Supergirl is a highlight among TV series that have been released on Blu-ray and DVD this week, a sure sign that fall season premieres cant be far off.
Supergirl: The Complete First Season (DC/Warner, 2015-16, three-disc Blu-ray/five-disc DVD, 20 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). After the expected Krypton-to-Earth origin story, Supermans younger cousin, Kara (Melissa Benoist), gets a job with a publishing company (run by Calista Flockhart) and eventually reveals herself as Supergirl. Soon shes working for a government agency alongside her adopted sister (Chyler Leigh), righting wrongs and saving people from bad guys and evil aliens, as well as engaging in soap-opera office politics.
This adaptation of the DC comic (also the basis for a 1984 film) gets a tremendous boost from the pitch-perfect casting of Benoist, and for the first few episodes the show is quite engaging. But it gradually devolves into a rather juvenile approach. Heres hoping the highly publicized switch from CBS to The CW for Season 2 (beginning on Oct. 10) will provide a course correction.
The Tunnel: The Complete First Season (PBS, 2013, three discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). A serial killers gruesome double homicide in the Euro tunnel on the British/French border brings together two disparate detectives: a seasoned English veteran (Stephen Dillane) used to getting his own way and a taciturn, humorless Frenchwoman (Clemence Poesy), neither of whom take to the partnership well. This British-French co-production was adapted from a Danish/Swedish series titled The Bridge.
NCIS: New Orleans (CBS/Paramount, 2015-16, six discs, 24 episodes, featurettes). The second season of this NCIS spinoff has Scott Bakula back with his team of naval special agents to investigate crimes in and around New Orleans, including murder and the theft of a military drone and to participate in a crossover episode with its parent show, NCIS, with Mark Harmon and friends. (Season 3 begins Sept. 20 on CBS.)
Code Black: Season 1 (CBS/Paramount, 2015-16, five discs, 18 episodes, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Marcia Gay Harden heads the cast of this medical drama as a doctor in charge of four first-year residents in an understaffed emergency room of a (fictional) Los Angeles hospital. Co-stars include veteran character actors Luis Guzman and Kevin Dunn. (Season 2 begins Sept. 28 on CBS.)
Blindspot: The Complete First Season (Warner, 2015-16, four-disc Blu-ray/five-disc DVD, 23 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). A woman (Jaimie Alexander) is found in a duffel bag in Times Square, her body completely covered in intricate tattoos, but she has no memory of how she got there, what the body art means or even who she is. An FBI agent (Sullivan Stapleton) whose name is buried in the ink helps her unlock the code as each tattoo reveals a potential crime or terrorist act. (Season 2 begins Sept. 14 on NBC.)
Line of Duty: Series 3 (Acorn, 2016, three discs, six episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). The third season of this British police procedural has detectives Arnott and Fleming (Martin Compston and Vicky McClure) once again tracking down corrupt police officers, zeroing in on a sergeant (Daniel Mays) whose team blocks the investigation. Adrian Dunbar and Polly Walker co-star. (Season 4 will be shown next year on BBC2.)
9 Months That Made You (PBS, 2016, three episodes). The first three hours of this BBC Earth/PBS co-produced documentary series look at the initial eight weeks of pregnancy when a single cell becomes a human fetus, the middle months in the womb and finally the cartilage development that precedes birth.
Frontline: The Secret History of ISIS (PBS, 2016). Political officials, journalists and archival footage inform this hourlong episode of Frontline that chronicles the rise of the terrorist group after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Peppa Pig: Sunny Vacation (eOne, 2011-12, 12 episodes). This collection includes more adventures with Peppa and her friends and family in the British animated show for preschoolers, including several Holiday episodes.
Supergirl: The Complete First Season (DC/Warner, 2015-16, three-disc Blu-ray/five-disc DVD, 20 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). After the expected Krypton-to-Earth origin story, Supermans younger cousin, Kara (Melissa Benoist), gets a job with a publishing company (run by Calista Flockhart) and eventually reveals herself as Supergirl. Soon shes working for a government agency alongside her adopted sister (Chyler Leigh), righting wrongs and saving people from bad guys and evil aliens, as well as engaging in soap-opera office politics.
This adaptation of the DC comic (also the basis for a 1984 film) gets a tremendous boost from the pitch-perfect casting of Benoist, and for the first few episodes the show is quite engaging. But it gradually devolves into a rather juvenile approach. Heres hoping the highly publicized switch from CBS to The CW for Season 2 (beginning on Oct. 10) will provide a course correction.
The Tunnel: The Complete First Season (PBS, 2013, three discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). A serial killers gruesome double homicide in the Euro tunnel on the British/French border brings together two disparate detectives: a seasoned English veteran (Stephen Dillane) used to getting his own way and a taciturn, humorless Frenchwoman (Clemence Poesy), neither of whom take to the partnership well. This British-French co-production was adapted from a Danish/Swedish series titled The Bridge.
NCIS: New Orleans (CBS/Paramount, 2015-16, six discs, 24 episodes, featurettes). The second season of this NCIS spinoff has Scott Bakula back with his team of naval special agents to investigate crimes in and around New Orleans, including murder and the theft of a military drone and to participate in a crossover episode with its parent show, NCIS, with Mark Harmon and friends. (Season 3 begins Sept. 20 on CBS.)
Code Black: Season 1 (CBS/Paramount, 2015-16, five discs, 18 episodes, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Marcia Gay Harden heads the cast of this medical drama as a doctor in charge of four first-year residents in an understaffed emergency room of a (fictional) Los Angeles hospital. Co-stars include veteran character actors Luis Guzman and Kevin Dunn. (Season 2 begins Sept. 28 on CBS.)
Blindspot: The Complete First Season (Warner, 2015-16, four-disc Blu-ray/five-disc DVD, 23 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). A woman (Jaimie Alexander) is found in a duffel bag in Times Square, her body completely covered in intricate tattoos, but she has no memory of how she got there, what the body art means or even who she is. An FBI agent (Sullivan Stapleton) whose name is buried in the ink helps her unlock the code as each tattoo reveals a potential crime or terrorist act. (Season 2 begins Sept. 14 on NBC.)
Line of Duty: Series 3 (Acorn, 2016, three discs, six episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). The third season of this British police procedural has detectives Arnott and Fleming (Martin Compston and Vicky McClure) once again tracking down corrupt police officers, zeroing in on a sergeant (Daniel Mays) whose team blocks the investigation. Adrian Dunbar and Polly Walker co-star. (Season 4 will be shown next year on BBC2.)
9 Months That Made You (PBS, 2016, three episodes). The first three hours of this BBC Earth/PBS co-produced documentary series look at the initial eight weeks of pregnancy when a single cell becomes a human fetus, the middle months in the womb and finally the cartilage development that precedes birth.
Frontline: The Secret History of ISIS (PBS, 2016). Political officials, journalists and archival footage inform this hourlong episode of Frontline that chronicles the rise of the terrorist group after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Peppa Pig: Sunny Vacation (eOne, 2011-12, 12 episodes). This collection includes more adventures with Peppa and her friends and family in the British animated show for preschoolers, including several Holiday episodes.
