TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Hmmm, a bunch of "Best Of" sets are being released this week. I've never liked this idea (most of these sets don't have episodes that I'd like to see, and I'd like a complete collection), though I guess I can understand why they release them. They want to see if fans are interested and aren't sure if it warrants a whole season being released. Though I'm not sure why shows like Banacek and B.L. Stryker are getting "Best Of" sets since they have already had season sets released.

• B.L. Stryker - Best Of
  
• Banacek - Best Of
• Beany & Cecil - Classic Collection, Volumes 1 and 2
• Charles in Charge - Best Of
• The Crow: Stairway to Heaven - Best Of
• Curious George - Sails with Pirates and Other Curious Capers
• Death Note - Vol. 6
• Dirty Jobs - Collection 3
• Entourage - Season 4
• Everybody Hates Chris - Season 3
• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Halloween
• The Golden Age of Comedy
• Heroes - Season 2
• The Honeymooners - Color, Collection 4
• NCIS - Season 5 and Seasons 1-5 sets
  
• One Tree Hill - Season 5
• Robson Arms - Season 3
• The Shield - Season 6
• Shockwave - Season 1
• The Untouchables - Season 2, Vol. 2

I'm feeling a little melancholy today. This past Friday, a friend of mine lost two daughters in a senseless automobile accident. They were thirteen and eighteen; one having just started college and the other just entering the magical teen years. It was so sudden and insane that I can't really wrap my brain around it. As a parent, I can only begin to understand what he and the girls' mother are going through, but even then I'm sure it pales in comparison to the reality.

As I thought about this blog and things to post on television, I was struck by how death can have a dramatic and instant impact on a fictional show as well. Sometimes when an actor dies, the show is able to move on with relative smoothness, but other times there is an irreplaceable hole that just never seems to be filled.

Well, this is too bad: the sci-fi show Dark Skies isn't going to be released on DVD as was originally announced.

Producer/writer Bryce Zabel announces on his blog that although The Crow multi-disc set is still on track to be released, Dark Skies won't be. He found out the news after coming home from Comic-Con. Sony has decided to cancel the release because getting the rights to the music used on the show would be too expensive.

Zabel says that he predicted this might be a problem a while ago and offered to work with Sony to get around the music somehow or use other music in certain scenes, but they never got back to him.

Does the name ring a bell? Zabel is a writer and producer (and former correspondent for CNN and chairman/CEO of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences -- that's the Emmys) who has created, produced, and/or written for several TV shows over the years, including L.A. Law, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Crow, Dallas, The Fifth Corner, Dark Skies, Equal Justice, and Life Goes On, plus many movies. Well, he has a blog!

It's actually a well-designed site, with tons of posts, categories, and photos. Check out his Movie Smackdown contest.