The fifth season of "Adam-12" and the final season of "Numb3rs" lead off these TV shows that are new to DVD.
"Adam-12: Season 5" (Shout! 1972-73, four discs, $34.93). Martin Milner and Kent McCord hit the streets for a fifth season partnered as patrol officers in Los Angeles driving around the city to deal with drug dealers, joy riders, runaways, a peeping Tom, a hostage situation and other crises, ranging from comic to tragic. A highly entertaining half-hour series.
Guests this season include former Monkee Micky Dolenz, Frank Sinatra Jr., Rose Marie, Scatman Crothers, Donna Douglas, and in a crossover episode, "Emergency!" cast members Julie London, Bobby Troup, Robert Fuller and others.
Extras: full frame, 24 episodes
"Numb3rs: The Final Season" (CBS/Paramount, 2009-10, four discs, $61.99). FBI agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his brother, math professor Charlie (David Krumhotz), go after bad guys one more time in this sixth and final season, which also has their father (Judd Hirsch) taking a teaching position at Charlie's university and Charlie headed for the altar with co-worker Amita (Navi Rawat).
This has been a unique and enjoyable series most of the way, though some of the digressions with Charlie's co-worker (Peter MacNicol) have been rather silly. But this season the criminal cases are exciting, the supporting cast is great, and Henry Winkler and Lou Diamond Phillips each return for an episode or two.
Extras: widescreen, 16 episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, photo gallery, trailers
"A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School" (PBS, 2009, $24.99). This documentary looks at the Bordentown School, an "educational utopia" for black children for more than 70 years beginning in the late 19th century.
Extras: widescreen
"Harp Dreams: Inside the USA International Harp Competiton" (PBS, 2010, $24.99). Thirty-one young harpists from around the world gather for 15 days at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where a triennial competition takes place. Narrated by Blythe Danner.
Extras: widescreen, featurettes
"Seeing, Searching, Being: William Segal" (PBS, 2010, $24.99). This disc is composed of three short films by Ken Burns about Segal, an artist, philosopher, painter and writer who spent most of the 20th century searching for meaning.
Extras: widescreen
"Tapped" (Disinformation, 2010, $19.98). This documentary feature explores the bottled-water industry, asking why we are paying for the one resource that should never be a commercial commodity.
Extras: widescreen, featurettes, trailers
"The Diets That Time Forgot" (Acorn, 2008, two discs, $39.99). This odd reality show from Great Britain crosses "The 1900 House" with "The Biggest Loser" to follow the trials of nine overweight people who follow weight-loss programs from the past in a Victorian country home that has been converted into a 19th-century health spa. (Contains nudity and foul language.)
Extras: full frame, six episodes
"Visions of Israel" (Acorn, 2008, $29.99). Itzhak Perlman narrates this armchair travel show that offers an aerial pilgrimage to Israel, from the Judean desert to Jerusalem.
Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes
e-mail: hicks@desnews.com