'Tenspeed' heads list of shows debuting on DVD

A 30-year-old fan favorite leads off this look at TV shows that have arrived on DVD for the first time.

"Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" (Mill Creek, 1980, three discs, $14.98). Sadly it's not all good news for fans of this offbeat crime series starring Jeff Goldblum and Ben Vereen, which lasted only a brief half-season in 1980.

The show is great fun, created by Stephen J. Cannell in the same lighthearted spirit as another of his series, "The Rockford Files," and the casting is perfect — Goldblum plays an uptight accountant who dreams of being a '40s-style private eye and Vereen is his partner, a fast-talking con artist. They have chemistry, and many of the episodes here are a hoot.

But the downside is what's NOT here — the feature-length pilot, a very funny stand-alone TV movie. And without it, there's no real explanation of how these two disparate characters got together. (Why it's missing is the real mystery here.)

Still, it's an inexpensive set, and fans will be happy to have the series itself. But I'm sure they'd be happier if they had the pilot as well.

Extras: full frame, 12 episodes

"Father Knows Best: Season Four" (Shout! 1957-58, b/w, five discs, $34.99). The Anderson clan is back for more light domestic comedy, with Robert Young and Jane Wyatt as the parents of three precocious kids in this early-TV staple. There are also two episodes of Young's follow-up "Window on Main Street" series.

Extras: full frame, 36 episodes, two "Window on Main Street" episodes, "Father Knows Best" radio programs, trailers

"Hawaii Five-0: The Eighth Season" (CBS/Paramount, 1975-76, six discs, $54.99). Filmed on location in Hawaii, this action-filled cop show boasts a strong fan base, and there are continued rumors of a new version being developed, either as a series or a big-screen movie. The episodes here feature guest stars Susan Dey, Juliet Mills, David Birney, George Takei, Charles Durning, Edward Asner, Bruce Boxleitner and Adam Arkin, among others.

Extras: full frame, 23 episodes, promos, trailers

"The Prisoner" (Warner, 2009, three discs, $29.98). This cable miniseries is a mini-remake of Patrick McGoohan's 1967 classic, and it's a bit of a fool's errand. The much beloved original was an enigmatic statement on the conformist attitudes of the times. The new version, with James Caviezel in McGoohan's role and Ian McKellen as his sinister overseer, aspires to be simply an action series, but it's actually rather dull.

Extras: widescreen, six episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, trailers