Here's a batch of old TV shows new to DVD, the bulk of them being released on Tuesday.
"Emergency! Season One" (Universal, 1972, not rated, $39.98, two double-sided discs). Jack Webb co-produced and directed the two-hour pilot for this 1970s series about emergency medical personnel, and it has the touch of Webb's earnest, staccato-style realism, la "Dragnet." Subsequent shows tried to maintain the style but relaxed a bit. And it's better than I expected.
The series follows two members of a newly formed paramedics team, who, with local firefighters, law-enforcement officials and hospital personnel, try to save lives in and around Los Angeles. In the pilot, the paramedics program is new and controversial until the California Legislature passes a bill.
Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe are the newly recruited paramedics, Bobby Troupe (a former band leader) and Robert Fuller are the lead doctors, Julie London (a singer who was Troupe's real-life wife) is the chief nurse — and in the pilot, those "Adam-12" guys Martin Milner and Kent McCord show up briefly.
Extras: Full frame, 12 episodes, subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"Adam-12: Season One" (Universal, 1968-69, not rated, $39.98, two double-sided discs). This Jack Webb-produced police procedural (he also directed the pilot) is done very much in the "Dragnet" style, with rat-a-tat dialogue, two or three story lines crammed into each half hour and a notation that the stories are true but the names are changed.
Veteran cop Martin Milner takes rookie Kent McCord under his wing, and though the pilot is a bit stiff, subsequent episodes are better and quite entertaining.
Extras: Full frame, 26 episodes, language options (English, French), optional English subtitles, chapters.
"T.J. Hooker: The Complete First and Second Seasons" (Sony, 1982-83, not rated, $49.98, six discs). Corny almost to the point of camp, this early 1980s cop show doesn't hold up nearly as well as other recent TV releases from a decade earlier ("McMillan & Wife," "McCloud," "Kojak," "Columbo"). But there's lots of action, and fans of William Shatner or Heather Locklear will no doubt get a kick out of it.
Shatner is the tough, no-nonsense title character, who gave up being a plain-clothes detective to return to the police academy where he can train recruits and to get back to the streets "where I'm needed."
The first season is only four episodes and a feature-length pilot, in which Hooker is partnered with rookie Adrian Zmed. Locklear shows up in the second season as another recruit, and James Darren comes onboard toward the end of the second season as a seasoned cop who is reluctantly partnered with Locklear. (Darren is also in an early episode in the second season, playing a different character.)
Of particular interest for "Star Trek" fans is an episode that teams Shatner with Leonard Nimoy, playing a detective whose daughter is raped, sending him off the deep end.
Extras: Full frame, 24 episodes, promos, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 3" (WGBH, 2004, not rated, $39.95, four discs). Four more feature-length episodes of the excellent British series, with well-defined mysteries and strong personal stories about uppercrust Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) and working-class Sergeant Barbara Havers (Sharon Small).
When last we saw the duo, Havers had fired a flare gun at a fellow officer, and as the first episode here begins, she's been demoted. Meanwhile, Lynley's wife becomes pregnant, and he's not as thrilled as he could be. In the final episode, a tragedy occurs that makes him question his priorities, and the season ends with a startling cliffhanger.
Most of these personal issues, however, play second fiddle to the four mysteries at hand, which are all cleverly convoluted and thoroughly satisfying in their resolution.
Extras: Widescreen, four episodes, optional English subtitles, chapters. (If you can't find this title in a local store, it can be ordered by phone at 800-949-8670, or on the Web at shop.wgbh.org.)
"Once and Again: The Complete Second Season" (Touchstone, 2000-01, not rated, $59.99, five discs). This is a very good series that, sadly, lasted only three seasons. Sela Ward and Billy Campbell star as divorced parents who fall in love, and in this second season, about halfway through, they marry. They have their kids to contend with, along with lots of soap-opera machinations, but the writing and attention to detail are excellent, and Ward and Campbell, as well as the supporting cast, are all quite good.
Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, audio commentary, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Life As We Know It: The Complete Series" (Touchstone, 2004-05, not rated, $39.99, three discs). Sean Faris, Jon Foster and Chris Lowell are the leads in this short-lived teen series about high schoolers coming of age, from the producers of "Freaks and Geeks," and with more than a little concentration on sex. In fact, that's pretty much it: teen sex and plenty of talk about it.
Extras: Full frame, 13 episodes, two never-aired episodes, audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, photo gallery, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"The O.C.: The Complete Second Season" (Warner, 2004-05, not rated, $69.98, seven discs). More soap-opera stuff in the lives of the idle rich of Orange County, Calif., as idealistic Peter Gallagher and wife Kelly Rowan hit some bumps in the road, and Mischa Barton sees her star rise as one of the more popular players in this series. "Chrismukkah" is a hoot, and nothing else should be taken too seriously, either. Think "Dallas" for young 'uns.
Extras: Widescreen, 24 episodes, audio commentary (on two episodes), extended episode, making-of featurettes, bloopers, subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.
"Cyberchase: Ecohaven CSE" (PBS Kids/Paramount, 2005, $14.99). Episodes of this cartoon series include "Ecohaven CSE," "A Crinkle in Time" and "The Creech Who Would Be Crowned."
Extras: Full frame, three episodes, featurettes, bloopers, singalong, interactive games, printable materials, language options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"Caillou: Caillou's Family Fun" (PBS Kids/Paramount, 2005, $14.99). More educational cartoon shorts with Caillou and his family and his cat, Gilbert.
Extras: Full frame, interactive games, bios, information for parents, coloring pages, chapters.
"Boobah: Big Windows" (PBS Kids/Paramount, 2005, $14.99). This offbeat children's program includes episodes "Big Windows," "Big TV" and "Long Drink," as well as "Look What I Can Do!"
Extras: Widescreen, three episodes, message for parents, chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com