The Month in Home Media is a monthly column highlighting short-lived or rare television series, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies released on DVD or Blu-ray during the previous month, as well as recent additions to streaming services like Warner Archive Instant. The releases discussed in this column are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada. The Month in Home Media is published on the first Thursday of each month.
September 2016 was another quiet month. The Monroes (ABC, 1966-1967) and Limitless (CBS, 2015-2016), both one season wonders, are now available on DVD. Also, Alpha Video released early animated comedy Calvin and the Colonel and more episodes of Brave Eagle.
DVD/Blu-ray Releases
The Monroes: The Complete Series (TV Series, Shout! Factory, DVD)
At least for now, this set is a Walmart exclusive. It includes all 26 episodes of the ABC western about five orphaned children struggling to survive in Wyoming during the 1870s. Michael Anderson Jr., Barbara Hershey, Keith Schultz, Kevin Schultz, and Tammy Loche starred. The series ran during the 1966-1967 season.
Limitless: Season One (TV Series, Paramount, DVD)
For some reason, Paramount opted not to call this “The Complete Series” even though Limitless was sadly cancelled after its first season. The drama was a spin-off of the 2011 movie of the same name starring Bradley Cooper. CBS aired 22 episodes during the 2015-2016 season and then pulled the plug. Limitless starred Jake McDorman, Jennifer Carpenter, Hill Harper, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. This 6-disc set includes a single audio commentary on one episode, a gal reel, promos, and four featurettes.
Finally, Alpha Video released several new manufacture-on-demand titles last month: Calvin and the Colonel, Climax Volume 2, Code 3 Volume 3, and Brave Eagle Volume 3..
DVD/Blu-ray News
The first and likely only season of recent CBS drama BrainDead will be out on DVD on December 6th. The 13-episode summer series ran from June to September of this year. CBS has yet to officially cancel or renew it. The cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Danny Pino, and Tony Shalhoub (TVShowsOnDVD.com).
Star Trek: The Animated Series gets an individual Blu-ray release on November 15th. It is currently only available on Blu-ray as part of the massive Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV & Movie Collection set (TVShowsOnDVD.com).
Speaking of Star Trek, The Roddenberry Vault will be released on Blu-ray on December 13th. The set features 12 episodes from the original series plus three new documentaries that include rare archival material (deleted scenes, bloopers, alternate takes). Also, new interviews with William Shatner, Dorothy Fontana, David Gerald, and many others (TrekMovie.com).
NBC’s short-lived Constantine is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on October 4th via Warner Archive. It ran for 13 episodes during the 2014-2015 season (TVShowsOnDVD.com).
Streaming
As I mentioned above, CBS has yet to announce a renewal or cancellation for BrainDead. The same goes for its other summer drama American Gothic. Amazon Prime started streaming both shows last month.
Hit the comments with any news about upcoming DVD/Blu-ray releases or additions to streaming services.
‘The Monroes’ was a great series, one of many ABC oaters that tried to skew the tired old western format into appealing to the growing T12-17 and A18-49 demographics.