promise. But reading through the damn thing, this is what I found out about TWoP's view of television.

Every year around this time, tvshowsondvd.com lists the shows that are going to come out on DVD during the year, or at least the ones that are planned to come out. The list this year is the most impressive yet, with several series that I know many people have been waiting for, including:

• The Wild, Wild West
• Wings
• Kate and Allie
• Star Trek: The Animated Series
• Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
• Tomorrow (with Tom Snyder)
• The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
• The Flash
• Hawaii Five-0

That's just a partial list. Check out the whole thing here.

[via Lee Goldberg]