Box sets make it hard to avoid binge watching | The Olympian

DVD sets featuring a full year or the entire run of a TV series can be entertaining. Here’s a couple that do work and one that is so-so.

“Married With Children — The Complete Series”: The Fox Network owes its existence to this irreverent comedy that launched in 1987. The sitcom and “The Tracey Ullman Show” were the first primetime programs for the network.

The show’s comedy was raw (especially for the time) and very funny. It should be in your collection as both a good TV series and for its historical value.

“Archie Bunker’s Place: Season 1”: “All in the Family” was a ground-breaking series in how it found comedy in some very sensitive areas. The spin-off series lost a lot of the edge and eventually just became a place for Carroll O’Connor to keep playing the title character.

“Playing House: Season 1”: The cable comedy works because of the two stars: Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair.

Parham plays the more stable one of the two best friends, who is on the verge of having her first baby. St. Clair is the jet-setting business wiz who is on the verge of her first martini of the day. This is both a fun show about parenthood and strong women.

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“House of Cards; Season 3”: Kevin Spacey stars in the 13-part political cable series.

“Masterpiece: Poldark”: Remake of the classic “Masterpiece” series that stars Aidan Turner.

“Monster High: City of Frights”: Clawdeen Wolf gets to apprentice with a legendary fashion designer.

“No Way Jose”: Adam Goldberg stars in this comedy about the life of a struggling musician.

“Barney Miller: The Final Season”: Eighth and final season of the comedy set in a New York police precinct.

“Irresistible Force”: Stacy Keach and Cynthia Rothrock star.

“The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 1”: Detective series filmed and set in New Zealand.

“Alien Outpost”: Story of the aftermath of the first Earth War.

“ ’71”: Young British soldier gets caught behind enemy lines in Northern Ireland.

“The Road Within”: Two friends go on a road trip to spread ashes.

“Awaken”: Group of young people wake up on a deserted island. Daryl Hannah stars.

“Yu-Gi-Oh Gx”: Season 2 includes 52 episodes of the anime series.

“The Town That Dreaded Sundown”: Killings begin in Texarkana, 65 years after a masked serial killer terrorized the town.

“Maggie”: Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the post-apocalyptic story.

“Touched by an Angel: Amazing Grace”: Monica is temporarily blinded during an assignment.

“The Drop Box”: Documentary about the value of a single child’s life.

“First Peoples”: The five-part program is a global detective story.

“A Death of Innocence”: Made-for-television movie starring Shelley Winters .

“Fight of the Living Dead”: Eight YouTube stars try to survive a zombie apocalypse.

“Belle and Sebastain”: Young boy and his dog face the Nazis.

“Kill Me Three Times”: Crime thriller starring Simon Pegg.

“Nickelodeon Bunch of Play Dates”: Includes seven hours of educational and musical material.