Demko's DVD shelf

You can tell a TV series is truly great when, even in a season when things truly start to fall apart, it's still the best show on the air.

For me, that's the case with "Gilmore Girls," which definitely lost its way in season six, out on DVD today, and then lost its creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, at the end of the season. Even with these troubles, it's still packed with priceless "Gimore" moments, particularly the wedding of Lane Kim and axeman Zach.

As fans will remember, the season ended with Luke, after being a weenie for the entire season, rightly rejecting Lorelai's offer to elope, and Lorelai running back into the arms of Christopher. Next week will finally bring new episodes so we can find out what really happened.

But you can get your fix in the meantime with these 22 episodes on six discs. Even if you're late to the party, it's one well worth crashing, and definitely my pick of the week.

Hard Candy

This one played for a few nights at downtown Macon's Capitol Theatre, and I'm glad I managed to catch it then. It's definitely on a tough subject, with a minor (Ellen Page) entrapping and then torturing her would-be suitor (Patrick Wilson) after they meet on the Internet. The movie wisely avoids any "Hostel"-style gore and instead turns into a fairly first-rate psychological thriller in the vein of Polanski's great "Death and the Maiden," and young Ms. Page is terrific.
Supplements include a commentary by director David Slade and writer Brian Nelson; another commentary by actors Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page; deleted and extended scenes; and two featurettes, "Creating Hard Candy" and "Controversial Confection." If your sensibility can take it, I definitely recommend this one as my pick from this week's new releases.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

Dangerous wit Dorothy Parker probably never should have been brought to the big screen, but Jennifer Jason Leigh pulls it off nearly flawlessly in this little flick from director Alan Rudolph. Joining her around the Algonquin table in this 1994 flick were Campbell Scott as Robert Benchley and Matthew Broderick as Charles MacArthur, joined in a great ensemble cast by Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Beals, Andrew McCarthy, Wallace Shawn, Martha Plimpton, Sam Robards, Lili Taylor, James LeGros, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nick Cassavetes.

Supplements for this new edition include a commentary by director Rudolph; a video interview with composer Mark Isham, and a bonus documentary, "Would You Kindly Direct Me to Hell? The Infamous Dorothy Parker."

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

This sympathetic but never mawkish portrait of troubled singer-songwriter Johnston also had a brief run at the Capitol earlier this year. Though Johnston is a hero to many "alt-rock" stars, who stop by to testify about his appeal, his schizophrenia can also make him dangerous, and the movie never shies away from that.

The fairly substantial supplements include deleted scenes; a Sundance world premiere featurette; "Laurie and Daniel Reunion" featurette about Daniel's reunion with his high school sweetheart; WFMU broadcast featurette; "Cinema of Daniel Johnston," featuring movies made by the artist himself; "Daniel's Audio Diaries," personal recordings of Johnston; and a commentary with director Jeff Feuerzeig and producer Henry S. Rosenthal. If you like movies that delve into the creative process, I can't recommend this one highly enough.

Chucky: The Killer DVD Collection

The world may not really need a box set of Chucky's exploits, but admit it, we've all seen at least one of these movies, and probably liked them quite a bit. The best ones blend horror and humor for a very fun concoction.

For some reason, however, this set apparently doesn't include the original "Child's Play" movie. Was it not good enough even for Chucky's standards? But it does have "Bride of Chucky," the absolute best flick in the series, plus "Child's Play 2," "Child's Play 3," and the, for now at least, final installment in the series, "Seed of Chucky," where the demonic spawn of Chucky and Tiffany bring the killer dolls back to life.

Supplements for "Bride" include a commentary by director Ronny Yu, a commentary by actors Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly and writer Don Mancini, and "Bride of Chucky Spotlight on Location" featurette. With "Seed of Chucky" you'll get a commentary by writer/writer Don Mancini and actress Jennifer Tilly; "Conceiving the Seed of Chucky" featurette, and a clip of Jennifer Tilly on "The Tonight Show." I can't see myself possibly springing for this set, but it will make for a fun rental.

"My Name is Earl - Season One"

It's truly a sad statement on the state of TV that this karmic comedy was lauded so highly simply for being funny. It definitely delivers dark laughs aplently, however, and Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Emmy nominee Jamie Pressly and Eddie Steeples (Crabman!) are all great in it. Lee was the second biggest Emmy snub this year, behind Lauren Graham of "Gilmore Girls," and packaged with "The Office" it gave NBC the funniest hour of TV in the post-"Arrested Development" landscape.

Not surprisingly, the extras for this one are a bit askew. Among them are the DVD exclusive mock "lost pilot" "Bad Karma," an alternate reality version of the show where Earl takes the path of vengeance with alarming results; commentary by creator Greg Garcia, stars Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee, and others on five episodes; commentary by the mothers of Greg Garcia (Natalie Garcia), Marc Buckland (Mary Buckland), Jason Lee (Carol Lee) and Ethan Suplee (Debbie Suplee) on the episode "Dad's Car;" "Karma Is A Funny Thing" blooper reel; "Making Things Right: Behind The Scenes Of My Name Is Earl" featurette, and deleted scenes. Believe me, your karma can't afford to skip this comic gem.

"The Personal Best Of Monty Python's Flying Circus"

Last but definitely not least comes this release from the vaults of the world's funniest defunct comedy troupe (with all due respect to runners up The Kids in the Hall.) Collected on six discs are skits from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" selected by (respectively) Eric Idle, Michael Palin, John Cleese and Terry Jones, plus animated segments selected by Terry Gilliam and a salute by the surviving five members to the late funny man Graham Chapman, featuring his best work on the show.

In addition to the episodes you'll get clips from "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl;" "Behind the scenes of John Cleese's Personal Best;" the 20-minute animated featurette "A Retrospective of Python's Animation;" "Personal Second Best" featurettes from Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman; six 15-Question, 15-Ton Megaquizes; Python Troupe biographies and selected credits, and an introduction by the stars. If I really need to twist your arm to at least rent this one, you don't laugh nearly often enough. Just do it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for work. Peace out.