DVD on TV: A Viewer's Guide ...

"What? "Firefly"'s on DVD? But it was only on for like six weeks!" "When are they going to release the ORIGINAL 'Star Trek' episodes in season sets?" "Who knew that 'NYPD Blue' was out? What was the big deal with David Caruso, anyway?"

That's a sampling of some of the questions I hear from folks who seem quite astounded that television is available at all in the DVD format. Many of my co-workers defer to me as the resident expert, but I thought that you, dear reader, might like to claim that distinction for your very own. So this should serve on a nice TV-on-DVD primer.

Fact is, better than a third of all DVD sales figures last year were purchases of television programs, mostly in season sets. The phenomenon has had a ripple effect in both the DVD and television industries.

Last month, FOX announced that they are giving serious consideration to starting production on new episodes of its canceled animated series "Family Guy" due solely to the strength of its DVD sales. Other low-rated programs that have done well on DVD include the aforementioned "Firefly," "The Tick," "Sports Night," and "Futurama."

Of course, hit programs tend to do better. Paramount Home Video was very tentative on the DVD market, releasing the original voyages of the starship Enterprise on bare bones two episode DVDs. With "Star Trek: The Next Generation," however, they began releasing full-season packages. Retailing at about $150, they include twenty-two forty-five minute episodes and oodles of bonus materials. They have followed up with "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager" and repackaged season sets of classic "Trek" to follow in 2004.

Other hit programs available on DVD include "CSI," "NYPD Blue," "Cheers," "Frasier," and even cult classics like "Dark Shadows," A&E's "Nero Wolfe" and Roger Moore's "The Saint," all available in complete-season format.

Centerpieces in my collection are the first season of "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" and "The Dick van Dyke Show," which includes interview footage with the late Morey Amsterdam and commentary from van Dyke and series creator Carl Reiner. Cult classics "Gilligan's Island," "Green Acres" and "Mister Ed" have just hit store shelves as well.

So how can you find out if your favorite show is available on DVD? There's a wonderful website at www.tvshowsondvd.com. Register for free and you can vote on shows that you'd like to see get the DVD treatment.

I like to log on to www.dvdplanet.com daily. They're the best source out there of what's coming out. I click on "Coming Soon" and sort by "Date Announced," and frequently I'm ahead of the curve.

For the best prices, though, check out www.deepdiscountdvd.com. They have a lowest price guarantee, and offer free shipping. For those of you leery of shopping online, I've purchased all of my season sets from DVD Planet and Deep Discount and have never had a problem.

Coming soon: "Barney Miller" season one, arriving at Chez Wilson on January 20th. "Seinfeld" will arrive later in the year, as will the first two seasons of the wonderful "NewsRadio" and (rumor has it) "SCTV." Stay tuned.