Eliasberg, Jan

Crime Story - Season Two

When the first season of Crime Story ended spectacularly in the Nevada desert, it was anyone's guess what season 2 would do for an encore. With low first-season ratings and conservative watchdogs complaining about its violence, the show received a surprise renewal that necessitated the "miraculous" return of mob-boss Ray Luca (Anthony Denison) and his dimwit sidekick Pauli Taglia (played by former Chicago burglar John Santucci). Moving from 10:00 p.m. Fridays to a new 10:00 p.m. Tuesday-night timeslot on NBC, the Michael Mann-produced series continued its ratings decline, and this lent the series a giddy, go-for-broke quality that held plenty of surprises. The year is 1966, and Chicago Police Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and his close-knit Major Crimes Unit continues to track Luca's criminal activities in Las Vegas, where additional complications fueled a number of dynamic, stand-alone episodes, beginning with season opener "The Senator, the Movie Star and the Mob," guest-starring Kevin Spacey (in his first major TV role) and Jenny Wright (Near Dark) in a sordid, mob-connected plot with obvious parallels to Bobby Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. This established the neon-lit, casino-and-nightclub milieu of the season, and Luca's reappearance set the season in volatile motion.

The series' daring, pulp-fictional style attracted an impressive array of guests stars and newcomers, some of whom (like 24's Dennis Haysbert) would later appear in Michael Mann's films. Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) reprises his role as burglar-turned-rocker Frank Holman; Margaret Avery (The Color Purple) and NYPD Blue's James McDaniel are superb in the racial-tension plot of "Seize the Time"; Laura San Giacomo (sex, lies, and videotape) aces her role as Luca's former flame in "Protected Witness"; and Elias Koteas delivers a fine performance in "Roadrunner," an exciting road-thriller episode that showcases Farina's skill with hardboiled comedy. (For the record, other noteworthy guest stars include Pam Grier, David Hyde Pierce, Billy Zane, David Soul, Steven Weber, Michael Jeter, and recurring performances by Andrew Dice Clay and Rolling Stone editor Jann S. Wenner.) "Pauli Taglia's Dream" is an outrageous experiment in all-out delirium, focusing on Santucci's scene-stealing character and providing a wacky lead-up to the season's climactic story arc, which leads Luca and Torello to their ultimate showdown in an unspecified Latin American country full of corruptible drug-trade politicians.

Of course, any innovative series has a few drawbacks: The violent shootouts turn somewhat redundant as the season progresses, and while Torello's gun-toting crew is brought to life by a perfect supporting cast (Bill Smitrovich, Ray Butler, Steve Ryan, and a young Bill Campbell), there was never enough time (or episodes) to properly develop their characters. The turncoat betrayal of lawyer David Abrams (superbly played by Stephen Lang) is never fully convincing (you just know he's not a bad guy), and when Crime Story's cancellation inevitably came to pass, the final-episode cliffhanger of "Going Home" (broadcast May 10, 1988) left frustrated fans with unanswered questions and nowhere else to go. It's especially regrettable, then, that this four-DVD set offers no extras whatsoever. The fact that Farina, Denison, Mann, and series cocreators Chuck Adamson and Gustave Reininger were not invited to do audio commentaries represents a missed opportunity of epic proportions. We can be grateful, however, that the series' pop-music soundtrack (chosen by the great Al Kooper, credited as "Guy Who Picks Music for the Show") remains intact and unchanged as an essential ingredient to one of the best TV shows of the 1980s. --Jeff Shannon

It was hailed for its realism, condemned for its violence and ended with a climax that shocked millions. Though it lasted only two seasons, fans and critics still consider CRIME STORY to be one of the most uncompromising and influential action dramas in television history. In this stunning final season, obsessed lawman Mike Torello and his street tough strike force pursue mob kingpin Ray Luca from the neon battleground of Las Vegas to the corrupt killing fields of Latin America. Experience the explosive closing chapters of the acclaimed crime epic that New York Newsday calls "A genuine work of art... a masterpiece in a classic genre"

21 Jump Street - The Complete First Season

Best known today as the series that helped launch Johnny Depp to stardom, Stephen J. Cannell's 21 Jump Street was also one of the first hit programs for the fledgling Fox network, a status that lasted for most of its five-year run (1987-91), thanks to its engaging mix of youth culture and police drama. As outlined in the pilot, Depp's baby-faced Ofc. Tom Hanson is transferred to the special Jump Street division, a unit that utilized young cops to infiltrate juvenile crime. Unlike many of Fox's youth-oriented shows of the period (i.e., Beverly Hills 90210), Jump Street took its stories seriously, and addressed numerous social issues in its episodes; though some of the fashions and slang seem dated, the program remains entertaining decades later. The Jump Street set compiles all 13 episodes of the debut season, including the two-part pilot; the solid extras feature commentary by co-star Peter DeLuise, as well as interviews with fellow Jump Street officers Dustin Nguyen, Holly Robinson Peete, and Steven Williams (whose Captain Fuller replaced Frederic Forrest's Jenko halfway through the first season), as well as the prolific Cannell. --Paul Gaita

It all begins here, as baby-faced rookie Officer Tom Hanson (Johnny Depp) is assigned to an elite squad of young undercover cops - Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson Peete), Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise) and Harry Truman Ioki (Dustin Nguyen) - to infiltrate high schools and fight crime. Frederic Forrest and Steven Williams co-star in this classic first season that also features such guest stars as Jason Priestley, Josh Brolin, David Paymer, Sherilyn Fenn and Blair Underwood in what became Fox's first runaway hit and remains one of the coolest cop shows in TV history! 21 JUMP STREET - SEASON ONE includes all 13 explosive episodes - including the rarely seen two-part premiere - and is now packed with extras that include all-new interviews with stars Holly Robinson Peete, Dustin Nguyen, Steven Williams and series co- creator Stephen J. Cannell and an exclusive audio commentary with star Peter DeLuise.

Party of Five - The Complete Third Season

Lots of changes are in store for the Salinger family in Party of Five: The Complete Third Season. Over 25 episodes, the San Francisco-based siblings, survivors of parents who died at the series' beginning, confront some of the most difficult issues anyone has to deal with, from depression to alcoholism, breakups, dishonesty, separation and much more. The season kicks off with a bang as eldest brother and surrogate father Charlie (Matthew Fox) suddenly finds the mother of his girlfriend Kirsten (Paula Devicq) staying with them for several days due to marital problems. Given that their guest has never given--and still will not give--Charlie a break on anything, the fact that he is more empathetic about her plight than Kirsten is surprises even him. Meanwhile, Bailey (Scott Wolf) tries too hard to have a final adventure with his best friend before the two are separated by college plans. Traveling in Mexico with their girlfriends (including Bailey's longtime date, Sarah, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), the old buddies have a series of disasters, culminating in the disappearance of Bailey's jeep. While that's going on, Julia (Neve Campbell) discovers her eccentric boyfriend, Griffin (Jeremy London), is back in town and hasn't contacted her for reasons unknown. Not to be outdone, little sister Claudia (Lacey Chabert) claims to have a boyfriend that no one has actually met--until, one day, he shows up at the door.

During the rest of the season, Julia and Griffin will struggle to figure their relationship out, growing apart and then back together, leaving one another far too often, and finally deciding on a permanent solution that makes for a touching finale. Kirsten's career ambitions threaten to throw a wrench into her relationship with Charlie, until her new doctoral degree and teaching job at a Monterey college are undone by the discovery that she plagiarized part of her dissertation. Her ensuing depression makes for dark and lonely times, and ushers in more than one relationship drama for Charlie before season's end. Restless Bailey struggles to find his way as a college man, stooping to some ambiguous ethics and discovering, almost tragically, that he has a serious drinking problem that affects his romance with Sarah and his status as a promising wrestler on the school's team. Little Claudia chafes against the amount of adult responsibility being placed on her shoulders, and a new woman in Charlie's life brings a lot of promise and a lot of emotional confusion. All that, and people still ask the Salinger offspring if they're related to you-know-who: that famous author guy. --Tom Keogh

The five-disc DVD set includes all 25 episodes from the third season which features guest stars Carroll O'Connor (TV's All in the Family, Return to Me), Jeremy London (Mallrats, Gods and Generals), and Marla Sokoloff (Dude, Where's My Car?).

This season presents a whole new set of life-changing and soul-searching moments. Some of the emotional roller-coaster issues include the unpleasant consequences of Kristin losing her Ph.D. after plagiarizing; Charlie's realization that the good old days of high school might have been more old than good; and Julia dealing with her guilt after a friend's suicide. In addition, Claudia authorizes a $3,000 plumbing repair, and the family bands together to help Bailey confront his drinking problem.

21 Jump Street - The Complete Third Season

21 Jump Street - The Complete Second Season

Johnny Depp became an instant heartthrob and certified star in this second season of the Fox-TV sensation co-created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell (THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, SILK STALKINGS). Depp stars as Officer Tom Hanson, who along with Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise), Harry Ioki (Dustin Nguyen) and Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson Peete) forms an undercover police unit to infiltrate high school crime. Under the command of Captain Fuller (Steven Williams), these tough but compassionate young cops tackle such explosive issues as steroid abuse, crack addiction, racial violence, teen suicide, AIDS, Ioki's escape from Saigon and much more. 21 JUMP STREET - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON includes all 22 action-packed episodes from the hit `87/'88 season featuring such guest stars as Christina Applegate, Jason Priestley, Pauly Shore and Brad Pitt in one of his first screen roles.

Cagney & Lacey - Season 1(The Complete First Season)

Two female NYPD detectives with opposite personalities cooperate in their professional and personal lives.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 8-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD

Twenty-two early episodes of the breakthrough television series, Cagney & Lacey, are gathered in this Season 1 pack, though these do not include those with early Cagneys Loretta Swit and Meg Foster. Directed by Karen Arthur, written by a female team, and starring two filmic heroes of the feminist movement--Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly as Mary-Beth Lacey--the show pioneered on-screen presentation of independent, working women. With Cagney as the career-minded single woman, and Lacey as the mother/wife juggling job with home time, the two detectives serve as foil characters, the way other cop shows such as ChiPs, Moonlighting, or Charlie's Angels starred police with opposing opinions. But where other shows cast the foxiest people possible, Cagney & Lacey relied on character development instead of sex.

That is not to say that Gless and Daly aren't attractive, for indeed they are. Episodic narratives include Cagney & Lacey fighting female spousal abuse in "A Cry For Help"; date rape in "Date Rape"; racism in "Let Them Eat Pretzels," and many other issues targeted in the consciousness-raising feminist movement of the '70s and '80s. Many of the episodes, compared to the lightning fast-paced cop shows airing today, are slow and surprisingly non-humorous. But regardless of the show's occasional descent into tedium, Cagney & Lacey did much to promote the image of the self-made, multitasking woman. The two-part featurette, "Breaking the Laws of TV," starring heavyweights such as Gloria Steinem, critically places the show in TV history by contextualizing what was happening in the women's movement concurrent to the show's airing. Though the show may have its dull moments, it is fascinating to remember how television has changed over the decades. —Trinie Dalton

21 Jump Street - The Complete Fourth Season

The fourth season of Fox's hip undercover cop phenomenon opens with Ioki (Dustin Nguyen) in the hospital and Hanson (Johnny Depp) in prison (falsely convicted of murder). The end of the premiere ("Draw the Line") brings good news for one of them when Penhall (Peter DeLuise) and Booker (Richard Greico) join forces, while the fate of the other looks promising. This is confirmed in the following episode ("Say It Ain't So, Pete"), but by then, Booker will have split the scene (to return for the Booker-Jump Street crossover, "Wheels & Deals").

Other notable episodes include "Eternal Flame," directed by Mario Van Peebles (Baadasssss!) and guest starring a longhaired Thomas Haden Church (Sideways). There's also "Come From the Shadows," in which Penhall marries a Salvadoran refugee to prevent her deportation (and adopts her nephew when he becomes orphaned), "Stand By Your Man," in which Hoffs (Holly Robinson Peete) is the victim of date rape, and "Mike's P.O.V." with a scruffy Donovan Leitch (Gas, Food Lodging) and preppy Vince Vaughn (Swingers).

The rap on the fourth year is that Depp started turning in lackluster performances when he couldn't get out of his contract. Fortunately, he doesn't sink the show, but it's clear his heart isn't in it anymore. On the bright side, 21 Jump Street remained as much a time capsule of the late-1980s as ever with music from the B-52s and Devo and references to Ghostbusters and Back to the Future. (Hoffs' surname was even taken from a notable 1980s figure: Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles.) Once Depp was set free, Fox pulled the plug on the program, which ran for a final season in syndication. In exchange for the Booker episode, this set deletes the season finale, "Blackout," which featured Depp's final appearance as Officer Tom Hanson. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Miami Vice: Season Five

Miami Vice the most innovative and powerful TV series of its time returns with the final season Season Five on DVD! Featuring unforgettable songs from musical legends in 5.1 Surround Sound and amazing guest stars these DVD releases are destined to be a must-own for any Miami Vice fan. Join Crockett and Tubbs as they reunite in the world of Miami Vice in the groundbreaking series that defined a decade and became a cultural icon.Runtime: 1058 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025192103520 Manufacturer No: 61021035

Miami Vice - Season Three

Stubble-faced detective Crockett lived in a sailboat guarded by his alligator Elvis. His partner Tubbs was a black New York cop looking for his brother's killer. Together they took on the Florida drug world. The show influenced men's fashions toward Italo-casual and interior decor toward the Memphis look. Very trendy music and unusual guest performers.System Requirements:Runtime: 1060 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025192883323 Manufacturer No: 61028833

21 Jump Street Season 5

Their Unforgettable Final Season Plus The Infamous Blackout Episode Starring Johnny Depp It was the show that became a top-rated Fox sensation made Johnny Depp an overnight star and remains one of the coolest cultural phenomena of the 80s. And it all leads here the undercover cops of Jump Street Chapel Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise) Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson Peete) Captain Fuller (Steven Williams) and new rookie officers Joey Penhall (Michael DeLuise) and Tony Mac McCann (Michael Bendetti) are caught up in some of the most explosive action and drama in the show s history! In addition this collection contains three episodes filmed during Season 4 but aired during Season 5 including the still-controversial "Blackout" which features Johnny Depp s final series appearance. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 013131363098 Manufacturer No: DV13630