Category: TV

“Ugly Betty” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

Based on the popular Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea, Ugly Betty is a biting comedy with plenty of heart. There are several ongoing plots, including murder, illegal immigration, infidelity, a vendetta, and death. And yes, this really is a comedy. Golden Globe winner America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Real Women Have Curves) stars as Betty, a whip-smart assistant at a women’s magazine who is clueless when it comes to fashion. While her size 0 colleagues parade around in haute couture and stiletto heels, Betty shows up for work in her mismatched outfits, complete with thick glasses and awkward braces.

“The Hills” — Season 2

Jae-Ha Kim

When the debut season of “The Hills” ended, Lauren had passed up the opportunity to work in Paris for the summer to live in a beach house with her vaguely Neanderthal-ish boyfriend Jason. Flash forward to the second season of MTV’s hit reality series–which aired from January through April 2007. Lauren and Jason break up, and you can see the wistfulness in her eyes as her friend Whitney (who got the Paris gig after Lauren turned it down) talks about what an amazing summer she had.

“8 Simple Rules…for Dating My Teenage Daughter”

Jae-Ha Kim

After gaining fame as ladies man Jack Tripper on the 1970s sitcom Three’s Company, John Ritter steals the show as a father of three–including two nubile teenage girls–on “8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter.” The first season, which aired on ABC during 2002 and 2003, introduces viewers to Paul (Ritter) and Cate Hennessy (Katey Sagal) and their precocious children Bridget (Kaley Cuoco), Kerry (Amy Davidson), and Rory (Martin Spanjers).

“The Closer” — Second Season

Jae-Ha Kim

Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson may have put in a year already with the Los Angeles police department, but that doesn’t mean the transplanted Southerner fits in yet. In the second season of the TNT drama The Closer, Brenda is less a fish out of water, but she’s still not completely at home with her brash colleagues–some of whom resent her potent mixture of brains and beauty. All 15 episodes from the 2006-2007 are included in this four-disc box set.

“Kyle XY” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

Equal parts “Roswell” and “The O.C.,” “Kyle XY” starts off as a sci-fi mystery, veers off into a teenage soap opera and ends its 10-episode first season with a compelling cliffhanger. The series, which debuted in 2006 on the ABC Family channel, begins with a teenager wandering in the woods just outside of Seattle. When the authorities find him, he is naked, unable to communicate, and devoid of a belly button.

“NCIS” — Season 3

Jae-Ha Kim

With two solid seasons already banked, NCIS returns for a compelling third year with exciting plotlines and a slightly tweaked cast. The show’s second season ended with the brutal and shocking death of Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander). The first two episodes of this season deal with the aftermath of bringing her killer to justice and examining the emotional impact of her loss on the remaining members of the NCIS team, which is led by Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon).

“Kidnapped”

Jae-Ha Kim

All 13 episodes of this NBC series–which aired during the 2006-2007 season–are included on this three-disc DVD set. And unlike many shows that are canceled within a year, “Kidnapped” offers viewers closure and a finite ending. While the first few episodes dealing with the kidnapping are gripping, the show layers on some subplots that fail. Is Ellie having an affair with a prominent politician? Did Conrad kill his ex-mistress? Neither character is particularly likeable, so the viewer doesn’t really care.

“Galapagos: The Islands that Change the World”

Jae-Ha Kim

While its title may be superfluous, “Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World” is a beautifully filmed journey into “the islands of the tortoise.” Located due west of Ecuador, the Galapagos islands are full of gorgeous scenery and exotic wildlife. And this 150-minute documentary shows it all, thanks to stunning cinematography shot from all viewpoints–the air, sea and, of course, land.

“The Loop”

Jae-Ha Kim

Take a pair of bumbling brothers and mix in a couple of hot female roommates, and you’ve got “The Loop,” a sitcom that hopefully isn’t representative of how immature the average twentysomething is these days. The seven episodes from the comedy’s debut mini season–which aired from March to April 2006–focuses on the haphazard life of Sam (Bret Harrison), a brilliant, young airline executive referred to by his boss as “Thesis” because of his uncanny ability to remember everything there is to know about airplanes and the airline industry.

“The Hills” — Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

Fans of “Laguna Beach” will love the first season of The Hills, which follows Laguna’s Lauren Conrad as she attends fashion school in Los Angeles and works as an intern at Teen Vogue magazine. OK, so that’s the premise for this quasi-reality MTV series. But in reality, the show is an excuse to watch pretty young people make out, break up, get back together, and break up some more.

Must love travel: When actress Jordana Spiro takes five, she heads for exotic destinations like Vietnam

Jae-Ha Kim

During her recent three-week trip to Vietnam, actress Jordana Spiro made do with just one backpack. “Really, there’s almost nothing you can’t buy there if you need it,” she says. “It’s a completely amazing place and I’d go back in a second.”