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'Mannix' and other TV shows now landing on DVD

Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 14:34

"Mannix: The First Season"Most viewers probably remember "Mannix" as the show that starred Mike Conners as Joe Mannix, the suave loner private detective who wasn't afraid to use his fists, his debonair looks, his street smarts or his charm to crack the case.But that's not how the CBS series started. The first season, 1967-68, has Mannix working for a high-tech investigative firm called Intertect, run by Lew Wickersham (Joseph Campanella). But Mannix's maverick personality is the same -- while by-the-book Lew depends on Intertect's computers (which look laughable today), Mannix prefers to handle things his own way, often striking out on his own and striking bad guys with his one-two punch.Besides the 24 episodes, each with an audio introduction from Conners, the DVD set (CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment; $54.99) includes a two-part interview with the weathered but still spirited Conners and Campanella, who recall (and sometimes can't quite recall) that first season of the show; a 1969 Conners appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show"; a clip from a 1997 "Diagnosis Murder" episode on which Conners guests as Mannix; a photo gallery set to the series' great theme song; and a few other extras.Co-creator William Link spends his audio commentary with the pilot saying how the episode wasn't how he had envisioned the series (much too violent) and how great "Columbo" was, a series he also happened to create.-- Karen Carlin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff writer"Weeds: Season Three"Fans of Showtime's ganja-growing, pot-selling Botwin clan should enjoy the "Weeds: Season Three" three-disc DVD set and its myriad bonus features. The series -- about the trials and tribulations of drug-dealing soccer mom Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) and how her illegal enterprise becomes a family and community affair -- begins its fourth season June 16.In addition to all 15 episodes from Season Three, the DVD set (Lionsgate Television, $31.98, Blu-Ray $39.97) includes cast and crew commentaries, a gag reel, a featurette exploring the devolution of Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk) and a biography of Mary-Kate Olsen, who plays Tara Lindman.Wry trivia tracks to seven episodes offer arcane, interesting and sometimes downright useless facts (via subtitles) about where an actor went to college or high school or the history of the hand greeting known as "the pound" or how many gallons of water it takes to fill Nancy's swimming pool.The set includes the original and definitive version of the show's theme song, "Little Boxes," sung by Malvina Reynolds. In addition to a featurette on Randy Newman's rendition of "Little Boxes," there also are montages set to four different versions of "Little Boxes" by Kinky, The Individuals, Persephone's Bees and Man Man.The most ghastly of the bonus featurettes, although it could seem funny to someone in an altered state, is "GMA -- Good Morning Agrestic." Young Shane Botwin (Alexander Gould) directs several episodes of his own public-access morning show starring Dean Hodes (Andy Milder) and Pam (Becky Thyre) as hosts, Andy Botwin as the chef and Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon) as the weatherman, along with guest appearances by Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins) and Heylia James (Tonye Patano), to name a few.-- L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff writer"The Andromeda Strain"Once again we see a remake of a classic. Unfortunately, this time scientific rhetoric and CGI (computer-generated imagery) seem to overtake the telling of an excellent story in A&E's recent miniseries, "The Andromeda Strain" (Universal Home Entertainment; $29.98). And although the story isn't completely lost -- a strong cast makes it an easy watch -- it becomes a stretch to keep the threads of the various story lines tightly woven.As in the original, a satellite crashes to earth bringing along a mysterious virus. This time it attacks a small Western town isolated in the mountains, leaving only a baby and a Sterno-swilling old man alive. Enter an elite team of scientists led by Benjamin Bratt's character, who has helped the government design a top-secret facility for just this sort of cataclysmic event.One of the changes that viewers will see from the original movie and from the book is the introduction of post-9/11 security, its accompanying lingo and the question of security versus the media's right to report the news.With four hours of extras, you get the chance to hear and see parts of the moviemaking process to a great degree from both the technical side and the creative points. The visual-effects breakdown is well worth seeing as "before" and "after" of some of the CGI "tricks" are offered.-- Liz Gray, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff writer(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)