'Jesse Stone' films highlight new DVD releases

These TV shows to be released on DVD Tuesday are led by a pair of Tom Selleck "Jesse Stone" movies and the initial seasons of two disparate series.

TV movies

"Jesse Stone: Night Passage" (Sony, 2006, $24.96).

"Jesse Stone: A Death in Paradise" (Sony, 2006, $24.96). Selleck is great as Robert B. Parker's character, who is far removed from Selleck's "Magnum, P.I." persona in these CBS movies.

Stone is a sullen, lonely alcoholic — a former L.A. homicide detective who becomes police chief in a small New England town. But he's also compassionate, smart and determined to see truth and right prevail.

The films are invested with sly humor, fascinating characters, good mysteries — and Selleck is perfect. The first in this series was "Stone Cold" (released on DVD two years ago). "Night Passage" is a prequel, which shows us how Stone got into this position; "Death in Paradise" is a follow-up.

Extras: Widescreen

Documentary

"The Bridge" (Koch Lorber, 2006, $26.98). This is a fascinating look at the Golden Gate Bridge, the iconic symbol of San Francisco, which is curiously the place where more people commit suicide than anywhere else in the world.

Extras: Widescreen, featurette

TV series

"The Practice: Volume One" (Fox, 1997, four discs, $39.98). With "The Practice" coming to DVD, can David E. Kelly's "L.A. Law" and "Ally McBeal" be far behind? ("Picket Fences" comes out next week.) "The Practice" is also a very good show, especially in the early seasons of its eight-year run — sort of the flip side of "Law & Order," observing low-rent defense attorneys who start out as idealistic but ultimately become cynical and occasionally down-and-dirty. Dylan McDermott leads a great ensemble cast, which includes Lara Flynn Boyle, Camryn Manheim, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Steve Harris, Michael Badalucco and Kelli Williams.

Extras: Full frame, featurette