Very well done series, loses a star for its ugly portrayal of alcoholism and abusive sexuality
584430
Mad Men is a very well-polished series, but few of the characters have any heroic qualities, they are all pretty amoral and scummy.
However, having said that, the DVDs in the series are very good, and the commentaries for at least two or three episodes on every disk are a great feature.  The comments by the writers, directors, and actors are all very revealing into the vision and mindset of the creative team.
I would really like to see some characters who aren't so deeply flawed, however.  Such a universal lack of good judgment and good life choices is just sad and morose.  Real life has nicer people, at least I want to believe that.
2042169
This is a fine series but definitely not for kids nor people with weak stomachs. It focuses on the BAU a group of FBI investigators specifically seeking out serial killers. One interesting difference compared to other criminal investigative shows is that CM focuses on the criminal and almost nothing on bringing the criminal to justice. A lot of these episodes are based on real life incidents in the history of serial killers. The strength of this show is the serious tone and intricate details of how said serial killers elude local authorities for long periods and continue to acquire victims (sometimes they are especially clever) and even when the BAU shows up it isn't always a happy ending. Just watch the finale of this season or look at the impact this career has had on several of former and current characters in the BAU if you disagree. Some of the character relationships are pretty strong but the nerd jokes on poor Reed are getting a bit old so they need better jokes or to just let it go because it's old. Each episode does a nice job of opening and closing with an intelligent quote which reflects the incidents of the particular episode. Of the 23 episodes for this season I would say the creepiest to me were: "Mosley Lane", "Our Darkest Hour", "Haunted" and "Cradle To Grave". There was a short lived spinoff from this series called Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior with Forest Whitaker in the lead. The show is going on its 7th season and a video game is coming out this year for it. CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B minus to B; STORY/PLOTTING: B plus to A minus; FOCUS ON THE MENTALITY OF SERIAL KILLERS: B to B plus; OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus; WHEN WATCHED: April to December 2011 (had to take breaks on and off as its so intense and horrifying at times and I had other shows on my list).
3466582
This is well-done, to a degree. HOWEVER, if you are sensitive to violence including bloody whippings that go on WAY too long, rapes, women being slugged in the stomach, etc., best to pass on this one. I heard about the extended rape scene of the male lead in the second volume and decided not to continue watching this series.
2015037
Cons:
Each season gets more violent, sexually explicit and vulgar. This is certainly not for an audience adverse to foul language, explicit sex and violence. The story line goes into very dark evil parts of people and society as the wild west begins to become exploited by the rich and corrupt.
Pros:
The story line is full of intrigue and completely unpredictable. Their is good in most people somewhere deep down no matter how evil they appear and their behaviors. Romantic relationships twist and turn while love continues in different forms. Sadness exists in most unexpected ways and the reactions of the community members is are touching and unexpected in some of the nastiness of all. If you follow the story line and ignore the vulgarity it is a story that likely portrays the real will west versus earlier story lines. It is an ugly journey from wild to governance.
Summary:
I enjoyed this season with some tears, laughter, shock and rejection of the vulgarity. Somewhat shocked that I was able to distance myself from the foul language, etc. Totally unexpected story line. I binge watched many nights.
2332775
I saw this show when it was first telecast and enjoyed it very much. Thirty years later it's still a good show, but its flaws are more obvious. The show is remarkably naive, chaste, and dewy-eyed, which detracts somewhat from its realism. The scenes in Kingsfield's class are entertaining, but the level of discussion and the manner of presentation seem more appropriate for a high school than a top law school (presumably Harvard). Many of the shows are based on an issue (minority student, handicapped student, sexual harrassment-a particularly awful episode-cheating students, etc.) and the show is addicted to last minute changes of heart in order to bring about a happy ending in 45 minutes. Still, it's a very good show, well worth seeing. Somehow John Houseman manages to dominate the show despite a performance that runs the emotional gamut from A to B.  The rest of the actors are quite good.  The rating above applies to the show, not to the quality of the DVD tranhsfer, which is at times fuzzy and out-of-sync.  I'm sure the problem was the state of the originals, though.  BTW, the actress playing Miss Logan sounds remarkably like Tony Curtis in drag in "Some Like It Hot."  If you doubt it, listen to her talk and tell me I'm wrong!
1868167
While characters are stereotypical, there are enough human emotion aspects that make series an enjoyable experience. The imagination of the writers makes great sci-fi entertainment. I love the visuals and concepts of the episodes.
I rated it 3 stars because of stereotypes, over-acting, and unnecessary and repetitive scene actions (e.g., running back and forth through Moya). This series will likely be enjoyed by sci-fi fans.
807584
Very good series. I would have given it 5 stars, but she made the characters to trusting and too stupid at times and it ticked me off. No matter how nice a person you are, you can not be a king or queen and let people slide for murder and deception of the worst kind.
2311931
I am not going to do a involved review as others have done this very well.
The series is very slick and polished with a good amount of information for Astronomy buffs.
The only flaw with this series and to me it is a big one.
They have edited some of the episodes for people with very high Attention Deficit issues.
The episode about worm holes to me was unwatchable because they are constantly throwing multiple scenes per second.
Constant scene changes......to the point it plays tricks on your eyesight.
It is hard to concentrate on the information content because of the repeated back and forth scene changes.
I am hoping the whole series is not edited like this.....if it is I will sell this set.
As it is too irritating to watch.
I haven't noticed anyone else mentioning this IMHO flaw, but to me the way a production is edited can make or break a program.
The producers were trying to get too slick, and apparently decided if they didn't change scenes multiple times per second the viewers eyes would glaze over from boredom.
Great service from Amazon, with Amazon being the premier store to buy dvd's.
1642709
This is the most amazing TV series I have ever seen. The action is non stop, the female actors are fantastically beautiful, the male actors are magnificent physical specimens and the sets, plot and acting are first rate.

CAUTION: If you are squeamish about extreme violence, splattering or squirting blood or explicit full frontal male and female nudity, frequent humping, then you should avoid this show. For me, those features were indispensable to the success of the show.

My only complaint is that penises are shown fully exposed but vaginas are covered by thick bush. Perhaps Brazilian waxing had not been discovered in that era, but I'm sure that bush trimming was commonplace. There is a movement to free the penis, but someone needs to work on freeing the vagina also.

My only real regret is that the series ended after season 4. I am currently midway through season 4 and will be lost when it ends. I'm not sure if any new program can even equal Spartacus much less replace it.

If you like Gladiator movies, you will quickly become addicted to this series, guaranteed.
2499898
This series does a great job of telling the story of easy company, but it does have its flaws. The action sequences, reenactments, and special effects are top notch. There's a lot to enjoy here. The acting is very good as well. I would say that the quality is on the same level as Saving Private Ryan. I love the period and the costumes; they did a great job there.

My biggest complaint with the series is the language. It seems the directors wanted to make the period palatable for "modern" audiences. It's over the top at times. Even the real Captain Winters commented on the language, I believe. Beyond the language is the overall Hollywood feel of the characters. Many of the soldiers just don't act like what I'd expect a 1940's soldier to act.

One key point I keep disliking is when Capt. Winters shoots the young German SS soldier on the "Island Charge." What you see is a complete fabrication. That didn't happen. Winters in fact threw a grenade at the sentry, and the sentry threw a grenade back. Winter's grenade didn't go off, so he shot the German sentry, alerting the rest of the Germans to his presence.

Another point where they missed it is in the ending, when the German officer offers Winters his pistol as a token of his surrender. In the series, Winters allows the officer to keep his sidearm. In reality, Winters accepted his sidearm.

Why would the producers go through so much to keep the movie authentic and then totally goof at these points? Some would argue that these events happened at other points in the war. I would counter that while they may have happened in other parts of the war, they didn't happen in Easy Company, and fiction should not be passed off as truth. Just stick with the facts - is that too difficult?

All considered, this is an excellent production, and there are some real gems to glean from this series. One thing that struck me is how much was sacrificed for our freedoms (especially in the Bastogne episode). Another nugget is the importance of effective leadership. Without a good leader, the team was unable to do what they needed to do. With a good leader, easy company was able to surmount overwhelming odds.

All in all, Good.
3555020
I remember watching this series as a kid and I thought it was one of the best series on TV.  The story and acting are fantastic.  The scenery is incredible.  The fact that its roughly based on the history of the area is even more amazing considering some of the fare that makes it way to TV these days.  It is probably safe to say that we will not see an effort like this again.
This series is based on the book of the same name.  It is set roughly in Colorado and spans the history of that area from the time of the earliest French traders to roughly the mid 1970's.  It mostly deals with the effects of westward expansion on the Native Americans, but there are various other issues as well.  To film it, a powerhouse cast was assembled and it spans over 12 episodes.  The cool thing about it is that each of the characters are somewhat interrelated and things that happen in early episodes come back in later episodes.  The other cool thing is that the characters are easily related too.

Update:  Now that they've released this series on DVD, I can review that.  I spent the weekend watching the first 2/3's of the series and it is still as good as I remember.

The DVD remastering is fantastic, in fact it is almost too fantastic as it shows some of the poor job of doing the makeup on the aging characters.  McKeag's makeup job was especially annoying.  But I didn't let that distract from my experience too much.
2187716
An unusual, intelligent, dark series.  Lance Hendricksen, while not conventionally handsome, is very watchable.  The story lines were well-thought-out, not everything was was tidied away at the end of the episode.  Some genuinely creepy moments.

Then along came the tv executives with their usual brilliance, trying to make the series less dark and finally canceling it.  Can't there be a few programs for non-morons?
3013934
I love the Outlander Series, but the TV show is way too sexually explicit and violent. The last two episodes are vile and horrible and it was completely unnecessary to show. This is the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars.
2233725
I am addicted to this 'primetime stepford wives' soap staring Teri Hatcher (Lois and Clark) and Marcia Cross (Melrose Place) as...(yes, you guessed it) desperate housewives who act up and out in frustration about the things which happen in their lives on Wisteria Lane.

The first episode immediately sets the somber-but-sinful tone for this entire series. A reccently deceased Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) takes viewers into the hidden lives of American housewives on a supposedly tranquil suburban street. A neat series factoid is that this particular street was the same location used for the Tom Hanks film " The Burbs" and this first  "Desperate Housweives" episode had the highest network airing of any show for the 2004-2005 season.

In "Impossible" Bree Van De Kamp (Cross) is shocked to discover that her daughter (Joy Lauren) is sexually active. Because Bree is the prototypical conservative Christian Republican, the revelation obviously jolts her. In this same episode, a teen pool party gets wild (of course) and Justin (Ryan Carnes) came out as being gay, we also learn that Bree's son Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) himself is gay.

Bree does not learn that her son is gay until "Children will listen". When she and husband Rex (Steven Culp) visit their son at a teen drug/alcohol rehabilitation camp, Bree recieves this information second-hand from Rex, who (to his credit) does a comparatively better job of handling the information. He is not as shallow and materialistic as his wife.

Andrew's sexuality is a reccuring story arc throughout this season. Later in "One wonderful day" he is home from the treatment camp, and gets in a fight with the gay gardner Justin. In the next season it will continue to be a reccuring theme and delve into even deeper plotlines.

24 episodes in this release make it an excellent purchase for the 'desperate housewife' in your world---certainly including yourself.
1804392
Love the series, always have.  Five stars for the series itself, one star for the MOD and the (lack of) packaging.  I must say I love this series and I always have.  Great comedy and the comedic timing of all actors is spot on.  Story lines are top notch.  However this Manufacture on Demand is one of the worst ideas Amazon has come up with.  The discs are very selective as to what device they'll play in, (they're DVD-R) there are no choices as to the disc set up.  You have to click each individual episode to play because there is no "play all", no language selection, no closed caption, NOTHING.  In fact, there are no title and synopsis sheets included.  The best way around this is to have a quality DVD burning program, use DVD+R discs and add menus and selectivity yourself.  My rating of 3 stars is for over-all.
1460075
First off, I'd like to say that QAF is is one of the best television shows on the air, period.  The characters' personalities are all very interesting & diverse, and the writers do a great job of balancing the fun & frivolous pursuits of everyday life (& every nightlife!) with the deeper and more complex issues that many of us face today.  Everyone, whether gay or strait, will be able to relate to many of the issues and situations that arise during the course of the first season.
With that said though, if you lack an open mind, or you're not OK with nudity or steamy sex scenes: STEER CLEAR!  Part of the show's charm is its unapologetic realism and refusal to 'pull any punches'; and, yes, that means lots of graphic gay sex.
That brings me to a small problem I have with the review submitted by my fellow Massachusetts native Titus.  While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and and I respect those who are willing to expess them, I can't help but think that his may be a little short-sighted and somewhat uninformed.  First off, the legal age of consent in many states, including Massachusetts, is 17 therefore negating his statutory rape argument.  (I will admit though, that I'm not sure about Pennsylvania law.  The show takes place in Pittsburg.)  The whole dynamic between 29 year old Brian and 17 year old Justin is a major plot issue which is addressed throughout the whole first season.  As the show goes on both characters evolve and it becomes very clear that Justin is anything but a naive little boy.  If Titus had continued to watch the series, he would have realized that there is more to the relationship than an older man 'taking advantage' of a younger teen.  Also, considering that his past reviews consist of: 'Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death', 'The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc', 'Jesus of Nazareth', and 'Ben-Hur', its seems to me that the graphic story of a bunch of young gay men might be a little outside his realm.  (Please don't take that comment as an affront to Christianity or a generalization about Christians being close-minded.  I happen to be Catholic, and it wasn't meant that way at all.)  But if Mr. Titus is really so concerned with the rape of young boys, I'd suggest he address the horrors uncovered within the Archdiocese of Boston instead of calling a high quality fictional drama "abhorrent to anyone with an iota of moral decency" without exploring the plot further and then looking at the bigger picture.
Anyway, I strongly urge any of you who have not seen an episode to give it a shot.  I bet you'll find yourself totally addicted by the end of the first disc.
4794688
This series is fantastic, unless the "Fan Service" bothers you, they tend to show boobs and butts whenever they can, I'm not watching it for that though, the series is great without it.