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Strong Medicine - The Complete First Season

Actors: Rosa Blasi, Jenifer Lewis, Joshua Cox, Philip Casnoff, Brennan Elliott
ASIN : B000BX0VU0
Sales Rank : 3013
Director : David Livingston, Fran Drescher, Michael Nankin, Rick Rosenthal, Scott Paulin
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781404911871
ISBN : 1404911871
UPC : 043396128583
Release Date : December 10, 2006
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 60

Description

Dr. Dana Stowe (Janine Turner, Northern Exposure, Cliffhanger) is the head of women’s medicine at Rittenhouse Hospital and doesn't let her emotions get in the way of her work. Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado (Rosa Blasi, Noriega) runs an inner city clinic and does whatever it takes to get her poverty-stricken clients the care they need. When the two women are paired up to run the Rittenhouse Women's Health Center, they must learn to work together even with their respective approaches clearly on opposite sides of the operating table. But can they get past it? From Executive Producers Whoopi Goldberg and Tammy Ader, this long-running Lifetime series contains all 22 first season episodes on a 5 disc DVD set.

Amazon.com

Two strong-willed, capable female doctors with differing approaches to medicine must forge a working relationship when their practices are merged in this premier season (2000) of Lifetime television's longest running original series. All 22 episodes are included in this five-disc DVD box set beginning with the "Pilot," which introduces the characters and frenzied setting of the visceral drama. In an award-winning role, Rosa Blasi plays Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado who runs the inner city South Philly Women's Clinic serving a full caseload of indigent, drug addicts, and abuse victims. A straight-talking maverick, Dr. Delgado is sympathetic to the plight of her patients as she fights to keep her free clinic afloat despite financial hardships. Janine Turner (Northern Exposure, Cliffhanger) plays Dr. Dana Stowe, a polished-if-not-sterile surgeon at the prestigious Rittenhouse Hospital treating patients on the opposite side of the city and socio-economic spectrum. Practicing textbook medicine, Dr. Stowe chafes at Delgado's unconventional methods. (Turner will remain in the series until the early part of season three). A stroke of fate pairs the women to run a brand new women's heath center and, although sparks fly professionally, the doctors haltingly approach a level of understanding. The season explores a variety of women's health issues: infertility, abortion, rape, genetic testing, co-dependency, breast cancer, and right-to-die. Complex medical questions are explored from several perspectives without succumbing to quick resolutions. Undoubtedly, the series has grown in popularity because of the underpinnings established this first season. Blasi and Turner develop a compelling rapport—alternatively appreciating and opposing each other—while a supporting cast adds depth in standout performances by Josh Coxx (as nurse/midwife Peter Riggs) and Jenifer Lewis (as receptionist Lana Hawkins). Intense drama is tempered with comic relief, usually by way of Hawkin's banter and, in one case, her correct diagnosis of a patient's phobia of bald men. Season one introduces a budding romance and ends with a cliffhanger. Lending their vision are executive producers Tammy Ader and Whoopi Goldberg, who also plays a prominent role in the Pilot episode as Dr. Lydia Emerson, a women's health pioneer who returns in three additional stories. The only deficiency is the absence of bonus material: interviews, audio commentaries, or outtakes would strengthen the package. (Caution: violence, language, and adult themes). --Lynn Gibson

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MAS*H - Season Three (Collector's Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, William Christopher
ASIN : B000078UJW
Sales Rank : 11570
Director : Alan Alda, Don Weis, Gene Reynolds, Hy Averback, Larry Gelbart
Brand : MASH
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543059134
UPC : 024543059134
Number Of Discs : 1
Release Date : December 18, 2003
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Running Time : 612

Description

By the show’s third year ratings were high enough to give the writers and creators more leverage with the network and thus a bit less trouble with the censors. In addition, the show’s writers were more experienced with the TV format and had more in-depth knowledge of the characters. By this time they could also gauge how much serious material the audience would accept mixed in with their comedy.

But most importantly, between the second and third seasons Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds visited Korea, a trip that they say affected the stories in the third season.

Amazon.com

In honoring M*A*S*H's third season with the prestigious Peabody Award, the judges praised this series "for the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war." Contained on three discs, season three comprises several benchmark episodes illustrative of what the Peabody judges called "television of high purpose." In "Rainbow Bridge," Hawkeye (Alan Alda), Trapper (Wayne Rogers), Radar (Gary Burghoff), Klinger (Jamie Farr), and an opportunistic Frank Burns (Larry Linville) participate in a swap with the North Koreans of wounded POWs. In "The Consultant," Robert Alda (Alan's dad) guest stars as a visiting doctor who cracks under the pressure of operating so close to the front. And the shocking season finale, "Abyssinia, Henry," took a page from Mister Roberts and killed off commanding officer Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), who was en route home.

M*A*S*H's sense of humor did not go AWOL. The season opener, "The General Flipped at Dawn," earned guest star Harry Morgan an Emmy nomination for his performance as a certifiable general and paved the way for Morgan to join the cast in season four. "Adam's Ribs" is a classic episode in which Hawkeye orders out to Chicago for a very special delivery of spare ribs. In "Iron Guts Kelly," the war's "greatest fighting general" gets a little too gung-ho and perishes in Margaret's (Loretta Swit) tent. Because of its wartime setting and life-and-death struggles, this is that rare sitcom that may actually play better without a laugh track, an option this set offers. To paraphrase the title of one episode, this was a full, rich season that offered each member of one of television's finest ensembles the opportunity to shine. But Alda, who was honored that year with a Golden Globe award, fully emerges as the series' star. --Donald Liebenson

New Price: $28.98

MAS*H - Season Two (Collector's Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Gary Burghoff, Larry Linville
ASIN : B000066STL
Sales Rank : 18078
Director : Alan Alda, Don Weis, Gene Reynolds, Hy Averback, Jackie Cooper
Brand : MASH
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543047148
UPC : 024543047148
Number Of Discs : 1
Release Date : December 23, 2002
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Running Time : 612

Description

After a first season in which M*A*S*H barely rated among television’s top fifty shows, the show received a boost in its second season when CBS switched their time slot to Saturday nights right after "All in the Family."

Knowing a lot of new people would be tuning in to the second season, creator/writer Larry Gelbart reveals, "We wrote the first episode as a sort of second pilot to introduce all the new viewers to the characters." Almost immediately after the second season began, the show became a hit—and the actors became household names.

Little did they know the show was going to last longer than the war itself.

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M*A*S*H redux. Sign up for another stint with the 4077th. This three-disc set contains all 24 episodes from the superb second season (1973-74) of the series ranked by TV Guide as among the top 25 television shows of all time. The season opener, "Divided We Stand," is a deft reintroduction to these now iconic characters: bleeding-heart surgeon Hawkeye Pearce (Alan Alda in his signature role), kindred misfit spirit Trapper John (Wayne Rogers), clueless administrator Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), buttoned-up Frank Burns (Larry Linville), and unbuttoned head nurse "Hot Lips" (Loretta Swit). In this episode, a visiting psychiatrist evaluates the 4077th to determine whether the unit "can function as a team." His evaluation can serve as this series' mission statement: "These impossible people are in an impossible place doing totally impossible things. They're mad--quite mad." M*A*S*H experienced no sophomore slump from its Emmy Award-winning first season. It continued to subvert sitcom convention with multiple-story episodes such as "Radar's Report." Scenes in the operating room play without a laugh track (this DVD gives viewers the option of watching entire episodes minus the intrusive chuckles and guffaws). M*A*S*H also tackled such issues as racism ("Dear Dad... Three," "L.I.P.--Local Indigenous Personnel"), homophobia ("George"), and war atrocities (Hawkeye and Trapper try to get the Army to take responsibility for the accidental shelling of a South Korean village). Not that M*A*S*H forgot how to be funny. "Five O'Clock Charlie" and "For Want of a Boot" are strictly for laughs. Hawkeye and Hot Lips memorably exchange flu shots in "Carry On, Hawkeye." Loyal viewers will note the emergence of several supporting characters, including Jamie Farr's Klinger and William Christopher's Father Mulcahy. One also sees the (to some) unfortunate transformation of Gary Burghoff's savvy, crackerjack clerk Radar into a naïve innocent. Allan Arbus makes his first appearance as compassionate psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Friedman in "Radar's Report." This second-season set is representative of why M*A*S*H was a cut above. --Donald Liebenson

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MAS*H - Season Six (Collector's Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, William Christopher
ASIN : B0001ZJ1HW
Sales Rank : 7973
Director : Alan Alda, Harry Morgan, Burt Metcalfe, Charles S. Dubin, Don Weis
Brand : MASH
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543113881
UPC : 024543113881
Release Date : December 08, 2004
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Running Time : 367

Description

As the sixth season opens, Margaret’s marriage has finally driven Frank Burns over the edge. Unfortunately, his subsequent replacement, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, soon drives B.J. and Hawkeye over the edge as well. From his fur-trimmed coat to his shiny French horn, he almost makes B.J. and Hawkeye wish Frank were still there. Almost.

But as Winchester slowly finds his place within the OR, things get back to normal – or as normal as they ever get. Radar goes off in search of the perfect tattoo. Black marketeers steal all the unit’s penicillin. Hawkeye and B.J. refuse to shower unless Charles stops blowing his horn. And Hawkeye and Margaret find comfort in each other’s arms...if only for one night.

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From a human standpoint, things are pretty tight at the 4077th. But adding a new character to a long-embedded, close-knit ensemble is a delicate operation. By M*A*S*H's sixth season, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and BJ (Mike Farrell) were partners in outrage against the war and army bureaucracy. With the departure of Larry Linville's Frank Burns, the much decorated series was in need of some new blood. Enter David Ogden Stiers as Charles Emerson Winchester III. Just as Henry Morgan's authoritative Col. Potter was the anti-Henry Blake, so was Charles just what the doctor ordered to give Hawkeye and BJ a worthy foil. Charles was pompous and arrogant, but, unlike Frank, he was Hawkeye's equal in the operating room. And he gave as good as was given to him, as witness the conclusion of his inaugural Emmy-nominated episode, "Fade Out, Fade In," in which he turns the tables on one of Hawkeye and BJ's reptilian practical jokes. In season 6, Gary Burghoff's Radar is mostly missing in action (he would transfer out of the series in season 8), but he figures prominently in "Fallen Idol," one of Burghoff's and Alda's finest half-hours, in which Hawkeye lashes out at Radar's "Iowa naivete" and hero worship.

The season's primary dramatic arc is Margaret's (Loretta Switt) marital woes, culminating in the Emmy-nominated two-parter, "Comrades in Arms," in which Hawkeye and Margaret, trapped by enemy fire, engage in a little close-order drill. The humanization of Margaret continues in "Temporary Duty," which also features one of the most memorable visitors to the 4077th, George "Goober" Lindsey, as the wild and wooly Roy Dupree, a temporary transfer who drives BJ and Charles crazy. Alan Arbus's psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman, one of the series' most welcome recurring characters, makes a memorable return in "War of Nerves," one of his most dramatic episodes, in which a soldier Freedman sent back into combat, is unforgiving in blaming Sidney for his injuries. Two excellent ensemble episodes are "The Light That Failed, "in which the reading-starved camp shares a mystery novel, but doesn't have a clue what happens after the last page is missing, and "Mail Call Three," in which the camp reacts to news from home. Demerits again for no cast commentary, but this set once again offers viewers of the option of watching the episodes with or without a laugh track. --Donald Liebenson

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MAS*H - Season Seven (Collector's Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, William Christopher
ASIN : B0002XVQSA
Sales Rank : 6442
Director : Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Burt Metcalfe, Charles S. Dubin
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543136309
UPC : 024543136309
Release Date : December 07, 2004
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Running Time : 664

Description

As the seventh season opens, peace talks to end the war have been going on for over a year and Hawkeye has had enough. He jumps in a jeep and roars off to the talks, and although he makes it onto the speaker’s floor, his rant does little to speed up the negotiations. His discontent isn’t helped by the return of war correspondent Clete Roberts who has came back to the 4077 to tape another one of his television talks for the folks back home.

Yet Hawkeye isn’t the only one feeling the pressures of war. BJ nearly drives himself to exhaustion trying to help a poor Korean family, Father Mulcahy almost gets himself killed trying to get a promotion, Charles falls in love with a working girl at Rosie’s Bar, and Margaret’s divorce is finally made official. It’s all part of life during wartime.

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The war in Korea wages on with no end in sight, but the medical corps at the 4077th valiantly battle on against soulless military bureaucracy, tedium, and insanity. The seventh season of one of television's most decorated series continued to break new ground, with episodes such as "Point of View," which unfolds under the subjective eye of a wounded soldier. And just when you think you have these characters pegged, the writers provocatively challenged them. One of the most powerful episodes of the season, and the series, is "Preventive Medicine," in which Hawkeye (Alan Alda) takes drastic measures to stop a gung-ho colonel from further endangering his men. "Inga," another series benchmark, written and directed by Alda, finds Hawkeye threatened by an accomplished woman doctor (Mariette Hartley).

Unlike Larry Linville's one-note Major Burns, David Ogden Stiers found new notes to play as Charles Emerson Winchester III. His character remains, as Hawkeye observes, "pompous, arrogant, conceited, and a total bore." But he's also "all right" in three of his finest half-hours: "Major Ego," in which he lets a magazine profile go to his swelled head; "Rally Round the Flagg, Boys," in which he outwits camp nemesis Colonel Flagg; and "Ain't Love Grand," in which he falls for a Korean girl he meets at Rosie's Bar (the setting for another essential episode, "A Night at Rosie's," in which the company seeks refuge from the war). The seven-year itch got to Gary Burghoff, who would depart the series in season 8. Episodes such as "Hot Lips Is Back in Town," in which Radar sweetly woos a new nurse, demonstrate why he would be keenly missed. The two-part "Our Finest Hour" is anything but. It is a rehash of the season 4 classic, "The Interview," that serves as a clip episode. This is a rare misstep in another satisfying season that did this series proud. --Donald Liebenson

Price: $29.98

MAS*H TV Season 8

Actor: Mash-TV
ASIN : B001DMVZM6
Sales Rank : 21151
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543530077
UPC : 024543530077
Release Date : December 11, 2008
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 7 to 12 days
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 638

Description

As the eighth season opens, Radar receives a letter from home proving war is not the only place where death strikes unexpectedly. The news quickly has Radar shipping stateside, followed by a period of adjustment as everyone tries to get used to a nervous and bumbling Klinger being in charge as company clerk. Things go from bad to worse as both Colonel Potter and Charles have to be quarantined with mumps. Then Hawkeye decides to stop drinking after receiving a bar bill so big that he's shocked into realizing, "I could have bought a used Studebaker for this!"

Aside from incoming wounded, the 4077 is besieged by congressional aides, doctors demonstrating new techniques, inspecting colonels and a return visit from psychiatrist Sidney Freedman. Now if only everyone would just go away so the docs could get some sleep!

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Diagnosis Murder - The Complete 1st Season

Actors: Dick Van Dyke, Barry Van Dyke, Victoria Rowell, Charlie Schlatter, Michael Tucci
ASIN : B000FZETJI
Sales Rank : 11326
Director : Alan Myerson, Anson Williams, Christian I. Nyby II, Frank Thackery, Jerry London
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097360788945
UPC : 097360788945
Release Date : December 12, 2006
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 885

Description

Emmy award winner Dick Van Dyke stars as Dr. Mark Sloan, a dedicated doctor who dabbles in detective work in DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Caring and compassionate, Dr. Sloan enlists the help of his police detective son, Steve (Barry Van Dyke) whenever he suspects one of his patients is the victim of foul play. And he won’t rest until the bad guys are put to bed - permanently! Working alongside Sloan is pathologist Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell). For star performances and classic "whodunit" suspense, the right prescription is DIAGNOSIS MURDER.

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One of America's most beloved TV actors, Dick Van Dyke, proved his longevity and acting chops in Diagnosis Murder, as Dr. Mark Sloan, chief of staff at L.A.'s Community General Hospital, as well as a consultant for the police department on confounding murders. The show was originally conceived as a Murder, She Wrote-with-boys, to tap into the late '80s and early '90s wave of spunky-senior shows (Golden Girls, Matlock et al.). But Van Dyke's versatility and charisma drew fans of all ages, and the first season shows his breadth as an actor. The mysteries range from the fairly typical (a beautiful patient surrounded by intrigue has amnesia--or does she?) to the gritty and offbeat (Sloan's son, played by Van Dyke's real son, Barry, gets too close to a gang of corrupt cops, with near-disastrous results). Through it all, Van Dyke's Sloan is avuncular, thoughtful, warm, and serious, but conveys enough wry humor and cheekiness to take considerable advantage of Van Dyke's comic timing. One episode in this season, "Inheritance of Death," features Van Dyke playing multiple roles--young, old, men, women--in a conniving family grasping for the inheritance of an ancient family member, and it's laugh-out-loud funny. Another standout in the cast is Scott Baio as Sloan's earnest sidekick, Dr. Jack Stewart. The boxed set features all 19 episodes of the first season, plus the episode of Jake and the Fatman which introduced the character of Dr. Mark Sloan. --A.T. Hurley

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MAS*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition)

Actors: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Gary Burghoff, Larry Linville, Loretta Swit
ASIN : B00008YGS0
Sales Rank : 11975
Director : Alan Alda, Harry Morgan, Alan Rafkin, Burt Metcalfe, Gene Reynolds
Brand : MASH
Studio : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543079682
UPC : 024543079682
Release Date : December 09, 2003
Publisher : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Label : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Running Time : 637

Description

As the fifth season opens, the Chinese are getting too close for comfort and the 4077 has been ordered to bug-out. Unfortunately, Hawkeye, B.J. and Margaret are in the middle of critical surgery and have to keep going even as the bombing starts. The rest of the 4077 find themselves in an equally dangerous situation upon discovering that the new location that HQ has chosen for them is actually in occupied territory. Luckily the Chinese are driven back and the 4077 get to bug back to their old location.

But the real bomb, as far as Frank Burns is concerned, is when Margaret returns from a medical conference in Tokyo engaged to Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott. "How’d Burns take it?" a concerned Colonel Potter asked. "Hard," Hawkeye replied. "He was clucking like a chicken last night. For nine straight hours." Potter shook his head. "He’s heading for a Section Eight." As expected, Klinger was green with envy.

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M*A*S*H's fifth tour of duty finds the 4077th operating at peak efficiency. Harry Morgan, as Colonel Sherman Potter, and Mike Farrell as BJ Hunnicutt, pumped new blood into series, and in this, their sophomore year, became integral parts of the ensemble. Gary Burghoff joined the Emmy elite for his role as company clerk Radar O'Reilly. William Christopher was also promoted, finally earning his opening-credit stripes for his role as Father Mulcahy. This season was also pivotal for Loretta Switt's Major Margaret Houlihan. "The Nurses," one of Switt's finest half-hours, humanized her rigid, by-the-book character. Margaret's engagement provided the season with its dramatic arc, and set the stage for the departure of Larry Linville's Major Burns, who by this time had wrung all the music he could from his one-note character. In addition to "The Nurses," another episode that looms large in the show's legend is the Emmy-winning "Dear Sigmund," in which weary and depressed psychiatrist Sidney Friedman sought refuge at the 4077th. This episode further fleshed out BJ, and established him as the camp's practical joker. The episode "Hanky Panky," in which a compassionate BJ consoles a nurse whose marriage has fallen apart, ranks as one of his best.

Alan Alda's Hawkeye suffers physical and psychological crises in two of his most effective episodes, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," in which he is temporarily blinded, and "Hawk's Nightmare," in which the war haunts his dreams. We also see the first warning signs of sanctimony that would infect the show in later seasons. Tell us, Hawkeye--and he does, in "The General's Practitioner"--why war is worse than hell. Whereas Hawkeye and Trapper in earlier seasons were partners in crime, Hawkeye and BJ become tireless (and sometimes tiresome) crusaders to right all wrongs in their "little corner" of the world, as witness their shutdown of a heartless junk dealer in "Souvenirs." One cure is "Movie Tonight," an ensemble episode in which camp members bond during a much-interrupted screening of My Darling Clementine. --Donald Liebenson

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Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]

Actors: Patrick Dempsey, T.R. Knight
ASIN : B0018CWEY4
Sales Rank : 25949
Director : N/a
Brand : Buena Vista Home Video
Studio : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Dolby
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0786936769401
UPC : 786936769401
Release Date : December 09, 2008
Publisher : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Running Time : 740

Product Description

UPC;786936769401
DESCRIPTION-Grey s Anatomy is a drama about the intensity of medial training mixed with the funny, sexy and sometimes painful lives of people who are about to discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white. Real life only comes in shades of grey. END

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Season four of the hit ABC medical drama was on shaky ground right from the season premiere, which left Cristina (Sandra Oh) at the altar by Burke (Isaiah Washington, fired after the press-frenzied third season); Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) downgraded to no-relationship-just-sex status; and George (T.R. Knight) pondering divorce from Callie (Sara Ramirez) to pursue love with his best friend, Izzie (Katherine Heigl). That last pairing made for one of the worst decisions in the series thus far; George and Izzie always worked so well as friends without the will-they-won't-they element, but suddenly throwing them into bed and watching them fumble their way to coupledom (an attempt that mercifully doesn't last) was painful to watch, in particular because Heigl, who had won an Emmy for the previous season, was reduced to a lot of whining and fretting. Meanwhile, Meredith's family issues come to a head when her half-sister Lexie (Chyler Leigh) begins her internship at Seattle Grace and instantly tries too hard to bond. And as she once again drives away Derek with her trust issues, Meredith finally gets smart and enters therapy (one of the redeeming elements of the season, with Amy Madigan as the hard-nosed counselor) to "get healed." The writers' strike became a welcome blessing for the show, which had seriously derailed before its hiatus; during the strike, creator Shonda Rimes has said she reexamined the direction of the show, making for an ultimately satisfying second half of the season. Standout episodes include "Forever Young," in which a high school bus crash leaves the staff pontificating their own adolescent cliques; "Lay Your Hands on Me," with a standout performance by Chandra Wilson as Bailey, whose crumbling marriage comes front and center when her toddler gets in an accident; and the season finale "Freedom," in which Meredith and Derek save two brain-tumor patients in love (Jurnee Smollett and Marshall Allman), leading to their own (lasting?) reunion, Bailey heads up an effort to rescue a guy who lay in concrete to impress a girl; and Callie finds herself attracted to the new cardiac surgeon, Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). Bonus features include "New Docs on the Block," a look at the latest members of the cast; a set tour with Dempsey and Eric "McSteamy" Dane; bonus and extended scenes; and outtakes. --Ellen A. Kim

Stills from Grey’s Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season (Click for larger image)

Browse Medical Shows Online

Strong Medicine - The Complete First Season

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MAS*H - Season Three (Collector's Edition)

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MAS*H - Season Two (Collector's Edition)

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MAS*H - Season Six (Collector's Edition)

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MAS*H - Season Seven (Collector's Edition)

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Nip/Tuck: The Complete Seasons 1-4

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MAS*H TV Season 8

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Diagnosis Murder - The Complete 1st Season

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MAS*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition)

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Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]

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Browse Medical Shows Online

Strong Medicine - The Complete First Season

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M*A*S*H - Season Three (Collector's Edition)

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M*A*S*H - Season Two (Collector's Edition)

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M*A*S*H - Season Six (Collector's Edition)

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M*A*S*H - Season Seven (Collector's Edition)

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Nip/Tuck: The Complete Seasons 1-4

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M*A*S*H TV Season 8

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Diagnosis Murder - The Complete 1st Season

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M*A*S*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition)

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Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]

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MAS*H - Season Three (Collector's Edition)

MAS*H - Season Two (Collector's Edition)

MAS*H - Season Six (Collector's Edition)

MAS*H - Season Seven (Collector's Edition)

MAS*H TV Season 8

MAS*H - Season Five (Collector's Edition)