Continued: Before 'Sex,' Parker was square

Sarah Jessica Parker made her name as the fashionable sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's "Sex and the City." But back when she was just a teenager, she tried to fit in as the bespectacled star of the critically acclaimed 1982-83 TV series "Square Pegs."

With fans abuzz over the May 30 theatrical release of "Sex and the City: The Movie," Tuesday's a good time for the DVD debut of Parker's earlier TV outing. The short-lived show ran for only 19 episodes, which the three-disc set acknowledges with a brilliantly clever title that capitalizes on its '80s vibe: "Square Pegs: The Like, Totally Complete Series ... Totally" (Sony, $30).

In one of the DVD's recent interviews with the original cast, Parker notes how she also felt like a square peg while growing up, not much different from her character, Patty Greene, or Patty's best friend, Lauren Hutchinson, played by Amy Linker. Ironically, doing a TV show about uncool kids at fictional Weemawee High School was, for Parker, "an escape from the humdrum rigors of public high school."

Of Patty, she says: "She was sort of the person I wished I could be or hope to be or even aspire to be, because she was so bright and she was so principled about who she was. Even though she was seduced temporarily by trends or fads or this desire to be part of a larger group, her innate, authentic person was, 'Just wait till I get to college, then I'll find the interesting people like myself.'"

Parker says she could see how Patty might have grown up to become Carrie on "Sex and the City." Carrie was not a popular girl, she says; she just happened to live in a city, New York, that really cultivated the individual.

Besides the interviews, which also include regulars such as Jami Gertz and Tracy Nelson, the set has scenes from the 1980s coming-of-age sitcoms "The Facts of Life" and "Silver Spoons."

If you're not already tired of the promotional blitz for the Indiana Jones movie opening Thursday, the main thing you need to know about the just- released "Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection" (Paramount, $60) is that its new features aren't worth the price if you already have the previous DVD set of the original movie trilogy.

In fact, the new set retails for $10 more than the original collection, which included an essential bonus disc containing a comprehensive feature-length documentary. Both sets offer the same audio-video quality.

The new set has intros by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and a few new background features -- including promos for the new film, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." But the new discs' main selling point is that the original three films -- "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade" -- are also available individually for the first time ($27 each).

Now that Blu-ray has been on its own for a few months, the last holdouts among the major studios, Universal and Paramount, have officially announced plans for the high-def disc format. Many of their releases will simply catch up by issuing Blu-ray versions of previous HD DVDs, but original titles are coming, such as "Cloverfield" (June 3) and Season 2 of "Heroes" (Aug. 26).

More exciting is the news that smaller DVD companies are moving to Blu-ray. For example, the venerable Criterion Collection will start releasing Blu-ray titles in October, including winners such as "The Third Man," "Bottle Rocket," "The Man Who Fell to Earth," "The Last Emperor," "The 400 Blows," "Walkabout" and "The Wages of Fear."

• The best thing about seeing "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" in theaters was Disney's hilarious preshow Goofy cartoon "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater." Tuesday's DVD of the film ($30; also Blu-ray, $35) doesn't include it among the extras, though. There's no word on when the animated short will hit DVD.

• If this week's "American Idol" finale isn't enough, you can relive last year's showdown between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis with "American Idol: Season 6 Final Performance Show" (Koch, $20). It includes a second disc of behind-the-scenes footage.

Randy A. Salas • 612-673-4542