VIDEO 'SOPRANOS' HIGH ON LIST.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

The second part of our holiday DVD gift guide turns to small-screen ideas.

For the wiseguy or gal, there's the complete first season of the ``The Sopranos'' (HBO, $99.98). The four-disc set of the highly acclaimed series contains audio commentary on the pilot episode by series creator David Chase and actor/director Peter Bogdanovich, plus a 77-minute interview with Chase that was filmed in the ``Soprano's'' kitchen and conducted by Bogdanovich, and two behind-the-scenes featurettes. But the best part is the 13 episodes of the show itself, which focuses on the family of mob boss Tony Soprano (played by James Gandolfini), whose life is more like that of a suburban everyman than that of Michael Corleone in Francis Coppola's ``The Godfather.'' The brutality of Tony's life is contrasted with his family relationships. During the day he may be involved in strong-arming some thug or some sinister plot. Then later at home, he may have a tender moment with his son or wife. This split personality has driven Tony to a psychiatrist (Lorraine Bracco), to whom he confides his doubts. Unlike ``Analyze This,'' the show isn't played for laughs. There is some laughter, though, because ``The Sopranos'' works on many levels - from American tragedy to domestic comedy; that's why critics rightfully call it the best thing on television.

Another HBO series with sizzle, ``Sex in the City,'' also has a first- season DVD box set ($39.98). The show stars Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, who writes the ``Sex and the City'' newspaper column that chronicles the state of sexual affairs of New Yorkers. Her three friends - nice-girl Charlotte (Kristin Davis), tough-minded Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and promiscuous Samantha (Kim Cattrall) - coupled with her own screwed-up affairs - give Carrie plenty to write about. Believable? Though it's based on Candace Bushnell's best selling book, the girls are a bit too cute for most of us to buy into their reality, but the show swings between the funny and outrageous to the offbeat and occasionally poignant to keep audiences entertained.

If you're looking for the truth, it's out there in the form of the second-season DVD box set of ``The X-Files'' (Fox, $149.99). The seven-disc set includes the documentary ``The Truth About Season Two,'' creator Chris Carter discussing 12 episodes of the episodes from the season, plus some deleted scenes. While season one introduced us to FBI agents ``Spooky'' Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and hard-nosed Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), it was season two where the show developed both the pair's relationship (and its underlying sexual tension) and its ongoing mythos - government conspiracies, alien abductions, UFOs, the cigarette-smoking man - that has kept it a top-rated series into its eighth season. Some of ``The X-File's'' best episodes ever are on these discs.

Earlier this year, we noted that the excellent 1977 BBC miniseries ``I Claudius'' (Image, $89.99) had finally arrived on DVD. Airing on PBS's ``Masterpiece Theatre'' a few year later in America, the miniseries - based on Robert Graves' books - tells the story of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was the empire's moment of sanity - his reign being sandwiched between the infamous Caligua and the despicable Nero. Claudius (brilliantly portrayed by Derek Jacobi) is considered the family idiot. Lame and with a stutter, he is taken seriously by no one in his power-hungry, backstabbing (literally), poisonous (literally) family. This allows him to slip through a web of treachery and deceit. Unfortunately for Claudius, he didn't have a therapist like Tony Soprano.

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Mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) tries to reconcile his work with his home life in HBO's series, ``The Sopranos.''