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TV on DVD

'My Name Is Earl,' 'Numb3rs' and 'Sports Night' get released

By Paul Semel

Special to Metromix
September 30, 2008

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Check out the week's new releases in our latest installment of…TV on DVD!

Show: My Name Is Earl: Season Three (Fox)
Format: DVD
What is it? When Earl went to jail at the end of season two, a lot of fans wondered how he’d keep working on his list if he was locked up. But while Earl may not be so bright, clearly the people working on this show are, because they made it work. Not only does Earl run into people on his list in the joint, but he also does other good deeds while he’s there as well. Even cooler, they got Craig T. Nelson to play the warden, and thanks to his role in this and “The Incredibles,” Nelson has now officially paid off any of the bad karma he incurred for “Coach.”
Number of discs/episodes: 4 discs/22 episodes.
Extras: Deleted scenes; gag reel; “Those Guys From Those Episodes” featurette; “Under The Shell: The Mr. Turtle Commentary”
Price: $49.98.
Buy, borrow or ignore: Buy.

Show: Numb3rs: The Fourth Season (CBS/Paramount)
Format: DVD.
What is it? After “C.S.I.” spun-off in two geographical directions, and “N.C.I.S.” took the genre into a military milieu, it was probably hard for the people at CBS to figure out how else they could make a procedural drama that they could claim was somewhat original. But while someone undoubtedly said “What about ‘C.S.I.’ in space?”, brothers Ridley and Tony Scott went in a different, albeit equally nerdy, direction for “Numb3rs”: “‘C.S.I.’ with math geeks instead of scientists.” And what do you know, it’s not only worked—hence season four—but hey, they’ve kind of got a spin-off of their own (unofficially) with “The Big Bang Theory,” which is basically “’Friends’ with math.” Now if we can only get “C.S.I. Central Perk” off the ground…
Number of discs/episodes: 5 discs/18 episodes.
Extras: “Crunching NUMB3RS: Trust Metric” featurettes.
Price: $59.98.
Buy, borrow or ignore: Borrow.

Show: Sports Night: The Complete Series (Shout Factory)
Format: DVD.
What is it? In an old episode of “Family Guy,” a teenager licked a hallucinogenic frog and suddenly had an epiphany about this show: “It’s the comedy that’s too smart to be funny.” Created by Aaron Sorkin, who also made “The West Wing” and “Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip,” this sitcom about the employees of an ESPN-like sports network was actually the comedy that was too smart to be funny to people who didn’t get smart humor. Though to people who did get it, “Sports Night” was one of the greats, a reputation that seems to have grown in the years since its cancellation (hence this all-inclusive boxed set).
Number of discs/episodes: 8 discs/45 episodes.
Extras: All new interviews with the cast and creators; “Face-Off,” in which “SportsCenter” employees compare their lives to the show; “Looking Back” interview featurette; “Inside The Locker Room” featurette; gag reel; commentary on eight episodes; a commemorate 10th Anniversary book.
Price: $69.99.
Buy, borrow or ignore: Buy.

Other TV DVDs out this week:
Adam-12: Season Two (Shout Factory)
Ax Men: The Complete Season One (A&E)
B.L. Stryker: The Complete Series (Arts Alliance America)
Banacek: The Complete Series (Arts Alliance America)
Beauty And The Beast: The Complete Series (CBS/Paramount)
Dora The Explorer: Dora Saves The Snow Princess (Nickelodeon)
Gangland: The Complete Season One (A&E)
Lewis Black’s Root Of All Evil Uncensored (Comedy Central/Paramount)
My Three Son: Season One, Volume One (CBS/Paramount)
Naruto: Volume 28 (Viz)
The Best Of Mr. Bean: Volume 2 (A&E)
The Smothers Brothers Comedy House: The Best Of Season Three (Time Life)
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (Image)

Editor's Note: Actual releases may differ; Metromix is not responsible for injury, loss of life, or wasted time if you go to the store to buy one of them and the clerk says, “Uh, no, that's not coming out until next week.”