Just because two TV series are on the same channel doesn’t mean they have much in common. Even so, Showtime’s back-to-back DVD and Blu-ray releases of Weeds: Season Seven and Nurse Jackie: Season Three go hand in hand.

When we last left Weeds protagonist Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), she was finally reaping what she had sown. After serving three years of a prison sentence, the doe-eyed soccer mom turned dope dealer is back in the normal world, paroled and living in a New York City halfway house. A lot has changed in her life, but she’s just as apt at getting into trouble as ever. It doesn’t take long for sons Shane and Silas (Alexander Gould, Hunter Parrish), brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk), and tagalong friend Doug (Kevin Nealon) to leave their Denmark hideaway and meet up with Nancy in the Big Apple — and once they do, the old gang has a whole new place in which to set up shop. Traveling down the straight and narrow path was already an impossibility, but as Nancy attempts to regain custody of her toddler son, old associates and new enemies alike ensure she and her crew won’t be going legit anytime soon. Even so, trouble could come from within the group.

Parker has always been strong playing the part of the reluctant criminal matriarch, but seeing Nancy don designer shades, sip from an iced coffee drink and gab on a cell phone, takes us all the way back to the early days when her dealing in pot was just a small-time business she was able to keep secret from her family and friends — so much for the good ol’ days. With her progeny fully ensconced in the crime world, it’s all she can do to keep Shane and Silas out of trouble. Gould is all grown up as sneaky Shane, grateful to his mom for keeping him out of jail for his past transgressions and running interference with the NYPD as a thank-you, on top of scamming the local banks out of thousands in student loans for college. Parrish, now buff, brunette and modeling, is no longer a boy and refuses to be considered anything less than a full partner, causing more than a little friction with Nancy. Kirk is just as enjoyable as ever as earnest Andy, whose plans for running an ecologically friendly bike shop conflict with courting an unhinged performance artist (Lindsay Sloane), and her dying husband (David Clennon); nothing out of the ordinary for him, to be sure. Nealon, always hilarious as classic fuck-up Doug, hits the big time when the aimless accountant lands a cushy job on Wall Street, picking up a nasty case of ‘roid rage as the firm’s softball ringer.

Even as dimwitted as Doug is, it doesn’t take long for him to come across a discrepancy in his new employer’s books, adding the SEC to the list of agencies — DEA, FBI — on the lookout for the Botwins and company. The stakes have never been higher for this clan, and after the letdown of season six which found them on the lam, it’s good to see them putting down roots. Familiar faces like Jennifer Jason Leigh as Nancy’s bitchy, unhappy sister Jill, Andy Milder as old buddy Dean, and Tonye Patano as fiercely independent weed-cultivator Heylia are joined by Martin Short, Aidan Quinn, and Michelle Trachtenberg as friendly and not-so-friendly colleagues.

While this may not be the best season of the show — and the finale may have some saying they’ve jumped the shark — Weeds DVDs are always worth the purchase. Standards such as a gag reel, deleted scenes, and commentary are accompanied by the cast-specific features “Growing Up in the Weeds with Alexander Gould,” “Guru Andy’s Tricks of the Trade” and “Puff Puff Pass,” an insightful interview with Kirk and Nealon. In other words, Weeds: Season Seven is smoking hot.

Season rating: 3 out of 4 stars

DVD rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

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