Today’s Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon is The Wire: The Complete Series for $89.99 (that’s 64% off the list price of $249.99).

This DVD box set collection, which was released last December, contains the entire HBO series on 23 discs and includes bonus features from all five seasons, including audio commentaries by cast and crew; three prequels explore life before The Wire; and never-before-seen gag reel.

This sale is only for today (June 3, 2010) until midnight PST while supplies last.

Sad news coming out of New Orleans today. Screenwriter David Mills has died at the young age of 48 after suffering a brain aneurysm on the set of his latest show.

Mills was on the set of Treme, the new drama set to debut on HBO April 11, when he suddenly collapsed in the middle of a conversation, said a member of the cast.

The talented writer and producer had been part of an impressive amount of different shows over the years. He started in the world of journalism, writing for The Washington Post before jumping over to the world of screenwriting. His earlier works involved story editing for the show Picket Fences, but it was not long after that he found himself in the big leagues as a writer. Mills started off scripting 9 episodes of the popular cop drama NYPD Blue. After that, he moved on to pen 3 episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and 4 episodes of the medical hit ER.

HBO has been busy setting up their future in television lately.

The network recently ordered an entire season of the highly-buzzed about adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series called Game of Thrones, and just this week they debuted their new Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks produced World War II drama, The Pacific. To go along with these things, they’re also preparing the return of their most popular show ever, and the debuts of future series.

HBO has announced that their ultra-popular series True Blood has an official start date for Season 3. The show, which is about vampires who live amongst us and is set mostly in the deep Louisiana South, will return to the air on June 13, 2010.

Continue on over to the other side for more on HBO’s upcoming new shows and to see their trailers.

There’s only two more full shopping days til Christmas and only one if you’re ordering online. You can still get a delivery by Christmas Eve if you order at Amazon and select One-Day Shipping (Prime members pay only $3.99). Also, order online by 3pm local time on December 24 for In-Store Pick-Up at Best Buy.

See below for more information on cutoff dates and last-minute gift deals, as well as links to our five-part 2009 Holiday Geek Gift Guide.

Last-Minute Deals

Amazon

• Today’s Gold Box Deal of the Day: The King of Queens – The Complete Series DVD box set for only $89.99 (that’s 61% off the list price of $232.95).
• Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection Blu-ray for $59.99 (First six movies with original cast – The Motion Picture / The Wrath of Khan / The Search for Spock / The Voyage Home / The Final Frontier / plus Captains Summit Bonus Disc)
• Harry Potter Years 1-5 Blu-ray for $54.99. (First five Harry Potter movies.)
• The Wire: The Complete Series for $89.99. [Same deal at Best Buy – thanks to all for the heads up on this.]
• Lost: Buy Lost: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray and get up to $20 off any of the previous seasons.
• Rome: The Complete Series DVD ($42.49 or Blu-ray set ($64.99) [Same deal at Best Buy.]
• Kindle – FREE One-Day Shipping to arrive before Christmas.
• Remember, if all else fails, there’s also the Amazon.com Gift Card you can have emailed to the recipient (arrives immediately) or you can print out the gift card at home and give it to the intended that way.

Today’s Gold Box spotlight deal over at Amazon is The Wire: The Complete Series for $81.99 (down 67% from $249.99). This DVD boxset, which was released last December, contains the entire HBO series on 23 discs.

Here are some other deals:

— 50% Off Boxed Set Sale: Get 50% off select DVD Box Sets like X-Men trilogy ($18.99), Planet of the Apes – The Legacy Collection ($29.99), Home Alone: The Complete Collection ($21.99), Revenge of the Nerds: The Atomic Wedgie Collection$14.99 (I need this one!), The Complete Omen Collection ($21.99). Sale ends February 2, 2009.

— 50% Off DVDs: Get 50% off on select DVDs like The Terminator ($8.99), I, Robot ($8.99), Fantastic Four – Rise of the Silver Surfer ($10.99), Edward Scissorhands ($8.99), Enemy Mine ($5.99), Robocop ($11.49), and many more (five pages’ worth). Sales ends January 26, 2009.