TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I'm not usually a big fan of these DVD box sets that take one genre and give you a variety of various series episodes (such as the sets that have a bunch of TV westerns in them). But the Saturday Morning Cartoon sets look like fun. The 1960s set includes The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, Secret Squirrel, Atom Ant, and Quick Draw McGraw, while the 1970s set includes Josie & The Pussycats, Speed Buggy, the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, and Hong Kong Phooey. OK, the 60s set is much better than the 70s set. And the 70s set for some reason also includes The Jetsons, which is odd (it ran in 1962). Still, both sets look good.

• The Closer - Season 4
• Designing Women - Season 1
• Gangland - Season 3
• Gunsmoke - Season 3, Vol. 2
• Jeeves & Wooster - Complete Series

Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

A couple of other bloggers have made lists concerning movies that have been made into TV shows and vice versa. There's The Top 10 Movies Based on TV Shows, The Top 5 Shows That are Better than the Movie, Four Small Screen to Big Screen Flops and AOL's own list. Here is my effort. Enjoy.

1. The Avengers: I tried to sit through this move twice and couldn't do it either time. If anyone can explain the plot to me, they can have my job. This movie is the exact opposite of the TV show. Boring, unoriginal, ignorant and unpleasant to watch.

2. Lost in Space: After the cameos by the surviving original cast members, stop watching. Since when is Dr. smith a psycho? I know Heather Graham is hot, but why is Don West more interested in getting laid than getting home? And what is up with the stupid CGI alien? I'd rather see a monkey with Spock ears.

Legendary TV producer and actor Aaron Spelling died today in Los Angeles.

Spelling, father of Tori Spelling, suffered a stroke on June 18, and died from complications from the stroke.

Spelling was the producer of several classic TV shows over the past three or so decades, including Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Starsky & Hutch, Hart to Hart, T.J. Hooker, and 7th Heaven. And somewhat more recently, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Charmed.

A lot of people don't know that Spelling actually started as an actor. That's him in the classic I Love Lucy episode "Tennessee Bound," playing the gas station attendant the gang encounters.

I guess this one would go in the "I thought he died years ago" category.

Franz was a character actor for several decades, appearing in such movies as Sands of Iwo Jima, Hellcats of the Navy, The Caine Mutiny (as the narrator), Invaders From Mars, and Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man. But he was also a familiar face on the small screen too, appearing in everything from Perry Mason, Mission: Impossible, McCloud and Rawhide to Mod Squad, The Waltons, Mannix, and The FBI.

Franz died Saturday in California of emphysema and pneumonia.