From Deseret News archives:

'Wings,' 'Boston Legal' among shows on DVD

Other offerings include more 'SNL' and 'The Closer'

Published: Monday, May 22, 2006 12:00 a.m. MDT
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Here are some TV shows new to DVD and hitting store shelves on Tuesday.

"Wings: The Complete First & Second Seasons" (CBS/Paramount, 1990-91, not rated, $42.99, four discs). Button-down Timothy Daly runs a commuter airline on Nantucket Island, and in the pilot, his free-and-easy estranged brother (Steven Weber) signs on in this funny sitcom from the creators of "Cheers."

The terrific comic ensemble includes Thomas Haden Church as a goofball mechanic and Crystal Bernard as Daly and Weber's childhood pal, who runs the airport lunch counter. Bernard and Daly eventually get romantic, but the last episode here is a cliffhanger as she heads for New York to play classic cello.

Tony Shalhoub ("Monk") is prominently shown on the "Wings" box as part of the ensemble, but he's actually only in one episode, toward the end of the second season, as a hilariously romantic Italian waiter. (Shalhoub came on board as a regular in the third season, playing the same character, with a job change to cab driver.)

Good writing; lots of laughs. And there's a crossover episode with George Wendt and John Ratzenberger as their "Cheers" characters.

Extras: Full frame, 28 episodes, optional English subtitles, chapters.

"Boston Legal: Season One" (Fox, 2004-05, not rated, $49.98, five discs). Spun off of the final season of "The Practice," this comedy/drama has many of the same goofball components as TV producer David E. Kelley's "Picket Fences" and "Ally McBeal." Although this first season is slightly less off-the-wall than it has since become.

James Spader is attorney Alan Shore, whose sense of ethics is questionable at best — but he's in the right Boston firm, composed of zany misfits and dysfunctional eccentrics. Leading the latter is William Shatner, hilarious as the senile (or is he?) Denny Crane, who keeps repeating his name. Candice Bergen, Monica Potter, Lake Bell and Rene Auberjonois are also on board.

Extras: Full frame, 17 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.

"The Closer: The Complete First Season" (TNT/Warner, 2005, not rated, $39.98, four discs). This tough cable-TV cop show stars Kyra Sedgwick as the title character, a CIA-trained interrogator from the South who is chosen to head up the Priority Murder Squad, handling high-profile cases in Los Angeles. Naturally, she rubs her colleagues the wrong way but gets results.

Sedgwick is great, making her somewhat off-putting character more palatable as the show progresses, and as she earns the grudging respect of her fellow officers. Well-written, with a fine supporting cast.

Extras: Full frame, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, subtitle options (English, French), chapters.

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