Adam-12: The Final Season (1974 – 1975/Shout! Factory DVD)/The Commander: Set 2 (2007 – 2008/Acorn DVD Set)/Murdoch Mysteries: Series One (2008/Acorn Media Blu-ray)/Sharpe’s Rifles & Eagle (1994, 1995/BFS Blu-ray)/21 Jump Street: 21 Best Episodes (Mill Creek DVD)

 

Picture: C+/C/B/B-/C     Sound: C+/C+/C+/B-/C+     Extras: D (Murdoch: C)     Episodes: C/C/C+/B-/C+

 

 

Next up is a set of mostly classic TV, including a few nice Blu-ray upgrades fans will appreciate…

 

 

The most successful off-shoot of the Dragnet empire, Adam-12: The Final Season (1974 – 1975) made it seven seasons and this just might have been one too many.  Sure, the show is good and professionally done, but this last set of 24 shows (over 4 DVDs) has the leads looking a little tired and the formula and weekly TV grind finally taking its toll.  We have covered almost all of the seasons reviewed elsewhere on this site on DVD, plus I remember when they used to run this show in reruns to no end on top of seeing it at the tail end of its original run, so you get the idea.  Still, that makes it one of the most successful cop shows to that time and one that joined the original Mod Squad and The Rookies as part of a new generation of such shows with younger characters.

 

In all this, you would think we would finally get some extras, but there are sadly none here.  Where is the backstory, interviews, vintage previews, audio commentaries or trivia?  Maybe if they ever do Blu-ray versions, we’ll finally see some.

 

 

The Commander: Set 2 (2007 – 2008) follows the first season of the series created by Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante, but since I took in the debut season, I have had the chance to enjoy her much better Above Suspicion series also from Acorn reviewed elsewhere on this site.  Here is the link to the Set One DVD release:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7764/The+Commander+%E2%80%93+Set

 

 

The show did not get better, but did not get worse, playing like another typical police procedural though Amanda Burton gets more into the role developing it as she goes along with the teleplays as expected.  The four cases this time are The Devil You Know, Fraudster, Windows Of The Soul and Abduction.  I would still start with the first set if you take on the series, but otherwise, recommend Above Suspicion even more.  Text is the only extra including la Plante case intros and her bio, plus bio and filmography on Burton.

 

Somewhat better, Murdoch Mysteries: Series One (2008) has now been issued on Blu-ray and it is an upgrade over the DVD version we covered at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8650/The+Murdoch+Mysteries+%E2%80%9

 

It also joins Series Three as another Blu-ray set of the show as we reviewed here:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10919/Murdoch+Mysteries+%E2%80%93+S

 

I thought Series One on Blu-ray was much more pleasant and enjoyable to watch than the DVD version and I will explain in the technical section shortly.

 

 

Even more impressive for a TV on Blu-ray upgrade from TV on DVD comes Sharpe’s Rifles & Eagle (1994, 1995), part of a bunch of classic adventures with the Sean Bean character BFS is issuing on Blu-ray.  On DVD, it is the most successful title they have ever issued and you can find out more about the show at these links:

 

BFS DVD versions of these titles with others

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/565/Sharpe%27s+Rifles/Eagle/Company/Ene

 

Challenge + Pearl BBC Blu-rays of the new revival installments

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9807/Sharpe%E2%80%99s+Challenge+(200

 

These are the first two adventures and not only hold up well enough, but yet again look and even sound better than the DVDs ever did, but I will again save the rest of my complements for the technical section.

 

Finally, we have 21 Jump Street: 21 Best Episodes, a 3 DVD set from Mill Creek that whittles down their Complete Series set as reviewed at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10249/21+Jump+Street+%E2%80%93+The

 

Needless to say this is to tie in with the hit motion picture remake that just arrived in theaters.  My biggest complaint is that it has almost the same cover as that Complete Series set and that is very unfair top customers.  Otherwise, it too has no extras and unless you only want to see a few shows, get the whole set or wait to see if Mill Creek does a Blu-ray set as they have started to with That 70s Show.

 

 

The 1.33 X 1 image on Adam can vary, but the transfers are better overall and look better than the newer TV on DVD productions on the list, which are the soft 1.33 X 1 on Jump and softer-than-it-should be anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 on Commander.

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Murdoch is a nice improvement over the DVD version with less motion blur, better color and a consistently warmer image, while the same configuration for the two Sharpe’s Blu-rays may not be as consistent (some footage looks down a generation versus the best shots), this is more of an improvement over the older BFS DVDs than you would expect.  Also, though the DVDs were 1.33 X 1, these look just fine widescreen and go well with the newer BBC Blu-rays.

 

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless on Sharpe’s is still simple, but a little warmer and fuller than any of the BFS DVDs we covered, while the Murdoch set says it is PCM 2.0 Stereo, but is actually lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo like its DVD counterpart.  The same sound type can be found on all the DVDs here, save Dolby 2.0 Mono on Adam, but they are equal in sonic performance just the same.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo