Culture Jamming

A Libertines' best-of tops this week's pop culture picks.

TOP PICK – Time for Heroes – The Best of the Libertines (Rough Trade)

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Before he consumed tons of drugs, dated Kate Moss, and gave British newspapers something to write about, Pete Doherty led these tuneful punks on two terrific albums. This 13-song CD gathers a bunch of songs from the Libertines' 2003 debut, Up the Bracket, and their self-titled follow-up a year later, plus a few B-sides and unreleased cuts. The shattered talent on display here is further proof that smack is wack.

DVD – The Evil Dead Ultimate Edition (Anchor Bay)

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi's first feature from 1981 remains one of the most spirited and fun zombie pics ever made. It's also an exercise in DIY ingenuity. Raimi and his cast of pals (including B-movie cult hero Bruce Campbell) pulled the movie together on a limited budget and homemade special effects. This definitive set includes three discs of documentaries, deleted scenes, and gory make-up tests.

DVD-ROM – Playboy Cover to Cover: The '50s (Bondi Digital)

Every issue of Playboy magazine (which Hugh Hefner launched in 1953) from the 1950s is included in this box set, which also features a reproduction of the very first issue. It's all comparatively tame to today's orifice-exposing porn sites, but it's still a wonderful document of an innocent era at the tipping point. Plus, we really like the articles.

CD — Radiohead (Capitol)

This seven-disc box gathers all of Radiohead's pre-In Rainbows albums -- including classics like The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A. Nineteen-ninety-three's Pablo Honey remains a stiff debut, but by the end of the decade, the British quintet became the world's most revolutionary band. Even the 2001 live album, I Might Be Wrong, has its moments. Besides, it's nice to have all these in one place.

TV – Transformers Animated (Cartoon Network)

Last year's big-screen blowout was a noisy, heartless mess. This new weekly television show (which airs Saturday mornings at 10:30) is loads more fun. All the big-ass robot faves – Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, etc. – are here, taking on Megatron's equally ginormous troops. Nonstop action and top-notch animation ground these Transformers in ways movie director Michael Bay never could.

COURTESY FLUSH, PLEASE – 10 Items or Less (TBS)

We didn't think this TV show was funny when it debuted last year, and we still don't think it's funny, now that it's returning for its second season (at 11 p.m. Tuesday). The cast – a hit-and-miss crew of eight comedians – gamely works through a mix of scripted and improv scenes set in a family-run grocery store. But the tired plots (there's a hostage situation in this week's episode) will have you demanding a refund.