Where have all the Darias gone?

An article at the Paris Review's blog raises that question. Watching the late-'90s MTV series 'Daria,' released on DVD in its entirety a couple months ago, author Marisa Meltzer laments that characters like Daria Morgendorffer -- smart, snarky, self-assured teenage girls -- were once prevalent on TV (Darlene Conner of 'Roseanne' and Angela Chase of 'My So-Called Life' were her contemporaries) but now have all but disappeared from the tube.

Today's TV teen girls, on series like '90210' or 'Gossip Girl' or MTV's reality shows, are just bubbleheads obsessed with sex, status, and shopping.

But it's not true that there are no more Darias on TV; in fact, they never left, even if there were only a handful of lonely torchbearers between then and now (such as Lindsay on 'Freaks and Geeks,' Claire on 'Six Feed Under,' or Veronica Mars). They may not be all over primetime network TV, but they're there. Still looking for them, and seeing how the Daria type has evolved and become more inclusive over the last decade, prompts some interesting questions about how teen girls have been portrayed on TV, then and now.

Before there was 'Parenthood,' there was 'thirtysomething,' and before it was cool to be uncool on 'Glee,' TV fans had MTV's hilarious animated series, 'Daria.' Both shows hit DVD shelves tomorrow -- exciting news, especially for 'Daria' fans, since the show has yet to be released on DVD until now. We think even Daria herself would smile over this eight-disc edition.

Check out the rest of this week's hot DVD releases below:

'Daria' - The Complete Animated Series
'Deadliest Warrior' - Season 1
'The Famous Adverntures of Mr. Magoo' - Mr. Magoo in Sherwood Forest
'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' - Complete Fifth Season
'My Wife & Kids' - Season 2
'Raising the Bar' - The Complete Second Season
'thirtysomething' - The Complete 3rd Season

If 'Glee' has you yearning for more song-and-dance routines on TV, hold onto your (top) hats! From April 29 to May 5, Fox is turning several of its shows into musicals, including 'Bones,' 'House,' 'The Simpsons,' even 'Fringe.' On May 2, 'Family Guy' will celebrate its 150th episode with an extended episode featuring new and familiar musical numbers. Suffice to say the shows should be a blast, for both us and the actors.

Of course, TV aficionados know this is nothing new. Shows like 'Ally McBeal,' 'Eli Stone,' and 'SpongeBob SquarePants' have featured musical numbers regularly, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention 'Viva Laughlin' and 'Cop Rock' (even though the latter was declared by TV Guide to be one of the worst shows ever, ouch!). In fact, we can trace the trend back to classic episodes like Bugs Bunny's 'The Rabbit of Seville' and 'What's Opera, Doc?'

With her patented cynical one-liners and black, round-shaped glasses, Daria Morgendorffer of MTV's cult animated show 'Daria' was the prototypical, overly smart teenage outsider.

On air for a total of five seasons from 1997-2001, 'Daria,' a program that lifted the veil of high school phoniness, provided a niche for all the sarcasm-spewing teens out there.

So we're quite delighted with the news that our favorite irony-loving teenager will soon be coming to DVD

The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in TV Squad's APB Podcast.

To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them to asktvsquad@gmail.com.

This week, I answer questions about TV shows on DVD.

Calling all 'True Blood' fans: Get exclusive spoilers on upcoming episodes [Ausiello Files]

One writer is already predicting 'Project Runway''s top 3. Find out which contestants have the winning looks -- literally [PopWatch]

Hungry for more 'Top Chef'? Meet the season 6 contestants [SF Gate]

(more fun finds after the jump)

Thank the late-90s gods for the existence of Daria and praise be to the supernatural entities responsible for DVDs. For the first time ever, Daria will be available on DVD.

We feared it couldn't be done, but it's going to happen! I can hear sour-faced now-20-somethings celebrating now. Yes, they're quiet, but they're definitely excited. Keep it cool, guys, keep it cool.

Yesterday, PopWatch broke what may be the most exciting DVD news since, well, ever: 'Ally McBeal' is finally coming to DVD.

Both a first season and a complete series edition of the Emmy-winning comedy, which premiered on Fox in 1997, are scheduled for a release date yet to be determined.

But while we're more than willing to shell out 130 bucks for the complete series, the news only reminded us of other shows that are still awaiting the proper DVD treatment.

So listen up, studios: Here are seven TV shows we're dying to see on DVD.

Beverly Hills, 90210 ... 21 Jump Street ... The Facts of Life ... see where they rank on our list.

The bad news? Summer's almost over and it's nearly time for school again.

The good news? We've got just the thing to ease you into back-to-school mode: Our countdown of TV's 21 best school shows ever.

So sharpen your No. 2 pencil and dive in to see which series just make the grade and which ones are at the top of the class.

Despite the fact that I'm part of MTV's target demographic, I don't really watch the network. I only tune in as I'm getting dressed in the early morning and MTV's running its morning music video block. For the rest of the day, MTV seems to avoid actually playing full music videos like the plague. Instead, they fill their programming schedule with awful reality shows about spoiled pre-teens and dating shows so depressing that contestants are even willing to pee all over themselves to get out.

Now, please allow me to frolic about in my own fantasy world, in which I create my idea of MTV's perfect programming schedule. There are only five -- FIVE -- MTV shows that I would keep. That's right. Everything else should be full-on music videos. In my own MTV, there will be no Laguna Beach, no Pimp My Ride, and certainly no Yo Momma (how did they manage to pitch that?!)

As we've mentioned already, MTV is celebrating its 25th Anniversary today, and everyone of a certain age remembers what it was like when the music network debuted. I was just about to start my junior year in high school, and I remember the day it premiered very well. Here are my favorite MTV memories (mostly from the first 15-18 years, since I haven't really watched it in the past 5-7 years).

1. Live Aid. I was working a double shift at a pizza place in July of '85, but we had a large screen television in the dining room and we had this on all day. It was a pretty amazing day actually. Giant charity concerts are a regular thing now, but back then, getting dozens and dozens of top pop stars to play on one day on two continents, that was something special.