When you think of Bruce Campbell (if you think of Bruce Campbell), you probably think of the big-chinned guy in Army of Darkness lopping his hand off at the wrist and replacing it with a chainsaw. Fair enough—that was groovy. But for those who have followed The Chin’s career a bit more closely, July 18 was a happy day: his best televised starring role made its long-awaited DVD debut (his less-known and less-loved Napoleonic spy show, “Jack Of All Trades,” was released simultaneously).

In this short-lived, gun-slinging action/comedy from 1992-93, Campbell stars as Brisco County Jr., a Harvard English major who becomes a bounty hunter after the murder of his father. It’s an odd show, marketed primarily as a comedic Western, but the actual genre is a bit slippery. While cowboys, marshals and holster-tickling outlaws abound, the plots usually center around mysterious, mystical orbs that grant their holders superpowers, and Brisco often saves the day by using anachronistic devices like rockets and motorcycles, invented by his friend Professor Albert Wickwire.

With so much groanworthy material, it’s impressive how well the show pulls it off. In “Brisco,” Campbell, known mostly for his amusing overacting in Sam Raimi movies, somehow walks a fine line between stoic bad-assery and the straight-faced yet goofy one-liners that made him famous. What could be an awkward combination never is—though, in fairness, it’s often not quite enough to put you on the edge of your seat.

The supporting cast is excellent. Julius Carry, playing fellow bounty hunter Lord Bowler, gets some of the best one-liners in the show and delivers them with gravelly perfection. John Astin, as the Professor, is subtly possessed by Christopher Lloyd, and Billy Drago, playing the villainous John Bly, steals every scene in which he appears. Picture Christopher Walken imitating David Bowie, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of how Bly comes across.

It’s hard to avoid comparing “Brisco” to Indiana Jones, which shouldn’t be surprising, since one of the show’s creators (Jeffrey Boam) wrote the screenplay for “The Last Crusade.” The other creator, Carlton Cuse, is probably best known as a writer and executive producer for “Lost.”

The features on the DVD set are a mixed bag. Carlton and Cuse provide the only commentary track (on the pilot episode), which, compared to the one-per-disc commentary standard for most single-season releases, is not nearly up to par. But they make up for it with a retrospective documentary and a roundtable discussion with various people involved in the creation of the show. The only other extra that stands out at all is “A Reading from the Book of Bruce,” which is, apparently, Campbell reading a chapter from one of his books. That’s nifty for Campbell obsessers, but blah for the rest of us.

Overall, there are a lot of good reasons to buy this series. Here’s a reason not to: the list price is $99.98, though Amazon is offering it for $30 less. Unless you’re a die-hard Campbell collector, or loved the show on television and plan to watch it again and again, it’s probably better suited to rent than to buy.

CARTOONS
Animaniacs, Vol. 1. (July 25): “Animaniacs” was perhaps the most frenzied mainstream cartoon ever. Aside from a few recurring skits that didn’t really work, the show was consistently laugh-out-loud funny: the Animaniacs themselves were always hilarious, and, of course, it gave rise to the perpetually flubbed world-domination schemes of Pinky and The Brain—which is itself enough reason to buy this set.

Pinky & The Brain, Vol. 1. (July 25): As a stand-alone show, “Pinky & The Brain” was not quite as good as the original segments on “Animaniacs,” but it was still plenty good enough to watch. The extension to half-hour episodes occasionally messed up the usual quick pacing, and the plots were occasionally repetitive, but there are even more clever parodies here than in the shorter segments.

Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes (July 18): After the greatest cartoon duo since Tom & Jerry was dropped from Nickelodeon, the original Spumco team took the show to Spike TV, where it was reinvented in a much less kid-friendly manner. The product, apparently, was too edgy even for Spike TV, resulting in less than a full season airing on television. The entire collection, including the unaired episodes, is available in this DVD set. If you ever wanted to see America’s favorite rubber nipple salesmen consummate their relationship, now’s your chance.

CLASSICS
Dr. Who: The Complete First Series (July 4): For what it’s worth, reviews are almost unanimously good: older Dr. Who fans say it doesn’t betray the series, and it has hooked a whole new generation of fans by adding production values that were seriously lacking in the prior shows.

Perry Mason: Season 1, Vol. 1. (July 11): Set against even the entire library of “Law & Order” and its galaxy of spin-offs, “Perry Mason” remains the best-written courtroom drama of all time. That it took until mid-2006 for it to be released is bizarre and almost unforgivable—though I suspect that many people will be willing to forgive much, once the set is in their hands. What remains inexcusable, though, is the total lack of special features: not an interview, not a documentary, not even a commentary track is to be found in this set. Why, Paramount? Why?