Out now are three titles that follow the men and women who fight to keep the law and justice systems of America running:
First we have Bull, the courtroom drama inspired by the early career of now-famous-talk-show-host Dr. Phil McGraw when he was the head of a trial consulting firm. The title character Dr. Jason Bull (played by Michael Weatherly) is an ingenious and highly intuitive examiner of human nature who has expanded his own natural and learned skills into a prestigious firm of experts (the Trial Analysis Corporation). Sometimes for a good cause and sometimes for the right price, Dr. Bull and his team craft defense narratives specific to the most minute detail in order to sway the jury, largely based on biofeedback from “mirror jurors” they recruit to give them the inside track on the mental state of the jury at any given time. Along with Dr. Bull, the team of experts include lawyer Benny Colón (played by Freddy Rodriguez), neurolinguistics expert Marissa Morgan (played by Geneva Carr), former NYPD detective Danny James (played by Jaime Lee Kirchner), hacker Cable McCrory (played by Annabelle Attanasio), and former-football-star-turned-fashion-stylist Chunk Palmer (played by Chris Jackson).
Bull: Season One is now out on DVD, which includes all twenty-two episodes of the premiere season as well as close to an hour of special features, including “Michael Weatherly: No Bull” (an interview where Weatherly, who also co-produced the show, speaks about the fun and challenges of getting the series off the ground for its first season), “The Verdict: Bull Season One” (a featurette that goes behind the scenes of the show with Weatherly and some other cast members along with executive producers Paul Attanasio and Dr. Phil McGraw), “See You In Court” (a tour of the courtroom sets featured on the show led by Production Designer Sarah Frank), and a gag reel. You can currently get the DVD on Amazon for $29.87 or for twelve cents more can get it streaming on Amazon or iTunes (with no bonus features besides a two-minute “First Look” promo) for $29.99. So unless you really don’t want it in hard copy, I’d say definitely go for the DVD on this one.
Next up is Blue Bloods, the story of the Reagans, a multigenerational family of law enforcement officers (both on the streets and in the courtroom) in New York. Starring roles include Tom Selleck (yay!) as Frank Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as his eldest son Danny, Bridget Moynahan as his daughter Erin, and Will Estes as his younger son Jamie. With three generations of civil servants that span ever-changing times and widening generational divides, the Reagans must face constant challenges to guard their family (and their individual sanities) against the bleak realities of enforcing the law. Now out on DVD (in time for the premiere of its eighth season on September 29th) is Blue Bloods: The Seventh Season, where the characters must deal with new relationships, multiple high-profile cases, the Russian mob, international drug cartels, and more.
The DVD features the twenty-two episodes of Season Seven as well as over forty-five minutes of extras, including coverage of the 150th episode celebration held on the Blue Bloods set (along with the cast and writers talking about what they consider to be the most memorable moments from the past seven seasons), the featurette “Anatomy of a Scene: The Greater Good” (which examines the intricate staging used to produce the car crash in the season’s premiere episode), and the featurette “The Story of the Reagans: Season Seven” (basically highlights from the season from the cast, crew, and producers), along with some deleted scenes and a gag reel. You can now grab the DVD on Amazon for $31.86 or you can do the streaming option on Amazon or iTunes for $34.99 (like with Bull: Season One, only a small 4-minute featurette on both as far as bonus content goes, so you get less content and pay over three dollars more if you go for streaming versus the DVD).
If you’re a fan of law enforcement storylines, you’re probably somewhat familiar with the NCIS family of shows, which tell the stories of different sectors of the (fictional) Naval Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS: Los Angeles follows the members of the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a team of elite agents who go under cover in the City of Angels. The team is led by Special Agent “G” Callen (played by Chris O’Donnell) and includes his partner, former Navy Seal Sam Hanna (played by LL Cool J), hand-to-hand combat specialist Agent Kensi Blye (played by Daniela Ruah), and technical analyst Eric Beale (played by Barrett Foa). Rounding out the main cast is Operational Manager Henrietta Lange (played by Linda Hunt, who you may remember as the small-but-mighty principal from Kindergarten Cop.) In Season Eight, the team must deal with an unknown spy within the department, a compromised mission in Syria, and other problems both at home and overseas.
Now out on DVD is NCIS: Los Angeles: The Eighth Season, a 6-disc set with all twenty-three episodes plus over an hour of special features. Bonus content includes “Dips and Salsa” (a featurette about the cast rehearsing for the dancing scenes in Season 8), “Deep Impact: Season 8 of NCIS: Los Angeles” (a conversation with the cast and crew as they discuss the season), “The Nellverine” (a behind-the-scenes featurette with Renee Felice Smith as she prepares for action sequences as her character, Nell Jones), “Remembering Miguel” (an in memoriam special with the cast and crew sharing fond memories of the late Miguel Ferrer), audio commentary on the episode “Gateway” with Barrett For and Renee Felice Smith, and deleted scenes. The DVD set is now available on Amazon for $29.84 or you can get it streaming on Amazon or iTunes for $34.99 (where the bonus content is limited to the 2-minute cast and crew season retrospective). Like the titles above, on this one you get more content for less money if you go the DVD route, so unless you have a pressing reason to do otherwise, that’s probably the most savvy choice if you’re looking to purchase.
