By Steve Marinucci
Published Sept. 24, 2004, San Jose (CA.) Mercury News
When the first TV series came out on DVD, one wondered, ''Why?'' Now that they're doing very well on disc, the question becomes ''Why not?''
Putting TV on DVD was a brilliant move: You can buy a full season or more in a compact form. And you can rerun your favorites without commercials and without waiting a week between episodes.
With that in mind, here's a look at some recent releases from television:
''American Dreams -- Season 1 -- Extended Music Edition'' (Universal, $89.98 list) -- The first set featuring this Emmy-winning series, a drama about young Meg Pryor (Brittany Snow) and her family living in the turbulent 1960s, contains all 25 episodes from the first season on seven discs. With Dick Clark as executive producer, the original episodes have been recut with new footage showing current singers -- including Usher, LeAnn Rimes and india.arie -- as vintage stars. Extras include a timeline, hosted by Brian Williams, of events from the period, rare footage from ''American Bandstand'' shows from the era (including interviews with the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore and Marvin Gaye) and audio commentaries.
''Happy Days -- Season 1'' and ''Laverne & Shirley -- Season 1'' (Paramount, $38.99 list for each) -- While ''American Dreams'' offers a serious look at the mid-'60s, these two sitcoms, made in the '70s, revisit the '50s for laughs. Both became big hits for ABC.
The first season of ''Happy Days'' gets off to a slow start, as the writers take time to develop the cast of characters. It wasn't until later seasons, for example, that Arthur Fonzarelli, or ''Fonzie'' (played by Henry Winkler), became the center of the show. Early on, he was a minor player, and Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) was the star. The series was inspired by ''American Graffiti,'' the George Lucas film about high-schoolers, which also starred Howard.
''Laverne & Shirley,'' a ''Happy Days'' spinoff, gets off to a quicker start, with Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall as brewery workers, playing beautifully off each other.
Neither set offers any extras, and that omission seems particularly glaring on ''Happy Days.'' It would have been great to hear Winkler and Howard looking back today at their roles. Also missing is the ''Happy Days'' pilot, whichaired as an episode of ''Love, American Style'' and featured Howard, Anson Williams (as Potsie) and Harold Gould (not Tom Bosley) as Richie's dad.
(Paramount has released the first season of ''Mork & Mindy,'' another ''Happy Days'' spinoff, on DVD too.)
''Groucho Marx -- You Bet Your Life -- The Best Episodes'' (Shout Factory, $39.98 list) -- If you want an idea of what TV itself was like in the ''Happy Days'' '50s, here's a place to start. This disc and the earlier Shout Factory volume ''You Bet Your Life -- The Lost Episodes'' are hilarious. Today, you might call ''You Bet Your Life'' a reality series, rather than a game show, since it appears that most of the dialogue, especially Groucho's outrageous ad-libs, was unscripted. You have to feel sorry for poor George Fenneman, Groucho's strait-laced announcer.
The set offers a few outtakes, a ''stag reel'' with outtakes that were considered too sexy for '50s television but seem fairly tame today, and some commercials from the period. In this case, bonuses aren't necessary. The shows themselves are more than enough.
''Dallas -- The Complete First and Second Seasons'' (Warner Bros., $49.98) -- ''Dallas'' was kingpin in the CBS lineup during the '80s, and well before the ''Who Shot J.R.?'' cliffhanger, it was dangerously addictive. Besides the spinoff ''Knots Landing,'' it spawned a spate of imitators, ''Dynasty'' being perhaps the most notable. This five-disc ''Dallas'' set takes us to back where it all began, the 29 episodes from the first two seasons (1978-80), plus commentaries and a short feature on a cast reunion.
The first episode, which shows the Ewings in shock over the marriage of Bobby (Patrick Duffy) to the former Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal), sets up the plot line and reveals some interesting details about the family. At the very start, the ever-nasty J.R. (Larry Hagman) gets off on the wrong foot.
''Columbo -- The Complete First Season'' and ''Magnum, P.I. -- The Complete First Season'' (Universal, $59.98 each list) -- These series -- with leads Peter Falk in klutz mode as Lt. Columbo, and Tom Selleck at his most debonair as Magnum -- were opposites in sex appeal but both huge hits. ''Magnum, P.I.,'' with Selleck playing a detective/security man at an estate in Hawaii, features 18 episodes from the first season, plus bonus episodes with appearances by ''Simon & Simon'' stars Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney, as well as guest appearances by Morgan Fairchild and Sharon Stone. The five-disc ''Columbo,'' with Falk playing a deceptively mild-mannered LAPD officer, offers seven episodes from the first season and two made-for-TV movies, ''Prescription: Murder'' and ''Ransom for a Dead Man.'' Neither set has commentary or other extras.
''Without a Trace -- The Complete First Season (Warner Bros., $59.98) -- ''Without a Trace'' could become a 21st-century classic. It's a taut drama about missing persons being tracked down by FBI agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia). Twenty-three episodes of the Emmy-winning series are featured in this four-disc set. Also included are commentaries, unaired footage and a documentary on the series.
(box) ''Lost in Space -- Season 2, Vol. 1'' (20th Century Fox, $39.98 list) -- The first color episodes (1966-67) of the cult sci-fi series are included in this four-disc set, which offers 16 episodes in all. It was during the second season that the series took camp to a new level, with the Space Family Robinson having stranger and more colorful adventures than before. There are no extras here, just the episodes.
(box) ''The Munsters -- The Complete First Season'' (Universal, $59.98) -- There's great classic TV, and there are vintage shows that were merely silly. ''The Munsters'' is one of the latter. It puts some formidable stars -- Yvonne DeCarlo and Fred Gwynne -- in the ridiculous roles as husband and wife in a family of spooks. Al Lewis plays the vampire-like grandpa.
It would have been nice to hear an audio commentary from one of the surviving actors -- Butch Patrick, maybe -- but none is included. The three-disc set offers 38 episodes, including the unaired pilot with different actors in the roles of Herman's wife, Lily, and son, Eddie.
CAPTION: PHOTO: George Fenneman, left, played straight man to host Groucho Marx on the classic '50s TV show ''You Bet Your Life,'' now on DVD.
PHOTO: The ''Happy Days -- Season 1'' box set shows the popular series getting off to a slow start.
PHOTO: New DVD box sets capture the work of Tom Selleck, top, in the title role of ''Magnum, P.I.'' and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing in ''Dallas.''
