TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I think I mentioned a week or two ago that it was good that I didn't have to spend any money on DVDs. Well, it looks like we're getting into a time when they're releasing something every single week that I want. This week it's Game Show Moments Gone Bananas, which looks like a lot of fun.

The first season of This American Life is finally out in general release after the Borders-only version from last year.

• Alvin & The Chipmunks - Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration and Holiday Gift Set
• Ax Men - Season 1
• Boston Legal - Season 4
• Brothers & Sisters - Season 2
• CSI: NY - Season 4
• Cashmere Mafia - Complete Series
• Friday The 13th - Season 1
• Games Show Moments Gone Bananas
• iCarly - Season 1, Vol. 1
• Peanuts - Peanuts Holiday Collection
• Rob & Big - Season 3
• Samantha Who? - Season 1
• Schoolhouse Rock - Election Collection
• This American Life - Season 1
• Two and a Half Men - Season 4

• At 8, CBS has a new Million Dollar Password.
• ABC has the second Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals Game at 8.
• TCM has 20 Million Miles To Earth at 8, then First Men in the Moon.
• At 9, NBC has a new, two-hour Dateline.
• Lifetime has the season premiere of Army Wives at 9.
• USA has the season premiere of Law and Order: CI at 9, then a new In Plain Sight.
• The season premiere of Ice Road Truckers airs on History Channel at 9.
• Food Network has a new Iron Chef America at 9, followed by a new Next Food Network Star.
• HGTV has a new Design Star at 9.
• Spike has the movie Backwoods at 9.
• At 10, E! has a new Denise Richards: It's Complicated, then a new Living Lohan.
• Showtime has a new This American Life at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Venture Brothers, followed by new episodes of Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, and Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then the series premiere of Million Dollar Password.
• G4 has the season premiere of Code Monkeys at 7, followed by the movie The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.
• At 8, Food Network has a new Challenge, followed by new episodes of Iron Chef America and The Next Food Network Star.
• MTV has the 2008 MTV Movie Awards at 8.
• At 9, NBC has a new Dateline.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9.
• Also at 9: Showtime has the season finale of The Tudors, then a new This American Life.
• At 10, USA has the series premiere of In Plain Sight.
• There's a new Denise Richards: It's Complicated at 10, then a new Living Lohan. Both are on E!
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has the season premiere of The Venture Brothers, followed by new episodes Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, and Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• FOX has the NASCAR Spring Cup: Coca-Cola 600 race all night.
• TV Land has an Andy Griffith Show marathon all night.
• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes.
• NBC has a new, two hour Dateline at 7.
• At 8, TNT has the NBA Playoffs, Lakers vs. Spurs.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, followed by new episodes of Iron Chef America and Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• Hallmark has the new movie Shark Swarm at 8.
• At 9, HBO has the new movie Recount.
• There's a new episode of The Tudors on Showtime at 9, then a new This American Life.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Metalocalypse, followed by new episodes of Squidbillies and Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by the season finale of Survivor and the Survivor Live Reunion Show.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, then new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has the special America's Favorite Mom at 7, followed a mini-marathon of The Office.
• Also at 7: ABC Family has Mary Poppins, then the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, then a new King of the Hill.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8, followed by new episodes of Aliens in America and The Game.
• PBS has new episodes of Nature and Masterpiece.
• TNT has NBA Playoffs at 8.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has the new movie Never Cry Werewolf.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 9, followed by a new This American Life.
• At 9:30, FOX has a new American Dad.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies, then a new Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then a new Cold Case and two episodes of Dexter.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, followed by a new King of the Hill, the season finale of Family Guy, and a new American Dad.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8, then new episodes of Aliens in America and The Game.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, followed by a new Masterpiece.
• Also at 8: TCM has the 1965 special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music.
• At 9, Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors, then the season premiere of This American Life.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies, then a new Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Here are the new TV DVDs in stores tomorrow.

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Vol. 5
• Chancer - Series 2
• Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 6
• Damages - Season 1
• Emergency - Season 4
• Hannah Montana - One in a Million
• Jackie Gleason: Genius At Work
• JAG - Season 5
• Masterpiece - Mansfield Park
• Pioneers of Television - Complete Series
• SpongeBob SquarePants - To Love A Patty
• This American Life - Season 1 (Border's Books and Music only)
• Twitches Too (TV Movie)

Some very cool news for fans of This American Life, the Showtime version of the long-running public radio mainstay. The first season of the series is now available on iTunes for $1.99 per episode (six episodes total) or $10.99 for the whole season. You can also download the radio version for free, just in case you didn't know.

I'll admit I didn't get into This American Life, the radio series or the TV program, until recently after hearing for many years how compelling and well-made it is. Those people were right, and it's become a permanent fixture on both my Tivo and my iPod. If they made a This American Life pamphlet, I would subscribe to that, too.

First I thought this would be a summer filled with possibly watching one or two summer series, and then catching up on the growing stack of books in my "to be read" pile ... but somehow it's morphed into the "DVR + TV shows on DVD Summer of Rock " *fanfare*. It's actually not that dramatic, but I like to stick fanfare in whenever I can. Theme songs are one thing, but fanfare can pepper mundane events with joy. "Here's your latte, sir." *fanfare* See what I mean?

• At 8, ABC has an Ugly Betty clip show, followed by a Grey's Anatomy clip show and the premiere of Notes From The Underbelly.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and Shark.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs, and ER.
• There's a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? on FOX at 8.
• At 9, The CW has The BRICK Awards.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• At 10, HGTV has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay, then a new Ace of Cakes.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit! at 10, then a new episode of This American Life.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Showbiz Show with David Spade.

Check your local TV listings for more.

There was a great piece on last week's episode of This American Life (the radio version) by John Hodgman about how television has changed his life. John Hodgman is, as many of you know, a regular contributor on The Daily Show and also plays "P.C." in those popular Mac ads.

His monologue on This American Life was about suddenly becoming recognized when he's at Radio Shack or at the airport and not knowing how to respond to the stupid things people say to him. For example, the employee at Radio Shack was just shocked that Hodgman would be shopping at Radio Shack in Greenfield, Connecticut! Hodgman lays out all his star struck encounters in his typical Hodgman style, making the things we all do and take for granted sound just plain stupid. I highly recommend listening, it's the first "chapter" and you can listen for free on iTunes for the next week. It can also be streamed at This American Life's official website.

BTW, that episode also had an interesting interview at the very beginning with an astronaut who talks about how much she loves Battlestar Galactica, and also how The Borg figured out the ultimate spaceship.

Despite all the rave reviews and my own personal adoration for This American Life, I did not subscribe to Showtime so I could see the televised version of the PBS radio program. But Showtime is crafty. The network has posted this week's premiere episode of This American Life online (for free!) and now I am in love with it. I never thought that This American Life needed pictures to go with its stories, but the story of Chance the bull seems like it would be lost without video.

Take a look at the premiere and tell me what you think. I like it, but I still think I'm too cheap to get Showtime. I keep hoping they'll all be available on iTunes.

(By the way, if you are a fan of This American Life, you'll probably get a kick out of this parody by San Francisco sketch comedy group, Kasper Hauser. Their Ira Glass impression is dead-on.)

[Via Pop Candy]

This American Life starts up on Showtime this Thursday, March 22nd, and one of the first four episodes features an entire segment animated by Chris Ware. If you haven't seen Ware's art before, then you've been missing out. He's been feature in The New York Times Magazine, was in the "Masters of American Comics" touring museum exhibit, and is an artist who really captures angst well. Whoever thought that would be considered a huge plus.

You can watch Ware's This American Life segment here. I really enjoyed the way it captures the spirit and theme of the radio show. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

[Thanks, Mike]

As we've previously reported, This American Life is coming to Showtime, and we were lucky enough to get a look at the first four episodes. It's no secret that I had high hopes for this show, and was all set to have them crushed, trampled, and stomped upon. However, I'm happy to report that that my hopes are still intact, at least after having seen four episodes. There's still room for my hopes to be smashed into a million crystalline fragments down the road.

First off, if you've never heard an episode of This American Life, it's high time that you head to iTunes and subscribe to their podcast. It's one of the best radio shows I've ever heard, and presents stories from Americans that you'll never hear anywhere else. It's pure documentary work where the hosts and interviewers don't overshadow the subjects, and features as much humor as it does touching drama. A real gem on the radio dial, and it's a labor of love on Public Radio International, which is more famous for its content, and not for the fortunes they pay their hosts.

I am getting Showtime.

When I read that This American Life was coming to television, I was cautiously optimistic. Ira Glass and crew do such a terrific job telling stories with audio that I admit I was worried about video taking away some of the intimacy. After watching this trailer (it's also embedded after the jump) I was blown away. It looks as beautiful as This American Life sounds. Apparently the producers of the television show found photographers and editors who think the way This American Life is produced. Just like the radio broadcast, the camera shots are from unusual angles. It's pretty much the opposite of anything you'd see on MTV.

This American Life premieres on Showtime on March 22.