HBO DVDs in a league (and price bracket) all their own

Hey, remember HBO? All those terrific shows that you couldn't wait to come back from their artificially long 15-month (times $12 a month) hiatuses?

Well, they're back, in special DVD collections, just in time for the holidays. Most of them will run you at least as much money as Walmart plans to charge for a Blu-ray high definition DVD player starting Black Friday ($129).

"The Sopranos: The Complete Series" (HBO Video, $175 street price). Buy the whole shebang, or get season six on Blu-ray? This will be the dilemma in some homes come Christmas.

On the one hand, Gord Lacey, who runs the authoritative TVShowsonDVD.com web site, tells me by email that the complete "Sopranos" is "a beautiful, lavish gift set that actually earns its sticker price. The fabric-covered book contains all the episodes of the series, plus an exclusive bonus disc."

On the other hand, nothing here is in high-definition -- and from what we can tell, James Gandolfini did not sit for an interview for the bonus disc.

"The Wire: The Complete Series" (HBO Video, Dec. 9, $145). Every week, it seems, I hear from somebody who has just started watching The Most Ambitious Show of All Time and invariably the reaction's the same: THey can't stop.

This boxed collection, clearly, is designed to help, though it offers little more than if you bought five season sets used -- one new "never-before-seen gag reel" is about it.

"Get Smart: The Complete Series" (HBO Video, $110 street price). Yep, HBO even has the DVDs for shows that never ran on HBO!

Technically, you've been able to buy this collection of the greatest comedy of the 1960s (and to this TV-crazy kid growing up in the '70s, the greatest comedy of that decade as well) since 2006. But you had to do it through Time-Life Video and frankly, when those ads came on TV, I hit the Cone of Silence button on my remote.

As of a couple of weeks ago, however, "Get Smart's" 138-episode, 25-disc extravaganza has been available through all retail channels. The show, which was never released on VHS, has been beautifully restored. Barbara "99" Feldon's voice provides the introductions to every episode and every segment on the five discs of extras (including her and Don Adams' appearance in the 1969 Rose Bowl parade, where an NBC announcer called her "Barbara Eden").

The commentaries are kind of weak, since the memories of the commenters are not that strong. But that's OK: The show still stands on its own. In fact, I'm now enjoying jokes that probably sailed over my head when I was a boy. (And there were a lot more go-go dance scenes in "Get Smart" than I remember!)

"The Incredible Hulk" (Fox, $85). The 1970s TV show that was more interesting, complex and fun than the movie adaptations that followed was reissued last month for the first time as a whole. "Though there's nothing new in terms of bonus material, the set features the pilot movies and all the regular series episodes in packaging that won't scratch the discs, or break the bank account," said Lacey.

"Freaks and Geeks" (Shout! Factory, out this week, $130). Fans of the ill-fated NBC show that launched the careers of Linda Cardellini, Judd Apatow and others will recall a cute limited-edition "Yearbook Edition" DVD set that came out in 2004. Well, it's back -- so much for limiting the edition -- and it ain't cheap. Real fans (of which I'm not one) advise picking up the regular DVD set, priced under $50 used.

"Deadwood" (HBO Video, Dec. 9, $113). In the spare-no-details department, the HBO repackaging of its F-bomb Western extraordinaire will have few rivals: 19 discs for just 36 episodes. including multiple featurettes about the real town of Deadwood, S.D., and the making of the show.

Of course, you know this because you bought each of the previous "Deadwood" season sets as they came out. Why have the "Complete Series" when you already own it?

Well, because this one has two extra hours of extras -- notably, a short in which "Deadwood" creator David Milch wanders around the Gene Autry Melody Ranch ("I find this all infinitely depressing, I must say") and tells you what was going to happen had he decided not to shut down production of the show.

Comments

[MGL]

Some of these are "must have" series for me, but why doesn't HBO put them out in Blu-ray format at an affordable price for this season? If they wait too long for Blu-ray to catch on, they may be surpassed by even newer technology that will eventually make all DVDs obsolete.

MGL