Must-see on DVD: 'Thunderbirds,' 'Major Crimes,' 'Sebastian Bergman'

"Thunderbirds are

go

!"

That line from the family TV series Thunderbirds had to be one of the most exciting refrains from my childhood.

Produced between 1964 and 1966 by British TV genius Gerry Anderson and his wife, Sylvia Anderson, the sci-fi adventure show featured distinctive characters played by marionettes who interacted with the grooviest scale-model props - planes, trains, and automobiles - in a hybrid film technique the Andersons called supermarionation.

That line was always intoned by the show's benevolently patriarchal lead character, Jeff Tracy (voiced by Peter Dyneley), an astronaut-turned-aerospace-industry-gazillionaire-philanthropist who was widowed shortly after the birth of the fifth of his five sons. (No daughters in this testosterone-rich family.) All grown up now, the strapping quintet help dad run a super-secret org dedicated to save human life whenever and wherever possible.

The series was omnipresent on TV screens around the world throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. A new version - which deploys far too much computer effects for my tastes - premiered in April on Britain's ITV network.

It has sparked interest in the original, which will be released Tuesday by Shout! Factory in a restored hi-def edition titled Thunderbirds: The Complete Series. (www.shoutfactory.com; $49.97 DVD; $69.97 Blu-ray; not rated)

Catch up on these TNT summer series before their new seasons premiere.

Information on all releases at www.wbshop.com; unless noted, titles are available on DVD ($39.98) and Blu-ray ($49.99); not rated.

Major Crimes: Season 3. Mary McDonnell leads a team of idiosyncratic detectives who solve high-profile murders in Los Angeles. The fourth season premieres Monday. ($59.98 DVD only)

Rizzoli & Isles: Season 5. This witty procedural is about a mismatched cop-'n'-scientist pair (Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander) who solve crimes like there's no tomorrow. The sixth season premieres June 16. (DVD only)

The Last Ship: Season 1. A viral apocalypse has decimated the globe's population. Now it's up to a lone Navy ship and her brave crew (Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, and Adam Baldwin) to find the source of the virus in the Arctic Circle and create an antidote. Due Tuesday. Season 2 premieres June 21.

Murder in the First: Season 1. Returning June 24, this taut episodic drama stars Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson as San Francisco cops who, in the debut season, go after a Silicon Valley billionaire, played by Harry Potter's Tom Felton. (DVD only)

Falling Skies: Season 4. Noah Wyle and Moon Bloodgood continue to hold off the alien invaders in this exciting sci-fi thriller from Saving Private Ryan writer Robert Rodat. The fifth and final season premieres June 28.

Sebastian Bergman: Dark Secrets. He's the best criminal profiler in Sweden, but Sebastian Bergman is a mess as a human being. He lost his wife and daughter to the tsunami in Thailand and seems to get consolation only by bedding as many women as he can handle. This three-hour miniseries has him handle the apparent suicide of three teenage girls at the bottom of a mineshaft. (http://shop.mhznetworks.org/; $29.95; not rated)