DVD Corner

“American Dad!: Volume 2”: The CIA, under direct fire, in the second season of this punchy series from Fox. The show follows CIA agent Stan Smith, whose life, shall we say, is unconventional in ways that perhaps only animation can best underscore-the medium finds truth in the abstract, and this show defines the abstract. Developed by the creators of “Family Guy,” the series has yet to best its predecessor, but with this season proving a vast improvement over the first, there’s every indication that it might. Grade: B+

“Deadwood: Complete Third Season”: HBO’s excellent drama, set in 1877 South Dakota, mines a stellar third season, with Deadwood itself, first a camp, now verging on becoming a town. As such, violence, power plays and deception run rampant, with Timothy Olyphant’s Seth Bullock and Ian McShane’s Al Swearengen (lovely use of the language, that man) once again stealing the show. Taut and atmospheric, the series generates real tension between its clashing characters. Includes all 12 episodes, commentaries from cast and crew and the fine featurette, “The Real Deadwood: 1877.” Grade: A

“Fantastic Four: Extended Cut”: Fantastic bore. It’s impossible to watch this disappointment without being reminded of “The Incredibles.” In every sense, the latter movie – which also follows four superheroes trying to defeat a nasty little zealot with an attitude problem – is superior. The similarities don’t end with the storyline. For instance, “Fantastic Four” features Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, who has the power to become invisible and create force fields, just as teenage Violet could in “The Incredibles.” There’s Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), otherwise known as Mr. Fantastic, who recalls Violet’s mother, Elastigirl, in that he can stretch his limbs to infinity and beyond. There’s Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), aka The Thing, who brings to mind Mr. Incredible in his bulk and body issues, and there’s the Human Torch (Chris Evans), who is here to provide comic relief, just as Dash was in “The Incredibles.” As his name implies, Torch possesses the unique ability to generate fire at will. He can snap his fingers and – poof! – there’s a flame or, for that matter, a supernova. Too bad he didn’t turn either on the extended version of the movie, which was released just in time to tie in with the new sequel now in theaters. Instead of breaking free from expectations and raising the bar for superhero movies, this dim, flat flick never goes deeper than the ink on a comic book. Grade: D

“Ghost Rider”: DVD and Blu-ray: The tagline promises that “Hell is about to be unleashed!” The tagline delivers. Here, Nicolas Cage is caught slumming again, this time as Johnny Blaze, a lean, leather-clad motorcycle daredevil who, as a young man, signed his soul over to the devil (Peter Fonda) in an effort to save his father from terminal cancer. In spite of Johnny’s good intentions – you have to admire the man’s moxie – doing so proves a disastrous move. Now, as an adult who at night turns into the fiery, motorcycle-riding skeleton Ghost Rider, Johnny is Mephistopheles’ go-to man when it comes to ridding the world of those demons trying to wrestle the devil out of power, such as Mephistopheles’ ungrateful son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley). With Sam Elliott as Caretaker, a gravedigger whose secret past will surprise few when it’s revealed, and Eva Mendez’s breasts working hard in a romantic subplot (there isn’t a shot in the movie in which they don’t dominate the screen or detract from her, uh, character), nobody here has it worse than Cage, who came off “The Wicker Man” to star in this – a movie in which he drinks jellybeans out of martini glasses while listening to music by the Carpenters and watching monkey karate films. Grade: C-

“M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”: More drama than comedy. There are laughs, for sure, but more than ever at this point in the series – which was the end – you can feel the weight of the responsibility resting hard on the shoulders of the 4077th. With nearly 106 million viewers tuning in, the show didn’t disappoint. It remains the most-watched episode in television history, with its themes of ending an unwanted war in another land perhaps timelier now than it has been since its original run. Includes many extras, some of which are worth seeing, such as the A&E documentary “M*A*S*H: Television’s Serious Sitcom.” Others, including the insipid “Jocularity” and “Fan Base” featurettes, should be given a firm farewell. Grade: A-

“Scrubs: Complete Fifth Season”: Smart, well-balanced lunacy with an undercurrent of romantic tension that cuts through the laughs. In the halls of Sacred Heart Hospital, where the series takes place, the joke is that nothing is as sacred as it should be. Everything here is free to be lampooned – hypochondriacs, love, cancer, you name it – but the writers know that there are consequences to such behavior, and they deliver the fallout. The show is consistently trying for something new, and while it doesn’t always succeed in its leaps of faith, it does try, which on television is becoming something of a rarity. With Zack Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, the characters and the show play like a bizarro version of “E.R.” It courts the genre, appreciates its elements, and then turns all of it on its side. Grade: B+

“Seinfeld: Season 8”: In its first season without co-creator Larry David, “Seinfeld” had something to prove, and so the man behind the show’s name came through in a big way – as did his supporting cast and writers. This is one of the series’ best seasons, featuring such shows as “The Yada Yada,” Kramer entering cockfights in “The Little Jerry” and Elaine working out her funky dance groove in “The Little Kicks.” “The Abstinence,” “The Andrea Doria” and “The Bizarro Jerry” also are among the mix, with the set’s very funny, 26-minute blooper reel easily the place to begin. Grade: A