Ed Sullivan's Rock 'N' Roll Classics
Unrated, 8 hrs., 40 mins., 1955 — 71 (Rhino)
The Four Complete Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles
Unrated, 4 hrs., 1964 — 65 (Good Times)
Hard to believe that there was a time when we waited patiently all week long to catch a fleeting three minutes of rock & roll on TV. (Actually, that describes the lot of MTV viewers right now, but we digress.) For all his legendary stiffness, Sullivan did more than anyone—even Dick Clark or Carson Daly—to bring counterculture music to the masses, and the hefty nine-disc Classics box has folks as various as the skinny Elvis and the Doors lifted from that token weekly rock slot. (''Now here's what you youngsters have been clamoring for!'' goes a typical intro.) For a heftier helping of the Fab Four, opt for the two-disc Beatles set, with a quartet of complete episodes (including ads) that show how easily the moptops mopped up amid the likes of Mitzi Gaynor and Pinky & Perky.
ALSO ESSENTIAL The Old Grey Whistle Test Unrated, 190 mins., 1971 — 87 (BBC)
Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Edition Unrated, 7 hrs., 20
mins., 1968 (BMG)
Hullabaloo: A 1960s Music Flashback, Vols. 1 — 4 Unrated, 4 hrs., 15 mins., 1965 — 66 (MPI) -Chris Willman
WE'RE DYIN' FOR...
Square Pegs
A misfit Sarah Jessica Parker + the comic angst of Freaks and Geeks x the emotional resonance of My So-Called Life ÷ the acerbic absurdity of Popular = Why is this 1982 -- 83, us-vs.-them gem ''not currently'' on Columbia TriStar's schedule?! Even Pegs' brainy creator Anne Beatts is clueless: ''I have letters where people are like, 'How did you know? This is exactly how it is for me and my best friend,''' she says. ''There's a generation who would enjoy sharing it with their kids or watching it themselves.'' Should Columbia come calling, Beatts also has a few ideas for extras: commentary on ''Muffy's Bat Mitzvah''; a tribute to the show's innovative use of rock (the Waitresses! Devo! guest star Bill Murray dancing to Billy Idol!); and one very special character update: ''Where is the Guatemalan child now?'' —Mandi Bierly
Best Marathon DVD
24: Seasons 1 and 2
Unrated, 41 hrs., 56 mins., 2001 — 03 (Fox)
Experience a day of
kidnappings, conspiracies, and groovy bass lines in the luxury of your
own den. As Kiefer Sutherland's gnarled counterterrorism maverick, Jack
Bauer, sets out to save the nation, why break the day up into 24
unresolved segments when you can savor the real-time thrills, ad-free,
in a single sitting? A new day dawns Dec. 7, when Season 3 hits stores.
—Timothy Gunatilaka
CONCERT
Bring the Pain
Chris Rock
Unrated, 58 mins., 1996 (Universal)
Chris Rock was angry. Angry at landing the Saturday Night Live dream gig and then being relegated to the background. Angry at a Hollywood that didn't know what to do with him. Just angry. So he did what all great stand-up philosophers do: channeled, shaped, transformed that anger into brilliance. This Emmy-winning concert was a watershed in 20th-century comedy—it was the moment when Richard Pryor finally found an heir, another comic willing to lay into racism, drugs, poverty, relationships, and religion with that same tightrope fury. Dave Chappelle once told EW that Pain ''made every comic want to be better.'' Damn straight. EXTRAS An interview with Rock conducted by author Nelson George, an animated short about phone sex, and a music video that teaches strip-club-goers a lesson worth learning: No matter what they say, there is no sex in the champagne room. —Marc Bernardin
