New DVD collections run gamut
"CHEERS: SEASON 9" (CBS/Paramount, 1990-91, five discs, $39.98). The gang at everyone's favorite Boston bar is still very funny in this third-to-last season.
As set up at the end of Season 8, Sam (Ted Danson) owns the bar again and Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) reluctantly works for him, while highlights include Cliff judging a barmaid contest, much to Carla's (Rhea Perlman) chagrin, and Elvis making an appearance in the penultimate episode, albeit in Sam's dreams.
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier, Woody Harrelson as Woody and George Wendt as Norm are also hilarious as their respective well-worn characters.
Extras: full frame, 26 episodes
"A TOUCH OF FROST: SEASON 13" (MPI, 2007, $24.98). World-weary English detective Jack Frost (played by pitch-perfect David Jason) is back in this season — which consists of a single episode, the feature-length "Endangered Species."
Frost looks into two cases, one a gruesome murder that leads to an exotic-animal ring, and another where a couple returns from vacation to find the body of a naked stranger in their bed. As usual, his devotion to detection puts Frost at odds with his boss and causes his love life to suffer.
"THE 4400: THE FOURTH SEASON" (CBS/Paramount, 2007, $39.98). This is the final season of this sci-fi series about humans mysteriously abducted, then returned to Earth with special powers.
And as with so many shows that are abruptly canceled, it ends without closure. Which is all the more frustrating for fans since this fourth season is an improvement over the third.
Extras: widescreen, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes
"THAT '70S SHOW: SEASON EIGHT" (Fox, 2005-06, four discs, $49.98). This final season is strictly for completists, since it is by far the weakest, primarily due to the absence of Topher Grace, though he returns for the show's final episodes, and Ashton Kutcher, who appears in less than half of this season's shows.
Extras: full frame, 22 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, promos
"INTELLIGENCE: SEASON ONE" (Acorn, 2005, four discs, $59.99). This Canadian thriller shows touches of another Canadian series, "Da Vinci's Inquest" (to include some of the same players), making for an interesting but rather cumbersome police procedural, with an awful lot of characters to keep track of.
Extras: widescreen, 14 episodes, featurettes, filmographies
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com
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