It’s a huge week in home video releases, with three of TV’s best comedies coming out on DVD. Yes, DVD. Those hoping for Blu-ray are out of luck, because the latest seasons of Community, Californication and Ja’Mie: Private School Girl eschew HD for the old-school format. Minecraft obsessives will finally get to ply their adiction on new-gen consoles, and football fans can make it through the week by looking forward to a doubleheader of preseason action Thursday.
Ninjago: Nindroids
(Out now)
Taking the Lego game formula and joining it with the jump-kicking, shuriken-tossing world of Ninjago, Nindroids manages to inject plenty of life into the well-worn routine. Solving devilish environmental puzzles and smashing creatively designed bosses into block bits is too much fun to ignore.
Minecraft
(Monday)
The Xbox One, PS4 and Vita finally get ahold of the talk of elementary school playgrounds everywhere. While the graphics thankfully stick to the faux 8-bit style of the original, the new versions come with all the previously released updates, and are expected to benefit from performance boosts such as quicker load times and smoother controls.
National Sisters Day
(Monday)
The beauty of shared gene pools is that they often create similarly spectacular results from one offspring to the next. That’s why you’re in luck if a girl you are into doesn’t reciprocate those feelings, you can always try your luck with her equally hot sister.
Tigers at Yankees
(Monday, 7 p.m. EST, ESPN)
One team is scrapping to stay alive in the wild card race, while the other is dominating and cruising toward the playoffs. In any normal year, the former would be the Tigers and the latter the Yankees. But 2014, like the Fresh Prince’s life, got flipped, turned upside down. The megabudget Yankees are hoping to claw out a victory and keep their postseason hopes alive, while the Tigers expect to dominate.
Californication: The Final Season on DVD
(Tuesday)
David Duchovny runs a victory lap in the role he was born to play — a sex-addicted celebrity who lives the sweet life, blowing off twinges of guilt his selfish womanizing causes. The final go-round in the Showtime comedy wraps up loose ends, disrupts the dull treadmill of the past couple years and, most importantly, provides tons and tons of gratuitous nudity.
Season 9 Debut of HBO Hard Knocks
(Tuesday @ 10 PM on HBO)
As if it weren’t enough that football season is right around the corner, here comes Hard Knocks to give you the best look inside an NFL locker room you’re ever going to get. This year’s focus will be the Atlanta Falcons who (all things considered) had a pretty disappointing season last year, so the battles for positions should be particularly interesting this year.
Community: Season 5 on DVD
(Tuesday)
The internet’s favorite sitcom was canceled shortly after the last season — which was even kookier than normal for the wildly offbeat show — but has been resurrected by Yahoo, of all entities, to march on with a sixth season. If they can match the hilarity of the entirely animated G.I. Joe parody episode, fans will be in luck.
Ja’Mie: Private School Girl on DVD
(Tuesday)
Chris Lilley dresses in drag as the title character, a self-obsessed teen who specializes in putting herself, her classmates and surrounding adults into awkward and demented situations. The show starts slowly, but builds momentum at midseason and winds up earning its spot in HBO’s comedy lineup. Deleted scenes and a gag reel fill out the set.
Road Not Taken
(Tuesday)
An intriguing side-scrollong roguelike for the PS4, the obtuse game teases you with obtuse puzzles and procedurally-generated environments that are different on every playthrough. It’s a freebie for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock
(Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST, ABC)
Even if you’re not into country music, you can put it on mute and appreciate the likes of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood strutting their stuff. You might even want to take in some of the music, if only to be up to date the next time you hit the country bar looking to pick up on line dancing chicks.
NFL Preseason Doubleheader
(Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST, NFL Network)
There’s a full slate of preseason action going on Thursday, and two of the most intriguing games — the 49ers at Colts, followed by the Cowboys at Chargers — have been hand-picked for national TV coverage by the NFL Network. With Colin Kaepernick, Andrew Luck, Tony Romo and Philip Rivers taking the field for a series or two, trying not to get injured, most of the drama will come in watching low-round draft picks scrap for roster spots.
