Breaking Bad – The Complete Third Season (2010/Sony Blu-ray Set) + The FBI – Season One, Part One (1965/Warner Archive DVD Set) + Southland – The Complete Second Season:
Uncensored (2009/Warner Archive DVD Set) + Supernatural – The Complete Second Season (2006/Warner Blu-ray Set)
Picture: B-/C/C+/B- Sound: B/C+/B-/B- Extras: C+/D/C+/C Episodes: C+/B/B-/C
PLEASE NOTE: FBI and Southland are
only available from Warner Bros. in their Warner Archive series and can be
ordered from the link below.
There was
a time not that long ago when the idea of a TV show from cable was considered a
joke and the show was something just thrown together no one would
remember. The Ace Awards remind us of
this and it was pay cable that slowly changed that. Now we have shows we compare as easily to
broadcast network shows without giving it a second thought. Here are three such shows with one older
classic.
First up
is Breaking Bad – The Complete Third
Season (2010) which is a show that you will either like…
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9966/Breaking+Bad+%E2%80%93+The+Co
… (those
are the first two seasons on Blu-ray) or you will not…
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8245/Breaking+Bad+-+The+Complete+First
(that is
my coverage of the First Season on
DVD). Yet, the show is still running and
has a fan base like Weeds. The storyline has become more developed and
the show has become a little better since it has found its way in ways I was
not expecting, but that still does not make me a fan. However, that is still a surprise and someone
starting at the beginning will (in a rare development) have more to look
forward to than not. I will not reveal
any new developments, but you can read all about the show in the previous
coverage.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image has some motion blur and is somewhat
stylized down to go with the show’s approach, but looks as good as it is going
to look here and the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is the biggest
surprise of all with a strong, rich, full, warm soundfield that shames many
feature films. The 10 hours of extras
include Blu-ray exclusive BD Live interactivity including the Breaking Bad Family Photo Album, 7
making of featurettes, Mini Podcasts connected to the show, Better Call Saul commercials &
Testimonies, Gag Reel, 20 episodes of Inside
Breaking Bad, 3 Uncensored Episodes, 9 cast/crew audio commentaries,
Deleted Scenes and Unused Footage. A
nice set of extras indeed.
Quinn
Martin was on a rile with The Fugitive when they started working with Warner
Bros. on some of their series and one early hit was an early version of what we
might now call a police procedural. The FBI – Season One, Part One (1965)
was much like Dragnet (which was
soon revived after this became a hit, reviewed elsewhere on this site) in that
it was based on real crime cases. Efrem
Zimbalist Jr. plays Inspector Lewis Erskine, heading up a unit that tends to
deal with going after known criminals and we now know that W. Mark Felt (who
much later turned out to be the infamous Deep Throat of the Watergate scandal,
et al) was one of the show’s technical advisors!
Not seen
much in many years, even after a brief revival, it suffered an undeserved fate
by being pushed aside in the wake of the 1970s and was never deeply
syndicated. That’s a shame because the
show has its moments, is formatted like The
Fugitive or The Invaders and is
as well written as any of its counterparts then or now. It also has narration like those show sand The Untouchables, yet thanks to its
cast and solid approach is its own show.
The first 12 hour-long episodes of the first half of this debut season
are here over 4 DVDs.
Guest
cast includes Jeffrey Hunter, Estelle Winwood, Dina Merrill, Brett Sommers, Jack
Klugman, Robert Blake, Noam Pitlik, R.G. Armstrong, Alejandro Rey, Iron Eyes
Cody, Dabney Coleman, Harold Gould, Oscar Beregi Jr., Eileen Heckart, James
Gregory, Jill Haworth, Peter Mark Richmond, Bert Remsen, Susan Oliver, Barry
Russo, Perry Lopez, Ken Lynch, Robert Duvall, Burt Reynolds, Norman Fell, James
Farentino, Wesley Addy, Beau Bridges, Ted Knight, Paul Mantee, Parley Baer and
Vic Perrin. Philip Abbott. Stephen
Brooks, Lynn Loring, Lee Meriwether and William Reynolds also star.
The 1.33
X 1 image comes from prints that are in pretty good shape, but some shots can
look off-color, the prints may be discolored or slightly faded in a few parts
and we get more than a few aliasing errors throughout, holding back the
picture. When it looks good though, it
looks really good and as good as later Quinn Martin DVD sets CBS is issuing. These discs are DVD-Rs, which might be
causing some trouble, but this is a show that deserves later Blu-ray release
and could get it if these sell well like they ought to. The Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono is even better and
cleaner throughout, showing how well recorded the QM Productions were for their
time. There are no extras.
The new
show I like the most on this list is back.
Southland – The Complete Second
Season: Uncensored (2009) continues the well-acted, written and well
developed stories of the police dealing with serious situations of a specific
LAPD unit and you can read about the show at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9505/Southland+%E2%80%93+The+Comple
The show
continues to do well and continues to work, though the weekly TV grind has
caught up with it a little bit, it remains the best new show on the list and
deserves a larger audience than it has found.
I recommend you get both seasons and watch the whole series and I bet you’ll
agree.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is styled down much
like Breaking Bad, but it does nor
take away from the show much and these DVD-Rs look as good as the previous DVD
set. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix
has healthy Pro Logic surrounds and actually sounds a little better than the
previous season DVD set, making me wish both would hit Blu-ray. Extras include unaired scenes, Backing The Badge scene specific audio
commentary and featurette A Crime Tour:
Southland’s Crime Map – Revisiting Shooting Locations.
Finally
we have Supernatural – The Complete
Second Season (2006), which I have already reviewed on DVD. It too is a show you either like or not. Here is our coverage of the show so far on
home video:
One Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10025/Supernatural+%E2%80%93+The+Co
Two DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5931/Supernatural+-+The+Complete+Secon
Three Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7931/Supernatural+%E2%80%93+The+Com
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7498/Supernatural+%E2%80%93+The+Com
Four Blu-ray + DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8972/Supernatural+%E2%80%93+The+Com
Five Blu-ray + DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10361/Supernatural+%E2%80%93+The+Co
This is
almost the same set as the DVD version down to the same lossy soundtrack (and a
new extra), but the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image brings out
more of the 35mm film shoot than the DVD set ever could hope to, even with the
manipulated images here. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is the same as noted, but has some good surrounds in the mix at
times. We not only get the same extras
as that previous DVD set, but a new interactive The Devil’s Road Map that offers =urban legends and factoids
relating to all 22 episodes in this set.
At least fans will be pleased.
To order The FBI, go to this link:
http://bit.ly/WAC_FBI
You can also order the new set of Southland or the previous season linked
above by putting the title in the search engine and choosing to order either or
both. You might even find Supernatural there.
-
Nicholas Sheffo