Wondering what to get your favorite TV fan for the holidays? Think inside the box...
The cracking thing about this holiday season? The tricked-out, pumped-up, and just plain cool boxed sets hitting stores. From the complete X-Files to the Brit com Black Books and all six seasons of Dr. Katz, here's the skinny on some upcoming releases and a few goodies already on offer. So pony up...
If You Like Cult in Your Comedy...
Fox's Family Guy Freakin' Party Pack combines all 90 shows from the previously released Volumes 1-5"] and the feature-length Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. It's all there — Norm MacDonald as Death, Drew Barrymore as Brian the dog's girlfriend, Abe Vigoda, as well, Abe Vigoda — wrapped in a wacky lunchbox-like carrying case along with FG playing cards, poker chips, Ping-Pong paddles, portable net, and plastic balls (printed with Stewie's face). At more than 100 clams, it's pricey, but hence the name ''party pack'': Get a bunch of your buds together and, as Peter would say, ''make like Siamese twins and split.''
The always-funny BBC has three absurdist works on the menu. Little Britain: The Complete Collection (out Nov. 20) includes every episode of the BAFTA-winning cross-dressing comedy, all with commentary, plus the Christmas special Little Britain: Abroad. If you haven't seen Buffy's Anthony Head as the ''Priministah,'' this set is a must. On The Young Ones: Extra Stoopid Edition (Nov. 13), a collection of episodes from the '80s slacker punk sitcom, look for baby-faced versions of Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, and Robbie Coltrane as guests (also in this edition: Dexys Midnight Runners, a reunion special, and a historical doc). The Complete Black Books (Nov. 13) — with Irish standup Dylan Moran as a chain-smoking, wine-guzzling bookshop owner — blissfully celebrates the black comedy's three seasons. Watch for Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg's cameo as a rival store clerk, and the short film ''Bernard's Letter,'' in which Moran replies to a rejection note by threatening to ''suck out your eyes and use them as stoppers for my ears to muffle the screams you'll make as I head butt you into a paste.'' We've all been there.
Comedy Central stacked Chappelle's Show: The Series Collection (Nov. 20) with 28 episodes, two unaired Charlie Murphy skits, an extended interview with Chappelle as Rick James, and commentary from the reclusive standup. The network's Dr. Katz: The Complete Series (Nov. 20) is even bigger — plus the only way for fans to purchase seasons 3 through 6. It comes with a 28-page booklet featuring character ''memoirs,'' three lost episodes, and ''An Evening with Dr. Katz: Live from the Comedy Central Stage.'' We're just excited to relive Jon Stewart's cartoon cameo as a patient obsessed with his cat's thoughts.
If You Watch TV With Your Gran...
Someone at HBO Video thinks you're not getting enough Everybody Loves Raymond from its ubiquitous reruns. They've repackaged all nine individually available seasons under one roof — literally, the case resembles the Barones' house — in Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Series. The DVDs have no new extras, but you do get a collectable miniature-sized script ''signed'' by producers. The King of Queens: The Complete Series also contains previously released syndicated episodes and a teeny-tiny booklet stuffed in a ridiculous box — it looks like Kevin James' green delivery van — though it does flaunt an exclusive bonus disc with a writers' doc and a show retrospective.
Northern Exposure, on the other hand, has been near impossible to catch on TV these last few years. Universal digitally remastered every season of the sweet Alaska-set dramedy — which starred Numb3rs' Rob Morrow and Sex and the City's John Corbett — for its Complete Series (Nov. 13). They also added never-before-seen footage and fresh extras, then tucked the discs in a totally usable fleece-lined faux-suede messenger bag bearing the show's insignia and rad iconic moose.
If You Miss Last Year...
...when a couple of your favorite shows were still knocking about: For The O.C.: The Complete Series (Nov. 27), Warner remastered the first season in widescreen and threw in new special features, like an intro from creator Josh Schwartz. This sleek package — and we were hoping the DVDs would be inside Captain Oats — also has limited edition extras previously found on only select Season 3 and 4 packs, such as a ''Women of The O.C. '' featurette and the Atomic County webisodes.
Just in case you can't keep up with Lorelai and Rory's witty pop culture repartée, Gilmore Girls: The Complete Series (Nov. 13) offers a 60-page ''Gilmorism'' guide that defines references like ''Officer Krupke'' and ''Fred Mertz.'' The dictionary and all seven years of the mother-daughter series are wedged into a padded vinyl doll box. Cute, but somehow we doubt the show's feminist fans would approve.
If You Love the '80s...
...then like us you harbor a tinge of regret that MacGyver: The Complete Series doesn't come with printed instructions on how to make a magnifying glass from hair and white wine (for that, you have to watch season 1, episode 3). Instead, all 139 entries are accompanied by the never-before-released MacGyver TV movies, Lost Treasure of Atlantis, and MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday.
For all you purists, Miami Vice: The Complete Series (Nov.13) includes the drama's original pop music — from the Cure to Public Enemy — on every episode in 5.1 surround sound. The rest of the set is, appropriately, all about vibe, with featurettes on the soundtrack, the clothes, and the look of the show.
If You Fancy Beans on Toast...
Miss Marple looks all ''woolly and diffuse,'' but she's got a mind like a steel trap, and pint-size Geraldine McEwan (The Magdalene Sisters) gives her extra spunk in Agatha Christie's Marple, Series 3. The best of Britain all lined up to guest in these four frighteningly fun mysteries — Francesca Annis, Richard E. Grant, Eileen Atkins — but Greg Wise (Emma Thompson's überhot real-life husband) is the standout as a suspiciously sporting tennis pro in ''Towards Zero.''
Wonder what Dominic Monaghan did before Lord of the Rings and Lost? Check out the actor as a teenager in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Collection. Patricia Routledge (Keeping Up Appearances) is Hetty, an old biddy solving mysteries throughout Lancaster. Monaghan is her bike-riding partner Geoffrey. Watch them take on the Mob
If You Instantly Know What ''Our Town'' and ''Little Green Men'' Have in Common...
...then you're prepared to fork out $300 for The X-Files: The Complete Collector's Edition, which contains the two episodes with those names. This ''ultimate giftset'' boasts all 201 shows, the 1998 feature film The X-Files: Fight the Future, 14 docs, and a new bonus disc that dissects the story arcs in the X-Files Mythology collection — not to mention tchotchkes like art cards, a poster, and a comic book.
Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series Collector's Edition celebrates the Sci-Fi hit's 10th anniversary by bringing together the features-packed season 1–10 discs with four new DVDs filled with video diaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, special-effects docs, and actor profiles.
Finally, Fox's Angel Collector's Set is a beauty in its stunning blue-black box, but the only new feature inside is a letter to fans from creator Joss Whedon. It's a great gift for those who didn't know David Boreanaz had an awesome career in sci-fi before Bones, but skip it if you already own the individual seasons.
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