Dog City: The Movie, which originally aired as an hour-long 1989 episode of The Jim Henson Hour, will be released on Region 1 DVD on June 8, 2010.  Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release the disc, as part of its arrangement with The Jim Henson Company.

The “movie” is a film noir spoof with lots of bad puns, not all of them dog-related.  Main protagonist Ace Yu is looking for his uncle’s killer, Bugsy Them.  Yeah, it’s that kind of spoof.  Jim Henson won an Emmy for this episode, his first and last as a director.

Dog City: The Movie has been on DVD before, albeit in Region 2 form.  This will be Dog City‘s North American debut.

Both DVD versions of Dog City: The Movie retain appearances by Rowlf the Dog, even though The Walt Disney Company owns Rowlf.  Rowlf is a framing device, so he can’t be avoided.

Special features include a “behind-the-scenes photo gallery, original concept art, ‘and more!’”  It reads like the standard set of extras, not that I’m expecting much more from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.  At least Lionsgate is releasing Henson’s titles, no matter how esoteric they are.

This news is only tangentially related to Canadian television.  Dog City (1992-95), one of Nelvana’s better 1990s shows, is an indirect spinoff of the Dog City special.  I have pondered whether the Dog City series will see release.

As an aside, Amazon.com has the entirety of Dog City on video-on-demand.  There’s a fair swath of Henson-related product on demand.  Truth be known, I’m surprised Dog City has its entire run on VOD.  I don’t remember the show being that popular, but you know, nostalgia.

Dog City: The Movie could spark renewed interest in the Dog City cartoon.  We’re seeing The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley (!) on DVD – one episode, but come on.  If that show can waft to home video, Dog City‘s chances aren’t so bad.

Recently I’ve been re-evaluating what gets included in these Canadian TV-on-DVD Roundups.  I removed all mention of Iron Man: Armored Adventures from the Roundups, as the only sign that the show was Canadian came from Wikipedia, not the world’s most accurate information source.  IM:AA is properly a French/Isle of Man show.  I apologize for the error.

I will still include industrials like Highlander: The Series, Inspector Gadget and Just For Laughs.  Highlander and Gadget were co-productions, while Just For Laughs is a Montreal-based festival with tendrils in Chicago.  I hate including them, but I do include as much proper CanCon as I can.  I’m even wondering whether Fear Itself qualifies for the DVD Roundups.

---

Little Mosque on the Prairie‘s second season on DVD September 15, 2009 through Paradox Entertainment Group/E1 Entertainment.  I guess Morningstar Entertainment lost DVD rights for the show.  E1 is a better label, anyway.  The set includes a Dan Redican commentary track, among other random extras.

---

Fraggle Rock‘s final season, as well as A Merry Fraggle Holiday (i.e., a Christmas compilation), coming out November 3, 2009 through Lionsgate.  The complete series is being reissued the same day, in proper bookcase format.

Lionsgate is now working directly with The Jim Henson Company.  HIT Entertainment has been freezed out of the picture, and I couldn’t be happier.  Fraggle Rock was treated shabbily by HIT Entertainment at the end, while the Lionsgate/Henson arrangement takes the fans’ complaints into account – better packaging, a stand-alone fourth season set, cheaper prices.  How can you not like that?

I think the Lionsgate/Henson arrangement is going to bear fruit.  Is a Dog City DVD set on the horizon?  Such a thing looks far more likely than it did a year ago.  Make it happen, JHC.

---

Gord Lacey reviews Total Drama Island‘s season set.  This is a review of the American DVD set, obnoxious Cartoon Network logo adorning the box art.

Lacey quite likes the show, which I’m surprised by.  Then again, Total Drama Island/Action is one of Cartoon Network’s juggernauts, as well as being omnipresent on Teletoon.  If Fresh TV doesn’t subsume CN within a few years, I’ll be surprised.

---

Reviewersblog.com “reviews” of Blood Ties: “The Complete Season One.”  As for the blog, it’s blatant content scraping from Amazon.com, just so you know.

I’m quite surprised this release is selling well, as it currently ranks #1,055 in Amazon.com Movies & TV sales.  It’s not a blockbuster ranking, but the set’s been out for a month and a half.  People are buying Blood Ties.

---

Highlander: The Series‘ first-season Blu-ray set pushed back to September 22, 2009…possibly.  The only place to buy it right now is LegendaryHeroes.com.  Hell, buy a sword for yourself while you’re at it.  THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!  MOO! and stimulate your need for crap.

---

Oh, I almost forgot, Flashpoint‘s first season on Canadian DVD and Blu-ray October 13, 2009 through Phase 4 Films.  That isn’t important, is it?

TVShowsonDVD.com receives news of the Road Hockey Rumble complete series box set.  This is old news by now, but at least TVShowsonDVD.com is talking about the series.  With trailer!

---

6teen “Season 2, Volume 1″ out September 22, 2009.  True to form, the second season of 6teen will be split into volume sets like the first.  At least the volume set is marked properly this time.  “Special Yearbook Edition,” my ass.

---

Friday the 13th: The Series‘ third and final season out September 22, 2009.  Ryan Dallion (John D. LeMay) leaves at the beginning of this season to make room for Johnny Ventura (Steve Monarque).

All three seasons of this series came out within a year.  That’s how you sell television on DVD, either that or the fanbase for Friday the 13th: The Series is voracious.  I can’t complain either way.

---

Fear Itself‘s “first” season out September 15, 2009.  The show is listed here as it was filmed in and around Edmonton, Alberta.  IMDb gives Canada and USA as countries of origin, so there you go.

I quote “first” as NBC lost interest in the series after the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.  Fear Itself won’t be back.  Nice packaging for the Fear Itself set, but I hope that’s not mag wheels on a dump truck.(© Arn Anderson)

---

Pre-order gubbins for Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series.

Press release for Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods Final Cut.

In other news, MGM and Fox flog Stargate.  I know, how can you tell?

---

Television Obscurities and TV Squad make reference to the Swiss Family Robinson complete series set.

It’s not a great week for TV-on-DVD in general when a Parker Lewis Can’t Lose set is the highlight.  To combat the dearth of true “cult” TV-on-DVD titles, here’s ten minutes of The Vacant Lot.  Happy Canada Day!

Gord Lacey reviews The Border‘s first season for TVShowsonDVD.com.

I don’t normally point things like this out as I am the king of generalization, but Lacey begins his review with the “I don’t watch Canadian television even though I’m Canadian” and “most Canadian TV is cheap and cheesy” caveats.

Considering that I talk about Canadian television for this site, I’m curious to know why Lacey makes this comment.  The “low production values” argument is weak in the age of Tripping the Rift, Heartland et al.

Canada is the king of badly-tweened Flash cartoons, I’ll grant Lacey that, but the Canadian television industry knows how to put out a good-looking show these days.  I’m not saying the industry’s a torrent of wonderment, but it’s not like it was in the 1980s or 1990s.

Canada’s just not releasing more of its good shows on DVD.  Someone should pick up the SCTV ball that Shout! Factory unceremoniously dropped.  You Can’t Do That on Television better come out on DVD before the tape masters rot.

---

The Los Angeles Times reviews the Fraggle Rock complete series set.  There’s no mention of the set’s shoddy packaging, the review sticking hard and fast to the basics.  Newspapers are free advertising, after all.

---

Spider-Man vs. The Vulture earns a stand-alone release.  This disc was originally part of the Villains Showdown box set, and I just love stand-alone releases!  These discs never go into the bargain bin within a year!

I should draw attention to the horrible cover art.  That image is almost on par with public-domain cartoon compilation artwork.  The Vulture’s face in particular is wretchedly drawn.  The Vulture is supposed to be ugly, but what the hell?

---

This seems to have slipped past the radar.  I know Imavision’s promoting a Chaotic volume set on Teletoon.  The title is one of Imavision’s best sellers.  What I didn’t know is that My Goldfish is Evil has had a first-season set out since November 2008.

My Goldfish is Evil is one of those post-modern cartoons where the fish being out of water isn’t a detriment to its survival.  No one knows the fish is evil or capable of building machinery aside from a ten-year-old conspiracy theorist.  It’s the timeworn “pet has a secret life” premise currently employed by Phineas and Ferb and Kid vs. Kat.

Surprisingly, My Goldfish is Evil is not animated in Flash.  I know, crazy!

---

John E. Mitchell of The Last Visible Blog reviews The Starlost.  He likes it!

---

Todd Erwin of Home Theater Forum reviews Super Dave’s Super Stunt Spectacular.  He hates it.

---

Press release for the upcoming Goosebumps DVDs, “Return of the Mummy” and “The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight.”

This Canadian TV-on-DVD Roundup entry has been the weakest yet.  Some Canadian television shows are going to make DVD debuts shortly, right?  Come on, Canada.  You’re killing me here.  A country where Beastmaster has season sets and CODCO doesn’t is not a country I’d like to live in.

Friday the 13th: The Series second-season set out February 10, 2009 through Paramount Home Entertainment.  Tales from the Darkside‘s first-season set is being released on the same day by the same company.

I know, Tales from the Darkside isn’t Canadian.  Still, it’s a great title to release, isn’t it?

There’s a market for classic horror anthologies, which is a shame as Tales from the Crypt is already out in its entirety.  Thriller has a first-season release.  Night Gallery‘s second-season set came out recently.  There isn’t very far to go before Freddy’s Nightmares and Monsters get dredged up for DVD release.

Oh, here’s package art for the second-season set.  Care.

---

The Red Green Show’s eleventh season will be out February 24, 2009 instead of March 10, 2009.

In addition, here’s package art.  Wow, a new license plate and the same old picture of Red Green on the cover!  Acorn Media could do a better job of differentiating its Red Green Show season sets, but at least they’re out regularly.

---

Two new Goosebumps discs, “Return of the Mummy” and “The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight,” come out March 31, 2009 through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.  The discs are obviously popular, which begs the question of why Goosebumps isn’t released in season sets.  Scholastic Media sure does like to maximize Goosebumps‘ profit margins.

---

Lionsgate has a disc replacement program for the Fraggle Rock complete series set.  The lower-sitting discs sometimes dislodge during shipping.

This must bother Fraggle Rock fans even more than the fourth season not receiving a stand-alone DVD release.  When TVShowsonDVD.com calls your package design an “epic failure,” you know your company has done wrong.

---

The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin gets a complete-series set courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment.  While I never liked the series during the decade-plus Global endlessly reran it, I wish a better company was releasing this.  I wonder why anyone thinks this set will make money.

---

URBMN aStore.  Don’t forget to buy the This Hour Has 22 Minutes sets!  It won a Gemini for Best Comedy Series over Kenny vs. Spenny this year, which isn’t bullshit at all!  Really!