The season of TV on DVD

Every fall I resolve to watch at least two or three new shows, but far too often just fail to do so.

It's not there's nothing good on TV. Sure, there's a heck of a lot of crap, but there's still some good stuff (even on network TV!) The main reason I don't tune in like I should is that I'm now so completely conditioned to watching TV on DVD that I'm willing to wait just for the ease of watching them on my own schedule from Netflix.

This week we have two shows that I certainly should have stuck with, "Heroes" and "Friday Night Lights."

I think my appetite for "Heroes" waned simultaneously with my interest in "Studio 60," which came right after it on NBC. Once I had missed a few episodes of "Heroes," I knew there was no way I could catch up, so I simply didn't.

The pilot episode of "Friday Night Lights" is simply pure "Rudy"-esque schmaltz, but in all the right ways. After the pilot, however, I stopped watching because it was on directly opposite the dwindling "Gilmore Girls," and not yet having Tivo I had to make a choice. I'm gonna start with "Lights" on DVD, then "Heroes," and once again resolve to watch them both when they return for their new seasons.

Here, courtesy of the great site TVshowsonDVD.com, are some more upcoming TV releases to put on your calendar:

Sept. 4
"The Office" - season three and "30 Rock" - season one: I'm fairly certain I've seen all the episodes of the third season of "The Office," but I'll still buy it on DVD because there's simply nothing funnier on network TV right now. And, though I never tuned into "30 Rock" because it just looked far too silly, so many people have since sung its praises that the first season is at least worth Netflixing.

Sept. 11
"Fraggle Rock" - third season: Jim Henson's puppets and crazy, cool songs. 'Nuff said.
"Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act": I've already been sent this one and can tell you Dame Mirren is as good as ever as this sublime limey cop serial finally winds to a close. I can't recommend this one high enough.

Sept. 18
"Family Guy" - volume 5: Seth McFarlane's antics are finally starting to grow old to me, but I still might add this one to my queue.
"Upright Citizen's Brigade" - second season: I'm probably remembering this crazy comedy troupe through rose-colored glasses, but when they were on Comedy Central I thought they were great.

Sept. 25
"My Name is Earl" - second season: Jason Lee's narration just continues to annoy me more each time I watch this NBC sitcom, but he, Ethan Suplee, Jamie Pressly and the Crabman are still very funny in small doses.

Oct. 2
"How I Met Your Mother" - season two: Season one of this CBS comedy is surprisingly strong, so I'll definitely spring for season two, of which I've already seen probably half the episodes. Willow, Doogie and Nick Andopolous, all on one show? I'm there.

Oct. 9
"Creature Comforts" - season one: I have serious doubts there will ever be any more episodes of this Aardman import updated for American viewers. I caught a couple of episodes and can confirm that it's still awfully funny, and therefore well worth a rental.

Oct. 16
"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" - the complete series: I can pinpoint the exact point when this Aaron Sorkin show lost me: When those two dudes were caught plagiarizing but weren't fired. Simply ludicrous. I might eventually Netflix this to see it ever recovered.

Oct. 23
"Veronica Mars" - season three: Ah, Veronica, I miss you so much already. Kristen Bell will be on "Heroes" (not "Lost," as I mistakenly posted earlier) this fall and will be the narrator for the CW's "Gossip Girl," but she'll probably never again get to star in a show as good as this one.
"The Sopranos" - season six, part two: I'm glad the frenzy over David Chase's limbo ending of this great series has died down. I, for one, loved it, and will enjoy dissecting it again on DVD too.

Oct. 30
"Scrubs" - sixth season: I know Zach Braff rubs many people the wrong way, and I concede he can be very annoying, but he still makes me laugh on "Scrubs," and I don't ask for much more than that from TV.
"My So-Called Life" - complete series: The folks at Shout/Factory do a nice job of putting together DVD sets of TV shows, so if Claire Danes is your cup of angst, this would be well worth buying.
"Twin Peaks" - definite gold box edition: I still have to get around to watching "Inland Empire" before I return to this wild and too-short David Lynch TV foray.

Nov. 6
"Seinfeld" Vol. 8: season 9 or the complete series: Possibly the most quotable show in TV history finally completes its run on DVD.
"X-Files" - complete collector's edition: You know what this is, of course.

Nov. 20
"Gilmore Girls" - seventh season: The final season of this beloved (at least by me) show was often a bitter pill to swallow, but I thought the second half was really starting to pick up. See how it all ended and say goodbye to the Gilmores once and for all.

Nov. 27
"Futurama: Bender's Big Score": New episodes of this Matt Groening/David X. Cohen gem will eventually be coming to Comedy Central, but in the meantime I'd definitely recommend buying this movie to tide you over.

And, as far as shows that have a definite release date and intrigue me, the list ends there. However ...

"The Wire: Season 4" - new hope?

Though there's still no firm word as to when the fourth season of the single greatest cop show in TV history will be released on DVD, but TVshowsonDVD did have a pic of the cover art, so it must be coming soon, right? I love the "No Corner Left Behind" tagline, and can't wait to watch McNulty on the beat in Charm City.

I know HBO wants to time this with the start of Season 5, which should come early in 2008, but I'm sure there are many more people than me out here who want to see it out ASAP. Release it already! Peace out.