'80s TV hits 'MacGyver,' 'Soap' released on DVD

More TV shows are being released on DVD Tuesday, led by an '80s favorite about a secret agent who is also the ultimate handyman.

"MacGyver: The Complete First Season" (Paramount, 1985-86, not rated, $38.99, six discs). This comedy-action series stars Richard Dean Anderson as an ah-shucks, regular-guy government agent who never carries a gun, and uses whatever happens to be lying around to create everything from weapons to fix-it gadgets.

The pilot episode is directed by the anonymous "Alan Smithee" — the name used when a director doesn't want his own name on a show. But it's a good pilot, with the opening "gambit" filmed in southern Utah at Dead Horse Point (subbing for "somewhere in Asia"). And the rest of the season is equally entertaining.

Guest stars include Teri Hatcher as a ditsy young woman, as well as Robert Englund, Kay Lenz, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Joan Chen, Keye Luke, and "Star Trek" veterans Persis Khambatta and John de Lancie.

Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, chapters.

"One Tree Hill" (Warner, 2003-04, not rated, $59.98, six discs). Two half-brothers couldn't be more different, despite their shared talent for basketball and love for the same girl, in this soapy teen drama. A good cast helps, especially Moira Kelly as one of the parents, and there's a lot of emphasis on pop music.

Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, audio commentary (on four episodes), deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, musical performance, "Christmas Elf" gag, subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.

"Renegade: Season One" (Anchor Bay, 1992, $39.98, six discs). Lorenzo Lamas is a disgraced cop falsely accused of murder who escapes to prove his innocence, as this show tries to replicate "The Fugitive." Lamas travels from town to town on his motorcycle, and series-creator Stephen J. Cannell plays the villain. Strictly for action fans.

Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, interviews, chapters.

"Soap: The Complete Third Season" (Columbia/TriStar, 1979-80, not rated, $29.95). The third season of this spoof of soap operas continues the madness of the feuding Campbells and Tates, along with a bevy of wacky plots that include Burt being captured and replaced by aliens, Benson and the Tates rescuing Billy from a cult, gay Jodie becoming a single parent, etc. Funny stuff, with a great cast — Billy Crystal, Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, etc. And in the first three episodes, Robert Guillaume, who was then spun off into his own sitcom, "Benson."

Extras: Full frame, 22 episodes, trailers, chapters.