'MacGyver' pilot among TV episodes newly released on DVD

This week's new-to-DVD television programs includes a wide variety of old and new, led by a pair of sampler discs.

"TV Sets: Action Packed" (CBS/Paramount, 1966-2003, $14.99). This new single-disc series (a sort of starter kit to remind TV fans that these shows have been released on DVD) features pilot episodes from "MacGyver," starring Richard Dean Anderson as the resourceful spy who turns everyday objects into useful gadgets, and "Mission: Impossible," with Steven Hill (pre-Peter Graves) assembling the team (Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris). Also, episodes of "NCIS" and "Walker, Texas Ranger."

Extras: full frame, four episodes

"TV Sets: Forever Funny" (CBS/Paramount, 1951-93, $14.99). As you might guess, this entry in the series features sitcoms, some of which are pilots and some just early episodes: "I Love Lucy," "The Honeymooners," "The Brady Bunch," "The Odd Couple," "Taxi," "Cheers," "Frasier." Not a bad way to spend an evening, chuckling at half-hour shows that were funny back before everything became quite so raunchy.

Extras: full frame, seven episodes

"Gunsmoke: The Third Season, Volume Two" (CBS/Paramount, 1958, b/w, three discs, $39.99). Dodge City's U.S. Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) continues to keep the streets safe for women and children in this classic Western. This is an especially good season of half-hour dramas, with Arness, Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake and Milburn Stone in fine form as the characters that made them famous.

Extras: full frame, 20 episodes

"Cannon: Season Two, Volume One" (CBS/Paramount, 1972, three discs, $39.99). Big in both girth and voice, William Conrad is great as an L.A. private eye who used to be a cop, and who keeps up a lavish lifestyle by taking on big-money cases. Guests on these discs include David Janssen, Martin Sheen, Anne Francis, Cathy Lee Crosby and Dabney Coleman.

Extras: full frame, 12 episodes, promos

"Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season" (ABC, 2008, three discs, $39.99). Steven Bochco's latest courtroom drama is a cable-TV series about public defenders and district attorneys who treat each case like war strategy. Well done, though with Bochco you know it's also going to push buttons. Great cast includes Mark Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek.

Extras: widescreen, audio commentaries, featurettes, bloopers