Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Legacy Collection (1955-1962, Universal, 34 DVDs, NR, 6,847 min.). From 1955-1962, Alfred Hitchcock, the most famous director in the world, hosted, produced and occasionally directed the iconic anthology series that, in the Hitchcock’s words, "brought murder back into the home -- where it belongs." The set includes 263 of the show’s 268 episodes, featuring some of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood history. They include Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Joan Fontaine, Claude Rains, Walter Matthau, Thelma Ritter, Joseph Cotten, Peter Falk, Teresa Wright, Leslie Nielsen, John Cassavetes, Brian Keith, Charles Bronson and Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter Patricia.

The actors mostly signed up because they wanted to work with Hitchcock, who had already made the films “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “The 39 Steps,” “The Lady Vanishes,” “Rebecca,” “Spellbound,” “Notorious,” “Strangers on a Train,” “Dial M for Murder” and “Rear Window.” By the end of the show’s seven years, Hitchcock had added “To Catch a Thief,” a remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho” to his filmography.

Hitchcock only directed only 17 episodes himself, but he performed the often-hilarious lead-ins and lead-outs. Written by James B. Allardice, these monologues are a reason to get the set by themselves. They often spoofed a recent popular commercial or poked fun at the sponsor, leading into a commercial. Hitchcock closed the show in much the same way as it opened, but mainly tied up loose ends rather than joked. As frequently, a leading character in the story seemed to have gotten away with a criminal activity, Hitchcock would briefly detail, usually unconvincingly, how fate or the authorities eventually brought the character to justice. One of the funnier ones is for “A Night with the Boys,” for which Hitchcock adds a goatee and talks like a member of the beat generation to introduce “the bourgeoise trivia that follows.”

Other than Hitchcock, the directors who helmed the most episodes included Robert Stevens (44 episodes), Paul Henreid (28 episodes), Herschel Daugherty (24 episodes), Norman Lloyd (19 episodes), Arthur Hiller (17 episodes) and James Neilson, Justus Addiss and John Brahm (10 episodes apiece). Other notable directors included Robert Altman, Ida Lupino, Robert Stevenson and William Friedkin.

Notable writers included Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Robert Bloch and William Fay.

The show finished at No. 6 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1956–57 season, No. 12 in 1957–58, No. 24 in 1958–59 and No. 25 in 1959–60. The episodes in this set are 25 minutes long. Episodes were expanded to 50 minutes in 1962, when the show was retitled “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” and continued through 1965, adding 93 episodes (not included in this set).

“Alfred Hitchcock Presents” is well known for its title sequence, in which the camera shows a simple line-drawing caricature of Hitchcock's rotund profile (which Hitchcock himself drew), set to the music of Charles Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette.” The music suggestion came from Hitchcock's long-time musical collaborator, film composer Bernard Herrmann. Hitchcock appears in silhouette from the right edge of the screen and walks to center screen to eclipse the caricature.

Two episodes that were directed by Hitchcock were nominated for Emmy Awards. They were “The Case of Mr. Pelham” in 1955 with Tom Ewell and “Lamb to the Slaughter” in 1958 that starred Barbara Bel Geddes and Harold J. Stone.

The set comes with two extras. “Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Look Back,” which looks at the beginnings of the series, including interviews with producer/director/actor Norman Lloyd, assistant director Hilton Green and actress/daughter Patricia Hitchcock O’Connell (14:44); and “Fasten Your Seatbelts: The Thrilling Art of Afred Hitchcock,” which centers on his films and includes comments by directors Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, John Carpenter and Guillermo del Toro (6:25). Lloyd says most of the stories were selected by himself and Joan Harrison. Grade: set 3.75 stars; extras 2.25 stars

Rating guide: 5 stars = classic; 4 stars = excellent; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = fair; dog = skip it

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series (2000-2024, HBO/Warner Bros., 24 Blu-rays, NR, 3,600 min.). The iconic Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning semi-improvised comedy series stars creator Larry David as an over-the-top, self-absorbed version of himself who finds endless ways to make a mess of his pretty good life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and, for one season each, New York City and Atlanta. It offers a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the writer/producer/comedian's fictionalized world and friends, including awkward everyday encounters, social missteps and his knack for turning mundane situations into chaotic disasters.

The show’s 12 seasons ran in 2000-2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2024.

The show also stars Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager and best friend Jeff Greene, Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie and J.B. Smoove as Larry's housemate Leon Black. There often are celebrity gust stars, many of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves. These include Ted Danson, Richard Lewis, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O’Donnell and Jon Hamm.

As with “Seinfeld,” which David co-created, the humor often revolves around the minutiae of everyday social life. Each episode's plot and subplot are established in an outline written by David, and then the actors largely improvise the dialogue.

The show received high critical acclaim. It was nominated for 55 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series for 11 of its 12 seasons. It won the 2002 Golden Globe award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

Extras include many featurettes, including “A Seinfeld Moment on Curb,” an interview with David and the “Seinfeld” cast, “Leo’s Guide to New York City,” “Larry’s Favorite Episodes” and a behind-the-scenes look at the final scene. There also is a gag reel. Grade: set 3.75 stars; extras 2.5 stars

The Newsroom: The Complete Series (2012-2014, HBO/Warner Bros., 9 Blu-rays, NR, 1,690 min.). Aaron Sorkin's acclaimed drama stars Jeff Daniels as news anchor Will McAvoy, with Emily Mortimer as executive producer Mackenzie McHale and Sam Waterston as network president Charlie Skinner. Key moments involve the team's efforts to produce high-quality news amid corporate challenges, personal dynamics and real-world events. The show has sharp dialogue, compelling storylines and standout performances with its sometimes gripping look behind the scenes of the fictional Atlantis Cable News (ACN).

Sorkin rose to prominence as a writer-creator and showrunner of the television series “Sports Night (1998–2000), “The West Wing” (1999–2006) and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (2006–07). On Broadway, he was worked the plays “A Few Good Men” (1989), “The Farnsworth Invention” (2007), “To Kill a Mockingbird” (2018), and the revival of Lerner and Loewe’s “Camelot.”

He wrote the film screenplays for “A Few Good Men” (1992), “The American President” (1995) and the biopics “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007), “Moneyball (2011) and “Steve Jobs” (2015). For writing “The Social Network” (2010), he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The show has 25 episodes over its three seasons. It chronicles behind-the-scenes events at the fictional news show. Each episode is built around a major news event from the recent past, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the killing of Osama bin Laden, which serve background for the interpersonal drama, as well as providing a sense of familiarity, as the audience is likely to know the events already and thus not require too much explanation.

Extras include audio commentaries – 5 for season one, 3 for season two, 1 for season three – as well as brief inside-the-episode looks (2 to 6 min.), deleted scenes, a set tour (5 min.) and a roundtable on season one (26 min.). Grade: series 4 stars; extras 3 stars

The Master of Ballantrae (1953, Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray, NR, 89 min.). In a film not included in the recent “Errol Flynn Collection,”Flynn portrays Ballantrae Castle's Jamie Durie, a heroic highlander-turned-pirate in this colorful version of Robert Louis Stevenson's story. William Keighley, who directed Flynn in “The Prince and the Pauper” and “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” delayed his retirement from moviemaking to guide this lavish adventure, filmed on location in Scotland (including Eilean Donan Castle), the Cornwall section of England and Sicily by two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Flynn’s Durie, who is a supporter of Prince Charlie and not the ruling King George, is joined on most of his adventures by Irish Col. Francis Burke (Robert Livesey of “The League of Gentlemen,” “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp”).

We first meet Durie juggling amour between his lover Jessie Brown (Yvonne Furneaux of “Repulsion,” “La Dolce Vita”) and his intended, Lady Alison (Beatrice Campbell of “Laughter in Paradise”). While Jamie is to inherit his father’s (Felix Aylmer of “Ivanhoe,” “Knights of the Round Table”) estate and marry Lady Alison, his younger brother Henry (Anthony Steel of “West of Zanzibar”) wants both. In a coin flip, Jamie goes to fight for Prince Charlie, while Henry stays home in Scotland and supports King George. The year is 1745.

After the Scots’ defeat at the battle of Culloden, Jamie is sentenced to be hanged. When he first tries to escape by boat with Burke, he is betrayed and shot by British soldiers, falling into the ocean and presumed dead. He lives, though, returns home and has a swordfight with Henry. Jamie falls wounded, but once again his body disappears, scooped up by Burke.

When the pair escape on a smuggler’s ship, they discover it is bound for the West Indies instead of France. The ship is attacked by pirates, whom the pair then join. Eventually, they use the pirates to steal a stolen Spanish galleon – two more onboard sword fights for Jamie – and finally return to Scotland.

The extras are two cartoons: “Bully for Bugs” with Bugs Bunny (7:12) and “Pop Goes the Weasel” with Foghorn Leghorn (6:44). Grade: film 3.25 stars; extras 1.5 stars

The Last of Robin Hood (2013, Universal, Blu-ray, R, 90 min.). The fact-based film tells of Errol Flynn’s (a fine Kevin Kline, also of “Dave,” “A Fish Called Wanda”) final affair, with underaged Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning of “War of the Worlds,” “I Am Sam”), an aspiring actress who claimed to be of age, but really was 15 when they first met, with sex occurring during their first date. The relationship was sort-of encouraged by her mother Florence (Susan Sarandon of “Thelma & Louise,” “Dead Man Walking”).

The whole movie stinks of tawdriness, despite good acting. Florence eventually starts going on dates with her daughter and Flynn. The affair last some two years, stopping when Flynn died of a heart attack. Flynn’s driver/assistant Ronnie is played by Matt Kane (TV’s “Switched at Birth”).

Florence was somewhat of a show business mom. Her backstory was she had a promising dance career, until she lost part of her right leg. The film says Flynn tried to get Beverly – he called her “Woodsey” – cast with him in “Lolita,” but when that failed, he made her the lead in his own film about women Cuban fighters. Grade: film 2.5 stars

The Beggar’s Opera (1953, Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray, NR, 94 min.). Laurence Olivier (“Rebecca,” “Marathon Man,” “The Boys from Brazil”) plays highwayman Capt. MacHeath, who awaits hanging in Newgate Jail, when a new prisoner is thrust in. It turns out to be The Beggar (Hugh Griffith of “Ben-Hur,” “Tom Jones,” “Oliver!”). The Beggar has with him his written pages of an opera with a main character of Capt. MacHeath.

The Beggar is highly disappointed in the real MacHeath, feeling he lacks dash, until he realizes he can sing. The film, directed by stage legend Peter Brook in his film debut, then brings alive the opera’s version of MacHeath’s story, as he rides, robs, woos, dupes, quaffs and sings in a light baritone.

In this idealized version of MacHeath's adventures, he dallies with the beautiful Polly Peachum (Dorothy Tutin of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” TV’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”). When Polly's crooked parents (George Devine of “Tom Jones,” “Look Back in Anger” and Mary Clare of “Oliver Twist”) find out about their secret son-in-law, they decide to turn him in for the reward. Mr. Peachum connives with the master of Newgate Prison, Mr. Lockit (Stanley Holloway of “My Fair Lady”) to trap MacHeath. After several failed attempts, the bandit is captured when bar girls Suky Tawdry (Sandra Dorne of “The House in Marsh Road”) and Jenny Diver (Yvonne Furneaux of “The Mummy”) betray him.

Locked away, MacHeath renews his romance with Lockit's daughter Lucy (Daphne Anderson), and promises to marry her if she will get the turnkey's keys for him. The plan goes awry when Polly visits. Neither woman knew about the other. When MacHeath does get free, he heads straight for a gambling salon run by the crafty Mrs. Trapes (Athene Seyler). Unfortunately, she is also a crony of Mr. Lockit, and the law closes in again.

The end of the film returns to reality, back in the prison.

The film is based on John Gay's 1728 opera, written as a spoof of Italian operettas. The music consists of popular ballads, many of them on the bawdy side. Instead of romance and tragedy among the nobles, the story focuses on a highwayman in Newgate Prison. The wealthy are irredeemably corrupt. The poor do the same thing on a smaller scale, but are more likely to be punished for their offenses. Supposedly respectable people like the Peachums behave in a despicable manner, while the female denizens of a house of prostitution comport themselves as regular ladies. Highwayman MacHeath robs the rich and steals kisses nearly every lady.

The film looks good and Olivier is an adequate singer, but the songs and music are not to my taste. Extras are cartoons “Hare Trimmed” with Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn (6:56) and “Much Ado About Nutting,” in which a squirrel tries to crack open a coco nut (6:53). Grade: film 2.75 stars; extras 1.5 stars

The Equalizer: The Final Season (2024-2025, CBS/Paramount, 4 DVDs, NR, 12 hours 53 min.). Queen Latifah returns as Robyn McCall in the fifth and final season of the show. McCall works as a guardian angel for those in need. She also deals with her personal life, including her partner Dante and her daughter Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes of TV’s “Doc McStuffins”).

Cases in the 18 episodes include a death in a supposedly haunted building; a soldier going AWOL; a hit on a stage comedian; and a series of copycat murders, inspired by a serial killer, The Grave Digger, she previously put away.

Extras include deleted scenes and a gag reel. Grade: season 3.5 stars; extras 1.5 stars