The latest seasons of Blue Bloods and NCIS: Los Angeles lead off these TV shows newly released on DVD.
Blue Bloods: The Seventh Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 22 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). This season, New York police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) is faced with several cases of possible police malfeasance and is also forced to butt heads with both the mayor and his own archbishop. Other cases involve Franks beat-cop son Jamie (Will Estes) and his prosecutor daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan), and the season ends with his detective son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) being targeted by the Russian mob.
At a time when so many TV police procedurals are cynical and dark, and often feature lead characters who are compromised in some form, its refreshing to see the Reagan law enforcement family maintaining its high moral standards, as well as openly discussing complicated problems in their weekly family dinners. This is a terrific series that has lost none of its steam after seven years, and which also hasnt felt the need to devolve into the raunchiness that so many other shows have, sadly, embraced. (The eighth season begins Sept. 29 on CBS.)
NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 8 (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). LL Cool J and Chris ODonnell return as undercover special-ops agents of the Navy Criminal Investigative Service, under the watchful eye of operations manager Linda Hunt. This season, the team heads to Syria for a mission that goes awry, then must answer to a board of inquiry. Co-star Miguel Ferrer, who died in January, makes his final appearance in episode 15. (The ninth season begins Oct. 1 on CBS.)
800 Words: Season 2, Part 2 (Acorn, 2017, two discs, eight episodes, featurette). Erik Thomson stars in this colorful comedy-drama as widower George Turner, a Sydney newspaper columnist who packs up his kids and impulsively moves to a New Zealand seaside town. In these episodes, George lands a job at the local newspaper and continues to romance Fiona (Michelle Langstone), which becomes a comedy of errors as they navigate the gossipy town eccentrics and the teenage drama of Georges kids. (The series has been renewed for a third season.)
Supergirl: The Complete Second Season (DC/Warner, 2016-17, four discs, audio commentary, featurettes). In the guise of her secret identity, Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) decides to become a reporter, and her boss Cat (Calista Flockhart) disappears for most of the season. Meanwhile, Supergirl deals with an unusual number of alien encounters. Episode eight, Medusa, ends with a scene that sets up a crossover story with The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, but the other shows episodes are absent from this set. (The third season begins Oct. 9 on the CW.)
Bull: Season One (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly), a psychologist with three Ph.D.s, determines how to manipulate juries by combining his own skills with technology and an expert team that includes a neurolinguistics analyst, a hacker and a fashion stylist. This crime procedural was co-created by Dr. Phil (McGraw), and is loosely based on his early career as a trial consultant. Steven Spielberg is a co-producer. (The second season begins Sept. 26 on CBS.)
Dominion Creek: Series 2 (RLJ, 2017, two discs, four episodes). The story of the Irish Connolly brothers in the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s continues just a few weeks after the end of the first season. With lawlessness increasing and typhoid having ravaged the community, the brothers must pull together and look beyond their own personal, selfish needs. This Irish production is filmed on location in Connemara, Ireland (near where John Ford filmed The Quiet One in 1952).
Lucifer: The Complete Second Season (Warner, 2016-17, three discs, 18 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). This crime show, based on a graphic novel, is about Lucifer (Tom Ellis) giving up his throne in Hell to become a Los Angeles nightclub owner and police consultant, paired with LAPD detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). Sure, why not? This season, his mother (Tricia Helfer) escapes from Hell to cause mischief. (The third season begins Oct. 2 on Fox.)
Blue Bloods: The Seventh Season (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 22 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). This season, New York police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) is faced with several cases of possible police malfeasance and is also forced to butt heads with both the mayor and his own archbishop. Other cases involve Franks beat-cop son Jamie (Will Estes) and his prosecutor daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan), and the season ends with his detective son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) being targeted by the Russian mob.
At a time when so many TV police procedurals are cynical and dark, and often feature lead characters who are compromised in some form, its refreshing to see the Reagan law enforcement family maintaining its high moral standards, as well as openly discussing complicated problems in their weekly family dinners. This is a terrific series that has lost none of its steam after seven years, and which also hasnt felt the need to devolve into the raunchiness that so many other shows have, sadly, embraced. (The eighth season begins Sept. 29 on CBS.)
NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 8 (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, 24 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). LL Cool J and Chris ODonnell return as undercover special-ops agents of the Navy Criminal Investigative Service, under the watchful eye of operations manager Linda Hunt. This season, the team heads to Syria for a mission that goes awry, then must answer to a board of inquiry. Co-star Miguel Ferrer, who died in January, makes his final appearance in episode 15. (The ninth season begins Oct. 1 on CBS.)
800 Words: Season 2, Part 2 (Acorn, 2017, two discs, eight episodes, featurette). Erik Thomson stars in this colorful comedy-drama as widower George Turner, a Sydney newspaper columnist who packs up his kids and impulsively moves to a New Zealand seaside town. In these episodes, George lands a job at the local newspaper and continues to romance Fiona (Michelle Langstone), which becomes a comedy of errors as they navigate the gossipy town eccentrics and the teenage drama of Georges kids. (The series has been renewed for a third season.)
Supergirl: The Complete Second Season (DC/Warner, 2016-17, four discs, audio commentary, featurettes). In the guise of her secret identity, Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) decides to become a reporter, and her boss Cat (Calista Flockhart) disappears for most of the season. Meanwhile, Supergirl deals with an unusual number of alien encounters. Episode eight, Medusa, ends with a scene that sets up a crossover story with The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, but the other shows episodes are absent from this set. (The third season begins Oct. 9 on the CW.)
Bull: Season One (CBS/Paramount, 2016-17, six discs, deleted/extended scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly), a psychologist with three Ph.D.s, determines how to manipulate juries by combining his own skills with technology and an expert team that includes a neurolinguistics analyst, a hacker and a fashion stylist. This crime procedural was co-created by Dr. Phil (McGraw), and is loosely based on his early career as a trial consultant. Steven Spielberg is a co-producer. (The second season begins Sept. 26 on CBS.)
Dominion Creek: Series 2 (RLJ, 2017, two discs, four episodes). The story of the Irish Connolly brothers in the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s continues just a few weeks after the end of the first season. With lawlessness increasing and typhoid having ravaged the community, the brothers must pull together and look beyond their own personal, selfish needs. This Irish production is filmed on location in Connemara, Ireland (near where John Ford filmed The Quiet One in 1952).
Lucifer: The Complete Second Season (Warner, 2016-17, three discs, 18 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). This crime show, based on a graphic novel, is about Lucifer (Tom Ellis) giving up his throne in Hell to become a Los Angeles nightclub owner and police consultant, paired with LAPD detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). Sure, why not? This season, his mother (Tricia Helfer) escapes from Hell to cause mischief. (The third season begins Oct. 2 on Fox.)