New on DVD: TV, TV and more TV

It's all about the small screen this week, as the notable DVD releases all seem to be TV box sets.

Read on for more!

I never got on the bandwagon for this show, but Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fifth Season sees the popular serial keeping things fresh by leaping ahead five years, killing off a major character and bringing Queer as Folk's Gale Harold aboard to play a new lover for Susan (Teri Hatcher).

Another show with a big following that I've never watched gets collected in Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Third Season. Among the many interweaving storylines, gay couple Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) deal with getting used to married life.

OK, honestly, I do watch some television, but I haven't gotten into Jennifer Saunders' latest series, although I think the same could be said for most fans of Absolutely Fabulous. Clatterford: The Complete Season Two further demonstrates that her latest sitcom is as un–Ab Fab as possible — not that there's anything wrong with that — dealing with little old ladies in a small British town.

I tuned out in the middle of the first episode when I realized I couldn't interpret the thick regional accents, but I imagine the DVD's subtitle option would be a great help in this case.

Argiris Karras

Judge me if you will, but I have been keeping up with my favorite Canadian teen soap, and Degrassi: The Next Generation—Season 8 will be valuable for occasional viewers wondering "Who the hell are all these new kids?"

Season 8 saw lots of the show's original regulars moving on to life after high school, replacing them with a whole new gaggle of angsty youth, including Riley (Argiris Karras), a football jock who's conflicted about his gay feelings; Riley's still working through his adolescent sexuality issues, making him about as different from Marco (Adamo Ruggiero), Degrassi's previous resident queer teen, as possible.

P.S. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm a TV snob; it's just that when you see movies for a living, it's hard to keep up with all the media out there. Feel free to leave comments pointing out other gay tidbits to be found in these new DVD box sets.