Lost
Third Season
Paramount

Convoluted, at times, and filled with conundrums and even sheer paranoia, Lost is often intense (though a little too humorless for me), and this third season set offers up 23 episodes of the series on seven discs, along with a ton of bonus features, including bloopers, deleted scenes, a look at the world of the “The Others,” various behind-the-scenes features, and a rare instance of looking at how the writers craft the numerous interlocking story arcs of the show’s characters. While many mysteries of the island are revealed, there are layers of deception at work while new characters also emerge. The first half-dozen or so haps seem stretched out a bit, though things eventually build. The Jack and Kate relationship heats up, while the ultimate confrontation may be when Sawyer meets Sawyer. The show can be gripping, though anyone who parachutes in somewhere in this set without having seen prior episodes will likely just be, yes, lost.

7th Heaven
Fifth Season
Paramount

There’s something about those Camdens. How did a generally secular humanist become so enamored with stories revolving around a minister’s family? Well, 7th Heaven, for most of its run, was just a great guilty pleasure - an actual family show that dealt in everyday issues and a little more. Sure they were devout folk, but very human - very flawed. The parents and kids age. With this fifth season, eldest daughter Mary (pre-moviestar Jessica Biel) doesn’t know what to do with her life after high school and hooks up with a loser pot-head and alkie couple; Eldest son Matt also continues his soul searching in life; Sunshine girl Lucy is now 17 and a senior; younger teen Simon’s just starting high school; almost obnoxiously smart Ruthie is in fifth grade; toddler twins Sam and David (whose birth was once a possible sign of a show reaching to do something), provide the cutesy relief over all the turmoil without the family; and surrounding them as mom and dad Annie and Eric continue to try and help others, from troubled kids to disturbed adults. 7th Heaven is still overall wholesome, and in a TV lineage that can be traced back to shows like Eight is Enough and even Father Knows Best but with a contemporary sensibility that father and mother may still always know best, things don’t always happen that way.

Diagnosis: Murder
Third Season
Parmount

The core demographic for Diagnois Murder was similar to Angela Lansbury’s long-running Murder, She Wrote - that is lots of moms and grandmas. It’s no wonder both shows have turned up on channels like A&E. This Dick Van Dyke series, where he started as kindly doctor who also plays snooping detective Mark Sloan, is filled with lots of charm from an all-time favorite showbiz star, of course, though the supporting cast, which included Van Dyke’s actual son Barry as Sloan’s police dective son Steve, Charlie Schlater as younger doc Jessie Travis, and Victoria Rowell as patholist Amanda Bentley, are all quite likable. The armchair/couch mysteries aren’t all that hard to figure out, and a touch of whimsy combined with danger make fun views of the episodes. It’s also a hoot to recognize many veteran actors in guest roles.

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