'COUNTERPART.' Little-known Starz series is a spellbinder. Also a superb showcase, twice over, for J.K. Simmons (TV's "Oz"/"Law & Order"/"The Closer," Oscar winner for "Whiplash," plus "we've seen a thing or two" insurance ads). He's an American spy-office wonk in Berlin whose life livens up after his deadly doppelganger makes "the crossing" from an alternate universe. Turns out he's far from the only one with two wildly divergent identities. "Choices define who we are," yet "we're helpless to our experience." (Season 2 has been ordered.) List price $35 DVD/$40 Blu-ray, out this week from Lionsgate.
'THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA: FRONTIERSMEN.' Re-creations dramatize the tales of Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson, Lewis & Clark, Tecumseh, other westward-movers in History channel miniseries; $20 DVD, Lionsgate.
DVD CALENDAR
Aug. 21: "The Walking Dead" season 8 (AMC)
Sept. 11: "Rescue Me" complete/Blu-ray (FX)
Sept. 18: "The Looming Tower" (Hulu)
Sept. 25: "C.B. Strike" (Cinemax)
Oct. 23: "The Americans" season 6/final (FX)
