With the presidential election nearly behind us, some political junkies already are weeping bipartisan tears of sorrow. After months of stump speeches and electoral vote speculation, suddenly the hardcore Capitol Hill types face a massive excitement void, at least until Inauguration Day.
Here is one way to fill it: Spend a few hours watching some politically-themed TV series on DVD. Turns out there are plenty of options that don't involve revisiting all those "West Wing" box sets. In fact, here are five sets, all of them endorsed by this writer (but not any political party).
"Spin City: Season One"
The ABC comedy, which debuts today on DVD, is best known as Michael J. Fox's sitcom swan song. Indeed, the "Family Ties" veteran is reliably solid in his role as New York City Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty. But the rest of the cast of political players -- including Barry Bostwick, Carla Gugino, Connie Britton of "Friday Night Lights," Richard Kind and Alan Ruck -- certainly deserves props, as do some of the soon-to-be stars (Jennifer Garner, Stephen Colbert) who made guest appearances. Fox fans will be happy to know that the actor appear in the extras on this four-disc set, including a making-of doc and several commentary tracks.
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004"
Your inbox is positively bloated with Sarah Palin jokes, and all that message-deleting is causing undue stress. Relax and flashback to a simpler time, when we didn't giggle about Wasilla, Alaska, because we were too busy busting on Zell Miller's vein-popping Republican National Convention speech. (Man, those were the days.) This three-disc set remains the only "Daily Show" collection on DVD and the wittiest way to revisit the Kerry/Bush showdown of '04.
"Schoolhouse Rock: Election Collection"
Want to show your children that the democratic process involves more than standing in line in their elementary school all-purpose room while waiting to cast a vote? Then pop in this DVD, released in September, that focuses on the American history and government side of the "Schoolhouse Rock" series. Not surprisingly, the animated shorts from the '70s era -- "Mother Necessity," "I'm Just a Bill" -- are much stronger than more recent efforts. ("Walkin' on Wall Street," which allegedly teaches kids about investing, is just riper-than-ripe for parody right now.) But even the brand new "Presidential Minute" short may teach the little ones a thing or two about politics.
"Tanner '88"
Long before reality television and the mock documentary became commonplace, Robert Altman and "Doonesbury" cartoonist Gary Trudeau pulled off an ingenious TV stunt. They created a fictional presidential candidate (played by Michael Murphy), pushed him into the fray amongst actual contenders and documented the whole thing in this eleven-episode HBO series. The Criterion Collection released it on DVD four years ago, complete with episode introductions and an interview with Altman and Trudeau. If you're up for a TV double feature, "Tanner on Tanner" -- the Sundance Channel's 2004 follow-up to the original show -- is also available on DVD.
This more recent HBO miniseries was drenched in trophies at this year's Emmy Awards, and deservedly so. The 13-hour saga is an engrossing look at America's second President (played by Paul Giamatti) and, with pop-up historical test and several other extras, becomes even more informative on DVD. After a long, looooong election season, perhaps the most fitting way to bring it to a close is by spending time with one of the men who helped establish our democracy.
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Media Mix serves up snappy takes on the latest DVDs, CDs and more.
Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell pursue spy games in the movie version of the '60s series "Get Smart," on DVD today. For more DVD-viewing options, peruse this full list of the week's debuts.
Prepare, young Skywalkers: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" blasts onto DVD next Tuesday. For a full calendar of what's coming in the weeks ahead, click here.
PHOTOS: 'Spin City' -- ABC and Shout! Factory; 'Schoolhouse Rock' -- Walt Disney; 'John Adams' -- HBO
