“Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.” — Homer Simpson

Molly Shannon is set to appear in three episodes of Pushing Daisies. Her brother on the show is going to be played by Mike White. Shannon and White worked together on Year of the Dog. He wrote and directed while she starred in the film. You may also remember White as the teacher Jack Black pretended to be in School of Rock, which he also wrote. But the project that I associate White with even though he never appeared in it is FOX’s mysterious, family drama Pasadena, which he created.

The series starred Dana Delaney (Desperate Housewives), Balthazar Getty (Brothers & Sisters), Alison Lohman (of many movies), Chris Marquette (Joan of Arcadia), Natasha Gregson Wagner (The 4400), Mark Valley (Boston Legal), Martin Donovan (Weeds), and even featured Delaney’s current TV husband, Nathan Fillion, as a Reverend. Centered around a large, rich and powerful Pasadena family, the show was full of intrigue and family secrets. Basically, it was the Dirty Sexy Money Desperate Housewives before serialized soaps full of murder and mystery became the new It thing. Unfortunately, the series was pulled from the schedule just as Lohman’s daughter character was starting to dig into and unravel the secrets of her family’s past.

Thirteen episodes were shot with many of those never seeing the light of day. Despite a full season existing somewhere out there, a DVD set has never been released. Reading news of White’s appearance on Pushing Daisies brought Pasadena back to the forefront of my mind and made me wistful for the other series I would have loved to been able to include on my list of The Best TV on DVD:

Eyes - A delightfully fun and snappy series from John McNamara (Profit, Fastlane) starring most of today’s ABC line-up: Tim Daly (Private Practice), Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money) and Eric Mabius (Ugly Betty). Kate Walsh even guest starred as Daly’s ex-wife. The series also featured Laura Leighton (Melrose Place) and A.J. Langer (Rayanne from My So-Called Life all grown up!). Watch episodes at AOL Video.

Skin - Trashy, guilty pleasure starring a then mostly unknown Olivia Wilde and D.J. Controna as a Romeo and Juliette-esque couple. Her dad’s an entrepreneur who makes his money in pornography. His is a D.A. who’s obsessed with taking her dad down.

Karen Sisco - Based on one of my favorite films, Out of Sight, this series featured Carla Gugino in the Jennifer Lopez role, thankfully. Her Karen was the perfect blend of tough and vulnerable (she fell for Patrick Dempsey’s bank robber in the pilot episode).

Cupid - Rob Thomas is re-doing his debut series for ABC, but the original still deserves a DVD release, especially for Jeremy Piven’s energetic performance as Cupid (or a crazy man who believes he’s Cupid?). Banished from Mount Olympus by Zeus, Trevor Hall must bring a hundred couples together before he can return. He’s also got to deal with a psychologist played by Paula “Show Killer” Marshall. Warm, funny, smart, romantic — it’ll be hard to recapture.

Flash Forward - The show aired on Disney in 1996, but don’t mistake it for the drivel that airs on Disney these days. Flash Forward was sweet, funny and full of talent, particularly in the form of its two main stars, Jewel Staite (Firefly) and Ben Foster (even back then, he was brilliant), who played next door neighbors and best friends, Becca and Tucker.

Once and Again season 3, Everwood seasons 2-4 - No more teasing! These series deserve to see the rest of their seasons released and the fans deserve to own a complete series.

Which shows do you wish they’d finally release on DVD? Better yet, go vote for your choices at TV Shows on DVD and let the studios hear your voice.