Product Details

• Actors: Simon Baker, Alan Rosenberg, Erica Leerhsen, Charles Malik Whitfield, Raphael Sbarge
• Directors: Alan Myerson, Andy Wolk, Arvin Brown, Bill L. Norton, Charles Haid
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
• Run Time: 972 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002JIOOCQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,902 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Guardian: The First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Guardian With Edge, August 10, 2009

By 

Irishman65 "irishman65" (NYC, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Guardian: The First Season (DVD)

4.5 Stars... Be warned, the character Simon Baker plays in this series is edgier than his character in The Mentalist and slightly more abrasive. However, that being said the first season of this legal drama was the strongest. At the time, Baker was billed as a new face with edge from Austrailia and the series got good critical reviews its first year. Baker's seens with Dabney Coleman were amazing to watch as he struggled between goodwill legal work and the call of "the rich firm" run by his father. Alan Rosenberg was good though the character he played was less rich than his characters in other series (Cybil, L.A. Law, Civil Wars). If you like Simon Baker in The Mentalist, and you don't expect him to always play the same exact character, you'll probably enjoy this first season and if like legal shows this series will also be enjoyable. So what happened in the remaining seasons? They retooled the premise to broaden their viewing audience and it watered down the show but this first season is definitely worth watching. I'd also recommend catching the actor in the romantic dramedy: Something New, if you are a fan of his.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Possibly One of the Best Legal Dramas Ever Aired, November 2, 2009

By 

J. McQueen "Anti-Charisma" (Hartford, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Guardian: The First Season (DVD)

When I graduated from law school, I came very close to practicing the type of family law the main character, Nick Fallon, has been sentenced to, so I may be a bit biased. With that having been said, I thought this was a terrific series.

The most important ingredient of this series' success is the understated (and unfortunately, criminally underrated) performance of Simon Baker. Because of the manner in which he plays Nick Fallon, you can see how the cumulative strain of:

(1) Fallon being sentenced to thousands of hours of community service in most trying, heartbreaking area of family law --destitute, abandoned and defenseless children;
(2) while struggling to stay productive at his tough-as-nails father's white-shoe mergers and acqusitions law firm and
(3)remaining sober

is (incrementally) tearing his character apart.

I strongly recommend this series to anyone who is tired of the melodramatic and overwrought nature of other legal dramas. It was really thought-provoking and entertaining!

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, underrated show, September 15, 2009

By 

ReaderAnn (U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Guardian: The First Season (DVD)

I discovered this gem on a local channel while living abroad (granted, the episodes were not current). It was fascinating watching the challenges of Baker's character as he worked for his father's uptight law firm, while also performing mandated community service as a court-appointed guardian for kids with extraordinary difficulties in their lives. At first, I thought Baker's character too cold and unlikable, but eventually realized he was meant to be very complicated. However, it was the acting of Alan Rosenberg, and particularly Dabney Coleman, that made the show stand out for me. I had never appreciated what a fine dramatic actor Coleman is. The show can be raw and difficult to watch at times, but the writing and the guest actors are excellent, and I highly recommend it.