Saturday, March 14, 2009
Blog DVD Review: JAG - The 8th Season (March 17)
JAG - The Eighth Season (CBS, $55.98) is coming to DVD for the first time on March 17th -- St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day is pretty much entirely unrelated to the series, but as a fan of the holiday I thought it deserved mention. Anywho, this long running Donald Bellisario classic has nearly completed its run on DVD -- this season is the show's 8th, from the 2002-03 TV season; we're in the home stretch!
My attention from the series had well already drifted by this point in the run, but a couple of episodes piqued my interest. At some point in the season, word got out that a backdoor pilot was being tried, and depending on how it played out it may well develop into a series. As a fan of backdoor pilots I was naturally curious to see what would occur. What resulted was a two-part episode that led the way to one of my favorite series, and based on the ratings, one of yours too: NCIS. The two-part episode "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" serves as an introduction to the NCIS team, albeit one somewhat different from what you see now. The Kate character had yet to be introduced, but the episode features the rest of the season one cast -- everyone from Mark Harmon (Lt. Leroy "Jethro" Gibbs) to David McCallum (the inimitable "Ducky") to Pauley Perrette (Abby). If you like NCIS, you need to own this set, period. The season also features appearances by Quantum Leap alum Dean Stockwell in a recurring role, Gavin MacLeod, and political commentator Bill O'Reilly.
Moving to the technical side, packaging is, still VERY thankfully, the traditional outer box and slim cases; they haven't gotten around to tinkering with this one yet. Many CBS DVD titles are moving to those horrible translucent plastic cases with the fragile disc holders. Luckily, the slimcases-in-box setup is the ideal arrangement for sets with, say, 5+ discs -- so hour-long dramas such as JAG stand the best chance of continuing to use this preferred packaging type. I know I have a tendency to repeat myself in regards to this packaging thing, but those fragile plastic cases annoy me about as much as DVD packaging can be considered annoying. Cover art is a continuation of the patriotic theme, with the background color this season being purple.
Menus, while nothing to write home about, are certainly functional and effective. As the episodes are from the HD era, video is sharp and well-defined, with few video issues. Audio is an adequate English stereo track. I was really hoping for a move towards surround audio, but you take what you can get and the stereo track is a workhorse. Runtimes are in the mid 40's, a proper time for shows from the era. The episode edits disclaimer appears, but you should be used to that by now. It's the nature of the beast. There are no special features on this set.
If you like JAG, OR NCIS, you need this DVD set as part of your collection, and I highly recommend it. For those of you unsure of the series, I know the Sleuth channel is giving it heavy airplay ever since they ripped Miami Vice and other series off the schedule, and for those without the channel you can catch it mornings on USA. Recommended.
-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, February 13
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A House Divided" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Audrey and Mary go to war over CeeCee and Georgie, and Mandy can’t help but take sides. Young Sheldon stars Zoe Perry and Matt Hobby guest star as Mary and Pastor Jeff, respectively.
Ghosts - "It’s the End of the World as We Know It and What Were We Talking About?" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Flower interferes with the opening of Jay’s restaurant based on a prophecy from her old cult leader.
Animal Control - "Buffalo and Beavers" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank's ongoing prank war with Templeton reaches new heights; Victoria intervenes when Emily tries to get closer on her relationship with Rick; Patel's job as interim supervisor goes sideways.
Going Dutch - "When You Wish Upon a Star" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Gen. Davidson arrives at Stroopsdorf to receive his second star; the colonel eagerly desires a promotion and needs Capt. Quinn's help to charm Gen. King; Maj. Shah dips his toes back into the dating pool.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 10)
Thursday, February 13
- Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Catch Tom on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Vanessa Lachey (Truth Be Told/Dads) - E! News has interviews with Vanessa and Nick Lachey at 11pm on E!.
- Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal) - Anthony talks about Captain America: Brave New World on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Monica Barbaro (FUBAR) - Monica chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Yvette Nicole Brown (Act Your Age/The Odd Couple/Community/The Big House) - Yvette sits down for an EXCLUSIVE conversation about her journey to the altar with her longtime friend, actor Tony Davis, who joins her later on in the show on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie will be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris tells Sherri about the new season of Watson on CBS on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Gabriel Iglesias (The Santa Clauses/Mr. Iglesias/Cristela) - Gabriel talks about A&E's WWE Rivals on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
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