Saturday, October 21, 2006

Mini-DVD Review: C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 31)

We brought you a review of C.S.I.: New York last week. Today we travel south to sunny Miami for C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season. C.S.I.: Miami stars David Caruso, Emily Procter, Adam Rodriquez, Khandi Alexander, Jonathan Tigo, Rex Linn, and Eva LaRue. Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD will release this set on October 31st.

C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season

C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD, $64.99)

Join lead criminalist Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and his state-of-the-art forensics team as they investigate hot and steamy Miami crimes using cold hard facts. The CSI: Miami Season 4 Complete DVD Collection features 25 episodes of riveting and shocking mysteries. The evidence leads into seedy nightclubs, privileged suburbs and explosive family secrets. The stakes are higher than ever before, because this time it's personal.

My Review: C.S.I.: Miami is my second favorite series in the C.S.I. franchise. This show has gone through more cast changes than the others. The Miami location is probably the best setting. There are more personal character arcs this season, which made the show more interesting.

This 7-disc set contains all 25 episodes of the fourth (2005-06) season. The episodes are featured in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. It has a running time of 18 hours, 10 minutes. The attractive packaging features a photo of the 5 main cast members. The overall color theme of this set is orange and yellow, just like they use on the show. The inside case is in a book format that you can flip through to get to the discs. Each disc features a different photo of one of the cast members or the Miami skyline. The menus are also very stylish and easy to navigate. They have a montage a video clips, with some instrumental music playing in the background. Options are available for Episode Selection, Set Up, Previews (only on Disc 1), and Special Features. On the Set Up menu, you can choose either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Spanish 2.0 Surround. Closed captioning is availble for all of the episodes. As you would expect from such a recent show, the video and audio quality is outstanding.

There is an impressive amount and variety of special features included. There are 6 audio commentaries available on the first three discs. Writer Elizabeth Devine, Director Karen Gaviola, and Department Head of Makeup and Special Makeup Effects Cheri Montesanto-Medcalf provide commentary for "From the Grave." Writer Corey Miller and Director Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Prey." Executive Producer Anthony E. Zuiker, Writer Elizabeth Devine, and Director Scott Lautanen give their comments on "Felony Flight." Producer Don Tardino, Director Matt Earl Beesly, and Director of Photography Eagle Egilsson provide the commentary for "Urban Hellraisers." Writer Ildy Madrovich and Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Shattered." Writer Marc Dube and Director Sam Hill offer their thoughts on "Payback."

There are three entertaining and interesting featurettes on the creating of episodes that add up to around 45 minutes. "Creating Feature Television: The Concept, Script and Pre-Production of CSI: Miami" (18:58) features interviews with Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Co-Producer/Writer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Story Editor Corey Miller, Story Editor John Haynes, Supervising Producer Sunil Nayer, Co-Executive Producer Elizabeth Devine, Supervising Producer Barry O'Brien, Researcher Brad Iten, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Director Eagle Egilsson, Production Designer Fred Andrews, Art Director Roland Rosenkranz, Costume Designer Andrea Federman, and Locations Manager Brian O'Neill. They talk about how they come up with the basic story ideas, how the characters are developed, how they do research on cases and specific terms, writing and editing the script, the production and costume design, and location shooting. "Producing Feature Television: The Production of CSI: Miami" (13:54) has interviews with Co-Producer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Unit Production Manager Sam Hill, Director Eagle Egilsson, Actor Eva LaRue, Actor Emily Procter, Actor Adam Rodriguez, Locations Manager Brian O'Neill, Visual Effects Supervisor Larry Detwiler, Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Leone, Associate Producer Eric Mirich, and Second Unit Assistant Director Natalie Van Doren. They talk about how they have a lot of meetings, new director Eagle Egilsson, how they created the spa in a home, and the visual effects for the chop shop scenes. "Finishing Feature Television: The Post-Production of CSI: Miami" (11:04) includes intervews with Supervising Producer Gina Lamar, Editor Mark C. Baldwin, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Associate Producer Melissa Black, Supervising Sound Editor Tim Kimmel, Composers Kevin Kiner and Jeff Cardoni, and Foley Artists Joe Sabella. They talk about finishing the episodes after the principal photography has been completed. This includes the editing, looping, adding music, and foley sound effects.

Overall, this is another very nicely put together set. All of the C.S.I. sets seem to be similar and follow the same format. The special features added a lot to my knowledge of the show. So many people are involved with making an episode, and it seems like a time-consuming process. CSI: Miami is now the #1 show on Monday nights and the most-watched U.S. series around the world. My only disappointment with this set is that they didn't include the second part of the CSI Miam/NY cross-over episode. You'll have to buy
C.SI: NY - The Complete Second Season to see that one.

-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller
(4.5/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
CSI: Miami CBS.com Official Site
CSI: Miami TV.com Page


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, March 29

Ghosts - "The Traveling Agent" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Pete discovers a power that he never knew he had – one that brings him closer to his buddy Jay (and further apart).

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 24)

Friday, March 28

  • Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones/The Unicorn/Vice Principals) - Watch Walton on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Mike Epps (The Upshaws/Uncle Buck/Survivor's Remorse) - Mike is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building/Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) and Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Nathan and Matt talk about Mid-Century Modern on ABC's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone) - Natasha appeas on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • John Hodgman (Up Here/Married) - John is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am (delayed ET/CT due to NCAA basketball coverage) on CBS.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) and Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Nathan and Matt talk about Mid-Century Modern on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared), Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents), Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) and Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) - Seth, Kathryn, Ike and Chase talk about The Studio on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul talks about Death of a Unicorn on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • Keshia Knight Pulliam (Tyler Perry's House of Payne/The Cosby Show) - NBC's Today catches up with Keshia in the 9am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/CafĂ© Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross to cover the latest news on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Connie Britton (SMILF/Lost at Home/The Fighting Fitzgeralds/Spin City) - Connie is telling Drew about her upcoming movie The Life List on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Beth Behrs (The Neighborhood/2 Broke Girls) - Beth is telling Drew about the latest season of the hit show The Neighborhood on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea talks about Netflix's Chelsea Handler: The Feeling on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Joanna Gleason (Bette/Oh Baby/Love & War/Hello, Larry) - Joanna talks about We Had a World on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.


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