And on the third day, it went to DVD

It may be hokey, but it's not pokey: “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” which touched off a media firestorm when it was aired on the Discovery Channel last month, is being rushed to DVD and will be released Tuesday ($19 street price).

  In what's been called a “cryptology treasure hunt,” archaeologists examined a first-century tomb uncovered in 1980 in Jerusalem, and drew controversial conclusions about who was buried inside -- Jesus and Mary Magdalene among them. Funded by “Titanic” director James Cameron, the Simcha Jacobovici-directed film drew more than four million viewers. But Discovery was clearly uncomfortable about “The Lost Tomb,” choosing to promote it only in the week leading up to the broadcast and, after Christian groups objected to the heretical findings, having Ted Koppel lead a panel of experts questioning the special's findings. After Discovery yanked all the repeats, Cameron decided to hurry up the DVD.

  Besides the program, the single-disc release includes several short featurettes with Cameron and Jacobovici talking about the origins of the special. These pieces seem to have been made ahead of time (even the one entitled “Epilogue”), and don't address the hullabaloo in the days leading up to the broadcast.