Variety of old, new TV shows are now available on DVD

"Samantha Who?: The Complete First Season" (ABC, 2007-08, two discs, $29.99). Christina Applegate stars in this sitcom about redemption, as a woman who has amnesia following a car accident and is shocked to learn that she was self-centered and mean-spirited.

So, she tries to mend fences, to include reuniting with her parents (Jean Smart, Kevin Dunn), in a sort of distaff version of "My Name Is Earl." Up and down, but Applegate and Smart are quite funny together.

Extras: widescreen, 15 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, bloopers

"This American Life: Season One" (Showtime/Paramount, 2006, $19.99). Ira Glass' Public Radio show about ordinary Americans in unusual situations, some comic and some dramatic — and some both — became a TV show with this episodic documentary program, hosted by Glass sitting at a desk in an outdoor location (a la John Cleese in "Monty Python's Flying Circus"). (There is a bit of R-rated language and some nudity.)

Extras: widescreen, six episodes

"Star Trek Collective: Alternate Realities" (CBS/Paramount, 1966-2005, five discs, $39.98). If you wanted to be cynical, you could complain that the repackaged episodes of the five "Trek" series that make up these "collective" editions are merely going where lots of fans have gone before. But if you don't have all the season sets, these are enjoyable "samplers" that offer some of the best of each series. This one is a roundup of some of "Trek's" strangest episodes, under the subheadings: "Mirror Universe," "Parallel Dimensions," "Twisted Realities" and "Alternate Lives." And they live up to that promise.

Extras: full frame/widescreen, 20 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes

"Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Second Season" (ABC, 2007-08, five discs, $59.99). More ensemble soap opera shenanigans in the life of a large family with matriarch Sally Field at its head. Great cast includes Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, etc. Guests this season include Danny Glover, Chevy Chase, Tess Harper and Steven Weber.

Extras: widescreen, 16 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, bloopers

"Horatio Hornblower: Collector's Edition" (A&E, 1998-2003, eight discs, $59.95). This is a repackaging of the eight British TV movies that chronicle the rise of naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars. Ioan Gruffudd ("Amazing Grace") is excellent in the title role, and these are truly lavish productions, based on C.S. Forester's novels.

Extras: full frame, audio commentaries, interview with Gruffudd, featurettes, text biographies, photo gallery

"Agatha Christie: Poirot: The Definitive Collection" (A&E, 2000-2006, 12 discs, $99.95). Lush production values and, of course, the ability of David Suchet to inhabit the character, make these 12 Hercule Poirot feature-length mysteries quite satisfying. And this reissue pulls together Seasons 7-10 in one sleek box set for the first time. These were the final entries in the series until the 2008 shows began to air this month.

Extras: full frame, 12 episodes, text biography/index of Poirot stories

E-mail: hicks@desnews.com

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