There aren’t many important movies released on disc during the “dog days” of August, but the flow of TV series is starting to pick up in advance of the new season with two offerings with great geek appeal, the first season of the Supergirl TV series, and the excellent miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s novel 11/22/63, plus for serious moviegoers, Tom Tkywer’s excellent adaptation of David Eggers’ A Hologram for the King.

TV on DVD

This week’s top geek offering for many will be Supergirl: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. $49.98, BD $54.97), which collects the first season of the DC Comics-inspired series that stars Melissa Benoist and Callista Flockhart.  After a year on CBS, Supergirl is moving to the CW for its second season, where it should fit right in with the other DC-based shows that appeal to the CW’s young demographic.  Extras with Season 1 set include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and coverage of the Supergirl Comic-Con Panel.

For others this Tuesday’s top release will be 11.22.63: The Complete Miniseries (Warner Bros., 450 min., $39.99, BD $39.99), the 8-part adaptation of Stephen King’s time-traveling science fiction novel 11/22/63 about a man who goes back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but finds that the past has other attractions.  James Franco is excellent in this series, which was a Hulu exclusive, and which therefore probably wasn’t seen by lots of folks who would have really enjoyed it.

Other contemporary series include the medical drama Code Black: The Complete First Season (Paramount, 766 min., $55.98), the military police procedural NCIS: New Orleans—The 2nd Season (Paramount, 850 min., $55.98), and the international police drama The Tunnel: The Complete First Season (PBS, 450 min., $59.99).

Vintage TV offerings include Perry Mason: The Complete Movie Collection (Paramount, $45.98), a good price, though the Perry Mason TV movies were never as good as the original Perry Mason series, and the sassy Norman Lear comedy, Maude: The Complete Sixth and Final Season (Shout Factory, 600 min., $26.99).

The top overseas offering is Line of Duty: Series 3 (Acorn Media, 401 min., $39.99), the gripping 6-episode third season of the gritty, tense crime series, which is quite different in tone from the typical U.K. police procedural, and is in fact the highest-rated program of its type in Britain.  Line of Duty has the immediacy, the edge-of-seat tension, and the impact of the best of American police dramas, while still maintaining a very U.K. sensibility.

Theatrical Films

We will have to wait until next month for the big summer movies to drop, but there is an interesting film out this week, A Hologram for the King (Lionsgate, “R,” 104 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of David Egger’s novel about a desperate American businessman, who travels to Saudi Arabia in hopes of selling the King on a new holographic conferencing system.  Tom Hanks is superb in this film in which he embodies the desperation of many here in the U.S. during the recession caused by the greed of the bankers who were making money hand over fist by bundling ever more ridiculous mortgages together.   A Hologram for the King exposes many of the elements of Saudi society that put off westerners, but it also holds our own very fallible economic system, which was displaying many of its worst aspects in 2008, up for examination as well.

Anime

This week’s new releases include the interesting slice-of-life comedy, the Barakamon: Complete Collection (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which collects the 12-episode 2014 anime from Kinema Citrus adapting the shonen manga by Satsuki Yoshino (published here by Yen Press); the action-packed Garo, The Animation, Season 1, Part 2 (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which collects the final 12 episodes of the 2015-2016 Mappa series based on the Garo tokusatsu drama; the harem comedy Absolute Duo: Complete Collection (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98) produced by 8-bit in 2015 and based on the light novels by Takumi Hiragiboshi; and the Wake Up, Girls!: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., Subtitles Only, $49.98, BD $59.98), which includes all 12 episodes of the 2014 idol group music anime produced by Tatsunoko Productions.

This week’s only re-priced reissue is the “girls with guns” saga, Gunslinger Girl: Seasons 1 & 2 plus OVA Collection (Funimation, BD/DVD Combo $49.98).