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…)

In years past, TV shows would rarely consider the afterlife of their run beyond a sale into syndication. The idea of a home video market for popular shows? Unheard of. With that in mind, music licensing deals were only ever made short term, which has left many a show in quite the deep financial pickle when the idea of bringing them to home video with their music intact. Years ago, the music was just changed to far cheaper tunes – leading to fan backlash. Eventually, though, companies decided to try and clear the hurdles – the first most famous example was Shout Factory’s Herculean handling of Freaks & Geeks. And now, the gents a Time Life have actually undertaken their own Herculean task and succeeded in clearing nearly all of the vintage songs (Dylan, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and more) contained in the beloved Vietnam War drama China Beach (Time Life, $199.95), which means that after years of fan requests, the complete series – all 62 episodes – is now available in a 21-disc set containing over 10 hours of new commentaries, interviews, and featurettes.

It’s a rare gift to peer into the mind of a genius, but that’s exactly the gift that Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal (Chronicle Books, $29.95 SRP) presents. Using as its base the journal Henson kept for over 20 years, it illustrates his entries with design artwork, photos, and more. A wonderful, wondrous tome.

Hard to believe, but with the release of The Complete Peanuts: 1987-1988 (Fantagraphics, $28.99 SRP), we’re only about 6 volumes away from having, for the first time ever, the complete 50-year run of Charles Schulz’s comics masterpiece, presented in a truly beautiful collection courtesy of the fine folks at Fantagraphics. For this volume, the introduction is provided by none other than Garry Trudeau.

It’s an iffy proposition when a beloved classic gets a latter-day 3D treatment, but the team behind the multi-dimensional re-do of Jurassic Park (Universal, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) manage to pull it off, making the process seem organic and the experience a fun ride rather than a wince-fest. The movie is still as fun a romp as it ever was, and you can still experience it in 2D if you so choose. As far as bonus features, in addition to everything on the previous Blu-Ray featurette, there’s also a new 3D featurette.

Rather surprising – pleasantly so – that the recent Art Of The Hobbit book has been followed up with a companion volume of sorts, in the form of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles – Creatures & Characters (Harper Collins, $39.99 SRP). As you’d expect from the title, focuses specifically on the art & artistry used to bring the denizens of Middle Earth to life – from hobbits and dwarves to wizards and goblins. Here’s hoping there’s many more volumes to come.

For a book to get a foreword from David Letterman, you know it’s got to be special – and Bob And Ray: Keener Than Most Persons (Applause, $27.99 SRP) is special, as its subject is the legendary comedy duo of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding. How can you not be interested in learning more about a double act whose fans include not only Letterman, but also Dick Cavett, Bob Newhart, Carl Reiner, and Norman Lear?

Mill Creek’s catalogue distribution deal with Sony continues to pay dividends for anyone in the market for a whole clutch of titles at rock-bottom prices, as they release both 8 Movie Collection: Madcap Comedies & 8 Movie Collection: Top Action Stars (Mill Creek, $19.98 SRP each). Madcap Comedies includes Hero, Life Without Dick, Saving Silverman, Hexed, Little Black Book, The Slugger’s Wife, I’ll Do Anything, and Crazy In Alabama. The Top Action Stars collection sports Attack Force, Into The Sun, The Russian Specialist, Conspiracy, Universal Soldier: The Return, Knock Off, Hard Corps, and Second In Command.

This week’s soundtrack round-up brings Lorne Balfe’s score for the videogame Assassin’s Creed 3: The Tyranny Of King Washington (Ubisoft Music, $8.99 SRP), Jordan Shapiro’s Americana (Lakeshore, $8.99 SRP) – featuring music from the film Wish You Were Here – James Venable’s score for Scary Movie 5 (Lakeshore, $8.99 SRP), and songs from Tyler Perry’s Peeples (Lakeshore, $8.99 SRP).

In celebration of Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary – and, one would think, because the original releases of these are so hard to come by – the folks at Underground Toys have decided to re-release 50 years worth of Dalek styles with souped-up electronics as Sound FX Daleks (Underground Toys, $29.99 SRP each). This week, we’re spotlighting a pair found in the Jon Pertwee 2nd Doctor adventures “Death To The Daleks” and “Planet Of The Daleks” – both of which sport 70’s era speech and sound FX.

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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