Here are some new-to-DVD shows being released on Tuesday.
TV shows
"Good Morning, World" (S'More, 1967-68, four discs, $39.99). Before "Laugh-In," Goldie Hawn got her big break with this mid-'60s sitcom, in which she plays a ditsy neighbor.
Ronnie Schell and Jody Baker star as a morning drive-time radio team, with pompous Billy DeWolfe as their boss. Schell plays the single guy who fancies himself a swinger and Baker is married to Julie Parrish.
This isn't a classic sitcom, despite being produced by Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner, coming off the seminal "Dick Van Dyke Show." But it does have some good laughs and a few better-than-average episodes. It's also nice to see a sitcom that doesn't dwell on sex, as most of today's shows tend to do. (For the record, this also isn't a new DVD release; it's a reissue.)
This one is for fans of '60s nostalgia, and particularly for Hawn's following, and it is fun to see her blossoming before becoming a star.
Extras: Full frame, 26 episodes, interview with Schell, short biography of Hawn, interactive quiz
"Shades of Darkness" (KOCH, 1985, two discs, $29.98). This English TV miniseries (which aired here on PBS's "Mystery!") is comprised of six supernatural yarns that are typically British, slow in developing and deliberate in pacing.
They are based on stories by such well-known writers as Edith Wharton, May Sinclair and Elizabeth Bowen, and feature such young (in the '80s) stars as Hugh Grant, Miranda Richardson and Francesca Annis.
Some episodes are better than others, but the collection as a whole is pretty soft.
Extras: Full frame, six episodes
Documentary
"Street Fight" (Genius, 2005, $24.95). This Oscar-nominated documentary focuses on Cory Booker, a 32-year-old city councilman who went up against longtime Major Sharpe James of Newark, N.J., in the 2002 mayoral race. James pulled out all the stops to keep his opponent from winning, and even race comes into play, though both candidates are African Americans.
What really makes the film interesting — and "real" — are long takes without edits, as filmmaker Marshall Curry is denied access to and even manhandled by James' entourage.
While not as unvarnished as, say, the work of Frederick Wiseman, this is as close as most documentaries get to offering an unbiased view, just allowing events to unfold.
Extras: Full frame, featurette
"New York Underground" (WGBH, 2005, $19.95). Hourlong "American Experience" episode offers an interesting look at the electric subway that began construction in New York in 1900.
Extras: Full frame, printable materials (This title can be ordered by phone at 800-949-8670, or on the Web at shop.wgbh.org.)
Animation
"Stan Lee Presents: Mosaic" (Starz Home, 2006, $14.98). This animated feature by Stan Lee is about an average teenage girl named Maggie (voiced by Anna Paquin) whose father works for Interpol. Dad's specialty is tracking down aliens — actually members of an ancient race of earthlings who have superpowers.
When Maggie is caught between a lightning storm with a magic stone, she too contracts the same superpowers, and with help from a good-guy alien, tracks down the bad-guy aliens.
Silly stuff, but it also has a sense of humor about itself and should appeal to fans of such things.
Extras: Widescreen, introduction by Stan Lee, featurettes, art gallery, DVD-Rom applications; 20-page comic book
"SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Volume 2" (Nick/Paramount, 2007, two discs, $39.99). SpongeBob returns with this collection of episodes from the fourth season, along with bonus features. So, good luck with that.
Extras: Full frame, 20 episodes, bonus short, karaoke music video, featurette
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com