Upcoming Spy DVDs

Great news! TVShowsOnDVD reports that one of the most glaring gaps in spy TV shows available on DVD will be rectified next year. The site reports that Warner Home Video is prepping a DVD release of Scarecrow and Mrs. King for 2010. While the Sixties had loads of spy shows and the Seventies hosted a few stragglers, the Eighties was by and large bereft of hit spy series. (Instead, viewers had to get their spy kicks from action hours with espionage elements, like The Equalizer and MacGyver.) Scarecrow and Mrs. King was the big exception: a thoroughly Eighties take on The Avengers pairing (by way of Moonlighting) of professional male secret agent with talented female amateur--in this case, a housewife. Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson starred in the respective title roles in the hit series, which ran from 1984-1987. TVShowsOnDVD has no details yet on what configuration the series will be released in (or whether it will be through Warner Archives) or special features or anything, but just the knowledge that the show will be available is fantastic!

TVShowsOnDVD also reports that the latest season of contemporary British spy hit MI-5 (or Spooks as it is known in the UK) will follow the same release pattern of previous seasons and be released on DVD in the United States by BBC Video on January 26. According to the site, the four-disc, eight-episode set of MI-5: Volume 7 "will include extras such as Audio Commentary, an exclusive Behind the Scenes Documentary, an Action Sequence Featurette, a 'Spooks in Russia' Featurette, and the original UK trailer." Retail may have come down a tad from previous seasons, but it remains on the steep end at $59.98. Oh well, I'm thoroughly hooked on the series, so there's little doubt I'll pay their ransom! Season 6 was the best in years; here's hoping Season 7 continues that trend! There is still word on a U.S. release of the critically savaged (and, by the sound of it, uncharacteristic) spin-off series, Spooks: Code 9, which abandoned all pretense of realism and featured teenage agents in the near future. Honestly, I doubt it will happen, so if you're desperate to see that, your best bet is probably importing the UK disc. From what I hear, though, we're not missing anything.

DVDActive reports that Universal will release Quentin Tarantino's fantastic WWII-set spy movie Inglourious Basterds on DVD December 15. It will be available in single-DVD, double-DVD and Blu-Ray configurations. Somewhat uniquely for a first-release Tarantino disc, the h-end editions will feature copious extras! According to the site, "The only extra material on the 1-disc DVD will be extended and alternate scenes, the Nation’s Pride film, and domestic and international trailers. The 2-disc DVD and Blu-ray releases will include all that, along with a Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and film historian/critic Elvis Mitchell, featurettes ('Making of Nation’s Pride', 'The Original Inglorious Bastards', 'Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitters - the Australian Beer', 'Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel'), a conversation with veteran actor Rod Taylor, a gag reel, a Film Poster Gallery Tour with Elvis Mitchell, a poster gallery, and a digital copy of the film." Even the single disc offers more extras than recent bare-bones Tarantino discs, like the Kill Bills and Deathproof! It's also cool that the extras feature so heavily on Sixties spy veteran Rod Taylor. Read my review of Inglourious Basterds here.