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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, June 7, 2009

Time to catch up with TV on DVD


By Jen Chaney
Washington Post

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

In the quirky "Pushing Daisies," Ned (Lee Pace) loves Chuck (Anna Friel), but if he touches her, she'll die — again.

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"House" and "The Office" are closed for the season. "Lost" won't be found until early 2010. America's newest "Idol" has been crowned.

Although some series -"Burn Notice," "True Blood" and "Army Wives," among others — will crank out new episodes over the summer, you may be seeking ways to fill that TV void in the air-conditioned days that lie ahead. Think about TV on DVD:

There are only so many times and ways that a person can say, "Watch 'Friday Night Lights.' " The high school football drama recently got renewed for two more seasons on DirecTV and NBC, and its exceptional third season is now on DVD. I may as well repeat myself: watch "Friday Night Lights." Seriously.

"Twilight" has the entertainment industry a little vampire crazy. But if you can't beat 'em, you may as well suck the blood. Or at least check out "True Blood," Alan Ball's wicked HBO drama that stars Golden Globe winner Anna Paquin as a waitress with a thing for a 173-year-old night crawler.

"Pushing Daisies" — a show that manages to focus on death yet remain relentlessly cheery — is about to take its last, low-profile bow on ABC. If you haven't taken the opportunity earlier to get acquainted with Ned (Lee Pace), an endearingly earnest piemaker with a knack for briefly reviving the deceased, by all means do it on DVD.

NBC bailed on its effort to make its own version of "The IT Crowd," a British comedy about a tech team that turns the question "Have you tried turning it on and off again?" into a mantra. Luckily, the first season of the original series came out on DVD ($25) in the United States earlier this year and comes with a brilliantly satirical making-of featurette. Then make plans to snag the second season (also $25) June 30.

Your friends talk about it. Your co-workers talk about it. Even your mother recently tried to launch into a discussion of the Dharma Initiative. It's time to surrender and jump on the "Lost" bandwagon before the final season of the series (filmed in Hawai'i) begins early next year.