Chappelle's Show: Season 2 – Uncensored (Paramount): Comedy so biting, so deep that it sent its creator to Africa. Keep your passport handy. Extras: Unaired footage, including an hour's worth of bloopers and deleted scenes. And it's all bleeping uncensored.
Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series (Shout! Factory): Creator Judd Apatow provides revenge for the nerds in a sitcom that hits all too close to home. The follow-up, “Undeclared,” is a worthwhile grad course. Extras: A geek's dream, with 29 commentary tracks for 18 episodes, plus all the original music.
Friends: The Complete Second Season (Warner): Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) finally hook up – and how couldn't they after the heartwarming ending of “The One With the Prom Video”? Extras: Commentary by the producers and an interactive tour of the big apartment.
MASH: The Martinis and Medicine Collection (Fox): If you don't want to pony up for the whole series, sign up for Season 6, when David Ogden Stiers injected new (blue) blood into the long-running show as Maj. Charles Winchester. Extras: The Robert Altman film that inspired the series, two discs of bonus material and a book.
Seinfeld: Season 4 (Sony): The master year of the sitcom's domain with help from Teri Hatcher, Bubble Boy and John Cheever – not that there's anything wrong with that. Extras: Interviews, commentary, deleted scenes, promos, notes, yadda yadda yadda.
Taxi: The Complete Third Season (Paramount): Hail network television's greatest sitcom, with episodes that have Rev. Jim (Christopher Lloyd) overloading on TV and Latka (Andy Kaufman) overloading on “funny” cookies. Extras: Unfortunately, this “Taxi” offers a no-frills ride.
DRAMAThe Sopranos: The Complete First Season (HBO): The first chapter in this Mafia epic is an offer you can't refuse. Extras: A big-name fan, director Peter Bogdanovich, coaxes a 78-minute interview out of series creator David Chase.
The West Wing: The Complete Second Season (Warner): President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) takes on an assassin's bullet, his wife, the Republicans and even God in his most dramatic term. Extras: Commentary by creator Aaron Sorkin, Sheen and others, deleted scenes and bloopers.
The Wire: The Complete First Season (HBO): This complex drama was made for DVD, where the rewind button will help you figure out the story lines and revel again and again in the juiciest dialogue. Extras: Commentary, deleted scenes and – gulp – a gag reel.
GENRE FARELost: The Complete First Season (Buena Vista): Who could keep track of all the ins and outs of ABC's popular desert-island serial without this essential set? Extras: Expert debate on the show's secrets, audition footage, deleted scenes and oodles more.
Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 2 (Paramount): “The Trouble With Tribbles” – that unforgettable episode is all you need to know about this must-have set of the legendary sci-fi show. Extras: A look at the trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, a season recap and more.
Twilight Zone: The Definitive Edition – Season 1 (Image): The first step into a new dimension remains the most dazzling. Extras: Stunning image quality and loads of bonus material, including the essential book The Twilight Zone Companion (but you might have to hunt for that version of the set).
The X-Files: The Complete Second Season (Fox): The truth is out there in Chris Carter's thrill-a-minute fan favorite, which earns a special mention for being the show that started the whole season-set trend on DVD. Extras: Comments by Carter, season retrospective, deleted scenes and promos.
ANIMATION
Schoolhouse Rock! (Buena Vista): The cartoon shorts that taught us about everything from conjunctions to the Constitution. Extras: A peek at the faces behind the voices and how the shorts were created.
The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season (Fox): It's hard to pick from all 18 seasons, but this wins out by a hair – a blue hair – as Marge takes on the monorail and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Extras: Commentary on all 22 episodes and loads more, all compiled by creator Matt Groening. D'oh!
MINISERIESBand of Brothers (HBO): What Saving Private Ryan ” was to cinema, this HBO miniseries was to TV – an unforgettably realistic depiction of World War II combat. Extras: Three pithy documentaries and an interactive field guide.
MUSICSaturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music (Lions Gate): Many great live performances aren't here, but this five-disc set provides a great place to start. Extras: Some music-related sketches.
TALK/VARIETYThe Ultimate Carson Collection (Carson): Heeere's Johnny at his very best, with stars, skits and deadpan takes. Extras: “Danger Johnny” segments and behind-the-scenes footage.
The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 (Comedy Central): The big winner of the last presidential vote had to be Jon Stewart et al., who are at their best during convention time. Extras: An entire bonus disc, including an unforgettable “Star-Spangled Banner.”
Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Lions Gate): His comedy might be tasteless, but the insult-spewing puppet pooch wins best in show. Extras: Additional “poopings.”
The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection (Paramount): Six discs of extras as the talk-show queen takes you on a 20-year tour of her biggest, funniest and unseen moments. Extras: A free car! (For the studio audience.)
BRITISHThe Office: Complete Series 1 and 2 and the Special (BBC): Yeah, the American version is just fine, but it's impossible to beat the overall squirminess of the British original. Extras: Deleted scenes with essential funny bits if not plot points.
Black Adder: The Complete Collector's Set (BBC): A pre-”Mr. Bean” Rowan Atkinson takes viewers on a wild ride through British history as the many incarnations of one Edmund Blackadder. Extras: Essential guides to who's who and what's what, and a sing-along.
Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection (BBC): The riotous escapades of rude hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) produced only 12 episodes, but it's no insult to want to watch them again and again. Extras: Middling fare, but you'll like it – or else.
© 2006, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.