Perhaps the Hollywood writers strike gave you new incentive. Or maybe you’ve always preferred to skip the commercials and enjoy favorite TV series in marathon sessions. Whatever your motive, DVD sets of specials, documentaries and entire series are perfect keepsakes of an otherwise fleeting medium, with postscripts and other extras included to maximize the experience. You may even be able to part with one of these as a gift.
“Seinfeld,” the complete series, 1989-98, $206
Just in time for Festivus, this compendium stands as a reminder of an era. The most popular show of the 1990s, “Seinfeld” was, of course, centered on a group of selfish, neurotic, sometimes immoral, despicable and unlikable human beings surrounding an Everyman observer.
The series famously “about nothing” is now quite something: a DVD set complete with coffee table book and fancy extras, like discussions by the cast and executive producer Larry David. One feature, “Yada Yada Yada,” contains audio commentaries, another, “Not That There’s Anything Wrong with That,” offers bloopers. Fans will salivate, even though they’ve memorized the reruns. As Seinfeld quips, “Believe it or not, there are parts of the United States where the show can only be seen four times a day!”
“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” the complete series, $43
The premise — behind the scenes at a late-night variety show akin to “Saturday Night Live” — was appealing; the cast — Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson — solid. In fact, most predicted this series would overshadow “30 Rock” and rule for seasons to come. It managed only 22 episodes, but they’re worth remembering.
Masterful screenwriter/playwright Aaron Sorkin gave us wonderful dialogue in this underappreciated ode to and critique of American television. While some knocked the orations as unrealistic, the articulate speeches were by turns enthralling, optimistic, patriotic, against the commercialization of the culture and admiring of the human spirit.
“Planet Earth,” the complete BBC series, $60
Five years in the making, “Planet Earth” is a collaboration of Discovery Channel and the BBC, from the natural history filmmaking team that previously did “Blue Planet.” The 11-episode set prides itself on new filmmaking techniques (narrator Sigourney Weaver never stops reminding us) that capture the highest peaks, deepest caves, the hottest and coldest places and most curious animal behaviors. Truly an ode to the planet, the gorgeous, high-definition footage is superb family viewing.
“Twin Peaks,” definitive gold box edition, $75
Before it lost its way, David Lynch’s foray into television was spectacular. “Twin Peaks” was a monumental leap for TV into cinematic, metaphorical, sometimes impenetrable material. Lynch and Mark Frost created a bizarre universe filled with eccentric/psychotic characters, all subject to a scrambled mix of mystery/science fiction/horror/ comedy/drama writing rules and memorably scored by Angelo Badalamenti.
The draw was not so much a resolution of “who killed Laura Palmer?” but a weekly parade of idiosyncratic folk, from the Log Lady to Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). The cast was a marvel from Peggy Lipton, Laura Flynn Boyle, Sherilyn Fenn, Piper Laurie, Grace Zabrieski and Ray Wise to Lynch himself, as an FBI agent in six episodes. The 10-disc set includes all 29 episodes plus the original pilot (ABC and international versions).
“My So-Called Life,” the complete series, $38
Claire Danes was a 13-year- old unknown at the time. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The O.C.” and other teen-targeting shows were years away. Producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Hershkovitz set out to do a show about the experience of a female teenager and asked Winnie Holzman to write it. Holzman captured the melancholy, the unbearable pain of awkward social interactions, the torture of school, the impossibility of parents.
This landmark television series debuted in 1994 and lasted only 19 episodes (clobbered in the ratings). For serious fans, it remains a beautifully written, emotionally truthful record of a difficult time of life. The episodes are accompanied by a wealth of interviews and commentaries, including a chat by Danes, now a big star but forever a fan.
“The War,” A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, $80
Tons of never-before-seen footage highlights this epic PBS project, which offers everyman observations of WWII. Based on the recollections of participants from several small towns: Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif.; and the tiny farming town of Luverne, Minn.
Letters, family movies, vintage photographs and tearful memories mix with newsreels to show how lives were altered by the experience of the war. The seven-part, 15-hour film uses the voices of notables Tom Hanks, Alan Arkin and Samuel L. Jackson to read soldiers’ letters, but it’s the sight of the veterans themselves that sticks with you.
