Gift Guide 2016: Best of Blu-ray television

Here’s a selection of top gift ideas for the Blu-ray-loving, TV binge watcher in the family.

Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series (Shout! Factory Home Entertainment, Not Rated, $119) — For only one season back in 1999, television viewers were exposed to a brilliant, award-winning show about the life of teenagers in the 1980s, which helped nurture some of brightest comedy movie-makers and actors of today.

The series, created by Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and produced by Judd Apatow (“Trainwreck”), starred Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Siegel and Linda Cardellini. It now exists in a fantastic nine-disc Blu-ray set packed with extras for the TV-sitcom historian in the family.

First, the 18 episodes, remastered and rescanned to 4K from the original 35mm camera negatives, are offered in both the original aspect ratio (1.33:1) and a new, screen-filling format (1.78:1).

Next, a ludicrous supply of extras presents optional commentary tracks for each episode (sometimes two per show) featuring Mr. Feig, Mr. Apatow and many of the cast; roughly 80 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary; a 45-minute interview with Mr. Feig and Mr. Apatow (moderated by Los Angeles Times’ critic Robert Lloyd); full table readings on three episodes; and a vintage, 72-minute-long discussion at the Paley Center with most of the young cast.

Finally, the package includes a 40-page color booklet highlighting the show’s episodes to round out a fabulous immersion into the “Freaks and Geeks” universe.

Falling Skies: The Complete Series (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Rated TV-14, $139.99) — A sobering drama on the TNT network from executive producer Steven Spielberg and creator Robert Rodat gave sci-fi lovers a five-season exploration (2011 to 2015) of the importance of family and survival amid an Earth-shattering alien invasion.

The story offered the war-torn life of Boston history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wiley) trying to protect his sons from the violence and chaos. He does not succeed and becomes the leader of a ragtag rebellion (that includes his offspring) to take back his planet from some very hostile extraterrestrials looking to enslave and consume humanity.

Available just in time for holiday gift-giving, a new Blu-ray set packs all 52-episodes of “Falling Skies” on 10 Blu-ray discs with a selection of extras, a code to digitally download the entire series and a few goodies for the hard-core fan.

Specifically, owners get a commemorative coin minted by the New United States of America and a metallic lapel pin of an alien’s hand. Extras include nine optional commentary tracks, a couple of hours worth of convention panels; and Will Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) gushing about some of the later shows (Season 3 and 4) with cast and crew in “Talking Dead”-style segments.

Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection (Paramount Home Entertainment, Rated PG, $208.99) — The ultimate gift for serious Trekkies in the family arrives via a collectible boxed set containing the entire adventures of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A.

That translates into a massive multimedia journey to appreciate legends such as Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols).

Owners should first watch the included three seasons of the 1960s television show (79 episodes), cleaned up and remastered to perfection, as well as the two seasons (22 episodes) of the original animated series that ran in the early 1970s (now in high-definition).

Next, for a full immersion into Gene Roddenberry’s famed universe, dive into the big-budgeted movies — “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, ” “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” and “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.”

The 30-disc Blu-ray set also includes over 20 hours of bonus material highlighted by a new, 2.5-hour-long, 5-part documentary, titled “Star Trek: The Journey to the Silver Screen.” The extras include optional commentary tracks on each movie as well as the picture-in-picture Starfleet Access feature (a visual encyclopedia with cast and historian interviews) on select televisions episodes

Paramount even throws in a black-and-gold, Starfleet badge magnet (to display on shirts) with the “Trek 50” logo and six vector graphic mini-movie posters (7 inches wide by 11 inches tall) designed by artist Juan Ortiz on glossy paper to help celebrate one of the most-beloved sci-fi universe ever created.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Seasons 1-6 (HBO Home Entertainment, Unrated, $167.99) — The innovative cable network’s award-winning and epic televised adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s medieval fantasy saga gets viewers easily up-to-date with the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros through this massive Blu-ray set compiling the currently available, 60 episodes of the series onto 26 discs.

A complex story — loaded with political intrigue, eye-covering brutality, extraordinary family bonding and some wonderful dragons — introduced memorable characters such as Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).

Each episode offers a fantastic screen-filling, high-definition presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio) and an equally impressive, room-enveloping Dolby Atmos sound mix.

But the best part of owning the set is the enormous amount of bonus content available (a welcomed staple of each season’s Blu-ray release by HBO) to plunge hard-core fans of the show into an immersive “Game of Thrones” experience.

Just some of the best informative extras include a whopping 67 optional commentary tracks with cast and crew and even Mr. Martin; nearly 100 narrated, beautifully illustrated motion-comic segments deeply exploring the histories and lore of the author’s detailed canon; and, best of all, an interactive, resource-rich, in-episode guide to Westeros.

Tied to every episode through an in-screen, fly-out menu, clickable icons access topics that cover locations, characters and mythologies presented as a multimedia encyclopedia.

Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music (RLJ Entertainment, not rated, $49.99) — Lovers of harmonic compositions are in for a treat in the high-definition compilation of PBS’ eight-part series chronicling the genesis and evolution of recorded music.

The stories feature archival studio footage, performances, hundreds of musical snippets and over 160 interviews with many legendary engineers, technicians, innovators and musicians. With this footage, the shows offer a wonderful and detailed overview of sound capture and embellishment.

Legends interviewed include Niles Rogers, Rick Rubin, Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney, Mickey Hart, Lindsey Buckingham, Barry Gibb, Roger Daltrey, Quincy Jones, Tom Scholz, Annie Lennox, Eric Clapton and Debbie Harry with performance moments from stars such as with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash and Run-DMC.

Eclectic topics range from the introduction of disco-era drum machines, the use of sampling in rap and hip-hop, the importance of synthesizers, how we listen to music in digital formats, and a look at recording studio techniques and multi-tracking technology from such masters as Phil Spector, George Martin and Brian Wilson.

The set even dives into the music-video era with plenty of classic MTV moments with The Eurythymics, Billy Idol, Rick James, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Madonna.

A too-small collection of extras includes a scant 2-minute conversation between Elton John and George Martin, and 12 minutes with Ringo Starr discussing his drums.

Twin Peaks: The Original Series, Fire Walk With Me & The Missing Pieces (Paramount Home Entertainment, Rated R, $45.61) — Creators Mark Frost and David Lynch’s bizarre crime drama from 1990 makes a return to Blu-ray to give hard-core fans a nostalgic chance to once again watch FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) attempt to solve the mysterious and horrific death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee).

Set in a small town in Washington, the series became a cult phenomenon thanks to: its collection of oddball characters such as the Herculean Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie), the dancing Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), the red-suited Man from Another Place (Michael J. Anderson) and the iconic Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson); odd plot twists; and a surreal presentation that was a trademark of Mr. Lynch’s cinematic visions.

The set includes the two seasons of the show, all 29 episodes and the failed prequel/epilogue movie “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” in a 10-disc Blu-ray set with a generous supply of extras.

Those feature-enlightening extras include an introduction to each episode by that famed Log Lady, 90 minutes of deleted or alternative scenes from the movie and a U.S. and extended international version of the pilot episode.

Diving even deeper, viewers get a near hour-long, roundtable session at a diner with the eccentric Mr. Lynch, Mr. Maclachlan, actress Mädchen Amick and post-production supervisor John Wentworth, and over four hours of archival featurettes, documentaries and cast interviews.

2016 World Series Collector’s Edition (Shout! Factory, not rated, $79.97) — Well, it took 108 years, but my beloved Cubbies finally won another World Series and now long-suffering fans of Chicago’s team can re-rejoice at the accomplishment by immersing themselves in this celebratory collection.

Specifically, eight Blu-ray discs contain all seven, nail-biting, stomach-ache-inducing games of the World Series, between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, along with the final game of the National League Championship Series between the Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.

With high-definition visuals and four options for World Series narration (Fox commentators, Cubs’ radio announcers, Indians’ radio announcers or ESPN Deportes), fans can relive the epic efforts of stars such as first baseman Anthony Rizzo; outfielder Dexter Fowler; pitcher Jake Arrieta; and World Series MVP, multi-position player Ben Zobrist.

A packaged color, 20-page booklet also offers all of the box scores and a pinch of trivia from each game.

Dexter: The Complete Series (Paramount Home Entertainment, Rated TV-MA, $92.88) — Showtime’s chronicles of everybody’s favorite serial-killing forensic scientist returns to Blu-ray on a 24-disc set compiling all eight seasons and 96-episodes worth of the critically acclaimed, popular show.

Fans of Michael C. Hall’s creation of Dexter Morgan, the maniacal vigilante, and his devilish adventures will love the set and its ease to watch all of the great episodes. However, all will scratch their heads at the flimsy set of extras.

They will appreciate the disc’s pair of optional commentary tracks, a smattering of featurettes for the last season and a few cast interviews, but they’ll grind their teeth that the extra online bonus content, part of Paramount’s old BD-Live initiative, is either no longer accessible or a real pain to access and download.

“Dexter” is a great and grotesque series and worthy of gift-giving, but the BD-Live mess may frustrate Dexter devotees looking for the ultimate package to appreciate their odd hero.