Newsday from New York, New York • 94

STONIGHTONTVj For the Literate Couch Potato the two Darrins of variety hours (even The Richard Pryor "Playboy After big (semi-)8tarB like Brett Somers and Totie-Fields and on Paul Lynde Robert Blake and "Little Rascals crooner Alfalfa Not to mention memories of such inexplicably eternal 1960s short-runs as (college drop-in) Irene Ryan (out of costume!) while vintage commercials hawk Quisp cereal and cold cream tested with radioactive makeup It only whets your appetite for more short-attention-apan stories and video artifacts online Check that Web footage from Irwin pilot "The Man From the 25th with Time Tun-' star James Darren Pretty clear why it never Bold eh? But continues to sell into its second ABC season so "Alias: (Bantam $1695) hits the bookstores as its "official Author Mark Cotta Vaz has put together a breezily readable backstage odyssey documenting the spy casting writing process set and costume design post production and story mythology The episode guide features a detailed deconstruction of the first-season finale "Almost Thir- -ty The photos and storyboards look great in color on slick paper And Vaz writes with the immediacy of a tour guide walking us through the studio lot chatting up the crew along the way got a enthusiasm and a keen eye for detail The DVD with the book is more an afterthought- It'8 mostly existing video on-air promos cast interviews from video press kits supplemented with text material like cast and character bios If you're already an fen greit But will it make you one? Billy Ingram says he wrote ss Two new tube tomes may make fans look away from the set hat's a book about TV without TV? Not the very model of a modern tube tome for sure Two new print volumes for TV cultheads include video multimedia discs to show why it was worth killing all those trees to write about it "Alias: has a DVD tUbked into the back while Untold tells some of those tales on a bonus CD-ROM (Bonus Books $1995) is the more wide-ranging treat based an Billy Ingram's fabulously indispensable Web site of the same name a liv repository for TV His colorful cornucopia of revolving oddities currently features stories and streaming video from the Christmas specials 1974 game shows adultSHonly outtakes of the 7 Os kiddie show "Hie New Zoo the return of WPDCs Magic Garden" this Thanksgiving and commercials in which Nazis welcome Carol Chan-ning to the prison camp to sell Dream Whip Is this tube-glued heaven or what? --The book faithfully mimics the jam-packed Web site but in nostalgic black-and-white offering photos video frame-grabs vintage ads and tons tidbits at pyery turn of its 304 pages Covered are such wninwiniw as first star not telling) kids shows of the and ABC Photo Ron Tom Vlvica A Fox left and Tisha Campbell-Martin complicate Damon lifa at 8 on Ch 7 SERIES Ed (8 pm WNBC4) Carol's (Julie Bowen) wedding day has arrived and Ed (Tom Ca-vanagh) is AWOL My Wife and Kids (8 pm WABC 7) Vivica A Fox guests as Michael's (Damon Wayans) sister South Park (10 pm Comedy Central) The boys go on a mythical quest a la of the SPECIALS Skin (8 pm WNET 13) National Geographic explores our body's paper-thin shield how it keeps us cool why it comes in different colors the ways we decorate it and more On Stage at the Kennedy Center: Bob Newhart (9 pm WNET 13) The mild-mannered comedian is honored with this year's Mark Twain Prize MOVIES Journeys With George (7:1 5 pm HBO) A journalist on the 2000 campaign bus of presidential candidate George Bush takes along her camcorder The Allee Saga (8 pm amc) Two-hour behind-the-scenes look at James outer-space action series is followed at 10 by its second film 1986's ABC Photo Karin Toby "Mias: discloses backstage secrets of Jennifer Gamer who plays Sydney Bristow About (astronauts meet cave-people Joe Robs and Imogens Coca) and my own fave "Honey (Anne Francis as karate-chopping private eye) The back-cover CD-ROM plays dozens of dips everything from Muhammad Ali on to the Indian-head test pattern Old promos feature Green and ing to include the CD-ROM and his book disc and Web site are integrally complementary They'll win you over even if you remember "My Mother the or Tallulah Bankhead or fallen and I get or E-mail: dianewertanewsdaycom Complete South Park DVD Incomplete SOUHI PMK: IK COMPLETE FMT KAMI First Mason's 13 episodes on three discs Adult-content advisory Comedy Central Video $40 (CD commentary supplement available) THEATER 3000 COUECTIOM 1 Four mocked movie duds on four discs each featuring the original film on the flip side Rhino Video $60 By Diane Werts at att warns Mow did we ever live without either of these satirical shows? Two new DVD sets demonstrate how much missed "Mystery Science Theater and how great "South was from its very (bleep) be-ginningB Park: The Complete First contains all 13 episodes of the 1997-98 emergence from (too-lclose alien encounter to Big Gay Big Gay Boat Ride and the immortal first appearance of Mr Hankey the Christmas You-Know-What The set also includes Jay animated appearance from Tube Tonight and two music videos -from creators Trey Parker and Matt AJ Phots This is our favorite reassurances (before every episode) By the third disc switched into buckaroo mode in scratchy black-and-white film ram-b lings on a western set welcoming us Southparketeers (Note however the DVD episode order contains a couple of errors And good luck getting the DVD CD timing synched) no commentary on the Science The- II I ater DVD set but of course this movie showcase is itself a running commentary dissing duds from the groovy horror era such as "Catalina in which wacky beach kids foil an art robbery plot while Little Richard sings on a boat pretty much shooting fish in a barrel but clever series creator Joel Hodgson does it with laid-back charm here while Mike Nelson leads the other three movie mockings (all four new to DVD) Where else do Jean-Paul JSartre Red Skelton and Mark Rothko make the same scene followed by "Brutus and Popeye after see why so essential when you screen these flicks without the mocking Ouch bad stead on a five-CD audio supplement bring offered by Comedy Central which reports that Warner Home Video distributor of the DVDs refused to include the scathing ridicule of Hollywood denizens The CDs come free (with a $350 shipping charge and mail-in certificate) if you order from Comedy Central (wwwcomedycentralcomsouth parkdvd) video clarity hurt but hear- ing why and how the guys did things is crucial They talk about the motive behind the show (to expose "complete and the skewering of Kathie Lee Gifford and Barbra Streisand They cite second-by-second examples of their evolving animation skills even confessing how they made Mr uh footprints They dish about going-to the Emmys reading Tima off-base review and so many other personal digressions that you feel you're hanging in the studio Or maybe cozying up to the fireplace The boys have also hosted episode intros that are dead-on "Fireside all warm and fuzzy with fake jollity and Actor Bob Newhart is honored at pm on Ch 13 BLAST FROM THE PAST Ui Island (9 pm TV Land) Great geest star Sergeant Bilko himself Phil Silvers washes up as a movie producer who tunas the castaways into (very) local stars OrigwaHy abed: 1966 on CBS this three-disc DVD set heard in- iri uvikM S4nraa Mfriaiir fcii a it 8 I.