By Gil Kaufman
Enquirer contributor

The holidays have become the season of the DVD, and this year is no exception. Dozens of television shows and movies make their way to DVD for the first time, joined by multidisc special editions of the year's box office champs, as well as a massive box set of unheard songs from late country legend Johnny Cash and a new DVD collection of the Beatles's original appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

MOVIES

Chances are your kids have already made you promise to buy the two-disc Finding Nemo ($29.99) collector's edition, which adds features such as a short film on the Great Barrier Reef, deleted scenes, games, virtual aquariums and a making-of documentary about the highest-grossing animated feature of all time.

The year's No. 1 live action film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Dec. 2, $29.99), is beefed up into a two-disc collectors set with deleted scenes, a gag reel and audio commentary from star Johnny Depp.

Just in time for the opening of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, comes the special four-disc The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (Tuesday, $39.99). With more than 40 minutes of footage not seen in the theatrical release, this hefty package also tacks on audio commentary by director Peter Jackson, two discs of additional material including documentaries, an atlas of Middle Earth and behind-the-scenes photos of the cast. A special limited edition ($79.92) will also come with a Gollum sculpture and a bonus DVD and book on the making of the sculpture.

For the silent film fan is the eight-disc The Chaplin Collection Volume 1 ($89.92), which collects digitally remastered versions of the four classic silent films - Modern Times, The Great Dictator, The Gold Rush and Limelight - with never-before-seen features and rare newsreels.

The hefty Stanley Kubrick Collection ($166.92) is a nine-disc DVD set featuring remastered Dolby 5.1 sound mixes on five of the legendary director's films. The update of a 2001 set includes Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove and the addition of the director's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, as well as the documentary, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures. Out now is The David Lean Collection ($49.95), which compiles Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and A Passage to India in anamorphic widescreen format.

The cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail ($49.95) gets the collectors treatment with a limited edition two-disc reissue that comes with the expected assortment of snarky extras.

Among the bonus features are a paperback version of the script, commentary from directors Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 24 seconds of extra footage, a short film version of the movie in Lego blocks, a Japanese dub with English subtitles and special subtitles for "People Who Don't Like the Film."

And, if you didn't get enough of Scarface when it was recently re-released into theaters, say hello to the Scarface Deluxe Gift Set (Nov. 25, $59.98), which packages the bloody 1983 Brian De Palma version staring Al Pacino with the 1932 original directed by Howard Hawks.

Also included in the two-disc package is a set of collectible cards, a gold money clip, and the anniversary edition of De Palma's ode to the cocaine trade, with several behind-the-scenes documentaries, 22 minutes of deleted scenes and a 30-minute hip-hop tribute to the film.

Already one of the best selling DVD packages of all time, the recently released The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete Movie Collection, ($69.98) is a four-disc set with digitally remastered versions of all three action films, making-of documentaries and new interviews with star Harrison Ford and director Steven Spielberg.

Other films due on DVD in time for the holidays:

• Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle (packaged with the original film, $39.95)

• Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights ($26.95)

• Bad Boys II ($28.96)

• Even the year's No. 1 bomb, Gigli ($26.96), is making its way to stores on Dec. 9, though, perhaps fittingly, the DVD features few extras beyond digital remastering.