TV on DVD: Abbott and Costello collector's edition

THE ABBOTT ANDCOSTELLO SHOW:COLLECTOR'S EDITIONSERIES Jerry Seinfeld's favorite show pioneers plots about "nothing." This early-'50s sitcom (same era as "I Love Lucy") is a nonsensical parade of burlesque routines ("Who's on First?," "Slowly I Turned") and sheer idiocy, which develop their own sort of lunatic poetry. Movie buffoon Lou Costello and straight man Bud Abbott have recurring backlot run-ins with their landlord, cops, foreigners, angry women and an inexplicable 40-year-old oversize toddler, sissified by Three Stooges latecomer Joe Besser. Who needs drugs when your head can swim through this?

EXTRAS A 1978 tribute special, "Hey Abbott!," hosted by Milton Berle, interviews and home movies with Costello daughters Chris and Paddy, fact-packed 44-page essay booklet.

LIST PRICE $60 for two seasons (52 episodes) on nine discs, out from E1 Entertainment.

Also outEYES ON THE PRIZE First DVD release of definitive civil rights history miniseries (now encoring on PBS), with filmmaker interview; $70, PBS.

TENSPEED AND BROWN SHOESole season of mismatched private eyes Ben Vereen and Jeff Goldblum; $15, Mill Creek.

WISEGUY: THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION No Tim Curry-Debbie Harry music-biz arc from acclaimed '80s mob drama, but all 67 other episodes (with music replacement), including three unaired; $45, Mill Creek.

TV DVDs on the wayMay 4 "Marcus Welby, M.D."

June 1 "Life"

June 29 "Warehouse 13"