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Top Picks: 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' on DVD, Lake Street Dive's album 'Bad Self Portraits,' and more

Acorn TV's Web-streaming service offers top British shows, the CBS program 'Summer Dreams' takes viewers inside the high-stakes National Basketball Association summer league, and more.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire DVD
Lake Street Dive’s third album, Bad Self Portraits
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NASA
Live From Space
  • By Staff

NBA hopefuls

The CBS program Summer Dreams takes viewers inside the National Basketball Association’s summer league, in which players, aspiring coaches, and rising referees alike must prove themselves. Draft picks and unsigned hopefuls must try to impress the NBA higher-ups who attend. “Every move you make can determine whether you have a career in the NBA or you don’t,” Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated says of the summer league. “Summer Dreams” airs on March 15.

Let the games begin!

“Hunger Games” heroine Katniss Everdeen returns in the second installment in the film series, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – and this movie is even better than the first. Soon after their victory in the deadly games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and her friend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are forced to go back for a champions’ face-off. Stanley Tucci reprises his role as a creepy TV host. “Catching Fire” arrives on DVD and Blu-ray March 7.

Space watch

National Geographic takes us inside the International Space Station with Live From Space, which airs March 14 at 8 p.m. ET  (5 p.m. PT). Audiences will see astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata in real time aboard the ISS. Soledad O’Brien hosts the program from Houston with astronaut Mike Massimino. Viewers can ask the astronauts a question beforehand or say hello by submitting a photo or video using Instagram. Learn more at www.livefromspace.com.

TV with an accent

If you are a fan of British TV (why do all the best shows seem to originate on the other side of the pond?) you can binge-watch to your heart’s content on Acorn TV. This Web-streaming service offers top series from across the Commonwealth, such as “Jack Irish: Dead Point” (Australia, starring Guy Pearce), “Slings  & Arrows” (Canada), and “Inspector George Gently” (Britain). Check out these and other shows at www.Acorn.TV. The subscription cost is $5 a month; the first month is free.

Buzz band

There will be bigger selling albums in 2014, but Lake Street Dive’s third album, Bad Self Portraits, should clean up come Grammy time. The Boston-bred quartet has concocted an irresistible soul/pop sound built around the jazzy, funky vocals of a star in the making, Rachael Price, that will have you dancing and swooning and singing along to the album’s 11 original tunes. Check out the band’s many YouTube videos online and you’ll be raving, too.

R&B tribute

In March, PBS celebrates the boomer rocker in all of us with its “Great Performances” special The Dukes of September. Three rock legends – Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers), Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), and Boz Scaggs – come together to celebrate the R&B music that inspired them and their own storied chart-topping musical history. This performance was taped live at Lincoln Center in New York. Check local listings for airing dates in your area

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