Sales Rank:162 List Price: $59.98 Lowest New Price: $26.99 Lowest Used Price: $29.97 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Jared Padalecki
Jensen Ackles
The yellow-eyed demon is vanquished, but at a terrible price. The battle that brought him down released hundreds of demons from Hell into an unsuspecting world. And it cost Sam his life. But a grief-stricken Dean made a deal with the Crossroad Demon – his soul for Sam's resurrection. Now Dean has just one year to live. One year to fight the unholy, the twisted, the ghoulish. One year to say farewell to Sam. And one year for Sam to search desperately for some way to save his brother. Mind-bending adventure awaits as the Winchester brothers continue their astonishing odyssey into the supernatural...and their personal odyssey into destiny.
Sales Rank:93 List Price: $49.98 Lowest New Price: $19.41 Lowest Used Price: $19.05 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Steve Carell
John Krasinski
Jenna Fischer
Rainn Wilson
B.J. Novak
Thank goodness for second seasons. While the first season of The Office started dubiously with a pilot that was just a poor copy of the original British version, it did manage to provide enough good material to stay on the air and hint that better was yet to come. And here it is. The second season of The Office finds its own footing and manages to do the near-impossible by not only breaking free of the gravity of that excellent BBC version to stand solidly on its own, but establishing it as one of the best comedies on TV. Season 2 starts out strong with "The Dundies," where Regional Manager, Michael Scott (Steve Carell, The 40 Year Old Virgin) hosts the company’s annual office-awards event with his signature less-than-perfect grace. Things seem to only get worse for him this season as he bumbles a potential affair with his boss, Jan (Melora Harding), angers his employees by reading their emails ("Email Surveillance"), cooks his foot ("The Injury"), and accidentally destroys the warehouse with a forklift in "Boys and Girls," one of the season’s highlight episodes. Always at his side is the clueless paranoid Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), the Assistant Regional Manager ("Assistant to the Regional Manager," Michael always reminds him in one of the show’s running jokes).
One of the reasons for the show’s improvement in the second season is increased focus on Dwight’s character, who’s becoming something of a pop-culture icon right down to having his own bobblehead. He in turn provides so much good material for Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinsky) to play off of, to their own amusement. But of course, Pam and Jim’s simmering relationship is the real meat of the show, as their compatibility becomes more obvious, Jim’s feelings for her continue to grow, and Pam struggles with the impending marriage to her less-than-caring boyfriend, Roy (David Denman). Things have to come to a head, and they do nicely in the final episode, "Casino Night." As strong as the leading characters are in The Office, it’s the excellent peripheral characters that really make the show hilarious, especially dimwitted office-slug Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), long-suffering intern Ryan (B.J. Novak), office-ditz Kelly (Mindy Kaling), and ultra-conservative Angela (Angela Kinsey). As with season 1, this season contains excellent bonus features to give you an excuse to spend more time at The Office, including the fake PSAs, commentaries, Michael’s The Faces of Scranton movie, the ten stand-alone webisodes, and deleted scenes. --Daniel Vancini
Sales Rank:59 List Price: $59.98 Lowest New Price: $14.99 Lowest Used Price: $15.99 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Lauren Graham
Alexis Bledel
All good things must end, but not all good things end well. Gilmore Girls is one of the most original and entertaining television programs ever to grace the CW. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore (Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel) star as the quick-witted and heavily caffeinated mother-daughter duo at the heart of this quirky drama. Normally smarter than the average show, the seventh season represents a slump in an otherwise brilliant run. The seventh season is the first without series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, and her absence is evident. Smart characters make dumb decisions and dumb characters spend too much time on screen. The normally fluid plot slumbers along as Rory's father Christopher returns as Lorelai's love interest, Rory gets even more serious with Logan, while Luke and Lorelai try to repair their damaged relationship. But it's not all bleak. Highpoints of the season include the birth of Lane's twins, plus the long-awaited cameo by Christiane Amanpour, which sends Rory into a tizzy: "I can't meet Christiane Amanpour in my pajamas!" The counterbalance of the quirky Stars Hollowians, which is half the fun of Gilmore Girls in previous seasons, is gone or, worse, awkwardly shoehorned in. Still, for fans of the series the final season is a must-own, if only to find out what happens to the characters they loved and laughed with for so many years. --Megan Chaffee
Sales Rank:72 List Price: $49.98 Lowest New Price: $18.98 Lowest Used Price: $23.63 MPAA Rating: Unrated
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Tina Fey
Alec Baldwin
Tracy Morgan
Jane Krakowski
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Remember Arrested Development? Smartest, funniest show on television. A critics' darling. An Emmy-winner for Best Comedy Series. But no one watched, and it was cancelled. Will history repeat itself with 30 Rock? It's the smartest, funniest show on television. A critics' darling. An Emmy-winner for Best Comedy Series. And it finished its inaugural season in 137th place! Hopefully, people will discover all that they missed with this Season 1 set and 30 Rock will, better late than never, find the audience it so richly deserves. A behind-the-scenes workplace comedy in the grand tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, 30 Rock stars comedy geek goddess Tina Fey as Liz Lemmon, who juggles her hapless personal life with her chaotic career as the producer and head writer of an SNL-ish sketch comedy show. She has a new boss, cunning and ruthless GE executive Jack Donaghy (Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Alec Baldwin), who insists on being her mentor, and a new star, medicated, loose-cannon comedian Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), who steals the spotlight from the show's flighty star, Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski).
Briskly paced and perfectly cast, 30 Rock rewards viewers with brilliant dialogue (when Liz asks Jack why he is dressed in a tuxedo with no formal event to attend, he coolly responds, "It's after six; what am I, a farmer?") and fresh characters you haven't seen on a hundred other sitcoms. Jack McBrayer is the series' scene-stealing breakout star as NBC page Kenneth, a sweet and innocent "rube." The ensemble's seemingly spontaneous byplay invites repeat viewings to catch jokes and sly bits of business you might have missed (in "Tracy Does Conan," listen for the initial confusion over how to pronounce Tracy's less-than-ethical physician, Dr. Spaceman, or, in "The Hair and the Head," watch for the Katie Couric slur on the wall of what is purported to be NBC anchor Brian Williams' trashed office). In a season full of gems (including "Black Tie," featuring Paul Reubens as severely inbred royalty), there are only a couple of comparative clunkers, but the pleasure of this ensemble's company more than compensates. 30 Rock is highly recommended for people like Kenneth who just love television so much. And by the hammer of Thor, watch season 2! --Donald Liebenson
Sales Rank:30 List Price: $39.95 Lowest New Price: $18.96 Lowest Used Price: $24.96 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Includes 7 Holiday Favorites: - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town - Frosty the Snowman - Frosty Returns - Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol - The Little Drummer Boy - Cricket on the Hearth
Sales Rank:50 List Price: $79.98 Lowest New Price: $41.00 Lowest Used Price: $34.95 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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David Frankel
Tom Hanks
Actor(s):
Damien Lewis
Ron Livingston
Donnie Wahlberg
Frank John Hughes
Neal McDonough
An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and harrowing look at combat during World War II, Band of Brothers follows a company of airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot camp through the end of the war. The brutality of training takes the audience by increments to the even greater brutality of the war; Easy Company took part in some of the most difficult battles, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest. But what makes these episodes work is not their historical sweep but their emphasis on riveting details (such as the rattle of a plane as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a flower in the buttonhole of a German soldier) and procedures (from military tactics to the workings of bureaucratic hierarchies). The scope of this miniseries (10 episodes, plus an actual documentary filled with interviews with surviving veterans) allows not only a thoroughness impossible in a two-hour movie, but also captures the wide range of responses to the stress and trauma of war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion, and all-encompassing confusion. The result is a realism that makes both simplistic judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm impossible; the things these soldiers had to do are both terrible and understandable, and the psychological price they paid is made clear. The writing, directing, and acting are superb throughout. The cast is largely unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a whole unit, much like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston play the central roles of two officers with grit and intelligence. Band of Brothers turns a vast historical event into a series of potent personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing and affecting accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer
Sales Rank:54 List Price: $59.98 Lowest New Price: $31.99 Lowest Used Price: $29.99 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Hugh Laurie
Lisa Edelstein
Omar Epps
Robert Sean Leonard
Jennifer Morrison
For Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), there's nothing like a good, tension-filled competition to pick his new team of doctors when his old trio of Chase (Jesse Spencer), Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and Foreman (Omar Epps) leave his fold. Among the 40 newbies vying to earn the coveted spots in the fourth season of House, M.D. are Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn, the Harold & Kumar films), Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson, Transformers) and Dr., uh, Thirteen (Olivia Wilde, The O.C.). Taking a cue from Flavor Flav, House dubs the latter with that nickname simply because he can. Though frequently politically incorrect, House is almost always spot on when it comes to diagnosing rare diseases and ailments. His boss Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) puts up with his unorthodox quirks, which include antagonizing patients, berating his colleagues, and being an overall pain in the butt, because he's brilliant. The addition of the new doctors adds a bit of chaos early on. But once the contingent is whittled away to the select few, the storylines grow stronger and the chemistry between the old and new cast members gels. Originally shown during the 2007-2008 television season, House aired only 16--rather than its usual 24--episodes, due to the Writers Guild strike. Though a bit of momentum is lost in the last third of the season, the writers do an admirable job of piecing together loose ends without sacrificing plot or structure. In a nice homage to the Prescription Passion, the General Hospital-esque soap opera he loves, House at one point is afflicted with amnesia. The humorous aspect of the story is offset by urgency as he tries to remember what needs to be done to save a patient. On a separate episode, House kidnaps the star of the daytime drama (played by Sex and the City hunk Jason Lewis) because he's convinced the actor is dying. The season finale is heartbreaking, as one of House's 40 candidates is in a life-and-death situation that even the good doctor may not be able to cure. --Jae-Ha Kim
Sales Rank:152 List Price: $59.98 Lowest New Price: $28.95 Lowest Used Price: $24.46 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
David Jackson
Gregory Prange
J. Clark Mathis
Janice Cooke-Leonard
Joe Davola
Actor(s):
Chad Michael Murray
James Lafferty
Hilarie Burton
Bethany Joy Galeotti
Paul Johansson
One Tree Hill: The Complete Fifth Season takes an unorthodox approach to advancing the popular television series by skipping over four years in the lives of the show's characters. The Scott brothers and their sundry friends from the small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, were last seen in The Complete Fourth Season vowing to keep in touch after high-school graduation and remain the same people, even while some went off to college and others made different plans. The fifth season leaps over that transitional period, and we find everyone now in their early 20s, dealing with adult relationships, career moves, disasters, disappointments, and all the rest. For the first time in One Tree Hill, the actors actually look close to the age of their characters, and that makes for an even more sophisticated show.
Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray), following a well-received first novel, is facing writer's block on his second effort. But he fills his days as the new head coach of his old high-school basketball team, the Ravens, aided by his old pal, Skills (Antwon Tanner). Meanwhile, Lucas' brother, Nathan (James Lafferty), is lost in a dark hole of despair after losing his dream of signing with an NBA team. Barely able to move his legs, Nathan is almost crippled in a bar fight and spends his days and nights boozing and raging around while wife Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and young son Jamie (Jackson Brundage) try to survive his emotional torrents. Lucas is no longer with Peyton (Hilarie Burton), the latter having moved to Los Angeles to become a disgruntled assistant's assistant in a music recording company. Brooke (Sophia Bush), however, has hit the jackpot in New York as the celebrity founder of a designer clothes empire that has made her wealthy yet not quite free of her domineering mother (Daphne Zuniga). Everyone ends up back in Tree Hill, looking for roots and a future that involves support from one another. Friendship matters, but it doesn't inoculate this bunch from the pain of Peyton's ongoing love for Lucas (who is romantically involved with his pretty editor), or Brooke's emptiness after briefly fostering a child who then must leave her, or Nathan's slow crawl back from misery. In true One Tree Hill fashion, the characters' collective challenges come together in a critical mass during the season finale, ending with a very unusual cliffhanger involving four cell phones. --Tom Keogh