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By eschewing hula-hoop ephemera for topics like the advent of TV advertising, DAVID HALBERSTAM'S THE FIFTIES (1997, New Video, unrated, six volumes, $99.95) -- a televisualization of the Pulitzer winner's book -- provides a sharp precis of postwar America without missing a beat or a beatnik.... Fresh from PBS, here's all six hours of THE IRISH IN AMERICA: LONG JOURNEY HOME (1998, Walt Disney, unrated, four volumes, $79.99), two parts epic history, one part Frank McCourt-type sentiment.... I'd be offended by the nostalgic view of imperialism presented in RHODES (1998, FoxVideo, unrated, three volumes, $59.98), a BBC bio of the colonialist, but the sluggishness of this costume drama precludes any response but boredom.