As the new fall television season prepares to kick off, some 2016-17 seasons are landing this week on DVD (and some on Blu-ray), led by Elementary and NCIS.
Elementary: The Fifth Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). The crimes seem to be getting stranger in this fifth season of the clever contemporary Sherlock Holmes series set in New York City a high-end chefs food is laced with snake venom, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) is kidnapped by a gang that wants to employ his special talents, and the ex-con that Watson (Lucy Liu) has been helping reveals some unexpected secrets. Liu and co-star Aidan Quinn each directed one episode this season. (The sixth season begins early next year on CBS with an abbreviated 13-episodes.)
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The Fourteenth Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, audio commentaries, crossover episode of NCIS: New Orleans, featurettes). Mark Harmon stars in this long-running series about a criminal investigative team attached to the U.S. Navy, this season dealing with everything from terrorists to assassins to cyber threats to anti-government militias. Wilmer Valderrama and Jennifer Esposito are on hand full time this season, and Laura San Giacomo has a recurring role. (Maria Bello joins the cast when the 15th season begins Sept. 26 on CBS.)
Delicious: Series 1 (Acorn, 2016-17, four episodes, featurette, photo gallery). This British comedy stars Iain Glenn as a professional chef/hotel owner and Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley) as his ex-wife, from whom he stole his best ideas during their marriage while cheating with a glamorous younger woman (Emilia Fox). Now hes married to that younger woman, and she suspects hes cheating again, so she goes to French for advice. Of course, what she doesnt realize is that you guessed it hes cheating on his current wife with his former wife. Let the games begin. (The show has been renewed for a second season.)
The Originals: The Complete Fourth Season (Warner, 2017, three discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). The action here begins five years after last seasons cliffhanger, as Klaus and family were expelled from New Orleans. When his siblings are revived from their enchanted sleep, they plot to rescue Klaus and reclaim control. Vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my. (The fifth and final season begins early next year.)
Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season (Starz/Anchor Bay, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). The fourth and final season continues the war in West Indies between the pirates and the British Empire for control of New Providence with each episode moving closer to the events of Robert Louis Stevensons novel Treasure Island. But close is as far as it gets since the series has now been canceled. (This season contains graphic violence, sex and nudity.)
Peanuts By Schulz: School Days (Warner, 2016, two discs, 29 episodes). This French animated series, which is based on Charles Schulzs beloved comic strip, has Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang in short cartoons that contain school themes, including Back to School, Keep Your Chin Up, Charlie Brown, School Chums and Sally Goes to School.
Shimmer and Shine: Magical Pets of Zahramay Falls (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2016-17, eight episodes). A little girl named Leah is a friend to a pair of twin genies Shimmer and Shine in this animated Nickelodeon series, and for the title episode they take part in a pet talent show.
Elementary: The Fifth Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). The crimes seem to be getting stranger in this fifth season of the clever contemporary Sherlock Holmes series set in New York City a high-end chefs food is laced with snake venom, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) is kidnapped by a gang that wants to employ his special talents, and the ex-con that Watson (Lucy Liu) has been helping reveals some unexpected secrets. Liu and co-star Aidan Quinn each directed one episode this season. (The sixth season begins early next year on CBS with an abbreviated 13-episodes.)
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The Fourteenth Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, audio commentaries, crossover episode of NCIS: New Orleans, featurettes). Mark Harmon stars in this long-running series about a criminal investigative team attached to the U.S. Navy, this season dealing with everything from terrorists to assassins to cyber threats to anti-government militias. Wilmer Valderrama and Jennifer Esposito are on hand full time this season, and Laura San Giacomo has a recurring role. (Maria Bello joins the cast when the 15th season begins Sept. 26 on CBS.)
Delicious: Series 1 (Acorn, 2016-17, four episodes, featurette, photo gallery). This British comedy stars Iain Glenn as a professional chef/hotel owner and Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley) as his ex-wife, from whom he stole his best ideas during their marriage while cheating with a glamorous younger woman (Emilia Fox). Now hes married to that younger woman, and she suspects hes cheating again, so she goes to French for advice. Of course, what she doesnt realize is that you guessed it hes cheating on his current wife with his former wife. Let the games begin. (The show has been renewed for a second season.)
The Originals: The Complete Fourth Season (Warner, 2017, three discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). The action here begins five years after last seasons cliffhanger, as Klaus and family were expelled from New Orleans. When his siblings are revived from their enchanted sleep, they plot to rescue Klaus and reclaim control. Vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my. (The fifth and final season begins early next year.)
Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season (Starz/Anchor Bay, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, featurettes). The fourth and final season continues the war in West Indies between the pirates and the British Empire for control of New Providence with each episode moving closer to the events of Robert Louis Stevensons novel Treasure Island. But close is as far as it gets since the series has now been canceled. (This season contains graphic violence, sex and nudity.)
Peanuts By Schulz: School Days (Warner, 2016, two discs, 29 episodes). This French animated series, which is based on Charles Schulzs beloved comic strip, has Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang in short cartoons that contain school themes, including Back to School, Keep Your Chin Up, Charlie Brown, School Chums and Sally Goes to School.
Shimmer and Shine: Magical Pets of Zahramay Falls (Nickelodeon/Paramount, 2016-17, eight episodes). A little girl named Leah is a friend to a pair of twin genies Shimmer and Shine in this animated Nickelodeon series, and for the title episode they take part in a pet talent show.
