Time and time again I seem to miss the good shows. You'd think that the immense popularity of a series, based on high ratings and a powerful fan base would be enough to get me interested. Or even the knowledge that television juggernaut Donald Bellisario was involved certainly should have attracted me as a viewer. Yet, for some reason I never bothered to check out a single episode of "JAG." Of course, when I first heard the title I figured it was about some guy running around in a Jaguar saving people ala "Knightrider." Boy was I surprised to find out a few years later that Jaguars had nothing to do with the series. Leave it to the genius of Donald Bellisario to come up with a concept involving a Judge Advocate General (J.A.G…. get it?) and make it good enough to last ten seasons. After all, Bellisario had previously written for shows like the original “Battlestar Galactica” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, and went on to create “Magnum P.I.”, "Air Wolf", “Quantum Leap”, and the more recent and “NCIS.”

The funny thing is, "JAG" wasn't a hit right out of the box. It originally aired on NBC and was summarily cancelled after the very first season. However, someone at CBS had a feeling that there was more to the show than met the eye and snapped it up. That someone had better have gotten raise as the series continued for those nine additional seasons.

"JAG" starred David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb. Formerly a pilot, he was now an attorney for the Navy's Judge Advocate General. It is his job to prosecute or defend individuals involved in military crimes. It is also his responsibility to handle part of the investigations to the best of his abilities in order to find the truth behind the cases he is working on. During the first season of the series, 'Harm' (as he was known to his colleagues) was teamed with a couple of different partners as the producers were trying to find a chemistry that would appeal to the greatest number of viewers. Neither of them worked out, but when the series given its second lease on life at CBS, he was paired with actress Catherine Bell as "Mac" MacKenzie and the rest, as they say, is history.

When the series finally went off the air a few years ago, I began to get a little curious about it (finally). So I kept my eyes and ears open as to the possibility of a release on DVD. As I understood it, there were several snags that had to be worked out in order to get the series out on DVD. Well, when these little legal woes were finally settled in 2006, the first season of "JAG" came out. I watched the set over the period of a couple of weeks (21 episodes takes a while to get to) and I have to say if the series got even better during subsequent seasons I couldn't wait to start watching those!

I could see where the series was working to get its 'sea legs', and there were certainly a few obstacles that had to be overcome, but I really enjoyed that first season. David James Elliott has tremendous screen presence and he did a great job acting as the anchor of the show. I thought the episodes were tight and the stories were well-written. And admittedly I thought most of the characters worked pretty well, so I was surprised that so many ended up not returning for the rest of the run.

With the second season there were a lot of changes and right off the bat it was obvious that the chemistry between Elliott and Bell was much stronger than it was with her predecessor. They also beefed up the roles of some of season ones recurring characters. Patrick Labyorteaux's character, Lt. Bud Roberts, was pushed to the forefront and given a job directly in Harm's department. His character is very light hearted and brings a lot of humor to the series. We also were given a chance to see John M. Jackson's character, Admiral A.J. Chegwidden, in a much larger role. All of these changes were great because it gave the series a chance to focus on characters other than Harm, giving it a more well-rounded ability to tell stories.

The producers also changed the tone of the series quite a bit, again to its enhancement. The freshman season was a lot more action oriented, which wasn't bad… just a little tedious at times. With the move to a new network, the show was retooled to make it more of the legal style show it should have been from the beginning. There is more of an investigative approach taken to most of the case, with just a little bit of action thrown in to give it flavor. It was definitely a good move, again proven by the show's run.

Now in its third year of releasing “JAG” on DVD, Paramount is quickly catching up by releasing the eighth season on DVD this month. Once again I was blown away by how much better the show was continuing to get. I kept wondering why it reminded a little of “NCIS” (though still not quite as good), and this new DVD set taught me something that silly trivia buff me did not know. “NCIS” was actually a spin-off of sorts of “JAG”. This season boasts a 2-part episode that introduced the other show in preparation for its debut the following season. It was awesome to see Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, and David McCallum in this pre-”NCIS” presentation. I’m also really into guest stars (though it’s usually a lot more fun with older TV series) and this season didn’t disappoint. We saw a recurring role from Dean Stockwell as well as guest spots from William Windom, Terry O’Quinn, Gavin MacLeod, Greg Evigan, James Denton, and Theodore Bikel!

As for the DVD presentation, the first season set gave us 6 discs while the second season had to be cut back a bit because there were only 15 episodes. The third season bumped the episodes back up to 24 and has continued through the eighth season. The transfer on this set also looks about on par with what we’ve been given with previous sets. There were spots in the series where some stock footage was used and you can still tell, though its not as bad as it was in earlier seasons. The sound wasn't upgraded so you still get a 2.0 presentation, but it suits the series well enough. As for special features we only get a short gag reel. It fun seeing the actors flub lines, but I had hoped for a little more.

All in all, "JAG" was a pretty good show and I am still enjoying watching its growth as it reaches its tenth, and final season.

Episodes:
Critical Condition (Part 2)
The Promised Land
Family Business
Dangerous Game
In Thin Air
Offensive Reaction
Need to Know
Ready or Not
When the Bough Breaks
The Killer
All Ye Faithful
Complications
Standards of Conduct
Each of Us Angels
Friendly Fire
Heart and Soul
Empty Quiver
Fortunate Son
Second Acts
Ice Queen (Part 1)
Meltdown Part 2)
Lawyers, Guns and Money
Pas de Deux
A Tangled Web (Part 1)

Starring: David James Elliott, Catherine Bell, John M. Jackson, Patrick Labyorteaux
Extras: Gag Reel
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 3/17/2009
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
http://www.paramount.com/homeentertainment

We'll give JAG: Season 8 a B.