'Heroes: Season Two'

3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

Although season two of NBC's "Heroes" merits just two stars, the jam-packed-with-extras box set is a treat for fans who crave behind-the-scenes details.

Most intriguing of all is a 17-minute alternate ending to season two that was jettisoned when it became clear the writers' strike would not be quickly resolved. This 17-minute alternate ending and scenes from incomplete episodes are in the "Heroes: Season Two" boxed set ($39.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment) along with an explainer featurette from the executive producers.

Other extras include a season three preview; specific, making-of features on several scenes, including how Sylar (Zach Quinto) took a header through a glass door without harming the actor. A season two overview on disc one seems like it was made before season two aired to much declaim from fans and critics.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

'Entourage: Fourth Season'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Although I continue to watch, I sort of feel like the "Entourage" concept has been played out at this point but the fourth season DVD set ($39.98, HBO Home Video) offers a decent compliment of features comparable to the season three/part two set and far superior to the lackluster first-season release.

A documentary chronicles the making of the documentary episode that kicks off the season on the set of the Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) movie "Medellin." The "Medellin" trailer is included along with an almost hour-long panel discussion about the series and audio commentary -- featuring creator Doug Ellin and four cast members, with one of them acknowledging that season four might not represent the show at its best -- on three episodes.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

'The Shield: Season 6'

4 stars = Outstanding
Ratings explained

Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) has always acted like a man with multiple hellhounds on his trail, but he upped the ante in this second-to-the-last season of "The Shield" ($59.95), FX's best drama.

Filled with rage over the murder of a Strike Team member, Vic is more reckless than ever as he searches for a killer he doesn't suspect is under his nose. His partner Shane (Walton Goggins), slowly unravels from the guilt of having murdered Lem; he's also terrified Vic will find out he's the killer. Meanwhile, Lt. Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker) loses patience with trying to nail Vic for corruption and murder legally and decides the Strike Team leader has to fall by any means necessary.

All 10 episodes are presented on four discs along with 36 deleted scenes and audio commentaries accompanying selected episodes. Two directors are featured in a behind-the-scenes documentary about shooting "The Shield." There's also a curious feature on Franka Potente, the actress who played the Armenian mob's new boss.

-- Tony Norman, Post-Gazette staff writer

'The Duchess of Duke Street'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

In the '70s heyday of "Masterpiece Theatre," introduced by Alastair Cooke, we were barraged with British costume dramas about women in long skirts and elaborate up-dos, men with mustaches and walking sticks, and tart-tongued Cockney servants. There was "Upstairs, Downstairs," "The Forsyte Saga," and the less-often-remembered but equally plummy "The Duchess of Duke Street."

Now available as a 10-disc, 31-episode boxed set (Acorn Media, $99.99), the Edwardian saga of chef and hotelier Louisa Trotter, based on the real life of Rosa Lewis, is short on extras but long on memorable characters and soapy melodrama. And I mean that in the best way.

Gemma Jones, seen more recently as the mother of Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in "Sense and Sensibility," is the plain-spoken redheaded spitfire Louisa, supported by an ensemble of staff who wait on, fall for and gossip about the glittering guests, many of them familiar faces from British TV and movies of the time.

Extras, all on the first disc, are minimal and text-heavy: a bio of Rosa Lewis, a pointless photo gallery, cast filmographies that will be of interest only to BBC geeks. Interviews or commentary would have been nice, but you still get 27 hours of lords, ladies, cads, climbers and love children. Ring for champagne.

-- Samantha Bennett, Post-Gazette staff writer

• More TV on DVD: "Everybody Hates Chris: The Third Season"; "Go Diego Go!: Diego's Halloween"; "NCIS: The Fifth Season"; "One Tree Hill: The Complete Fifth Season"; "The Shield: The Complete Sixth Season"; "The Untouchables: Season Two, Volume Two."