'CSI: NY'

Maybe seeing the doctor from "Providence" and Forrest Gump's best friend (Lieutenant Dan!) solve grisly murders in the five boroughs isn't compelling enough. Maybe you were on board for the original "CSI" and maybe even "CSI: Miami" but felt you had to draw the line somewhere.

In any case, this boxed set of "CSI: NY -- The Complete First Season" (Clayton Entertainment/CBS Productions; $49.99) is worth a second look.

The series is solid, yes. There's quite a bit of the rapid-snap-focus CGI imagery, bullets tracing through water ballistic tests, extreme close-ups of injuries and specimens and the like, which characterize every branch of the "CSI" tree. The plots are intelligent and compelling enough.

But far better are this set's extras. The behind-the-scenes features are quite nice, one devoted to actors discussing their characters, one devoted to New York City as a setting -- both are insightful throughout. Commentaries by contributors and creators are just as good and extremely watchable as this is one of the few cases where commentators supplement, rather than talk over the program.

-- Philip A. Stephenson, Post-Gazette staff writer

'THE PETER JENNINGS COLLECTION'

When Peter Jennings died in August, much was said about his talent in delivering the news from the ABC anchor desk, but we were also reminded of his skills as a reporter and an interviewer. These are evident in the new DVD set "The Peter Jennings Collection" (Anchor Bay Entertainment; $24.98). The two discs contain six prime-time documentaries hosted by Jennings and on which he served as either co-writer or senior editor.

The in-depth programs, which aired on ABC over the past two years, include looks inside the Guan- tanamo prison camp, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the food industry and the government's part in America's obesity problem. "From the Tobacco Files," government's failure to regulate cigarettes, is especially noteworthy, because Jennings took up smoking again after 9/11 and eventually succumbed to lung cancer.

Unfortunately, the set contains no extras to show Jennings and his crew behind the scenes or to explain why these topics were chosen for documentary treatment. But the programs display Jennings' attention to detail and again bring home how much he is missed.

-- Karen Carlin, Post-Gazette staff writer