Category: TV

“CSI: New York” — Season 3

Jae-Ha Kim

The third season of CSI: New York is full of murder, mayhem, and mystery. And luckily for lead investigator Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), it also includes a little romance in the form of the lovely Dr. Peyton Driscoll (Claire Forlani), a medical examiner who joins the staff. All 24 episodes from the third season, which aired on CBS during 2006-2007, are included on this six-disc box set. And moreso than the previous two years, this season has a taut, cohesive feel. The characters have bonded and come into their own, especially Detective Don Flack (played by Eddie Cahill, who made his name playing the boytoy of both Jennifer Aniston on Friends and Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City).

“Girlfriends” — Season Two

Jae-Ha Kim

The second season of “Girlfriends” offers more drama than the sitcom served up during its debut year. But it also offers plenty of laughs, though they are sometimes bittersweet. Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross, daughter of Diana Ross), a sensible attorney who’s unlucky in love, is back, along with her assistant Maya (Golden Brooks), her cheerful roommate Lynn (Persia White), and their often thoughtless boy crazy pal Toni (Jill Marie Jones).

“Bones” — Season 2

Jae-Ha Kim

Beginning with the death of a senator and ending with a marriage, the second season of Bones builds on the momentum created during the Fox drama’s debut year. Bones’ sophomore season (which includes all 21 episodes that originally aired during 2006-2007) centers on the collaborations between FBI special agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), whom Booth has nicknamed “Bones.”

“Grey’s Anatomy” — Season Three

Jae-Ha Kim

In the third season of Grey’s Anatomy, one medical intern will get married to a superior while another is left standing at the altar. Two interns will lose their parents. And one main character will try to commit suicide–or not fight very hard to save her own life. There will be multiple hook-ups, infidelity, and trust issues.

“Friday Night Lights” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

The first season of Friday Night Lights accomplishes something that few television dramas are able to do: It betters the 2004 film (starring Billy Bob Thornton) on which the series is based. Set in Dillon, Texas, where football–even on the high school level–is everything, Friday Night Lights is a compelling drama with a football subplot. Poignantly and effectively touching on racism, rape, steroids, jealousy, infidelity, and life-changing injuries, the series presents the inhabitants of Dillon as real people who are flawed, but remarkable in their ordinariness.

“‘Till Death”: Season One

Jae-Ha Kim

There’s nothing like an overly demonstrative pair of newlyweds to make an old married couple feel like a failure. And old. So when Jeff (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Steph (Kat Foster) Woodcock–married for all of 12 days–move next door to Eddie (Brad Garrett) and Joy Stark (Joely Fisher), the latter feel the need to put their youthful neighbors in their place.

“House” — Season 3

Jae-Ha Kim

The cantankerous and brilliant Dr. House (Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie) is back for a third season of the hit drama House, which picks up with his being shot at the end of season two and ends with his staff dramatically refusing to put up with his oddball (and borderline abusive) demands. Each of the 24 episodes, which aired on FOX from 2006 to 2007, is included in this 5-disc set. Fans of the drama will be happy to hear that the formula remains the same: Each show begins with a medical dilemma that’s so severe and life-threatening that only Dr. House can diagnose and fix the problem, even if it goes against conventional medical rules.

“Ugly Betty” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

Based on the popular Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea, Ugly Betty is a biting comedy with plenty of heart. There are several ongoing plots, including murder, illegal immigration, infidelity, a vendetta, and death. And yes, this really is a comedy. Golden Globe winner America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Real Women Have Curves) stars as Betty, a whip-smart assistant at a women’s magazine who is clueless when it comes to fashion. While her size 0 colleagues parade around in haute couture and stiletto heels, Betty shows up for work in her mismatched outfits, complete with thick glasses and awkward braces.

“The Hills” — Season 2

Jae-Ha Kim

When the debut season of “The Hills” ended, Lauren had passed up the opportunity to work in Paris for the summer to live in a beach house with her vaguely Neanderthal-ish boyfriend Jason. Flash forward to the second season of MTV’s hit reality series–which aired from January through April 2007. Lauren and Jason break up, and you can see the wistfulness in her eyes as her friend Whitney (who got the Paris gig after Lauren turned it down) talks about what an amazing summer she had.

“8 Simple Rules…for Dating My Teenage Daughter”

Jae-Ha Kim

After gaining fame as ladies man Jack Tripper on the 1970s sitcom Three’s Company, John Ritter steals the show as a father of three–including two nubile teenage girls–on “8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter.” The first season, which aired on ABC during 2002 and 2003, introduces viewers to Paul (Ritter) and Cate Hennessy (Katey Sagal) and their precocious children Bridget (Kaley Cuoco), Kerry (Amy Davidson), and Rory (Martin Spanjers).

“Silver Spoons”

Jae-Ha Kim

Back in 1982, it was perfectly fine to refer to the 12-year-old star of “Silver Spoons” as Ricky Schroder. It wouldn’t be until his young adult years, when he went on to star in such projects as “Lonesome Dove,” “24,” and “NYPD Blue” that Schroder would try to distance himself from the sitcom that made him a household name and replace Ricky with Rick.

“The Closer” — Second Season

Jae-Ha Kim

Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson may have put in a year already with the Los Angeles police department, but that doesn’t mean the transplanted Southerner fits in yet. In the second season of the TNT drama The Closer, Brenda is less a fish out of water, but she’s still not completely at home with her brash colleagues–some of whom resent her potent mixture of brains and beauty. All 15 episodes from the 2006-2007 are included in this four-disc box set.

“Kyle XY” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

Equal parts “Roswell” and “The O.C.,” “Kyle XY” starts off as a sci-fi mystery, veers off into a teenage soap opera and ends its 10-episode first season with a compelling cliffhanger. The series, which debuted in 2006 on the ABC Family channel, begins with a teenager wandering in the woods just outside of Seattle. When the authorities find him, he is naked, unable to communicate, and devoid of a belly button.

“Wings” — Season 4

Jae-Ha Kim

A light-hearted comedy revolving around a pair of bickering brothers who run a small airline in Nantucket, “Wings” kicks off its fourth season with a crash. Literally. But unlike “Lost” where the passengers are never sure if they’ll ever be rescued, it’s inevitable that the Nantucket bunch is saved.

“NCIS” — Season 3

Jae-Ha Kim

With two solid seasons already banked, NCIS returns for a compelling third year with exciting plotlines and a slightly tweaked cast. The show’s second season ended with the brutal and shocking death of Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander). The first two episodes of this season deal with the aftermath of bringing her killer to justice and examining the emotional impact of her loss on the remaining members of the NCIS team, which is led by Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon).

“Kidnapped”

Jae-Ha Kim

All 13 episodes of this NBC series–which aired during the 2006-2007 season–are included on this three-disc DVD set. And unlike many shows that are canceled within a year, “Kidnapped” offers viewers closure and a finite ending. While the first few episodes dealing with the kidnapping are gripping, the show layers on some subplots that fail. Is Ellie having an affair with a prominent politician? Did Conrad kill his ex-mistress? Neither character is particularly likeable, so the viewer doesn’t really care.