[UPDATE BELOW]

Among this week's TV DVD releases: Damages, Weeds, Thirtysomething, Dallas, Defying Gravity . . .

And a test for the two schools of DVD viewers/buyers -- those who never watch the bonus features, and those who wouldn't consider owning a set without extras.

TV crime-action kingpin Stephen J. Cannell this week re-releases his actioners Renegade, Hunter and 21 Jump Street with a bargain price but barebones content. The shows' new first-season DVD sets only ding you $15 each, but you get what you pay for:

Episodes are crammed onto discs (as many as 6 episodes per disc).

Discs come in paper sleeves stacked inside a double-thick plastic case (the size that usually holds a seasons' worth of discs well-protected on those hard-plastic flipper pages).

And there's none of the juicy bonus content from Cannell's previous Anchor Bay sets of these series.

21 Jump Street's original 2004 release [photos show it below the new one] had interviews and/or commentaries with just about everybody except the too-big-now star of the show. (Johnny somebody. Deep? Delp?) That first season's discs were safely stored in thin-pack cases inside an outer box, and the set also included a booklet that nicely put the '80s Fox youth-cop drama in cultural/historical perspective. Renegade came out in 2005 with nearly 100 minutes of interviews with creator Cannell, Lorenzo Lamas and the rest of the cast. Even 2005's Hunter Season 1 had a half-hour's worth with Cannell and costar Stepfanie Kramer.

If you didn't grab those releases then, you'd think you could at least pat yourself on the back now for saving big bucks with the new Mill Creek budget sets. And in stores, that may be true. But as of release date (we checked prices Jan. 18), Amazon.com has the Anchor Bay release of 21 Jump Street Season 1, with all the goodies, for $14.50. (Season 2 is even cheaper, $14.) That's not the case with Renegade and Hunter, but the feature-rich versions only cost a few bucks more.

How many fans will make the effort to ferret out the original releases with all the extras? Or even care about them? It's easier to grab it at the store when you see it, and at these bargain prices, you should see these on shelves more frequently than the earlier versions. Quality or quantity? Your choice.

Cannell has already tested the waters for this strategy with perhaps his most acclaimed series, Wiseguy -- but that Ken Wahl undercover-with-the-mob drama was by then out of print. And the original release in 2003 came in "arcs" rather than seasons, which meant each season included multiple sets, running up the bill considerably. True devotees who buy last summer's budget re-release from Mill Creek [pictured at right] miss out on the commentaries with mercurial star Wahl, interviews, great booklet essays, and more. (But true devotees were already p'd off about the wholesale music substitutions in all the sets. Expect more of those. And don't expect Wiseguy's memorable music-industry arc with Tim Curry, Debbie Harry and Glenn Frey ever.)

[UPDATE: Another Wiseguy option is to buy almost the entire series, out March 9, in a 13-disc set with 68 episodes that lists for $45. The music-industry arc is indeed not included.]

I fall in the extras-necessary category myself. Can't get enough. But I'm curious whether you value them as highly as I do, and what sorts of extras you love (or loathe) best (or worst).

On action releases like these, maybe the gunfire, fistfights and explosions are bonus enough.

Also out this week:

--- Damages Season 2 -- Catch up before Season 3 starts Monday (Jan. 25 at 10 p.m. ET on FX). Glenn Close is again joined in legal/lethal thrills by Ted Danson for this second 3-disc set, also featuring new cast member William Hurt (her Big Chill costar from way back). Extras include a Season 1 recap, in case you're starting from scratch, and the creators' explanation/justification for all that time-jumping story construction.

--- Weeds Season 5 -- This little box has 3 discs with 13 episodes of Mary-Louise Parker's latest dope-dealing adventures, pregnant by a Mexican mobster, plunging her teen kids deeper into the drug life, too. Extras include a jaunty little history of marijuana through the centuries, a helpful guide to all the show's tangled relationships, 7 smart episode commentaries, Kevin Nealon's backstage video diary, bloopers, webisodes, and more. (Major props for this set having the discs lightly taped into the plastic trays, so they don't fall out to get scratched during shipment!) Also out on Blu-ray.

--- Thirtysomething Season 2 -- Michael and Hope and all their comfy Philly friends continue their scary odysseys into real-life late '80s adult life -- family vs. work vs. ideals vs. income. Footloose Gary gets stuck on Susannah, and mean boss Miles Drentell makes his mark.

--- Dallas Season 12 -- Larry Hagman's J.R. says bye-bye to Sue Ellen and hello to a prison chain gang, while battling George Kennedy's Carter McKay and traveling to Moscow.

--- Defying Gravity -- ABC summer drama series follows 21st century astronauts through all their adventures in space and romance. Includes 5 unaired episodes, making-of featurette.

--- Soul of the Church -- Time-capsule spirituals from early '60s NBC series TV Gospel Time feature Ruth Brown, the Rev. James Cleveland, Clouds of Joy, Blind Boys of Mississippi, Dixie Hummingbirds and others, in 16 black-and-white episodes (some poorly preserved). Also includes Mahalia Jackson videos.