'The Jack Benny Program,' 'Unforgettable' and more TV shows released on DVD

Shout! Factory and NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products will release The... — Shout! Factory and NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products will release The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Episodes, a three-DVD collection, on July 23. Credit: Shout

By DIANE WERTS. Special to NewsdayJuly 8, 2013

The Jack Benny Program: Lost Episodes

SERIES Newly restored from the celebrated comic's '50s-'60s run, these 18 rare kinescopes (black-and-white copies filmed off a TV monitor) spotlight the free-form surreality of Benny's "real life" plots, presaging modern sitcom madness from Garry Shandling and Larry David. Show biz "pals" seen here: George Burns, Milton Berle, Dick Van Dyke, John Wayne, Rock Hudson, interrogator Mike Wallace, evangelist Billy Graham, ex-prez Harry Truman. (Other "Benny" episodes air weekdays from 2 to 3 a.m. on Antenna TV.)

EXTRAS Bonus footage spans radio-era newsreels/outtakes, bits from Benny's '70s color specials, lengthy new discussions among Benny co-workers (Harry Shearer, child actor!) plus an info-packed 16-page booklet.

LIST PRICE $30, available now at ShoutFactory .com; goes on sale at retail outlets July 23. (ShoutFactory.com buyers get a free bonus disc: Benny's live "Omnibus" broadcast of "The Horn Blows at Midnight.")

Also new

UNFORGETTABLE Police sleuth Poppy Montgomery remembers absolutely everything in this Queens-based procedural (CBS' Season 2 starts July 28), with bonus pilot/finale commentary, strong featurettes (series evolution, real-life "rememberer" Marilu Henner), more; $60, CBS.

WEDDING BAND Brian Austin Green and Harold Perrineau shine as reception rockers in canceled TBS hour, with bonus jukebox, more; $40, Fox.