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ABC and Disney have some rather entertaining television sets for that hard-to-please television addict on your shopping list. In recent years more and more of us engage in something called binge-watching. With either a DVR or the season sets releases, we watch an entire season of a show in a matter of a few days. I'll bet you have a binge-watcher on that list of yours. You might want to consider some of the ABC family of shows.

Rick Castle (Fillion) is a very successful mystery pulp-fiction writer with over 26 books hitting the best-seller list. He’s rich, and he’s spoiled. He lives with his mother (Sullivan) who is pretty much a has-been actress who thinks she’s just one part away from stardom. He has a young teen daughter (Quinn) who is more responsible than he is. After having so much fun and inspiration tracking down his fiction copycat killer, he decides to pull strings and become an unpaid consultant for the team. At first that wasn't so good for team leader Detective Kate Beckett (Katic). Of course, now the whole sexual tension thing has been discarded, and they are an official couple these days. The team is also filled by a pair of detectives. Detective Javier Esposito is played by Jon Huertas and is the macho member of the team. Detective Kevin Ryan is played by Seamus Dever and is the more reserved member of the team, now trying to start a family. The team is led by the rough Captain Victoria Gates, played by Penny Johnson. She likes to think she's in charge, but she's not.

When it comes to getting the current shows out in high definition, no one does it better than Warner Brothers. I am impressed each year with the number of shows they release on Blu-ray every year. Readers to this site know what I'm talking about. If you have TV fans on your list who also are fans of sci-fi and horror, these are the best sets to get this holiday season. Below you'll find some excerpts from our reviews. I've put it all in one place to make your shopping experience easier. I know how little time you've got with a lot of shopping to do. Don't forget to use one of our links if you get them from Amazon. It'll help keep us going another year. 

"The city still needs saving. But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs... something more."

"1968, I was twelve years old. A lot happened that year. Dennis McLain won 31 games, The Mod Squad hit the air, and I graduated from Hillcrest Elementary and entered junior high school...but we'll get to that. There's no pretty way to put this: I grew up in the suburbs. I guess most people think of the suburb as a place with all the disadvantages of the city, and none of the advantages of the country, and vice versa. But, in a way, those really were the wonder years for us there in the suburbs. It was kind of a golden age for kids." 

The show takes place in Anywhere, USA. The pilot begins in 1968 and is told from the point of view of a contemporary adult looking back on those early years of his life. Anyone who is a fan of A Christmas Story will appreciate the narrative style of The Wonder Years. While it is mysteriously never mentioned in the tens of hours of extra features, there's no question that A Christmas Story and the works of Jean Shepherd were a huge influence on the voice and style of the series. Here narrator Daniel Stern offers the same kind of storytelling, even down to the odd observations and slip into occasional fantasy. He's an unreliable narrator in the sense that he's seeing the people and places around him from the perspective of his younger self. It's not an intentional unreliability. He's Kevin Arnold, and this is the story of his own...wonder years.

Johnny Carson might have been king of the late-night airwaves, but it was Merv Griffin who held court during the day. From 1962 until 1986 Merv Griffin brought you the most important, entertaining and fascinating personalities to your living rooms. He was also quite the producer. Here's the question:  He created two of the longest-lasting game shows in television history. Who was Merv Griffin? That's correct. He created both Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy.  But it will be The Merv Griffin Show that he'll he's most remembered for.

Star Vista and Time-Life have combined to bring you a 12-disc collection of some of Merv's best moments. Taken from the entire series run these highlights includes such guests as: "Lucille Ball, The Everly Brothers, Willie Mays, Aretha Franklin, Salvador Dali, Dennis Hopper, Maya Angelou, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., John Wayne, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Warren Beatty, Jayne Mansfield (seen with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Mariska Hargitay), Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Jay Leno, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Jerry Lewis together (!), Joan Rivers, Steve Martin, Moms Mabley, Bill Cosby, Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Carol Burnett, Andy Kaufman, Woody Allen, and more." 

It's funny how some actors mean different things to different people. It often depends on your age and interests. Michael Landon is one such actor. I was a horror movie fan who watched late-night creature features with my dad. To me Landon was the titular character from I Was A Teenage Werewolf. To my Dad and his generation, Landon was Little Joe from Bonanza. To continue the comparison, Little Joe's pop was always Commander Adama, with no offense intended toward Edward James Olmos. But there is another generation that doesn't know werewolves from cowboys, and to them Michael Landon will always be the warm father Charles Ingalls from Little House On The Prairie.

From 1974 until 1983 Little House On The Prairie told the story of the Ingalls family. The series was based on the book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is one of Charles' daughters and is played by Melissa Gilbert in the series. It had a very Waltons feel for family life in a bygone age. For the Ingalls family, it was the mid-1800's, and they were a true pioneer family. The show's focus was on the family, but the entire little town became a character on the show, as well. It was populated by many recurring characters who combined to give the show that rural charm found in shows like The Waltons or The Andy Griffith Show.

"The gods finally bless us with a complete collection."

AnchorBay is going all out in delivering a couple of complete series collections. There is a limited edition with some cool stuff that we hope to talk to you about on Black Friday for your shopping edification. This set contains all of the show's 39 episodes on 12 discs. There is a 13th disc with limited extra features that were not found on the original individual season releases. 

“I don’t know why death still surprises me.”

As we get closer to holiday shopping time, Upcomingdiscs will be here to help you find something for that home theater fanatic on your shopping list. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them.