The Rundown

Professional wrestling star the Rock, who was such a lump of flesh in The Scorpion King, proves surprisingly light on his feet in The Rundown, demonstrating charm and humor as well as the requisite toughness. Beck (the Rock), a repo-man for deadbeats, is sent to South America to find a treasure hunter (Seann William Scott) who's seeking a priceless golden idol--which the local head honcho (Christopher Walken) would like to get his hands on as well. Add in the lovely but dangerous barmaid with a secret (Rosario Dawson), and Beck has some obstacles to overcome. The plot of The Rundown isn't anything special, but the script is enjoyably clever and reasonably coherent; the capable cast keeps things lively; and the movie's relaxed but sinewy pace sets it apart from the frantic floundering of recent action flicks--kudos to director Peter Berg (Very Bad Things). A surprisingly fun flick.

DVD Features:

• Deleted scenes
• "Rumble in the Jungle" featurette on stunts and fight scenes
• "Appetite for Destruction" featurette on the visual effects
• "The Amazon, Hawaii Style" featurette on location
• and more
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

David Spade embodies Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star with the snide, glib, and bored attitude for which he is loved by his fans. Dickie, whose mother abandoned him in his youth when his TV show was canceled, yearns to regain the spotlight. But he can't get a promising role because the director believes that Dickie isn't a real person; so, to find his real self, Dickie hires a family to give him the childhood he never had. Dickie Roberts has some scattered laughs, but the writers have no better grasp of reality than Dickie himself; the "normal family" Dickie hires is as warm and glossy as any TV clan. A busload of real former child stars play exaggerated versions of themselves, but the result is more uncomfortable than satirical. However, if you want to see David Spade imitate a jet-ski, this is your movie.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by director Sam Weisman
• Commentary by writer/actor David Spade and writer Fred Wolf
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• 9 deleted scenes
• The True Hollywood Story
• Pencil Dickie: Writing the Story
• Behind "Child Stars on Your Television"
• Comedy Central's Reel Comedy
• Music video
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Old School

When three thirtysomething friends with woman troubles (Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn) decide to form a fraternity, it's supposedly to save Wilson from losing his house, which the nearby college is trying to claim for academic purposes. But really, Ferrell and Vaughn are desperate to return to the reckless, feckless days of beer bongs and hot chicks, and they drag Wilson along with them as they throw themselves into gathering frat pledges of all ages. Old School could have been just another string of bad jokes hanging on a flimsy plot, but the script and the cast have a jovial energy and just enough grounding in reality--at least, up until the obligatory beat-the-system ending, but by that point you'll forgive the excesses of this silly, cheerful, and frequently funny movie. Featuring Jeremy Piven and Juliette Lewis, with cameos by Snoop Dog, Andy Dick, and others.

DVD Features:

• Deleted scenes
• Bloopers and Outtakes
• Inside the Actors Studio spoof
• Welcome to Old School
• Nominations and Awards--So did we win anything?
• Commentary from the stars and director
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Duplex

Anyone who's lived in an apartment will understand the mounting frustration of Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore as they grapple with the upstairs neighbor of their worst nightmares in Duplex, directed by Danny DeVito. Stiller and Barrymore play a young couple who think they've found the home of their dreams when they buy an astonishingly spacious Brooklyn duplex. Unfortunately, the second floor comes with a tenant, a seemingly sweet little old lady (Eileen Essell). Her petty demands and manipulative ways drive Stiller and Barrymore to desperate attempts to oust her--and when she breezily resists their worst efforts, the hapless pair begin to consider more serious (and final) measures. Duplex might be called a comedy of anxiety; it constantly pricks at your expectations of disaster, sending you into a nervous state that demands laughter as a release. Also featuring Wallace Shawn, Harvey Fierstein, and Swoosie Kurtz.

DVD Features:

• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Deleted scenes
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

Knockaround Guys

An all-star cast enlivens this mobster movie. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, Battlefield Earth) plays the central role of Matty, the son of a mob boss (Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet, Speed) who's reluctant to give his son a shot at crime. Alas, when Matty and his posse of friends--tough guy Vin Diesel (Boiler Room, XXX), lover boy Andrew Davoli (The Sopranos), and screw-up Seth Green (the Austin Powers movies)--finally get an opportunity, they fumble the job, and a very important satchel of money ends up in a Montana town where the wily sheriff (Tom Noonan, Manhunter) decides he deserves a bonus for his years of public service. The posse's problems get worse when Matty's ruthless uncle (John Malkovich) comes to town to clean up the mess. Mechanical and unimaginative, but the capable performances keep it moving.

DVD Features:

• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Theatrical Trailer
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

A Man Apart

Buffed-up action star Vin Diesel plays a reckless DEA agent in A Man Apart, which aspires to merge big-budget action fare with a grittier, The French Connection-style procedural drama. When his wife is murdered by a mysterious drug lord called Diablo, Sean Vetter (Diesel) loses his moral bearings and risks the lives of his fellow agents in a quest for revenge. A Man Apart tries to give Diesel the opportunity to demonstrate a greater emotional range, but it's a mess; the supposedly tender scenes are generic and flat, while the action scenes are utterly incomprehensible. Much of the time it's unclear who's a cop and who's a thug, so when people get shot--and a lot of people get shot--it just becomes a bland wash of blood and bullets.

DVD Features:

• Theatrical trailer(s)
• 7 deleted scenes
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr. Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, an Invisible Man, Mina Harker (from Dracula), and the hunter Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery), all brought together to combat an evil megalomaniac out to conquer the world. Hardly an original plot, but perhaps that's fitting for a movie sewn together like Frankenstein's monster. The movie rushes from one frenetic battle to another, replacing sense with spectacle--Nemo's submarine rising from the water, a warehouse full of zeppelins bursting into flame, Venice collapsing into its own canals; flashy, dumb, and completely incoherent. Fans of the original comic book will be disappointed. Also featuring Peta Wilson, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Richard Roxburgh, and Jason Flemyng.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by producers Don Murphy and Trevor Albert and actors Shane West, Jason Flemyng, and Tony Curran
• Commentary by costume designer Jacqueline West, make-up effects supervisor Steve Johnson, visual effects supervisor John E. Sullivan, and miniatures creators Matthew Gratzner
• "Assembling the League": a six-part behind-the-scenes documentary
• 12 deleted and extended scenes
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Dreamcatcher

Regardless of its critical roasting, Dreamcatcher is a must-see for Stephen King fans. In adapting King's epic novel (itself an amalgam of familiar King plotlines), director Lawrence Kasdan and cowriter William Goldman sacrificed much of the character depth that gave the story its crucial humanity, resulting in a tame frightfest about four longtime friends (Damian Lewis, Jason Lee, Thomas Jane, Timothy Olyphant) whose past--and a shared gift of telepathy--connects them to a present-day alien invasion in the snowy forests of Maine. Like an ambitious episode of The X-Files, this slick production offers slimy "weasels" that gestate in human bowels; ominous aliens who seize control of bodies and minds; a secret military strike (led by Morgan Freeman) against the invaders; and enough gross-out humor to satisfy jaded horror buffs. Unfortunately, it just isn't scary. Despite its A-list advantages, Dreamcatcher works best as a glorified B-movie, likely to benefit from lowered expectations.

DVD Features:

• TV spot(s)
• Original ending and 4 other lifted scenes
• 3 documentaries: an interview with Stephen King, the visual effects, and production
• Widescreen anamorphic format

S.W.A.T.

Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell swagger through S.W.A.T., a guns-and-big-trucks macho extravaganza based on the 1970s TV show of the same name, about the police teams brought in to take care of extremely dangerous situations. Jackson plays a sergeant brought out of retirement to form a new squad, which includes rebellious Farrell (The Recruit) and tough babe Michelle Rodriguez (Girlfight, Blue Crush). After a lot of training and head-butting with a smarmy police captain, the squad gets assigned to transfer the head of a European crime cartel (Olivier Martinez, Unfaithful) who's declared on television that he'll give $100 million to anyone who gets him out. Every scumbag in Los Angeles descends to claim the money, turning a routine transfer into a bullet-filled gauntlet. Despite some gaps in logic and a generic flavor, S.W.A.T. will satisfy most action-movie junkies. Also featuring LL Cool J and Josh Charles.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by director Clark Johnson and actors Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Brian Van Holt, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, and Michelle Rodriguez
• Commentary by screenwriters and technical consultant
• Eight deleted scenes
• Four featurettes: 6th Street Bridge: Achieving the Improbable, Anatomy of a Shootout, S.W.A.T.: TV's Original Super Cops, The Making of S.W.A.T.
• "Sound & Fury: The Sounds of S.W.A.T." (equipment info and demos with scene breakdowns)
• Gag reel
• Widescreen anamorphic format

My Boss's Daughter

Heartthrob Ashton Kutcher lends his mix of leading-man looks and goofball personality to the cascading disaster farce of My Boss's Daughter. Tom Stansfield (Kutcher, Just Married) thinks he's going out on a date with Lisa (Tara Reid, American Pie), the daughter of his tyrannical boss, Mr. Taylor (Terence Stamp, The Limey)--but in fact, he's unknowingly agreed to house-sit the boss's house, which is loaded with antiques, a cash-filled safe, and a depressed owl. Of course, everything goes awry, starting with the owl escaping and culminating in a drug-dealing thug being buried in the back yard while Tom drives Mr. Taylor's car through the front of the house. The supporting cast is bizarrely star-studded, including Molly Shannon, Andy Richter, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Madsen, Dave Foley, and Carmen Electra. Directed by David Zucker (Airplane!, the Naked Gun series); it must have all looked good on paper.

DVD Features:

• New "R" rated version not seen in theaters with 5 additional minutes of footage
• Tara Reid audition
• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

The adventures of pint-sized secret agents Juni and Carmen Cortes (Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) continue. As Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over opens, Juni has left the spy agency and launched a career as a private detective--but when he learns that his sister Carmen has disappeared into a nefarious multi-user computer game, he agrees to go in after her, with the assistance of his grandfather (Ricardo Montalban). Three-dimensional special effects launch us into a topsy-turvy world of battling robots, souped-up motorcycle races, frogs on pogo sticks, surfing on hot lava, and much, much more. The story is even more incoherent than an actual computer game--but the movie storms along, driven by writer/director/editor/everything-else Robert Rodriguez's sheer visual enthusiasm. Featuring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, and everyone else who appeared in the first two Spy Kids movies.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by filmmaker Robert Rodriquez
• Contains 3-D and 2-D versions of the film
• 4 pairs of 3-D glasses included
• Ten minute film school on how to make cool home movies
• Alexa Vega in concert
• Making Traks with Alexa Vega
• The making of the film
• Multi-angle piece on surfing and stunts
• Big Dink, Little Dink
• Mega Race Set-Top Game (2-D & 3-D versions)
• Widescreen anamorphic format
• Number of discs: 2

Underworld

Blade meets The Crow and The Matrix in Underworld, a hybrid thriller that rewrites the rulebook on werewolves and vampires. It's a "cuisinart" movie (blend a lot of familiar ideas and hope something interesting happens) in which immortal vampire "death dealers" wage an ancient war against "Lycans" (werewolves), who've got centuries of revenge--and some rather ambitious genetic experiments--on their lycanthropic agenda. Given his preoccupation with gloomy architecture (mostly filmed in Budapest, Hungary), frenetic mayhem and gothic costuming, it's no surprise that first-time director Len Wiseman gained experience in TV commercials and the art departments of Godzilla, Men in Black, and Independence Day. His work is all surface, no substance, filled with derivative, grand-scale action as conflicted vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale, who later became engaged to Wiseman) struggles to rescue an ill-fated human (Scott Speedman) from Lycan transformation. It's great looking all the way, and a guaranteed treat for horror buffs, who will eagerly dissect its many strengths and weaknesses.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by director Len Wiseman, writer Danny McBride, and writer-actor Kevin Grevioux
• Commentary by creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos, visual effects supervisor and executive producer James McQuaide, and sound designer Claude Letessier
• Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s)
• "The Making of Underworld" featurette
• Creature effects featurette
• Stunts featurette
• Sights and sound featurette
• Storyboard comparison
• Finch music video: "Worms of the Earth"
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Rugrats go Wild!

Worlds collide when the precocious cartoon tots of Rugrats find themselves marooned in the Pacific with the adventuresome cartoon clan The Wild Thornberrys in this feature-length cartoon. The collected parents and kids of Rugrats head out for an ocean cruise that turns out to be considerably less posh than some had expected--and becomes even more so when their boat sinks, leaving them on a deserted island. But it turns out to be not quite deserted, for the Thornberry family is searching for a rare cloud leopard--a leopard that would be pleased to have a Rugrat-sized morsel for lunch. The flimsy plot is just a cheerful excuse for the characters to romp around the brightly animated jungle, accompanied by some truly terrible songs. Unsurprisingly, Angelica and Debbie--the tyrannical, demanding princesses of their respective shows--provide the most fun. Featuring Bruce Willis as the voice of slobbery pooch Spike.

DVD Features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Alternate Ending
• Behind-the-scenes Featurette
• Exclusive Rugrats go Wild interactive game
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

Run Ronnie Run

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, creators and stars of the HBO comedy sketch series Mr. Show, bravely stretch one of that program's premises and characters into a generally successful, feature-length film in Run Ronnie Run! Cross plays Ronnie Dobbs, a trailer-park nitwit whose pranks find him routinely chased by small-town police. When an L.A. television producer (Odenkirk) discovers Ronnie is a favorite and frequent felon on a reality TV show, he signs Dobbs to his own series (Ronnie Dobbs Gets Arrested!) and re-settles him in Beverly Hills. Unprepared for fame, money, and power, Ronnie tries reinventing his life with mixed results. Much of Run Ronnie Run! is funny, though Cross--always a strong performer--is typically better than the material. The film works best as a showcase for sight gags and one-note sketches; among the latter is a great piece involving a self-help guru and a cameo by Jeff Goldblum.

DVD Features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Three Times One Minus One Music Video
• DVD-ROM Enabled
• And More!
• Widescreen letterbox format

Punch-Drunk Love

Adam Sandler takes a shot at critical respectability with Punch-Drunk Love, a movie by director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia). Sandler plays Barry Egan, a lonely small businessman who calls a phone sex line one night, only to find himself the victim of an extortion scheme the next day--the very same day on which he goes out on a date with the woman who may be the love of his life (the utterly delightful Emily Watson). Barry is a lot like Sandler's popular comic characters--socially maladept, prone to violence, always on the brink of embarrassment--but here Sandler plays it real; the result is both off-putting and sympathetic. Anderson's writing skills, unfortunately, are not as strong as his visual sense. Punch-Drunk Love has many strengths (including great supporting actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán), but ultimately fizzles out.

DVD Features:

• Theatrical trailer(s)
• "Blossoms & Blood" (12-minute feature including alternate takes, Jeremy Blake artwork, and Jon Brion's "Here We Go" music video directed by PTA)
• Deleted scenes
• Mattress Man commercial
• 12 Scopitones
• Additional artwork by Jeremy Blake
• Widescreen anamorphic format
• Number of discs: 2

Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 begins with a well-orchestrated multicar pileup on a freeway--a horrifying accident that turns out to be a premonition, as seen by a young woman (A.J. Cook) who saves herself and several other people by blocking a freeway on-ramp. Thus, as in the first Final Destination, a prescient vision disrupts the destined plans of death, and death goes to extreme lengths to correct matters. What makes Final Destination 2 entertaining is that the characters can only survive by learning to recognize the signs of impending doom--and the signs are basically the cinematic foreshadowing that moviemakers use to invoke suspense. This, combined with some elaborately complicated and gruesome deaths, fosters a ghoulish humor that's more entertaining than the smirky self-referentiality of Scream. Also featuring Ali Larter as the only survivor of the first movie.

Zoolander

Charge your micro-mini cell phones and whip up some orange mocha Frappuccino, 'cuz Zoolander is on the runway, and you're gonna laugh your booty off! Based on a sketch created by writer-director Ben Stiller and cowriter Drake Sather for the 1996 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, Zoolander is a delirious send-up of New York's fashion scene as epitomized by male model Derek Zoolander (Stiller), a dimwitted preener who's oblivious to a Manchurian Candidate-like plot to turn him into a brainwashed assassin. Tipped off by a reporter (Christina Taylor), Zoolander teams with rival model Hansel (Owen Wilson) to foil the poodle-haired fashion designer (Will Ferrell) who's behind the nefarious scheme. The goofy plot's only half the fun; with roles for Stiller's parents (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), dozens of celebrity cameos, endlessly quotable dialogue, and improvisational energy to spare, Zoolander is very smart about being very stupid, easily matching the Austin Powers franchise for inspired comedic lunacy.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by Ben Stiller and writers Drake Sather and John Hamburg
• 5 deleted scenes with commentary by Ben Stiller
• 5 extended scenes with commentary by Ben Stiller
• Outtakes
• Music video - "Start the Commotion" by the Wiseguys
• 2 original skits from the 'VH1/ Vogue Fashion Awards, 1996/97'
• Alternate end title sequence
• Photo gallery
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Corkey Romano

The setup is promising: The Romano mob family know that they're being betrayed by a hidden FBI informant in their ranks, so they decide to send a family member under cover to destroy the evidence against them--but the only family member the FBI won't recognize is the family black sheep, Corky (Chris Kattan), a touchy-feely aspiring veterinarian. But once Corky goes undercover, his klutzy ways accidentally make him the star of the FBI, sparking envy from his fellow agents and arousing suspicion in the mob. Though the script of Corky Romano declines as the movie goes on, Kattan actually keeps the picture going; his spastic, sniveling, childish energy is engaging, and at its best the production bubbles over with silliness. It only falls flat when Kattan has to behave in a remotely adult manner, which fortunately doesn't happen very often. Cheerful dopiness. Featuring Peter Falk, Peter Berg, and Chris Penn as mobsters.

DVD Features:

• Extended scenes
• Corky Romano - All Access
• Widescreen anamorphic format

Rat Race

Modeled after 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Jerry Zucker's Rat Race lacks the irreverence of Zucker's 1980 hit Airplane! but has enough chuckles to make it an agreeable time-killer. Like Mad, Mad, Mad..., it employs a huge ensemble of comedy stalwarts, assembled by an eccentric hotelier (pearly-toothed John Cleese) to race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a $2 million jackpot. With a backstage gambling subplot, Rowan Atkinson's Italian-geek lunacy, Seth Green's slacker antics, and some nicely understated work from SCTV alumnus Dave Thomas, the movie has almost as many highlights as clunkers, and Zucker's embrace of easy gags and traditional slapstick will tickle anyone's old-fashioned funny bone. Other ingredients are hopelessly stale: Whoopi Goldberg's frantic mugging, Cuba Gooding's latter-day Stepin Fetchit, "mature" humor that compromises the movie's broad appeal, and the assumption that crashing vehicles are inherently hilarious. Lamentable decisions, perhaps, but Rat Race maintains a pleasantly altruistic spirit.

Stealing Harvard

In Stealing Harvard, the charming Jason Lee (Chasing Amy, Almost Famous) wastes his talent playing John, a nice guy who once rashly promised his niece that he would pay for her college education. Now she's been accepted into Harvard, and though John has just the right amount of money in the bank, that money is meant to buy a house for himself and his fiancée Elaine (Leslie Mann, Big Daddy). Afraid of disappointing his niece, John enlists his friend Duff (Tom Green, Freddy Got Fingered, Road Trip) on a spree of inane criminal escapades that go wrong. Lee is an engaging actor, but he can't make the half-baked gags of Stealing Harvard funny. Similarly wasted are Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Dennis Farina (Out of Sight, Snatch), Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs, Short Cuts), and others.

TV Shows on DVD:

1. Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks

2. Clerks Uncensored: TV Show

3. South Park: The Complete Fouth Season

4. South Park: The Complete Third Season

5. South Park: The Complete Second Season

6. South Park: The Complete First Season

7. Family Guy: Volume One

8. Family Guy: Volume Two

9. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season

10. Chappelles Show: Season 1 Uncensored

11. Punk'd: The Complete First Season

12. The O.C. Season 1

13. Monk - Season 1

14. Reno 911! Season 1

15. Mr. Bean - The Whole Bean (Complete Set)

16. Mr. Bean: The Animated Series Vol. 1 & 2

17. Mr. Bean: The Animated Series Vol. 3 & 4

18. The Simpsons: The Complete First Season

19. The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season

20. The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season

21. The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season

22. Futurama Vol. 1

23. Futurama Vol. 2

24. Futurama Vol. 3

25. Sealab 2021: Season 1

26. Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume 1

27. Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume 2

28. Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume 3

29. Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Volume 1

30. Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Volume 2

31. Invader Zim

32. The Critic: Entire Series

33. Mr. Show: The Complete First and Second Season

34. Mr. Show: The Complete Third Season

35. Mr. Show: The Complete Fourth Season

36. Curb Your Enthusiasm The Complete 1st Season

37. Curb Your Enthusiasm The Complete 2nd Season

38. The Man Show: Vol. 1

39. The Man Show: Vol. 2

40. The Ben Stiller Show

Clerks Uncensored: TV Show
Only two episodes of this show aired on TV, but now you can own all 6 on DVD. Kevin Smith fans will love the commentary for the episodes.

DVD Features:

• Introduction to each episode by Jay and Silent Bob
• Animatics
• Audio Commentary with executive producer Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier and Dave Mandel, supervising director Chris Bailey, and actors Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes
• Character Development Featurette
• The Clerks Style Featurette
• Super Bowl TV spot
• Never-Before-Seen Episodes and Deleted Scenes
• DVD ROM: Script/ storyboard synchronized viewer, character profiles and weblinks
• Number of discs: 2

South Park - The Complete 4th Season

Release Date: June 29, 2004

We had previously told you that Paramount and Comedy Central are coming out with South Park - The Complete 4th Season this June.

Now, thanks to DVDPlanet.com, who put this up for pre-order today, we now know that this will hit the stores on June 29, 2004. List price is shown there to be $54.95, but note that Paramount-distribtued TV-DVD box sets often have no official list price...so take DVDPlanet's SRP with a grain of salt. In any case, DVDPlanet's current pre-order price is a nice $38.47 for a 3-DVD set that has 17 episodes running at 308 minutes.

Mini-Commentaries are on all 17 episodes, recorded by creators Matt Stone & Trey Parker. Unfortunately, no other extras were mentioned for this release (we were pathetically hoping for "The Spirit of Christmas" pilot to show up on this one...too bad we were wrong about that!). Video is full frame, and English Stereo audio is the order of the day (except for Kenny, maybe).

South Park: The Complete Third Season
After Viacom's buy-out of Comedy Central, Paramount takes over distributing the South Park season set releases. Now, for the first time ever, all seventeen outrageous episodes from South Park's legendary third season (which followed the theatrical film) are available in this exclusive 3-disc collector's edition.

DVD Features:

• 17 episodes with mini-commentaries from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone
• Number of discs: 3

South Park: The Complete Second Season
Now all eighteen classic episodes from South Park's legendary second season are available for the first time in this exclusive 3-disc collector's edition. This season we find out the identity of Cartman's father, learn about Conjoined Twin Myslexia and thaw out a prehistoric ice man. So join Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as they take on the supernatural, the extraordinary and the insane. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park.

DVD Features:

• 18 episodes on three discs
• Chocolate Salty Balls music video
• Goin' Down to South Park
• Promos
• Full-screen format
• Number of discs: 3

South Park: The Complete First Season
Mr. Hankey! Mecha Streisand! Cartman's Mom! And more. It all started here, in South Park's groundbreaking first season. Still going strong in its eight season, South Park continues to be Comedy Central's highest rated and most recognized original series ever. This is the first season of the series, in one complete set...all 13 episodes.

DVD Features:

• All 13 episodes
• "A South Park Thanksgiving" as seen on "The Tonight Show"
• Cartman "O Holy Night" music video
• Ned "O Little Town of Bethlehem" music video
• On-Air promos
• The Boys present at the 1997 CableACE Awards
• Number of discs: 3

Family Guy: Volume One
Meet the Griffins: Peter, the big, lovable oaf who always says what's on his mind. Lois, the doting mother who can't figure out why her baby son keeps trying to kill her. Their daughter Meg, the teen drama queen who's constantly embarrassed by her family. Chris, the beefy 13-year-old who wouldn't hurt a fly, unless it landed on his hot dog. Stewie, the maniacal one-year-old bent on world domination. And Brian, the sarcastic dog with a wit as dry as the martinis he drinks. The animated adventures of this outrageous family will have your whole family laughing out loud.

DVD Features:

• 28 episodes from the first 2 seasons on 4 discs
• Disc 1:
• Commentary on "Death Has a Shadow" and "The Son Also Draws"
• Disc 2:
• Commentary on "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater", and "Holy Crap"
• Disc 3:
• Commentary on "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" and "Let's Go to the Hop"
• Disc 4:
• Commentary on "He's Too Sexy for His Fat" and "E. Peterbus Unum"
• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Internet promo spots
• Number of discs: 4

Family Guy: Volume 2
Following the extraordinary DVD debut of Vol. 1, the Vol. 2 finalè set is loaded with never-before-seen extras, including unaired episode "When You Wish Upon A Weinstein", and features all remaining episodes (Season 3, plus unaired episode and pilot pitch) in a 3-disc set.

The most dysfunctional family in Quahog, Rhode Island is "What you'd get if you put Hank Hill, Homer Simpson and Cartman in a blender" (Entertainment Weekly), and they're on DVD for a final round of outrageous fun in the FAMILY GUY VOLUME TWO DVD COLLECTION. The FAMILY GUY fan base demonstrated its strength in April 2003, with overwhelming support for the Volume One DVD release at retail, with over a quarter of a million units sold-through within the first four weeks. The FAMILY GUY VOLUME TWO DVD COLLECTION features all of the remaining 22 episodes from the FOX Television Network hit series, on a collectible three-disc set and is loaded with never-before-seen extras that fans have been waiting for. The bonus material includes the highly anticipated never-before-seen episode "When You Wish Upon A Weinstein", commentary, 15 minutes of animatics and the pilot pitch. FAMILY GUY VOLUME TWO DVD COLLECTION will reunite fans with Stewie in his final push for world domination!

DVD Features:

• 22 episodes on three discs, including the never-before-seen "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
• Commentary for "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington," "Death Lives," "Mr. Saturday Night," "Ready, Willing and Disabled," "Brian Wallows," "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
• Animatics
• Pilot pitch
• Unsensored
• Series overview
• Full-screen format
• Number of discs: 3

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS revolves around the denizens of Bikini Bottom and a sweet square yellow sponge with the tongue twister name of SpongeBob SquarePants, who lives in a giant pineapple with his cookie-loving pet snail Gary. His two best friends and comrades-in-misadventures, are Patrick, a gullible starfish and a temperamental, thrill-seeking squirrel named Sandy Cheeks who lives in an underwater dome complete with a large Texas tree house and picnic area. SpongeBob is the "best fry cook ever" at the Krusty Krab, where he has to deal with his miserly boss Mr. Krabs and the grumpy cashier Squidward Tentacles. SpongeBob is always landing himself (and his friends!) in hot soup despite the best of intentions. His enthusiasm and optimism are endearing and infectious, making him one of the best-loved characters by children and adults alike.

DVD Features:

• All 40 episodes on 3 discs plus 90 minutes of bonus features and selected commentaries
• The Origin of Spongebob Squarepants
• Recollections from the crew
• The voices
• Bikini Bottom tour
• Karaoke
• Drawing the Goo Lagoon
• Spongebob's life stragaies
• Violent Femmes sing Spongebob
• 2 music videos
• Number of discs: 3

Chappelles Show: Season 1 Uncensored

Welcome to this thing we call Chappelle's Show. Comedian Dave Chappelle takes his street-smart brand of comedy to another level in Chappelle's Show: Season One Uncensored DVD Boxed set. Chappelle's hilarious and defiant point-of-view brought to bear in these twelve outrageous episodes consisting of sketches, pop culture parodies and live musical performances.

DVD Features:

• 2 Discs
• 30 Minute Deleted Scene/Gag Reel
• 20 Minute Featurette Ask A Black Dude With Paul Mooney
• Audio Commentary From Dave and Series Co-Creator Neal Brennan on 5 Episodes and on the Deleted Scenes/Gag Reel

Punk'd: The Complete First Season
See what really happens when Ashton Kutcher plays outrageous pranks on unwitting stars.

DVD Features:

• Commentary by Aston Kutcher, Dax Shepard, and co-creator Jason Goldberg
• All 8 episodes including unseen scenes
• Menus hosted by Ashton Kutcher
• 2 entire unseen segments
• Deleted scenes
• Number of discs: 2

The O.C. Season 1

Release Date: October 2004

DVD Features:

• 6-DVD set with 27 first-season episodes

Monk - Season 1

Release Date: June 15, 2004

He's ingenious, he's phobic, he's obsessive-compulsive. Monk's hilarious, offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty, but he's back as a police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk (Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Tony Shalhoub) is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, cars, heights, crowds and virtually everything else known to man in "the best detective show to come along in decades." (NY Post) Now you can enjoy the entire first season of Monk on DVD.

DVD Features:

• Mr. Monk And His Origins
• Mr. Monk And His O.C.D.
• Mr. Monk And His Fellow Sufferers
• Mr. Monk And His Emmy Award Winning Performance
• Mr. Monk And His Partners In Crime

Reno 911! Season 1

Release Date: June 22nd

The complete first season chronicles the adventures of one of the most dysfunctional police forces in America in all their deranged glory! For the first time ever, all 14 episodes from the first season-plus bonus special features-are available in this hilarious 2 disc DVD pack!

The Critic: Entire Series

It Stinks!
From the producers of The Simpsons! Jon Lovitz is the animated Jay Sherman, a TV movie critic who is forced to review the most pathetic films which he always rates as "It stinks." In addition to the film parodies, the show also deals with his personal life: working for a tyrannical media mogul boss, his love life and his family.

Includes all 23 episodes from the entire first and second season, plus all 10 Shockwave "web-i-sode shorts"!

DVD Features:

• 3 Discs
• Clip Compilations
• 8 Commentaries, featuring Executive Producer Al Jean, Executive Producer Mike Reiss, Co-Producer David Cutler, Director Rich Moore, and Voice Actor Maurice "Jeremy Hawke" LaMarche. In addition, some commentaries include Executive Producer James L. Brooks, Writer Steven Levitan, Voice Actor Nick "Vlada Villamiravitch" Jameson, and Voice Actor Charles "Duke Phillips" Napier.
• 9 New Featurette: "Creating The Critic". Features interviews with James L. Brooks, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, and other co-creators.
• "White Rabbits": Pop-ups during episode 113 which allow you to watch 3 of the scenes in a split-screen fashion. Split-screens show comparisons of storyboards, rough animations, and the as-aired final animated version of the scene.
• "Short Film: Web-i-sodes". They're the 10 four-minute-long "Shockwave shorts" created in 2000 to briefly continue the series. They have been transferred to video and can be viewed on any set-top DVD player (it is NOT a DVD-ROM feature).
• Bonus Trailers

The Man Show: Vol. 1
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, "The Man Show" has created a phenomenon that delights men and disgusts women of all ages.

DVD Features:

• Father and Son: 3 never-before-seen clips of Jimmy sharing life lessons with his son Kevin
• Household Hints From Adult Film Stars: Female porn stars teach the basics of household projects in these 3 never-before-seen segments
• Monkey Bar: 2 never-before-seen segments of monkeys telling jokes. What else could you ask for?
• Karl Malone On...investing, taxes and recycling
• Angelique's Audition: What do the Juggies have to do to get hired? Watch this special bonus clip and find out
• Girls on Trampolines: "Men Love Sun Dresses" - over 5 minutes of the obvious and "Men Love the Beach" - 5 minutes of girls in their skimpiest beach attire

The Man Show: Vol. 2
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, The Man Show has created a phenomenon that delights men and disgusts women of all ages, becoming Comedy Central's second highest reates show behind South Park.

DVD Featues:

• Number of discs: 3

The Ben Stiller Show
The funniest show you never saw - starring Ben Stiller featuring all 12 regular season episodes plus an originally unaired episode. This cutting-edge Emmy Award-winning sketch comedy show aired on Fox in the 1992-93 season and in syndication on Comedy Central.
DVD Features:

• Audio commentary
• Deleted scenes
• Featurette
• Outtakes
• TV Special
• Easter Eggs