CROSSING JORDAN is a quirky type of show. It pushed the limits of what creator Tim Kring (HEROES) could do with a crime series. He did great things that made the show unqiue like he did with HEROES. Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh is a wild medical examiner who breaks the rules and goes the limit to solve the murders of the people she examines. She is obsessed with her mother's murder for the last 22 years (Mom was murdered when Jordan was 10). Jill Hennessy is fantastic as Jordan and teh rest of teh cast is perfect. Bug and Nigel (Steve Valentine) get some of the weird cases from dead Elvis to man with a wire through his penis (you have to watch the episode to find out). The only stumble in the season is the episode that deals with religion and faith. Jerry O'Connell is at home as Detective Woody Hoyt (how I miss SLIDERS). I can't wait for season 2 as Jordan finds out a major secret from her mother's past.

The only thing wrong with the episode order is that BORN TO RUN should be on disc 2 since Jordan gets an apartment in an episode on disc 2 (the same one shown in BORN TO RUN).

SPECIAL FEATURES:
4 audio commentaries (PILOT/ MIRACLES & WONDERS/ FOR HARRY, WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR/ SECRETS & LIES Part 2) were recorded with series creator Tim Kring, producer/director Allan Arkush, and composers Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin. The audio commentaries are worth a listen dropping little tidbits about the show's production. The pilot episode originally ran long and they cut it down. I hope future season sets includes the cast on the audio commentary tracks (because it was fun listening to the cast talk in the featurettes in this set). Deleted scenes are included for PILOT/ THE TIES THAT BIND/ YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN/ DIGGER Part 1 and 2/ BLUE CHRISTMAS/ WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME/ MIRACLES & WONDERS/ ACTS OF MERCY/ FOR HARRY, WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR. The most interesting scenes are the ones with Jordan's dad cut from DIGGER, the original butterfly scene from the pilot, and the cut material of FOR HARRY, WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR.

The set has four interview featurettes that feature the producers talking with the cast about season 1 and feature clips from the series (and behind-the-scenes material). The most interesting material includes CROSSING JORDAN originally was thought of as a small town sheriff show, the people in the bus line in SCRETS & LIES Part 2 are the corpses from the season, why teh series took so long to get to DVD (music rights and still some music had to replaced while others stayed), Miguel Ferrer sharing his experiences with Carl Reiner (the guy who played Macy's dad), and that the Jordan/ Macy relationship is the center of the series (they even say Jordan and Macy are like the loves of their lives).
DISC 1:
-A CONVERSATION WITH SERIES CREATOR TIM KRING, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR ALLAN ARKUSH AND PRODUCER DENNIS HAMMER
-JILL HENNESSY AND ALLAN ARKUSH TALK ABOUT JORDAN

DISC 5:
-STEVE VALENTINE, RAVI KAPOOR AND KATHRYN HAHN TALK WITH ALLAN ARKUSH
- ALLAN ARKUSH AND TIM KRING TALK WITH MIGUEL FERRER

FINAL ANALYSIS: CROSSING JORDAN Season One is a great way to re-visit a quirky series. The extras make it a fantastic DVD set. Let's hope the cast show up on the audio commentaries in future sets.

this DVD review is (c)5-1-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  

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