Here are the latest TV shows to hit DVD.
"Taxi: The Complete First Season" (Paramount, 1978-79, not rated, $38.99, three discs). This late-'70s ensemble sitcom is still hilarious, with Judd Hirsch and Marilu Henner both utterly charming as the anchor characters. They play New York cabbies surrounded by goofball colleagues — and the series marked breakout roles for Danny DeVito, hysterical as ultra-nasty dispatcher Louie DePalma, and Tony Danza as a would-be boxer named Tony Banta. And Andy Kaufman is here as the gibberish-speaking foreigner Latka, who was also a breakout character in the show. Christopher Lloyd's Reverend Jim character shows up in one episode but didn't join the show full time until Season 2. This is a series that holds up as well as any vintage sitcom and is well worth repeat viewings.
Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, chapters.
"Broadway: The American Musical" (PBS/Paramount, 2004, not rated, $59.99, three discs). This is the same show that airs Tuesday-Thursday on PBS this week, with a few extra bonus features thrown in. I'm a sucker for historical footage of early entertainers, so the first few episodes are my favorites, with everyone from George Gershwin to Irving Berlin to Fanny Brice to Al Jolson to Ethel Merman to the great, largely forgotten black comic Bert Williams being profiled. But fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber or Mel Brooks won't be disappointed either.
Extras: Widescreen, six episodes, additional performances, additional interviews, featurette: " 'Wicked': The Road to Broadway," optional English subtitles, chapters.
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Fourth Season" (Paramount, 2003-04, not rated, $89.99, four discs). More weird crimes in Las Vegas for the DNA experts to solve in this crackerjack series, with some unexpected character development for Jorja Fox near the end of the season, when it is revealed that her character Sara may have a problem with alcohol.
Extras: Widescreen, 23 episodes, audio commentaries, making-of featurettes.
"The Ren & Stimpy Show: The First and Second Seasons Uncut" (Paramount, 1991-93, not rated, $38.99, three discs). There are lots of "adult cartoons" on TV now, so perhaps the angst-ridden, albeit absurd, antics of "Ren & Stimpy" were ahead of their time. Ren is a nervous — really nervous — Chihuahua and Stimpy is a very weird cat in these 32 cartoons, which include a banned episode titled "Man's Best Friend." Think Warner Bros. cartoons on speed, and definitely not for the kiddies.
Extras: Full frame, 32 cartoons, audio commentary on six episodes, making-of featurette, banned episode, un-edited versions of four episodes, storyboards, image gallery, pencil test, chapters.
"Salem's Lot: The Miniseries" (Warner, 2004, not rated, $19.98). This adaptation of Stephen King's book (which was previously adapted as a TV miniseries in 1979) has bland Rob Lowe as the writer who returns to his hometown and runs into a vampire, with Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer and James Cromwell in small supporting roles. This has always been one of my favorite King books, and this adaptation isn't too bad — but it's also not as faithful as it touts itself. (And I still prefer the earlier TV version.)
Extras: Widescreen, chapters.
"Kingdom Hospital: The Entire Series" (Columbia/TriStar, 2004, not rated, $49.95, four discs). This 15-hour TV miniseries by Stephen King is based on a Danish TV miniseries by Lars von Trier ("Dogville"). It's eerie, weird and, too much of the way, rather dull, as it tells of a hospital where strange goings-on start out as merely odd but gradually become more frightening. Andrew McCarthy and Diane Ladd star. And as you might suspect, the main problem here is that it's just too long.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary (King and filmmakers), making-of featurettes, trailers, text essay (by King), subtitle options (English, French), chapters.
"Dream On: Seasons 1 & 2" (Universal, 1990-91, not rated, $59.98, five discs). Brian Benben is very funny as Martin Tupper, a divorced New York book editor who has fantasies illustrated by old black-and-white TV-and-movie clips. And the writing for this cable-TV sitcom is very clever. Unfortunately, being that it was produced for HBO, there is also too much gratuitous sex and nudity.
Extras: Full frame, 28 episodes, introduction by John Landis, subtitle options (English, Spanish, French), chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com