Tom Snyder | Tom Wolfe | Frank Capra | Ken Kesey | bank

The ­Tomorrow Show: Tom ­Snyder's Electric ­Kool-Aid Talk Show
(Shout! Factory)

This is the second DVD collection of Tom Snyder's oddly engaging, always eclectic late-night talk fest, The Tomorrow Show. The first, released earlier this year, focused on punk rock, gathering together Snyder's sometimes explosive encounters with musicians like Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop, and Wendy O. Williams. Having earned raves for that set, Shout! Factory follows with another themed package, compiling Snyder's tête-à-têtes with a handful of '60s counterculture icons. The disc includes four programs taped between 1979 and 1981 that feature hippie guru Timothy Leary, a pairing of author and LSD exponent Ken Kesey with the Grateful Dead, and two episodes with New Journalism pioneer Tom Wolfe. Unlike the punk package, though, this disc is a bit short on material. The two Wolfe episodes, while interesting on their own, hardly fit, as Wolfe doesn't discuss his pivotal study The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test but instead focuses on then-current projects like the space odyssey The Right Stuff. Still, for aging flower children and Deadheads, the balance of the DVD is a genuine treat. Snyder, who always seems woefully unhip here - he occasionally chides and chastises his guests for their reckless drug use - somehow draws the best out of both the spacey Leary and the clever Kesey, while his rapport with the Dead feels oddly affectionate. It's another worthwhile stop on Snyder's long, strange broadcasting trip. - B.B.

The Premiere Frank Capra Collection
(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

As one of America’s most famous and acclaimed filmmakers, Frank Capra contributed many classics to cinema history, including the immortal It’s a Wonderful Life. Considered to be a sentimentalist, populist, and idealist, Capra was concerned with standing up for the little guy, and many of his films’ protagonists challenged class distinctions or governmental or business policies while upholding true American ideals.

The five films contained herein come from the Depression era and strongly showcase those themes. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington finds an unlikely Senate appointee (James Stewart) taking on corrupt colleagues. The poet protagonist (Gary Cooper) of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town chooses to give away a $20 million inheritance to the poor. Famed screwball comedy It Happened One Night teams a brash reporter and an heiress, while You Can’t Take It With You links a couple with quite disparate family backgrounds. The only entry here that didn’t win any Oscars, the lesser-known American Madness, from 1932, is a striking film about a bank whose owner (Walter Huston) refuses to sell out to a larger institution. But a robbery and innuendo about his losses inspire a run on his bank that tests his fortitude.

The extras are sweet too. This six-disc set includes the full-length documentary Frank Capra’s American Dream, which is hosted by Ron Howard. It also comes with a 96-page, full-color Movie Scrapbook, featuring stills from the films included. Nicely packaged and nicely priced, this is certainly a great introduction to one of America’s most beloved directors. — B.R.