tv on dvd

The preeminent concern of the early 21st century — terrorism — now prompts a refined counterpoint to what’s become an obsession with American TV dramas, and it puts most of them to shame. This BBC series, which aired in the U.S. on the A&E cable network, follows a cadre of elite agents from “Section B” … more…

Crude, mean-spirited yucks went mainstream with the debut, in 1987, of Married… with Children, a vicious rejoinder to the domestic tranquility that ruled the primetime sitcoms of the era, like The Cosby Show and Family Ties. The Bundys — put-upon shoe salesman Al (Ed O’Neill), layabout housewife Peg (Katey Sagal), slutty teen Kelly (Christina Applegate), … more…

Dick Wolf’s Law & Order empire expands again with Criminal Intent, his modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes. CI swings the focus around to delve into the mind of the criminal, devoting far more time to the psychology of the law-breaking mind than do the other L&Os — but, in the tradition of Conan Doyle, the … more…

Steven Bochco of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue acclaim created, in Brooklyn South, 22 episodes of some of the grittiest, most authentic police drama TV has ever seen, which was justifiably recognized by the Emmys and the People’s Choice Awards. Shot on the streets of Brooklyn and depicting in plain, unvarnished terms the job … more…

It’s what Will & Grace could have and should have been: a charming, urbane exploration of a complicated relationship between a gay man and a straight woman. Funny and human and never resorting to stereotypes, this six-hour miniseries — from Queer as Folk creator Russell T. Davies — follows Bob (Alan Davies) and Rose (Lesley … more…

We’ll always have the idiocies of fashion, celebrity, and pop culture, and one has to hope that we’ll always have AbFab to puncture them. After an absence of a few years from the airwaves, Patsy and Edina are back and as wickedly funny as they’ve ever been, stumbling drunkenly through days full of aversion to … more…

The two original V miniseries still rank, 20 years later, among the most watched in TV history… and among the most loved TV productions by science-fiction fans, with their adventure- and metaphor-laden tale of alien invasion and human resistance, with their enormous, city-sized spaceships (which Independence Day would later ape; and yes, I know: both … more…

My memories of Northern Exposure are of one of the finest television series I’ve ever seen, and watching its beginnings again, 14 years later, only confirms that assessment. This is the rare series that hit the ground running, with smart, ardent scripts written by writers who knew their characters well right from the start, performed … more…

“Wondaaaaa Womannnnn! Wondaaaaa Womannnnn!” Oh man, I’d forgotten that refrain accompanying every kick and punch in the Amazon princess’s fight for truth, justice, and the American way, but one chorus of it and I’m back on the elementary school playground, spinning that Wonder Woman spin and off to save the world. Any thirtysomething American woman … more…

Is it too punny to call Nip/Tuck cutting? I expected a series about Miami plastic surgeons to be obsessed with the physical, and with physical perfection. I never expected it to be so audacious and biting in its obsession with exploring the psychological roots of the drive for perfection — on both sides of the … more…