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Official Synopsis:
Jericho: The Complete Seriesis the highly acclaimed drama legions of devoted fans are "nuts" about. After a mushroom cloud suddenly appears on the horizon, the citizens of a small, peaceful Kansas town find themselves cut off from the rest of the world. Isolated, frightened and struggling amongst themselves - along with violent rival sects - some struggle to survive while others emerge to become unlikely heroes. Includes a Bonus Disc loaded with Special Features.
Our Take:
I’m a little surprised that Paramount has chosen to put out a complete set of Jericho so quickly. After all, the second season DVD collection just came out a couple of months ago. It would have made more sense to me to wait until the fourth quarter, when holiday sales would have driven some units. Still, what surprises me even more is the fact that it’s such an obvious rush job. Why not take the time and do it right?
What makes it a rush job? Well, instead of a nice new package, Jericho: The Complete Series basically features a new slipcover over the existing first and second season sets. This wouldn’t be so bad if the first two sets were even remotely aesthetically linked, but they’re not. Season One comes housed in a custom case, one of those cardboard foldout jobs. Season Two comes in a standard amaray case. Put the two together and… well, they don’t go together. It really looks cheap. To make matters worse, the all-new bonus disc of extra features is simply thrown into a cardboard sleeve and sandwiched between the two sets. Once again, I’ll point out that if the studio had simply waited until the holiday season, they could have put together a nice package that would have also enticed fans who had already shelled out for the first two seasons. This release makes no sense to me.
For fans of the show who haven’t gotten around to picking it up on DVD yet, the set includes all the original extra features from Seasons One and Two, plus a new disc full of bonus features. Unfortunately, with one exception, the bonus disc is mostly made up of very short leftover bonus scraps, rather than anything of real substance. I’ve listed all of the set’s extra features below for your convenience:
Bonus Disc –
* Tick Tick Boom (2 minutes) – Basically an extended promo featurette for season two.
* Behind the Scenes "Thank You" (2 minutes) – An extension of a sequence from season two.
* 100 Reasons to Watch Jericho (2 minutes) – A fan-made feature on reasons to watch the show.
* Table Read (4 minutes) – Shown split screen with the final scene from the show.
* Napalm Action Sequence From Season Two (2 minutes) – Another extended sequence.
* Train Crash Sequence From Season Two (2 minutes) - Another extended sequence
* Cast Members' Memorable Moments (20 minutes) – The only noteworthy extra on the disc features cast members talking about their favorite Jericho memories.
Season One Extras –
* Building Jericho - An in-depth look at the genesis and creation of the show, featuring exclusive interviews with cast and crew. Highlights include cast audition tapes seen for the first time.
* What If? - A revealing look at how the nuclear arms race evolved since the end of World War II. Where do we stand now if an attack were to occur; how would we survive either a man-made or a natural catastrophe?
* Deleted Scenes.
* Commentaries - Pilot: The First Seventeen Hours with Jon Turteltaub and Carol Barbee; Fallout with Jon Turteltaub and Carol Barbee; Rogue River with Jon Turteltaub and Skeet Ulrich; Red Flag with Lennie James and Carol Barbee; Vox Populi with Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James and Carol Barbee.
Season Two Extras –
* Rebuilding Jericho (25 minutes) – Cast and crew talk about the show and its cancellation.
* Nut Job (9 minutes) – Focuses on the aforementioned nut-mailing campaign.
* Deleted Scenes – From each episode.
* Audio Commentaries – On every episode by numerous cast and crew members.
* Patriots and Tyrants: Alternate Unaired Ending Segment from Season Finale – A much darker ending that would have set up season three.
Jericho is a solid show that was an unfortunate victim of the network television landscape in this day and age. It’s a time when popular shows get canceled after being basically railroaded off the air by clueless networks. Ultimately, though, I have a hard time recommending this set based on the slipshod nature of its construction. It’s worth snagging if you don’t already have the previously released sets, but I just can’t figure out why Paramount didn’t take the time to do it right.
Overall Picture:
Show: B
DVD: B+ (Mostly for the existing content, though.)
- Mike Spring
Editor
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