The best of the box

Couch potatoes have embraced the DVD format in a big way, plunking down dollars for multi-disc sets of their favorite TV series such as “The Simpsons,” “The Sopranos,” “Star Trek,” “The X-Files” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Like the enormously popular feature film releases of DVDs, these digital versions generally feature a raft of extras such as interviews, documentaries and commentaries.

Since TV has proven to be a cash cow for the DVD industry, every month more and more such fare has made its way to the format -- not only American shows, but also popular British imports. Here’s a look at the latest crop of small-screen series given the digital treatment.

Hey! Hey! The first season of the 1966-68 Emmy Award-winning NBC comedy “The Monkees” has arrived on DVD in a groovy six-disc set (Rhino, $90) featuring all 32 episodes of the musical comedy -- inspired by the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” -- about a struggling rock ‘n’ roll band living in Los Angeles. Its young stars -- Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork -- were labeled by some as the “Pre-Fab Four,” but the guys were cute, funny and had some terrific songwriters -- including Neil Diamond, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart -- penning catchy pop tunes. The Monkees became overnight sensations, although the success didn’t last very long.

The DVD set is a wonderfully fun nostalgic trip down memory lane for any female baby boomer who fell in love with the boys and couldn’t wait for a new episode of the series.

Besides the episodes, which have been remastered from original 35mm prints (and unfortunately look a bit faded), the discs include self-deprecating commentary on select episodes from Nesmith, Jones, Tork, Rafelson, director James Frawley and songwriter Hart; a faded 16mm print of the original pilot that was scrapped; vintage Monkees Kellogg’s commercials; their famous song romps; and a memorabilia gallery.

New from Paramount are the complete first seasons of two long-running, Emmy Award-winning sitcoms ($40): “Cheers” and its spinoff, “Frasier.” The good news is that “Cheers,” which aired on NBC from 1982-1993, holds up remarkably well and the episodes have all been restored and look even better than when they first aired. The bad news is that the set is pretty skimpy in the extras department. There is a short interview with Ted Danson, who won two Emmys for his performance as bar owner Sam Malone, a trivia game and a look at Norm’s (George Wendt) one-liners.

At least there are a few more goodies on the “Frasier” set, including a decent retrospective documentary featuring interviews with executive producers and creators Peter Casey and David Lee and stars Kelsey Grammer, John Mahoney, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin and Jane Leeves; commentary on the pilot episode with Casey and Lee; and a look at all the celebrity voices who “called in” to Frasier’s radio therapy show during the first season.

England’s Rowan Atkinson is one of the most versatile clowns working today in films and television. His latest comedy, “Johnny English,” is a blockbuster in Europe and is set to open next month in America. Perhaps his greatest TV creation is Mr. Bean, the perplexed, clueless, sometimes naughty man-child who lives in a tiny apartment with his beloved stuffed teddy bear. “Mr. Bean” originally aired in America on HBO and then moved to PBS. Those who only know the Mr. Bean character from the uneven feature film version, “Bean,” are in for a real treat with the A&E; set, “Mr. Bean the Whole Bean” ($50). The set features all 14 episodes of the program; a documentary, “The Story of Bean”; two never-before-seen TV skits; and two bits he did for the U.K. version of “Comic Relief.”

Entirely different in tone and style than “Mr. Bean” is the biting British political satire “Yes, Minister” (BBC Video, $80). All 21 episodes of the award-winning series from the early ‘80s are included on the four discs, as well as an interview with creator Jonathan Lynn, who has gone on to direct such films as “The Whole Nine Yards” and a retrospective documentary on the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne, who came to fame as the conniving, ambitious civil servant, Sir Humphrey. Paul Eddington stars in the perceptive farce as the rather hapless Jim Hacker, the new minister for administrative affairs.

Martin Short is a busy guy these days. He is appearing on stage at the Pantages eight times a week opposite Jason Alexander in the musical comedy “The Producers.” He also is appearing next month in a TNT movie called “Prince Charming.” And he stars in the Comedy Central series “Primetime Glick” as rotund, obnoxious TV interviewer Jiminy Glick. Comedy Central has just released “The Best of Primetime Glick” on DVD ($15), which features the first episode of the uneven series, as well as Glick’s more inspired interviews with the likes of Eugene Levy, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, Conan O’Brien and Jerry Seinfeld.

Even though “Homicide: Life on the Street” was one of the best crime dramas of the 1990s -- make that one of the best series of the decade -- receiving wide acclaim, Emmys and a Peabody, it was never a ratings blockbuster. Still, the series set in a Baltimore police station attracted a loyal, rabid following which still mourns its passing. Thankfully, fans can have their “Homicide” fix with A&E;’s four-disc set featuring all 13 episodes from the first two seasons

Based on David Simon’s (“The Wire”) award-winning chronicle of his year spent with the Baltimore police homicide squad, the series was brought brilliantly and vividly to television by Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana and writer Paul Attanasio. The series, which had nearly as many cast changes as “Law & Order,” originally starred Andre Braugher, Richard Belzer, Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Kyle Secor, Melissa Leo and Yaphet Kotto. The DVD set features interviews with Levinson and Fontana, commentary on the pilot episode and an episode of A&E;’s “American Justice.”

Speaking of “Law & Order,” Universal is offering the premiere episodes of the two popular spinoffs of the long-running NBC franchise: “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” ($20 each). Also featured on the discs are the first episode of “Law & Order” and documentaries on the creation of the series.

With “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” hitting theaters on the 27th, Columbia TriStar is jumping on the heavenly bandwagon with “Charlie’s Angels: The Complete First Season” ($50) which features all 24 episodes of the kitschy ‘70s phenomenon starring Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson. Also available is “The Best of Charlie’s Angels” ($25), which features five episodes from the first season including one hoot called “Angels in Chains,” with special guest star Kim Basinger sporting one of the ugliest outfits ever worn by an actress.

The pilot episode of “Charlie’s Angels” also is featured on the disc “The Greatest ‘70s Cop Shows” ($20), which includes the first episode of “Starsky and Hutch, “S.W.A.T.,” “Police Woman” and “The Rookies.”

Columbia TriStar is also releasing the entire first season of “S.W.A.T.,” ($30), the-so-bad-it’s-fun ABC series which starred Steve Forrest and a very young Robert Urich as the brave members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team. Next month, a big-screen version of “S.W.A.T.” opens with Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell.

The hulking Irish actor Michael Gambon, who has taken over the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore from the late Richard Harris in the “Harry Potter” franchise, gives one of his best performances in the 1986 British miniseries “The Singing Detective” (BBC Video, $60). Penned by the late Dennis Potter, this adult-themed, demanding film noir features some of the great pop music standards from the 1930s and ‘40s, and stars the burly Gambon as a mystery writer suffering from psoriatic arthritis, which confines him to a British hospital. To escape from his pain, fellow patients on the ward and the sadistic nurses and doctors, he retreats into his imagination and envisions himself in a convoluted murder mystery playing both a shamus and a big band singer.

The three-disc set features a revealing retrospective on Dennis Potter, a rare interview with him, a photo gallery and informative commentary from director Jon Amiel (“The Core”) and producer Kenith Trodd.

Five years after he played “The Singing Detective,” Gambon played Georges Simenon’s French super-sleuth Inspector Jules Maigret in the handsome series “Maigret,” which aired in the U.S. on PBS’ “Mystery!” showcase. The four-disc “Maigret Collection” (Wellspring, $100) features 12 episodes, plus a few minor extras like bios of Simenon and Gambon.

Also a must for British mystery fans is the first season of “Midsomer Murders” (A&E;, $60), which has aired on A&E.; Set in a cluster of picturesque English villages, these intelligent whodunits, based on Caroline Graham’s novels, star John Nettles as a level-headed chief inspector and Daniel Casey as his brash young assistant.