Popular -- the complete first season
This show was admittedly the poor man's My So-Called Life, with a typical teenybopper cast of characters (the rich bitch, the quarterback, the ambiguously gay guy, the weird activist) and supposedly witty one-liners like"Michael Jackson called, he wants his eyebrows back." So why does it merit preservation for posterity on DVD? Well, besides the presence of Tammy Lynn Michaels, aka Melissa Etheridge's wife, it will come in handy as a bookend opposite your DVD box-set of Saved by the Bell.
Gilligan's Island -- the complete first season
Nothing says 1964 like this three-hour tour gone awry and its "seven stranded castaways," including the very sexy Professor, who is better than MacGyver when it comes to performing surgery with a coconut and the like. The episode plots are ridiculous (e.g. a surfer lands on the island after riding a giant tsunami) and the references dated, but the show is still better than the crap that passes for entertainment these days. Look out for a young Kurt Russell as Jungle Boy, and try to solve that never-ending debate: Ginger or Mary Ann?
Will & Grace -- the complete third season
This is one of the most fun and campy of the seasons, featuring gay-friendly guest stars like Cher and Ellen, and other rather inexplicable choices, like kooky, hemp loving Woody Harrelson as Grace's obnoxious new boyfriend. As usual, Karen (Megan Mullally) steals the show with her pill-popping, binge drinking and witty one-liners. Look out for the flashback episodes, like when Jack and Will meet at college, for some truly awful '80s fashion.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit -- the fifth year
SVU is the best show of its kind on TV, all thanks to one man: Ice-T. Casting the rapper as Detective Tutuola was genius on the part of the NBC execs in charge of this season of the Law and Order franchise. We already loved watching dirty old pervs getting arrested for molesting kiddies -- now we can watch Ice-T do it in style like the badass that he is, spitting in their faces. Also starring Mariska Hargitay as the only NYPD detective who wears $200 jeans to get down and dirty.--
Dawson's Creek -- the complete fourth season
It's senior year for the Capeside gang, and the actors are finally starting to look their age (35). However, this season has some of the most memorable moments in the show's entire run: whiny nut job Andie leaves, Joey and Pacey have sex after much pouting and philosophizing and Dawson's baby sis is born.
Just try not to vomit into your lap when "Fields of Gold" is played during the big Graduation finale. Due out Oct. 5.
CSI -- the complete fourth season
This show is a science geek's wet dream. Not only does the audience get to see extreme close-ups of bullet wounds, blood clots and mold spores, but the cast members are way hotter than Mulder and Scully, especially George Eads and his six-pack as Nick Stokes. This is supposed to be the best season of the acclaimed crime drama yet, so put down your Playstation controller for five minutes and preorder this DVD, due out on Oct. 12.
