Gift Guide 2012: Teens and Adults

My top gift ideas for 2012, part 1:

Your favorite TV fan already has the boxed set of every series?  Here’s something different.  The Paley Center for Media has tributes to many great television shows, featuring interviews with the casts and creators.  From Modern Family to MythBusters, Breaking Bad to Burn Notice, you can hear the stories behind the stories.

Celebrate half a century of James Bond — and the most enduring film franchise of all time, with Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection.

The sports lover in your life will love the ESPN Films 30 for 30: Film Favorites Collection, highlights from the acclaimed series.  The 6-disc set includes  Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney’s Catching Hell and The Announcement, Nelson George’s inspirational film about Magic Johnson.

Every family has a dowager duchess fan and yours will love to sit down with a cup of tea and watch Downton Abbey Seasons 1 & 2 Limited Edition Set – Original UK Version to get ready for the premiere of the third season on PBS in January.  Or, for fans who are a bit more Downstairs than Upstairs, try Downton Abbey t-shirts from PBS with slogans like: Free Bates! and Team Isobel.  More holiday favorites from the BBC are also available, including a Tardis teapot for Dr. Who fans and collections of Christmas specials from “Keeping Up Appearances” and “Are You Being Served?”  NPR listeners will appreciate the compilations and extras from This American Life , The Moth, and Car Talk.

There are some spectacular art books about animated films the whole family will enjoy, like The Art of Pixar: 25th Anniversary.: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation, The Art of Brave, The Art of Rise of the Guardians, The Art of Wreck-It Ralph, The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania, The Art and Making of ParaNorman, and Frankenweenie: The Visual Companion. The Making of Life of Pi: A Film, a Journey is as gorgeous as the film itself. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Design documents and illustrates the making of the first of the three-part prequel to the “Lord of the Rings.”