Play All digs a little deeper this week than we usually do and finds the most unusual set of DVDs that we've ever profiled in this landmark column. An Asian action film, a couple of TV series that even fans might not know are hitting DVD this week, and a pair of titles for the Western fan in your family comprise one of the more bizarre collections to be featured in Play All. But that's the whole point of this column. We don't play favorites. We simply look beyond the new release shelf for the titles that may not have the billboards and the marketing budget but could be your unheralded favorite of the week. Let's be honest, you've seen National Treasure 2 already. But have you seen A Dirty Carnival, Nimrod Nation, or Monte Walsh? We didn't think so. When you're done with the big hits, push Play All.

Charles in Charge: Season Three
Studio: Arts Alliance America
Starring: Scott Baio, Nicole Eggert, Josie Davis, Ellen Travolta, Sondra Kearns, and Willie Aames
Features: None

Believe it or not, Scott Baio was once popular for being something more than just single or about to be a daddy on VH1. Those of us who grew up in the '80s may remember a little show about the Powell family and their live-in babysitter. Scott Baio's search for a hit after Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi found the teen star on CBS with Charles in Charge, but the show was kind of a bomb and the network didn't pick it up after the '84-85 season. But, as Baio has proven with his continued popularity, comebacks are a part of his repertoire, and Charles in Charge found new life in syndication starting in 1987. The show was reworked with a new family and a future Baywatch star, but the concept of a young live-in babysitter was the same. The comedy ran until 1990 and, for many kids of the right age, became a part of the pop culture fabric. The theme song is instantly recognizable for many TV fans and has been used in everything from Family Guy to Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The first season was released on DVD in 2006 to not-so-hot sales, but Arts Alliance America took over the releases with the third edition hitting this week. For the '80s TV comedy fan in your family, you could do a lot worse than Charles in Charge: Season Three.

A Dirty Carnival
Studio: Genius Products
Starring: Zo In-Sung, Lee Bo-Young, Namkoong Min, and Chun Ho-Jin
Features: Making of the Action Featurette and Deleted Scenes

Since Tartan USA basically went under (although rumors of their return have circulated lately), Genius Products has been the go-to company for Asian action and adventure. This week's offering is the highly acclaimed A Dirty Carnival from Korean director Yoo Ha. The film was originally released in South Korea and made the festival circuit for the last two years and built enough buzz that it appeared that it might actually get a theatrical release stateside but straight-to-DVD will have to suffice for action fans. The back of the DVD screams "You can't outrun revenge!" A Dirty Carnival tells the story of an up-and-coming mobster who appears to be on the fast track to boss but gets derailed when the movie industry comes calling looking for insight into his dark world. Variety praised the film's "taut action sequences" and L.A. Weekly said that the young director "walks the genre-movie tightrope like a master." For action movie fans, A Dirty Carnival is the release of the week.

The New Maverick
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: James Garner, Charles Frank, Jack Kelly, and Susan Blanchard
Features: None

Just further proof that EVERYTHING will eventually find its way on to a shiny DVD is this week's release of The New Maverick, a made-for-TV movie from 1978 that updated the classic 1957 television series Maverick. Classic actor James Garner starred once again as the title character (well, the old Maverick), Charles Frank played Ben Maverick, Jack Kelly played Bart Maverick, and Susan Sullivan played "Poker Alice" Ivers. The made-for-TV movie was actually a pilot for a new series with Charles Frank called Young Maverick, a 1979 television series, that completely failed and was canceled by CBS after only a few episodes. Essentially, The New Maverick is for hardcore TV western, Maverick, or James Garner fans only, but they're out there and Play All doesn't judge.

Nimrod Nation
Studio: Arts Alliance America
Directed by: Brett Morgen
Features: Interview with filmmaker Brett Morgen

Way up in one of the northernmost parts of the United States, in the tundra of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, right near the Wisconsin border, an interesting phenomenon has taken place over the last few years. An entire area of the country has become obsessed with basketball. Not pro basketball. Not even college hoops. No, they're obsessed with the Watersmeet Nimrods, a high school basketball team with a very unfortunate name. ESPN started the craze by airing commercials with the tagline "Without sports, who would cheer for the Nimrods?" The team became something of a phenomenon, even appearing on The Tonight Show and The Sundance Channel sought them and their fans out for a documentary series called Nimrod Nation. Fans of small-town sports and documentary series should take a look at the Nimrods.

The Tom Selleck Western Collection
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Tom Selleck, Virginia Madsen, Mark Harmon, Suzy Amis, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Haley Joel Osment, and Isabella Rossellini
Features: Cast Profiles, Star/Director/Writer Film Highlights

Tom Selleck has had a fascinating career post-Magnum. Where a lot of TV actors might have disappeared, he's always kept himself around in the public eye whether it was a guest stint on Friends or a regular role on the just-canceled Las Vegas. For years, Selleck was the KING of the TV movie, most notably his work in a series of cowboy movies for TNT. Selleck had made a few theatrical Westerns, including Quigley Down Under, when he moved to TV with Last Stand at Sabre River in 1997. That film was very well-received, even winning awards, and Crossfire Trail followed in 2001 and Monte Walsh in 2003. All three of the Westerns are now included in the Tom Selleck Western Collection, a perfect gift for anyone doing some early shopping for Father's Day. With co-stars including a young Haley Joel Osment, Isabella Rossellini, Wilford Brimley, and both David and Keith Carradine, Western fans will thrilled for hours with this collection that's priced at most outlets under $20 for all three movies.

-- Brian Tallerico

       

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