TV on DVD for June 30th

Along with being on the list of shows that really need to be on DVD, I still consider Parker Lewis one of the  shows that went away too early. It did manage three seasons and 73 episodes, but there was still plenty of mileage to be had. Still, it’s almost a miracle that the show made it that far. Watching the show, it’s clear it owes a good bit to Ferris Bueller. And, in fact, it debuted the same month as the Ferris Bueller TV adaptation. (Remember that? With Jennifer Aniston and her OG nose?) Luckily for us, despite getting lower ratings, Parker was the one that survived. See, FOX doesn’t cancel everything!  If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth a look.

Keeping with the comedy bent, Parker Lewis would go really well in a monster marathon with The IT Crowd. Our heroes (?) here are, as their boss describes them, “a dynamic go-getter (Jen), a genius (Moss), and a man from Ireland (Roy).” Other than telling you that the three make up the IT Department for a huge multi-national corporation that… does something…, I can’t really put the show in a nutshell. It’s just bizarre, often crazy, and always funny. If you’ve worked in IT, there are references aplenty for you, but there is something for anyone that has worked in an office setting as well. The highlight, for me, is always Richard Ayoade (Moss). Never pass up an Ayoade appearance.

This is good timing, with our friends from Eureka poised to return to the airwaves with all new episodes in just a couple weeks. The show has always occupied an odd spot on the SciFi schedule. It never received the huge press that Battlestar did, or even Stargate, but it just continues to motor along, getting solid ratings, and piling up good episodes. Season 3.0 got off to a bit of an iffy start with the introduction of Eva Thorne, but it all came together rather well. They even managed to toss out a couple cliffhangers that should drop us right into the back half of the season at full speed. Watch now and you’ll be all set for the show’s return.

This one still bothers me just a little. Five years is certainly a nice run, but the show was going so well when the powers that be pulled the plug. Putting Woolsey in charge turned out to be a great decision, and there were still a lot more stories to be told in the Pegasus galaxy. The promise of DVD movies is nice, but I still plan on being bitter about the lack of a season six for something like 4.7 more years.