The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

We’re still a season behind the broadcast episodes, but we’ve finally got the 3rd season of The Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which includes the last recorded scenes with David Tennant as the Doctor in a nice little 2-part story that reunites him with his former companion. Bonus materials are limited to an audio book excerpt.

New to Who? Get a handle on the ins and outs of the Doctor’s universe with Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary ($24.99), which is filled with loads of pics and information on everything from the Time Lords to the TARDIS. Did I mention all the pretty pictures?

No one was really clamoring for it, but it’s nice that Ving Rhames got work out of Death Race 2 (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP). Other than that, it’s an exact duplicate of the first, only with a “2” after the title this time. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes.

Denis Leary rounded up a few of his friends to raise money for the Leary Firefighters Foundation, with the resultant special being Denis Leary & Friends Present Douchebags & Donuts (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP), with the friends being Lenny Clarke, Whitney Cummings, and Adam Ferrara. Bonus materials include additional music performances and featurettes.

After a long absence from TV screens, the orange cat with the pasta fixation returns with a brand new series, and the first DVD is here – The Garfield Show: All You Need Is Love And Pasta (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$14.93 SRP), featuring six episodes plus a clutch of shorts.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with the first season, but there was certainly enough of a positive response to garner a second season for the BBC’s Merlin (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP), in which our young wizard hones his skills, fights off monsters, and tries to protect the headstrong young Prince Arthur while avoiding discovery and prosecution under King Uther’s laws against magic. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, an introduction, featurettes, and a gallery.

It was an attempt to emulate the recent success of The X-Files, but the alien conspiracy series Dark Skies (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$44.99 SRP) only managed to squeak out a single season before being consigned to the history books. Well, now you can watch the whole run in a set packed with commentaries, featurettes, promos, and more.

It’s taken years to get here, but we’ve finally reached the release of the 14th and final season of Dallas (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), which includes the feature-length finale which finds J.R. discovering what everyone’s lives would have been like without him, with surprising results.

After years of waiting, Fox has finally wrapped up the release of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) with the second volume of season 4, containing 13 episodes plus the unaired pilot and the broadcast pilot (complete with original commercials).

Underground Toys has been releasing the Doctor Who toys here in the US over the past year, increasing their offerings as the show has really begun to take hold during the Matt Smith/11th Doctor era. I’ve combined the ultimate one-two punch of their offerings – the Entertainment Earth exclusive Eleven Doctors Figure Set ($99.99), which contains figures of all 11 Doctors in a TARDIS box, and the absolutely massive TARDIS playset ($69.95 SRP), which is based on the look of the set from the 11th Doctor era and features multiple levels all focused around the elaborate command console.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

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