It turned out that both Andrew Pepoy and Franchesco were on the flight to Baltimore, so I got to extol Geppi's Entertainment Museum to them AND read the rough version of a delightful new short story starring Andrew's Simone and Ajax -- and I won't give away its jungly delights except to say that I laughed out loud several times.

Among the pleasures of the trip was the opportunity to read Max Allan Collins' first prose novel about Ms. Tree: a hard-boiled detective novel that barrels along, captivating in its own right and of special interest to comics fans who first met the gun-toting detective in 1980. Collins notes in his afterword that she's star of the longest-running private-eye comic book. This paperback from Hard Case Crime revamps her origin and brings it up to date with skill. Don't miss it. (Wah! I bent the corner by sticking it in my carry-on! Oh, wait. Yes. Books ARE for reading.)

When the discs with commentaries are loaded, go from "Play All" on the Menu to "Languages." Select "Subtitles: English SDH." Then return to "Main Menu." On the Menu, go to "Bonus Materials." Choose "Audio Commentaries with Cast & Crew."

Up will come an identification of commentators -- though not the extent to which they contribute. So, on Disc 5, we have:

Chapter 15 "Run," "With Greg Grunberg, Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Armus and Kay Foster (episode writers and supervising producers)"

Chapter 16 "Unexpected," "With Greg Beeman (episode director and co-executive producer), Zachary Quinto, Sendhil Ramamurthy and Jeph Loeb (episode writer and co-executive producer)"

Chapter 17 "Company Man," "With Jack Coleman, Allan Arkush (episode director and executive producer) and Bryan Fuller (co-executive producer and episode writer)"

Chapter 18 "Parasite," "With Allan Arkush (executive producer), Jimmy Jean-Louis and Christopher Zatta (episode writer)"

Then, if you want to watch the episode but focus on the commentary, you can return to the main menu, return to "Languages," turn off the subtitles, go to "Chapter Index," select the episode you want and choose "Play with Commentary," and watch the episode. You can also ignore the "Languages" step, if you want to listen to the commentary but pay closer attention to what the characters are saying.

You still won't know when they're going to come and go, but you'll have a better idea who they are. (An even better idea would have been to provide the information on, say, an insert sheet. Haven't we moved past the idea that we're living in a paperless society?)

OK, I'm clearly not going to get through all of the DVD set this Labor Day Weekend, so let's wrap up Monday night with a quick evaluation of "Run!"

Again, there's a switch-out. Commentary starts with Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman) and Kevin Chamberlin (Aron Malsky), who work well together and are logical voice-over choices, since much of the story focuses on their adventure together and they comment well together. Nice moment: "Wow!" says Malsky, "I was actually the lead-out shot!" Malsky comments, too, that he is The King of Failed Pilots, having appeared in eight.

26 minutes in, Grunberg is gone ("Greg was called back to the set"), replaced by the episode's co-writers, Adam Armus and Kay Foster. At least, everyone's identity is clear from the outset, for once, and it's a nice commentary, all in all, though the switch means that an anecdote about a Ramones shirt worn by Zane Taylor and Sylar is told twice.

Time to re-watch Episode 16, "Unexpected," but the commentary will wait till tomorrow.

The title of the episode is "Distractions" -- and how appropriate that is for the commentary track of this excellent chapter!

I know I cite Doctor Who from time to time as an example worthy of attention and imitation -- and that's certainly true in this case. There are, obviously, several ways to put commentary tracks together, even ignoring the extreme of creating a new entertainment (as was done with the magnificent Spinal Tap DVD). In the case of the Doctor Who material, there are "making of" videos put together for release following each episode (not seen in the U.S. till condensations are appended to the DVDs). And, apparently at the conclusion of the season, commentary tracks are made with carefully considered participants. So, if special effects are vital in an episode, one of the featured actors might be chosen to discuss the acting and a special-effects worker chosen to discuss what was done to produce the work.

This can produce especially appealing commentaries. Billie Piper, for example, hadn't seen the final cut of "Father's Day," and her spontaneous shrieks at some of the footage added to the enjoyment of the episode, while her remarks about having a cold making it easier in the weepy scenes were illuminating behind-the-scenes details.

To top it off, the DVD set of the first Tennant season had one episode per disc with a picture-in-picture commentary, which worked wonderfully. (Best moment: when Tennant didn't notice that co-star Sophia Myles was brushing away tears.)

How to confuse the viewer: Do the commentaries on the fly with people who are not clearly identified. How to confuse the viewer more: Change the speakers in the midst of the episode and mumble who they are.

I think the commentators for "Distractions" were as follows:

The first 20 minutes: Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) and Zachary Quinto (Sylar).

Then, the comment is made, "Milo is working," and Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman, who isn't in the episode) joins in.

But 27 minutes in, "Zach had to go to work," and Jack Coleman (HRG-Bennet) and episode director Jeannot Szwarc are on board. Szwarc gets to make a comment about using a Kurosawa style on the Japanese scenes, and then ...

36 minutes in, Ventimiglia is back with Michael Green, who wrote the episode.

Folks, this really is appropriate for "Distractions" in a strange and twisted way -- but not a boon as far as commentaries go. They were being recorded as the show was still in production (The commentary for Episode 13 was made while they were filming Episode 17.), and I'm sure there was pressure to put the package together in a timely fashion for an on-sale date preceding the start of Season Two. But wow.

[By the way, Quinto comments at one point, "Tim Sale is like an extra cast member -- seriously." Huzzah for recognition for outstanding work!]