DVD Review: Season Sets For ‘Dirty Sexy Money,’ ‘Scrubs,’ ‘Samantha Who’

CHICAGO – Buena Vista Home Video is releasing three sets next week that would be a trio of final season sets if not for the last-minute and surprising renewal of “Scrubs,” despite a beautiful series finale. That finale is included on “Scrubs: The Complete Eighth Season,” which joins “Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete And Final Second Season” and “Samantha Who?: The Complete Second And Final Season” on store shelves this week. (Don’t argue with us about the placement of the words “And Final” on the “DSM” case. That’s where it’s placed on the package.)

DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0

This week’s TV on DVD includes one show that never quite found an audience, another that had one and lost it, and a third that has been on for most of the decade, crossed over from one network to another, and survived several cancellation axe swings. At least one will make a nice addition to your collection and all three include special features of interest to their fans.

Dirty Sexy Money will be released on DVD on August 25th, 2009. Photo credit: Buena Vista Home Video

With one of the most accomplished casts and talented creators, “Dirty Sexy Money” was among the most anticipated shows of the 2007 fall season. The show struggled to find an audience and became a victim of ABC’s horrendous post-strike strategy, which left most of their dramas off the air for almost a year. By the time that “DSM” came back almost a year after the last episode of the first season, it was too late and the ratings fell from 7.4 million viewers for the premiere to 3.4 million viewers for the last pre-cancellation episode. When ABC decided to burn off the final episodes of the series this summer with almost no advertising, less than 2 million viewers tuned in.

Now, all 13 episodes of the second season are available in one set and presented in widescreen with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio that has been enhanced for 16x9 televisions and presented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track. Special features include “Directing the Darlings,” “A Total Knockout,” “Dirty Sexy Crafty,” “Faux Pas - Bloopers From Season 2,” and deleted scenes.

“Samantha Who?” was something of a hit its first season, earning praise and awards for its talented stars Christina Applegate and Jean Smart. The sometimes-clever sitcom really faltered in season two, both creatively and in the ratings, after losing its “Dancing With the Stars” lead-in, and was cancelled.

Scrubs will be released on DVD on August 25th, 2009. Photo credit: Buena Vista Home Video

Season two includes all twenty episodes of the sophomore year of “Samantha Who?” in widescreen with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio that has been enhanced for 16x9 televisions and presented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track. Special features include bloopers, deleted scenes, “Tour the Set With Christina Applegate,” and “Christina Dance Moment”.

Finally, the beloved “Scrubs” continues with season eight of the show available on DVD. After seven years on NBC, “Scrubs” switched networks and focus for its eighth (and we all presumed final) season. Despite too often focusing on new characters that the creators clearly hoped to develop for potential future seasons of the show, the eighth season of “Scrubs” was consistent enough that fans of the show should definitely take a look if they didn’t already make the transition from NBC to ABC.

Season eight includes all nineteen episodes of “Scrubs” in full frame with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio and presented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track. Special features include bloopers, deleted scenes, “My Bahamas Vacation,” and “Scrubs Intern Webisodes”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com