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One Tree Hill - The Complete First Season

Actors: Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Galeotti, Paul Johansson
ASIN : B0006FFRBG
Sales Rank : 604
Director : Billy Dickson, Bryan Gordon, David Carson, Duane Clark, Gregory Prange
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419801853
ISBN : 1419801856
UPC : 012569593640
Release Date : December 25, 2005
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 944

Description

Same town. Same team. Same father. Different lives. Half-brothers rival each other on and off the basketball court in the wildly popular high-school drama that tallied a whopping 185% audience growth among W18-34 from it series premiere to the first season finale.

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Over 48 minutes of Unaired Scenes with introductions
Audio Commentary:Commentary by the cast and crew on The Pilot (Disc 1), To Wish Impossible Things (Disc 5), The Games That Play Us (Disc 6)
Documentaries:Building a Winning Team: The Making of One Tree Hill - a never-before-seen making-of documentary with interviews with the cast and crew. Diaries From The Set - A behind-the-scenes vignette with the cast of One Tree Hill.
Gag Reel:Christmas Elf Gag
Music Video:Oh, Chariot musical performance by Gavin DeGraw

Amazon.com

One Tree Hill: The Complete First Season marks the beginning of a genuinely engrossing series that maintains, for a long while, an unusual focus on a single, powerful conflict defining the destinies of two characters. Adolescent half-brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) Scott have lived parallel lives in One Tree, North Carolina. They share a common father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), who has disregarded the existence of Lucas, his son by a one-time flame, Karen (Moira Kelly), whom he dumped years before to accept a basketball scholarship to college. While neglecting Lucas, Dan--whose hoop dreams never materialized--has spent his time almost perversely micro-managing every one of Nathan's moves on and off the court at his old high school, where the lad is currently an arrogant superstar under gruff-but-wise coach Whitey Durham (Barry Corbin). Nathan (whose mother is separated from Dan) is a child of privilege and has been raised to disregard teamwork, compromise, or the feelings of others. He regards Lucas, a basketball sensation on neighborhood playgrounds, as trash, and his own girlfriend, Peyton (Hilarie Burton), as a pretty bauble he can abuse and dismiss at will. Still, he's sympathetic; one can see glimpses of the human being struggling to emerge from under Dan's control.

Meanwhile, Lucas helps Karen run her café, hangs out with platonic best friend Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz), and pines for Peyton (herself a punky misfit at heart). He also turns to surrogate dad Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer)--actually his uncle and Dan's older brother--for support, and sees himself as a perpetual and doomed outsider in One Tree. All that changes when Whitey invites Lucas to join the b-ball team that Nathan dominates, a move that challenges the status quo of multiple relationships in a small community. For about a third of its episodes, this series from creator Mark Schwahn (who wrote the hit film Coach Carter) stays true to the suspense surrounding Lucas's and Nathan's changes in fortune. Then a bit of padding follows to the end of the season; there are 22 episodes to fill out, after all. But even as various distractions (a kidnapping subplot, a car accident and coma for a major character) and random events creep in (Dan, rather incredibly, takes over the team from Whitey at one point, thus coaching both his sons), One Tree Hill remains highly watchable. The writing is shaped well and organic, while performances are consistently excellent. (It's especially good to see Sheffer, perhaps best known for A River Runs Through It, again.) --Tom Keogh

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The West Wing - The Complete Second Season

Actors: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford
ASIN : B0001HAGQK
Sales Rank : 1221
Director : Thomas Schlamme, Chris Misiano
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790787480
ISBN : 0790787482
UPC : 085393162122
Release Date : December 18, 2004
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 954

Description

It's never politics as usual inside this Oval Office. The President and his staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians, soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. Yet the determined colleagues continue to serve the U.S. and its President as the administration heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that leads to allegations of criminal conduct. The West Wing's second season won the Best Drama Series Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurette

Amazon.com

The second season of The West Wing takes up literally where the first season left off and, after a few moments of patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration. The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on lows include "Noel," the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the episodes in which President Bartlet, following a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin.

Other new aspects include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tensions grow between him and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realizes, in the episode "Third State of the Union," that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet that he must go public with his MS, and his staff is forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster, and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drug situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In."

These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are master classes in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. The West Wing is one of the all-time great TV dramas. --David Stubbs

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Damages: The Complete First Season

Actors: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Zeljko Ivanek, Tate Donovan, Ted Danson
ASIN : B000YW8RPE
Sales Rank : 44
Director : Allen Coulter, Daniel Attias, Edward Bianchi, Greg Yaitanes, Guy Ferland
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396244412
UPC : 043396244412
Release Date : December 29, 2008
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 9 to 12 days
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 581

Product Description

Hot new legal thriller on FX! Set in New York's world of high stakes litigation, Damages follows the lives of Patty Hewes, the nation's most revered and most reviled litigator, and her bright, ambitious protégée Ellen Parsons as they become embroiled in a class action lawsuit targeting Arthur Frobisher, one of the country's wealthiest CEOs. As Patty battles Frobisher and his attorney, Ellen learns what it takes to win at all costs, and that lives, not just fortunes, are at stake.

Amazon.com

Smart, sleek, and more than a little wicked, the Golden Globe-winning series Damages proves that legal programs don't have to follow a well-worn formula in order to prove completely addictive. In fact, the show (from Todd and Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, whose credits include The Sopranos) steers clear from nearly all courtroom drama clichés over the course of its 13 episodes, and hews closer to classic film noir with the slowly-spun web of deceit that is woven around fresh-scrubbed lawyer Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). After joining the legal firm headed by uber-powerful litigator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close, who won a Golden Globe for her performance), Parsons lands a career-making case--a class-action lawsuit against millionaire Arthur Frobisher (Golden Globe nominee Ted Danson)--but discovers that digging deeply into the case not only reveals layers of corruption, cover-up, and potential scandal, but places her own life in jeopardy as well. Smart, mature writing and note-perfect performances, most notably by Danson as the perverse and complex Frobisher, but also by Tate Donovan, Zeliko Ivanek, Peter Facinelli, Philip Bosco and Peter Reigert, make Damages a genuine pleasure for law and mystery show fans, but also those craving a challenging series that delivers water cooler chat material in every episode. The three-disc set includes all 13 episodes as well as deleted scenes; among the featured extras are two choice commentaries, one with Close, the Kesslers and Zelman, and the other with Ivanek and the creators, both of which are chock-full of production and technical insights. A 30-minute making-of featurette, discussions about the characters by the creators, and a guide to class-action lawsuits rounds out the fine supplemental features. --Paul Gaita

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From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

Actors: Tom Hanks, Krista Adair, Mason Adams, Tom Amandes, Brandon Ambrose
ASIN : B000A0GYD2
Sales Rank : 1227
Director : David Carson, David Frankel, Frank Marshall, Gary Fleder, Graham Yost
Brand : HANKS,TOM
Studio : HBO Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Box set, Collector's Edition, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783128429
ISBN : 0783128428
UPC : 026359885327
Release Date : December 20, 2005
Publisher : HBO Home Video
Manufacturer : HBO Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : HBO Home Video
Running Time : 720

Product Description

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 01/06/2009 Rating: Nr

Amazon.com essential video

Originally broadcast in April and May of 1998, the epic miniseries From the Earth to the Moon was HBO's most expensive production to date, with a budget of $68 million. Hosted by executive producer Tom Hanks, the miniseries tackles the daunting challenge of chronicling the entire history of NASA's Apollo space program from 1961 to 1972. For the most part, it's a rousing success. Some passages are flatly chronological, awkwardly wedging an abundance of factual detail into a routine dramatic structure. But each episode is devoted to a crucial aspect of the Apollo program. The cumulative effect is a deep and thorough appreciation of NASA's monumental achievement. With the help of a superlative cast, consistent writing, and a stable of talented directors, Hanks has shared his infectious enthusiasm for space exploration and the inspiring power of conquering the final frontier.

NASA's complete participation in the production lends to its total authenticity, right down to the use of NASA equipment, launch locations, and even spacecraft. The re-creation of the lunar landscape is almost as impressive as the real thing and is further enhanced by the use of helium balloons to lighten the actors playing moon-walking astronauts. (These and other backstage details are revealed in the "making of" featurette, along with a wealth of supplemental materials, on a bonus disc in the miniseries' DVD package.) With a fictional, Walter Cronkite-like TV reporter (Lane Smith) serving as the dramatic link for all 12 episodes, this ambitious production may not be a great work of art. But as a generous and definitive example of nonfiction drama, it's full of the same kind of awe, inspiration, and humanity that led to "one giant leap" in the all-too-short history of 20th-century space exploration. --Jeff Shannon

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The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (First And Second Series Plus Special)

Actors: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis (II)
ASIN : B0002W4P98
Sales Rank : 1520
Director : Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051208521
UPC : 794051208521
Release Date : December 16, 2004
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 450

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Run time: 450 minutes

Amazon.com

It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of ! the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller

The second series exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais is once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, but in this series, Brent's to-the-camera assertions concerning his management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil (Patrick Baladi) takes over as area manager. To compensate, Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer-motivator-comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), a sympathetic character persisting in a relationship with a man about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. --David Stubbs

The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a satisfying conclusion in The Office Special, originally a two-part Christmas special on the BBC, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season. The former office manager David (Ricky Gervais) now ekes out a desperate existence as an oblivious quasi-celebrity, making awkward, humiliating visits back to the office staff he still believes loves him. Gawky Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) has risen to manager and become a petty tyrant, while the sweet but snide Tim (Martin Freeman) continues to pine for former receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who fled to Florida with her fiance. When the documentary crew pays for Dawn to return for the holiday party, an unpredictable reunion looms ahead. The Office fuses scathing humor and genuine empathy, turning excruciating social discomfort into inspired satire. Fans will find this special rewarding in all respects. --Bret Fetzer

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The Shield - The Complete Sixth Season

Actor: Michael Chiklis
ASIN : B0015TX2LO
Sales Rank : 264
Director : various
Brand : Sony
Studio : Columbia Tri/Star
Region Code : 99
Format : Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0043396250352
UPC : 043396250352
Release Date : December 26, 2008
Publisher : Columbia Tri/Star
Manufacturer : Columbia Tri/Star
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Columbia Tri/Star
Running Time : 498

Product Description

Continuing directly after season 5, Vic and the Strike Team are distraught over Lem's death. Shane has been overcome by guilt and becomes reckless and suicidal. Kavanaugh refuses to let the case die and resorts to planting evidence and coercing witnesses to lie about the Strike Team. Dutch and Claudette begin to suspect his integrity. Vic learns from Claudette that the Chief plans to force him into early retirement — and vows to wreak bloody vengeance on Lem's killer before losing his badge. Claudette learns that the Barn could be shut down if no improvements are made by the time quarterly crime statistics are released.

Amazon.com

"Are you ready for this?" quintessential cop on the edge Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) asks his longtime nemesis, Councilman David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) in the season finale. With more than a year between seasons, we're always ready for The Shield, which rivals The Wire not only in quality (not everyone is ready to play at this level, as Mackey states at one point) but also in the lack of appreciation for one of television's very best shows. Again, another great season, and another Emmy snub. There ought to be a law. There is much more to The Shield than its shocking and brutal violence and language. This penultimate season, which turns the heat on Mackey, a one-man good cop/bad cop, to boil, is "all kinds of personal" for its intimately observed characters. Mackey is obsessed with finding out who killed Strike Force member Lem, while Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker), just as obsessed with taking Mackey down, recklessly crosses the line to "frame a guilty man." Meanwhile, Mackey keeps moving the line as he relentlessly pursues the drug kingpin he has judged responsible for Lem's death, going so far as to stage a faux kidnapping of his suspect's girlfriend. In one of the season's most excruciating scenes, he turns chain-wielding executioner. What viewers know, but Mackey initially does not, is that the killer is a guilt-ridden Shane (Walton Goggins), Mackey's best friend. Shane, ultimately exiled from the Strike Force, becomes embroiled in an ill-fated association with the daughter of Armenian mob boss, putting Mackey's family in peril. Back at the Barn, newly promoted Claudette Wyms (CCH Pounder) is under intense pressure as the precinct's body count mounts. Her former partner, Dutch (Jay Karnes) develops a crush on Tina (Paula Garces), the pretty new cop he is mentoring. She has a one-night stand with hotshot Kevin Hiatt (Alex O'Loughlin), the new guy whom Wyms fears may learn too much from Mackey or not enough. The tension builds inexorably to a season finale that fulfills all expectations, in which the resourceful Mackey, facing a review board hearing, must scramble to save his badge, resulting in a surprising alliance that bodes well for the final season. "Trust me," he states at one point, "There's a way out. There always is." From first episode to last, The Shield's sixth season is gripping, gut-wrenching stuff. To quote Shane: "Put another one in the win column." --Donald Liebenson

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Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season

Actors: Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria Parker, Ricardo Chavira
ASIN : B0018CWEYO
Sales Rank : 450
Brand : Buena Vista Home Video
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936754155
UPC : 786936754155
Release Date : December 02, 2008
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Running Time : 721

Product Description

UPC786936754155
DESCRIPTION: A truly contemporary take on happily ever after, Desperate Housewives takes a darkly comedic look at suburbia, where the secret lives of housewives aren t always what they seem. END

Amazon.com

In the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, the ladies of Wisteria Lane are back--all the ladies, as the previous season's cliffhanger turned out to be a red herring. Both Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Gabriella (Eva Longoria Parker) are facing difficulties in their new marriages: Mike (James Denton) turns to drugs to keep up with his work schedule, and politician Victor (John Slattery) seems less exciting than former husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who is still attached to Edie (Nicollette Sheridan). Bree (Marcia Cross) and Orson (Kyle McLachlan) are still faking a pregnancy to cover for Danielle (Joy Lauren), and Lynnette (Felicity Huffman) is fighting both cancer and Tom's (Doug Savant) devilspawn daughter (Rachel G. Fox) while their pizzeria gets a new rival. Adding the new wrinkle to the season were two veteran TV actors, Dana Delany (China Beach) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly) as Katherine Mayfair and her new husband Adam. Katherine lived on Wisteria Lane years ago, but daughter Dylan (Lyndsy Fonseca) seems to have no memory of that past, or of her then-best friend, Julie (Andrea Bowen). And what roles will be played by shadows from Katherine's and Adam's past (Gary Cole and Melora Walters)? Delany and Fillion were great additions--Katherine begins a homemaking rivalry with Bree, and Adam's deadpan gynecologist is a gem. But the centerpiece of the season (and which coincided almost exactly with the series' hiatus due to the 2007-2008 writers' strike, which trimmed the season to 17 episodes) is a cataclysmic tornado that wreaks havoc on both the houses and the people of the neighborhood. The season concludes in a number of showdowns, then a surprising conclusion that promised an intriguing new angle for season 5. With Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. McCluskey, Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins as Wisteria Lane's first same-sex couple, and Justine Bateman as the Solizs' roomer with a secret. DVD features include deleted scenes, creator Marc Cherry's favorite moments, and a 26-minute look at the making of the tornado episode. Bonus points for a DVD insert that presents Wisteria Lane as one of Edie's real-estate brochures. --David Horiuchi

Stills from Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season (Click for larger image)

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Cranford

Actors: Simon Woods, Judi Dench, Lisa Dillon, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie
ASIN : B00140PK6O
Sales Rank : 817
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929012404
UPC : 883929012404
Release Date : December 20, 2008
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 291

Description

The BBC drama series adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell's classic novels of small town gossip, secrets and romance. 1842. Cranford, a market town in the North West of England, is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules, but Cranford is on the cusp of change… For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness in Cranford, and Matty, her demurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue - a handsome new doctor Frank Harrison from London has arrived; a retired Captain and his daughters have moved in to a house opposite and the preparations for Lady Ludlows garden party are underway. Everyone - from charming rogue Dr Marshland to mean Mrs Jamieson and her lap dog talks, and is talked about, behind closed doors. The town also has its secrets which it slowly reveals: Mattys encounter with an old flame at the garden party; Lady Ludlows gardener, Mr Carter, teaching a gypsy lad to read and write; the wild expectations of the May Day celebrations and - news that shakes the town when it is revealed - a railway line from Manchester is coming to Cranford.

Amazon.com

Adapted from Elizabeth Gaskells' novels, the five-episode miniseries Cranford focuses on female characters in the 19th-century British town to thematically contemplate encroaching modernity in rural England. With the camera roving house to house, each drama within the grander story is constructed of scenes featuring dialogue between several gossipy ladies obsessed with moral code, romantic ideas about courtship, and social occasions. Three main characters, the ever-appropriate Deborah Jenkyns (Eileen Atkins), her sweet sister, Matilda (Judi Dench), and their younger, more savvy relative, Miss Smith, continuously weigh in on situations, providing a dependable view when other ladies, like the nosey Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton) are too judgmental. In fine period dress, the women of Cranford remind the viewer of how little action was needed in their small-town lives to provide unceasing entertainment. The series' most intriguing aspect lies not in the ample female conversation but rather in its display of earlier technologies and ways of life. Part One, for example, quickly launches a main narrative thread that runs throughout the series, namely the arrival and assimilation of London doctor, Frank Harrison (Simon Woods), into village society. Dr. Harrison's medical practices, such as his refusal to amputate a man's arm because it's broken, are all the more radical because they are so fundamental by today's standards. In subsequent episodes, he recommends Miss Smith get spectacles to cure her headaches, and saves his love's life by cooling her fever after conservative doctor, Dr. Morgan (John Bowe), recommends the old school practice of burying her in blankets in front of a raging fire. In Part Two, Lady Ludlow (Francesca Annis) throws a garden party at her estate, treating all the women in their fancy hats to a new novelty: ice cream. This scene foreshadows Ludlow's future concern at a railroad plan involving her land that would connect Cranford to Manchester, symbolizing the ruin of this idyllic setting.

In fact, fluffy and clever as some scenes are, death and rebirth assert themselves in each showing, both physically and idealistically. Part Four shows an auctioning off of a deceased man's antiques, and focuses on issues of class and women's education, as Mr. Carter teaches a peasant boy to read while his assistant fumes at her trappings as a seamstress. Part Five ushers in a new period of medical emergencies, securing Dr. Harrison's shaky position in town. In total, Cranford offers a powerful, if sentimental, look at how death begets life, love, and passion. ‹Trinie Dalton

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The West Wing - The Complete Sixth Season

Actors: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford
ASIN : B000EGEJI4
Sales Rank : 1409
Director : Tommy Schlamme, Chris Misiano
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569704176
UPC : 012569704176
Release Date : December 09, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 949

Description

During Season Six, the presidential race is on, with Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) as the Republican frontrunner and a Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) vying for the hotly contested Democratic presidential nomination.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentary
Featurette
Interviews

Amazon.com

With the ghost of creator Aaron Sorkin fully expunged from the spotlit soundstage maze representing that most busy portion of the White House, the sixth season of The West Wing is less a return to form than it is a remaking of the things that were best about the show in the first place. There's C.J. and Josh throwing high-speed dialogue at each other; there's the tension and personality arc as characters are back in step with their original realization; there's the overarching story that runs throughout the 22 episodes along with the self-contained mini-dramas within each one; there are the new people who bind themselves to plots that are alternately tidy and messy, just like real life. The taking-stock the show's creative minds clearly did after a roundly drubbed season five had a lot of help from the necessity of thinking ahead to a new crop of faces and places as the Bartlett administration starts winding down its second term. Some of the plot points may be a little hard to swallow: Would C.J. really deserve to take over the Chief of Staff position? Would Josh really walk away from his dream job to pursue the seeming nightmare of running a presidential campaign for not-a-chance-in-hell Rep. Santos (Jimmy Smits)? Thankfully the answer turns out to be yes in these fully crafted episodes, even as they still sometimes ring with the people-don't-really-talk-that-way banter that makes up most of the conversation in the Oval Office or hallways of the elaborate set.

Jimmy Smits isn't the only welcome new regular face in season six. Alan Alda grandly returns to the medium that made him with effortless authority playing Republican senator and front-running aspirant to the West Wing's throne, Arnold Vinick. From his modest introduction, to the nuances of personality that slip through over the course of the season, Vinick is definitely one of the people we want to see more of. Adding her own personal flair and tweaking the subtleties of the scripts is Lily Tomlin as President Jed's protective secretary. Gary Cole plays smarmy and vapid with elan as the Vice President who believes he's heir apparent, and disgraced ex-VP Tim Matheson returns from the political graveyard, unbelievably believing he has a chance to win his party's nomination. The politics are still integral to the drama, with fiery President Martin Sheen refusing to go gentle into that good night of professional or personal shadows. The late, great John Spencer also brings poignancy to his last days as ex-Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, scenes made all the more touching by the actor's death in 2005. As with its best early seasons, The West Wing again proves that strong writing, top-flite production design, and authoritative acting always covers flashes of skepticism and makes great TV.--Ted Fry

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One Tree Hill - The Complete First Season

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The West Wing - The Complete Second Season

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Damages: The Complete First Season

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From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

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The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (First And Second Series Plus Special)

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The Shield - The Complete Sixth Season

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The Waltons - The Complete Eighth Season

Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season

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Cranford

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Amazon.com

The West Wing - The Complete Sixth Season

Description

Amazon.com