Fortune and glory - 12:00am

Wanna go where everybody knows your name? Now you can... again and again and again. On May 20th Paramount will debut Cheers: The Complete First Season. This 4-disc set features all the first season episodes presented in their original 4:3 full screen aspect ratios, plus a bar full of extras: The featurettes "Setting The Bar: A Conversation with Ted Danson," "Love At First Fight: Opposites Distract" and "Coach Ernie Pantusso's Rules of the Game," some "I'll Drink To That: Stormin' Norm-isms," and the trivia game "It's A Little Known Fact...": Retail is $49.95.

Wait, do you want more Cheers!? How about Frasier: The Complete First Season, one of the few TV spin-offs to be as successful as the original? Paramount will also debut this 4-disc set on the 20th, with plenty of extras as well: audio commentary on the pilot episode by Peter Casey and David Lee, the featurettes "Behind The Couch: The Making Of Frasier" and "Frasier Crane's Apartment," and a trivia game. All 24 episodes are also presented in 4:3 full screen (the show didn't go HD until last year), and retail is $49.95.

In other Paramount news, you may have heard word on an overseas release of The Indiana Jones Trilogy debuting this November. Seems an advertisement for the Trilogy began to circulate on the web the past few days, but according to Paramount Home Entertainment head of publicity, this mock ad is "a fake." While Steven Spielberg has made some public comments recently regarding fourth quarter release for one of the most anticipated DVD releases of all time, there is still no official release date released as of yet. Of course, stay tuned...

Stands with a fist - 12:00am

Just announced from MGM Home Entertainment is another huge batch of new releases, both their complete May and June lineups.

The big news? How about a 3-disc set of Oscar winner Dances with Wolves, streeting on May 20th? Featuring the 236-minute extended version (the theatrical cut s not included) of the film presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (no DTS option is included), the extras are plentiful: All-new, full-length audio commentaries with Kevin Costner and producer Jim Wilson, and on the second director of photography Dean Semler and editor Steve Potter, the new "Creation of an Epic" documentary, the original making-of featurette, the music video, a still montage with introduction by Ben Glass, a poster gallery, trailers, and TV spots. Retail is $29.95, and MGM will even throw in a free special edition from a list of 40 of their top titles free. (This offer will be available for a limited time only, and via participating retailers only.)

Also debuting on May 20th is a special edition apparently no one is waiting for, but here it comes nonetheless. How about a 3-disc set of John Woo's mega-bomb Windtalkers? Featuring a new extended cut with 20 minutes of additional footage presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and English 5.1 Dolby surround, there are so many extras here it's, well, scary: A new introduction by Woo, three full-length audio commentaries (by Woo and producer Terence Chang, an actor track with Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater, and another with actor Roger Willie and Navajo consultant Albert Smith); on disc two - the documentaries "The Code Talkers - The Secret Code of Honor" and "American Heroes: A Tribute to Code Talkers," "The Music of Windtalkers" featurette; and disc three features a multi-angle look at four key battle sequences, four "Boot Camp" set diary vignettes, the "Actor's Boot Camp" featurette, a still gallery, extensive John Woo biography, and trailers. Retail is $39.95.

Keeping up the war theme, MGM will also debut a big spate of titles on the 20th: 633 Squadron, Battle of Britain and Zulu (all in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen), Mosquito Squadron, Operation Amsterdam and War Hunt (all 1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen) and Attack! (full screen). All include their original theatrical trailers, and retail is $14.95 a pop. And for you Western lovers, MGM has some nice Father's Day gift ideas: The Indian Fighter, Terror in a Texas Town and The Unforgiven (all anamorphic widescreen) Five Guns West and The Ride Back (both full screen), and Duel at Diablo (1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen). All include their original theatrical trailers, and retail is again $14.95 each.

But wait, MGM has also announced their June lineup of catalog releases as well. In addition to a new $19.95 reprice for The Terminator special edition (same extras, similar cover), June 3rd will see the first-ever DVD releases for a number of cult thrillers: Half-Moon Street, Shattered, Slamdance and Seven Hours to Judgment (all 1.85;1 anamorphic widescreen), The House on Carroll Street and In Defense of the Realm (both 1.66;1 non-anamorphic widescreen) and Miracle Mile with Anthony Edwards (full screen only). All include trailers, and retail for $14.95.

Rounding out MGM's June slate is a batch of gay-themed favorites. Randall Kleiser's little-seen gem It's My Party gets the special edition treatment with a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, audio commentary by Kleiser, 3 featurettes, deleted scenes with optional commentary, a still gallery, and the trailer. Other titles in the lineup include: Russell Crowe in The Sum of Us, Bent, The Hanging Garden, and Jeffrey (1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen), and My Beautiful Laundrette and Wigstock (1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen). All include trailers, and retail is $19.95 each.

'Back to the Future' update - 12:00am

Rounding out today's news is an update on those corrected Back to the Future II and III discs, which should be available in the next month to consumers who called or wrote in to receive replacement discs. Repressed box sets should also be arriving in stores in March as well, but how to tell? Look for the packaging which will have a "V2" printed near the bottom of the bar code sticker, which indicates it has been remastered (these "V2" letters will also be printed on the discs themselves.) I you would like to get corrected versions of your current misframed BTTF set, just send back discs II and III (without the case) at the following address:

Back to the Future DVD Returns
PO Box 224468
Dallas, Texas 75260

Be sure to include your name, mailing address, a daytime phone number, and a return address. Good luck!