Classic TV Lives On With Video Releases

So you’re an unabashed couch potato. But none of the fall television series seem to whet your appetite. There’s no reason to panic, because numerous popular, classic and cult TV series are making their bows on home video.

Saddling up to video stores on Tuesday is “The Rifleman” (MPI, $20 each; $80 for the set). Each volume contains five episodes of the compelling western, which originally aired on ABC from 1958 to ’63.

Former baseball player Chuck Connors starred as the widowed New Mexico homesteader Lucas McCain, and Johnny Crawford was his young son Mark. Lucas was never without his trick rifle, a modified Winchester with a large ring that cocked it as he drew.

“The Rifleman” was penned by such talents as Sam Peckinpah and Frank Gilroy (“The Subject Was Roses”). Guest stars featured in the collection include Dennis Hopper (in the first episode), a pre-”Bonanza” Michael Landon, Martin Landau, James Coburn, Sammy Davis Jr. and Robert Culp.

Another beloved sagebrush saga, “Wagon Train,” also is making its video debut. Columbia House Video Library is offering “Wagon Train: The Collector’s Edition,” which features two episodes digitally remastered from the original films. Bette Davis and John Wayne are guest stars on the first volume.

Each season, the series, which aired from 1957 to ’62 on NBC and 1962 to ’65 on ABC, followed a wagon train traveling from St. Joseph, Mo., to California. The memorable cast included Ward Bond (1957 to ‘61), Robert Horton (1957 to ‘62), Terry Wilson, Frank McGrath, John McIntire (1961 to ‘65), Scott Miller (1961 to ‘64), and Michael Burns and Robert Fuller (1963 to ‘65).

The first volume is $5 and subsequent volumes are $20. To order call (800) 638-2922.

For sci-fi fans, Paramount Home Video is releasing on Tuesday the first six episodes of the popular syndicated series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” The first tape features the two-hour pilot ($20). Episodes three through six are on separate tapes ($15 each).

The “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collector’s Edition” is also available through Columbia House Video Library. Each volume features two episodes. The first volume is $5; the subsequent volumes are $20. To order call (800) 638-2922.

Six more episodes of the long-running British sci-fi series “Dr. Who” (BBC Video and CBS/Fox, $20 each) will also beam down to our TV galaxy on Tuesday.

On Sept. 24, FoxVideo will release three more installments in “The X-Files” collection ($15 each). Each video will feature two episodes.

Comedy fans may get a hoot watching “Green Acres: The Collector’s Edition” (Columbia House Video Library). Each volume features four episodes from the wacky 1965 to ’71 CBS comedy series, which starred Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor and Arnold the Pig. The first volume is $5; subsequent tapes are $20 each. To order call (800) 638-2922.

On Sept. 24, Columbia TriStar Home Video introduces its latest line, “TV Screen Gems,” which features three volumes each ($10 each; $25 per set) of “Burns and Allen,” “The Flying Nun,” “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Bewitched.” Each tape contains two episodes.

Several British comedy series have also arrived on our shores. In the 1980s, MTV viewers devoured the cult punk comedy series “The Young Ones,” staring Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson. On Tuesday, BBC Video releases three volumes of the show ($15 each). Among the guest stars featured are Jennifer “AbFab” Saunders, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

Also new from BBC Video ($20 each) are two comedies playing on PBS stations: “Keeping Up Appearances,” featuring a fun performance by Patricia Routledge as the ultimate snob, and “Waiting for God,” set in a retirement home.

Oldie but Goodie: On Tuesday, MGM/UA releases the THX digital remastered version of the classic 1939 Judy Garland musical “The Wizard of Oz” ($20). The beloved musical based on L. Frank Baum’s fantasy will be placed on moratorium beginning Jan. 31.

Animation: New on Tuesday are two volumes of computer animation from Sony Music Video: “Odyssey Into the Mind’s Eye” ($20) and “Computer Animation Festival” ($15).

Killer B: Arriving Tuesday is the British import “Shopping” (New Horizons). Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce and Marianne Faithful star in the atmospheric, futuristic thriller about a group of aimless youths who drive stolen cars through department store windows and loot the stores before the cops arrive.

Coming Next Week: Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford get “Up Close and Personal” (Touchstone).

Uma Thurman, Janeane Garofalo and Ben Chaplin star in the romantic comedy “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” (FoxVideo).

Ahoy mates! Tim Curry, Kermit the Frog, the Great Gonzo and Miss Piggy headline the musical comedy “Muppet Treasure Island” (Jim Henson Video, $23).

Anthony Hopkins stars in and directs “August” (Hallmark), an adaptation of Anton Chekov’s “Uncle Vanya.”

Steve Martin stars in “Sgt. Bilko” (MCA/Universal), a comedy based on the classic ‘50s Phil Silvers’ sitcom.

Russell Crowe and Chistianne Hirt star in the romantic World War II drama “For the Moment” (FoxVideo).

Blair Underwood, Delroy Lindo and Mykelti Williamson star in HBO’s “Soul of the Game” (HBO), a drama about the first major league baseball team to sign an African American player. . . . Also new: “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers” (Dimension), “Crusade: The Life of Billy Graham” (Turner, $20), “Wizards of Demon Sword” (Troma), “Baton Rouge” (Meridian), “Return of the Borrowers” (Turner).