TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

How can so many TV DVDs be released on one day and still there isn't one that I want to buy? The only one of the below sets that I might be interested in getting would be Simon & Simon. And that's only because it's one 80s action drama that I never got into for some reason but feel I should catch up on. But there's plenty of stuff for fans of every type of show, from Sons of Anarchy to The Smurfs.

• The Beast - Season 1
• Cracker - The Complete Series
• Dexter - Season 3
• Dirty Sexy Money - Season 2
• Eli Stone - Season 2
• Everybody Hates Chris - Season 4

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I should be happy when there are a ton of new DVDs but nothing I want to buy, because I'll save some money. But this has been happening a lot lately. I mean, there must be something being released soon that I must own. I might have to get the Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie if it wasn't included in the complete series set I have.

Kinda amazed that My Two Dads has been released on DVD, though I shouldn't be because it seems like a lot of shows are making their way to DVD now. It makes me hopeful that other sitcoms from that era will be released too.

• 7th Heaven - Season 8
• Chowder - Vol. 2
• Doctor Who - The Androids of Tara, Key To Time, The Armageddon Factor, The Power of Kroll, The Pirate Planet, The Stones of Blood, and The Ribos Operation (all Special Editions)

... Ten shows on DVD

Since there are twelve shows a-stinkin' on TV this year (well, that's the low estimate), you might be glad to hear that 2008 brought us some spectacular TV on DVD. You knew there had to be a bright spot, right?

Whether you want to re-watch your favorite classic shows from the '50s or '60s (or earlier), or catch up on one of the hottest shows on current TV (yeah, there are a few) by starting with the first season, they've been released on DVD in 2008. It was actually hard to pick just ten, but for better or for worse, here are my picks:

This is a really clever idea.

Betamaxmas takes a bunch of Christmas specials and episodes of TV shows that you can find on YouTube and puts them on one site, inside an old-fashioned television. You can even change the channels and adjust the volume on an old remote control.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wow, this is quite a list of shows this week, though I think the only one I'm definitely going to buy is the second season 30 Rock set. Maybe the Three Stooges set too. Those are good sets to have. I'm tempted to buy the complete series set for Speed Racer because I remember it from my childhood, but I have a big suspicion that my memories would be better than the show itself.

• 30 Rock - Season 2
  
• The Beverly Hillbillies - Season 2
• Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern - Collection 2
• Brotherhood - Season 2
• Corner Gas - Season 5
• Doctor Who - The Brain of Morbius and Trial of a Time Lord
• Full Circle with Michael Palin
• Ghost Hunters - Season 4, Part 1
• How I Met Your Mother - Season 3
• Johnny Cash & Friends - Christmas Specials
• Martin - Season 5
• Midsomer Murders - Box Set 11
• Mission: Impossible - Season 5
• The Munsters - Complete Series and Family Portrait
• Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Vol. 2
• Robot Chicken - Season 3
• The Sarah Jane Adventures - Season 1
• The Simpsons - Season 11
• The Smurfs - Season 1, Vol. 2
• The Three Stooges Collection - Vol. 4: 1943-45
• South Park - The Cult of Cartman
• Speed Racer - Complete Series
• Speed Racer: The Next Generation - Vol. 2
• Wagon Train - Going West

We all know that studios go ga-ga for big screen movies based on TV shows. Even if they tank, there seems to be an unending appetite to bring a beloved (or even semi-beloved) TV show to a theater near you: The Fugitive, Charlie's Angels, Transformers, The Beverly Hillbillies, Serenity (Firefly), The Simpsons, South Park, The Flintstones, The Jetsons...the list is endless. Now Den of Geek has a list of 23 shows that studios are planning to bring to the big screen.

But this list is really incomplete in so many ways. We've all heard that Magnum, P.I. might get the movie treatment, but this list only says that Matthew McConaughey might star and doesn't mention other people who have been rumored to have been attached to it in the past, including Ben Affleck and George Clooney.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Season 5
• B.L. Stryker - Season 1
• Comanche Moon - Complete Mini-Series
• Dark Shadows - The Beginning: Vol. 3
• Extras - Extra Special Series Finale
• Family Affair - Season 5
• The Fugitive - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Ghost Hunters - Season 3, Part 2
• Highlander: The Source (movie)
• Hotel Babylon - Season 1
• The Invisible Man - The Complete Collection
• The Jackie Gleason Show - The Honeymooners: Collection 2 (color)
• The Justice League - The New Frontier and New Frontier Special Editions
• Newhart - Season 1
• Punky Brewster - Season 4
• The Red Green Show - 1999: Collector's Edition
• The Smurfs - Season 1, Vol. 1
• State of Play - Complete Mini-Series

This time we've got three copies of The Smurfs season one, volume one on DVD for three lucky, random commenters. The set is available in stores on February 26.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, February 15, simply telling us who your favorite Smurf is. As always, we'll randomly choose three winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Ever wonder where The Smurfs came from? Was Papa Smurf the progenitor of all smurfness? Would Smurfette forever be the only the female sent by Gargamel to cause jealousy and unrest in the otherwise male community?

I certainly have. I love those little forest imps (only three apples tall) and their awesome smurfin' singing. I can hear it now. LA LA La la la laaa... And now you probably will have it in your head for the rest of the day. Sorry about that.

If you want to learn more about The Smurfs, check out the video after the jump. It explains how Peyo, the Belgian cartoonist, discovered the word that made him a legend and other smurfin' good facts.

Allan Melvin had so many roles on so many TV shows over the years that it's hard to know where to begin, but I guess the most logical spot would be The Brady Bunch, where he played Sam The Butcher, the guy Alice dated. He was also a regular on The Phil Silvers Show, played Archie Bunker's friend Barney on All in the Family, and also played Rob's army buddy on The Dick Van Dyke Show. He appeared on dozens of other shows over the years, from the Andy Griffith Show (he always played a crook - that's him on the right in the pic) and Gomer Pyle, USMC to Kung Fu and The Banana Splits (he was Drooper).

You would probably also recognize his voice in many cartoons, including Magilla Gorilla, The Flintstones, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, The Smurfs, Spider-Man and Friends, Foofur, Ducktales, Talespin, and others.

He died of cancer in Los Angeles.

Choke on hot blue nostalgia, Generation X.

The Smurfs, that popular animated program I and many of my friends watched religiously as children of the '80s, is finally coming out on DVD. The Smurfs: Season One, Volume One is a two-disc set including the first nineteen episodes of the first season, along with "The Smurfs Springtime Special" and "Smurfs: The Music Video." The set comes out December 4.