PICKS OF THE WEEK
“30 Rock: Season Three” — “30 Rock” started out as one of those shows that virtually no one watched (think “The Wire,” “Rescue Me,” “Manimal”) yet every critic in the country gushed over. So naturally I avoided it, because critics are big dumb doody-heads and they’re not the boss of me. But my undying love for Tina Fey (and subsequent restraining order — THANKS A LOT L.A. County District Court!) could not keep me away. So I began watching the show’s third season.
And you know what? “30 Rock.” Is. Awesome.
Not only is it the best biting satire of show business ever, “30 Rock” rocks the meta-humor and pop-culture refs harder than “South Park,” “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” ever have — or will.
But don’t take my word for it. NetFlix or Hulu any episode from any season. Trust me, you’ll be “lizzing” within 10 minutes.
“Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection” — This four-disc boxed set contains all the “Wallace & Gromit” animated short films: “A Grand Day Out,” “The Wrong Trousers,” “A Close Shave” and the brand-new “A Matter of Loaf and Death,” wherein our heroes (the hapless inventor Wallace and his thankfully much smarter dog Gromit) go into the bread-baking business, with hilarious results. If you already own the previously released boxed set of the first three films, don’t despair. You don’t need to buy this one just to get “A Matter of Loaf and Death,” because it’s also being released this week as its own stand-alone disc.
“Zombies of the Stratosphere” — Released in 1952, this is the third and final Republic serial in the Rocketman/Commando Cody series. The plot centers around a plan by the Martians (whose planet is dying) to blast the Earth out of its orbit in order to move Mars into its place. As serials go, this one is pretty good, but the real reason I’m mentioning this particular one is because “Zombies of the Stratosphere” marks the film debut of Leonard Nimoy, who has a small part as Narab, one of the zombie Martians.
TV SERIES
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” The Complete Second Season
“SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes”
“Star Trek The Original Series” Season Two
“Ghost Whisperer” The Complete Fourth Season
“The Mentalist” The Complete First Season
“Ugly Betty” Season 3
“Castle” The Complete First Season
“Taxi” The Complete Fourth Season
“Friday the 13th: The Series” The Final Season
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” The Tenth Year
© 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.