'WELCOME BACK, KOTTER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON'

In the fall of '75, ABC introduced America to the "sweathog" and added to the lexicon such classic phrases as "Up your nose with a rubber hose" and "Off my case, Toiletface."

Oh, the things that passed for hilarity to my elementary school sensibilities. Yet I laughed at every minute of "Welcome Back, Kotter," the comedy based on star Gabriel Kaplan's stand-up material.

More than 30 years have passed, and the new DVD set of the first season ($29.98; Warner Home Video) shows the series -- and certainly the fashions -- hasn't aged that well. Sure, the show features one of the all-time classic theme songs, a multicultural cast and some feel-good lessons about social issues, but the jokes now seem really dated.

Still, all is forgiven for the chance to see John Travolta in his breakout role of Vinnie Barbarino. (His perfectly feathered hair deserves separate billing.) Not surprisingly, he's the only one of Buchanan High's remedial classmates who didn't return for the reunion in the featurette "Only a Few Degrees From a Sweathog." But the rest of the gang -- Robert Hegyes (Epstein), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Washington), Ron Palillo (Horshak) as well as Kaplan and Marcia Straussman (Mrs. Kotter) -- are all there to reminisce. The only other extra is a collection of the sweathogs' screen tests. Snippets of those are already seen in the featurette, but there is one interesting sidebar: Hegyes first auditioned for the Barbarino character.

-- Karen Carlin, Post-Gazette staff writer

'THE PRACTICE: VOLUME ONE'

Back before the plots were overly outrageous, "The Practice" ($39.98, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) was a scrappy show about a scrappy Boston firm of criminal defense attorneys. In its first season, "The Practice" was far more nuanced, more realistic and gritty.

Since it went on to become a hit, it's easy to forget "The Practice" was almost canceled due to low ratings in its first 13 stellar episodes that introduced viewers to Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott) and his band of lawyers.

Fans may lodge an objection over the dearth of extras on this DVD set. There's just one: The 17-minute featurette "Setting up The Practice," a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the series during which creator David E. Kelley reveals his original conception of Bobby was a schlubby character more like Jimmy (Michael Badalucco). Kelley says the series mutated from an exploration of mundane cases to high-profile murders in a bid to woo more viewers. It worked, but at the cost of the show's soul, perhaps. Cast member interviews appear to be recycled from an early electronic press kit from the show.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

'BREACH'

Most movie spies are dashing rogues, but not the antagonist of the smart but decidedly low-key thriller "Breach" ($29.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment). Robert Hanssen, played with magnificent dourness by actor Chris Cooper, is no James Bond baddie. Hanssen was the real-life FBI agent who sold out his country for, well, for what? Don't expect "Breach" to give any concrete answers; that's not its goal.

"You are who you are, the why doesn't mean a thing," says the young FBI protege Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillipe), who is assigned to keep tabs on Hanssen once the higher-ups catch onto his spying. The closest the audience gets to answers is that Hanssen seemingly has daddy issues.

Cooper makes Hanssen a real sourpuss at first.

"My Lord, you are as dumb as a box of hammers, aren't you?" Hanssen tells O'Neill.

But he eventually warms up to the young man, expressing his approval by giving his subordinate a raft of research on Parkinson's after O'Neill tells Hanssen his mother suffers from the ailment.

All the performances are strong and grow to have a complexity. Phillipe proves his acting in "Crash" was no fluke, and even Laura Linney's senior FBI agent eventually shows some dimensions after a frosty, brittle start.

Having grown up in the town where Hanssen lived (Vienna, Va.), I was particularly keen to see some of the DVD's extras. My best friend from high school lived next door to the Hanssens on Talisman Drive, and I played as a child in the parks where Hanssen made his "dead drops" for Russian spies.

Through the wonders of cooperation among divisions of a conglomerate, the "Breach" DVD includes a 19-minute report that aired on "Dateline NBC" in March 2001, not long after Hanssen's arrest (NBC and Universal Home Entertainment are both part of NBC Universal).

A commentary by director Billy Ray, who's amazingly generous about praising others on his filmmaking team, also features input from the real-life O'Neill. They clear up what parts of the film are true-to-life and what's a composite or invented for dramatic purpose, including the movie's sole semi-action scene involving Hanssen, O'Neill and a gun in the woods.

The 10-minute featurette "Breaking the Truth" features more with O'Neill and real-life wife Juliana, who's seen on set with the Canadian actress who plays her, Caroline Dhavernas (the lead in TV's "Wonderfalls").

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor