Customer Reviews

Wiseguy: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Having picked up the original WISEGUY releases a few years ago from Ventura Distribution, I was naturally curious to see what Mill Creek has done with the property in the new release (The Complete First Season) that came out this week. If you don't have the previous sets, I recommend it and give it 4 out of 5 stars on the strength of the material moreso than the set itself. Here's my initial observations, positives and negatives...

-Price is MUCH more affordable (It's $9.99 on Amazon for the complete first season, whereas the previous releases were around $40 for each half of the 1st season)
-Release is indeed the entire 1st season (the previous releases split it in half, with one DVD set of Steelgrave, and another DVD set of Profitt)
-"Knights in White Satin" song has still been replaced in the Steelgrave finale (it was replaced with the same instrumental music in the original DVD as well)
-The song originally used in the first part of the Mel Profitt arc as Vinnie and Roger arrive at the yacht party was substituted with generic music on the original release, but in this DVD, that particular song HAS BEEN RESTORED!
-The prints used appear to be the same remastered prints from the original release, but they don't look as sharp (in fact, they look fuzzier) simply because there is more compression and probably a lower bit rate being used in the disc authoring (they have placed 5 episodes each on Discs 1 and 2, and 6 episodes each on Discs 3 and 4)
-The audio is Mono, compared to the 5.1 soundtracks on the original release
-No extras whatsoever (the originals had audio commentaries, interviews with much of the cast, and some bonus stand-alone episodes from other seasons)
-The discs each come in black envelopes held in place in a snapper case
-Menus are static (originals featured video), but they have a great selection of music from the opening of the "New Blood" episode, and have the episodes listed as part of Vinnie's "file"
-The series' pilot was featured in 1 complete part (as originally aired) on the original release, but is split into 2 parts in this DVD set (and it's a weird break, not at the halfway point but much later). The second part opens immediately without any credits
-Chapters have been added to the episodes (the original Steelgrave set didn't have any) but the chapter breaks are not at the commercials

While I haven't watched each episode yet to determine if there are any glitches with the audio/video, my initial observations are that it's a good set considering you get all of the excellent 22 1st season shows (counting the pilot as 2 parts) for a very low price, and they look good even upconverted on a 46-inch HDTV as I viewed them. However, if you already own the first DVD sets, I see no reason here for an upgrade, unless you want the original song featured in the 1st Mel Profitt episode which is now intact, or unless you want to have the entire first season all contained in 1 box (don't sell off your original sets, though).

I bought this from Best Buy on Tuesday and just watched the Steelgrave arc today(Saturday).
The music is edited! Nights in White Satin has been edited out of the climax and it totally ruins the mood of the scene. Picture quality is average; it looks like an 80's show. There are no extras included in this set. There are four discs in the set which are packaged in cheap paper sleeves. Discs 1 & 2 are the Steelgrave arc with 5 episodes each. Discs 3 & 4 are the Profitt arc with 6 episodes each.

Here is the deal - the first year of WISEGUY was the best - though there were individual eps later in the next 2 years that were brilliant - none as cohesive as the full first season (with that very bad in between episode being the sole exception) - my guess is that this set collects all the first season eps and does not use the old music - since it's selling very cheap - that's a giveaway - another is that they are not TOUTING ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK on the box - which is another dead giveaway. You can still find copies of that ep with KNIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN on the web, ebay, etc - but what a shame not to have it here - what a shame. I suspect they will only do the first season since they never got the music rights for the music arc which was the 2nd season - so - this is a dubious but interesting project and i will be curious to see if there are any extras at all - that said - I hope i'm wrong about all of this - but somehow I don't think I am. For the record -as much as I loved STEELGRAVE ARC - i think it was the ROGER LACOCOCO MEL PROFIT arc that made this series a classic.

First of all, I loved this show when it was on so I was really looking forward to getting it on DVD. First DVD set had problems right from the start. The first disc vibrated my DVD player so much that it shut itself off. The third disc was no better. Got the set replaced by Amazon and encountered the exact same problems. I don't know if it was caused by off-center labels or whatever, but I have to give up on this. Poor quality...

These are in MONO SOUND . I own the original release they are in stereo. MONO audio tracks are unaccepatable in 2009.. come on people get real.

It was very nice to see an affordable (extremely affordable) release of WISEGUY season 1. I was a big fan of WISEGUY during its initial run on CBS in the late 80's, although I did not start watching until the second season. I did catch the Proffit arc 2 years later, when it aired on CBS late night. Now I have just seen the Steelgrave arc for the first time. I have heard about the Nights in White Satin issue but never having seen the original I didn't have an attachment to it. I decided to see what the deal was and found video of the sequence on line with the original music. Now, some reviews have stated that the replacement music is generic, I suppose that is correct if you call it generic WISEGUY music as it is taken from the theme of the show. Honestly I thought the original version was a bit overdone but I do prefer that original versions be left intact.

This brings me to my point.

It boggles my mind that music companies or artist or whomever is responsible get in the way of the original music being kept on older TV series (why does this never happen with movie releases). It would seem to me an excellent opportunity for record companies, artists, whomever to get some cheap if not free advertising. Just imagine an extra on the DVD release of WISEGUY that lists all the original music used and where it could be found for purchase. Just think how many people would buy a copy of Nights in White Satin if the song had been kept intact on the show and an extra like this had encouraged them to do so. Would this not make the record companies, artist, whomever money. It would probably increase the sales of the DVD and thus send more people to buy the song and so on and so forth. Sorry for the ranting but I just think this would work.

In closing,it is a great DVD and well worth the price!

If you enjoyed the series, the price tells you what you will get. The quality is OK, but the altered sound track ruined it for me. The original sound track was an important part of the work.

I remember how much I loved the show, "Wiseguy", when it was on in the late 80's, and I was thrilled to finally get the first season on DVD. It is a powerful show that was very well done, in the quality of a big screen movie on the small screen. The writing is excellent. Instead of special effects and stunts, the show was character driven and the story arcs were well developed. "Wiseguy" was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo. Cannell is well known for his amazing work in many successful series including "Hunter", `Rockford Files" and "A-Team".

Ken Wahl became his character, Vinnie Terranova. Vinnie, an undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau, struggled with the fine line between the crime he worked to bring down and the people behind it. He goes so far undercover that the work takes an emotional toll on him and with the help of his field supervisor, Frank McPike (played by Jonathan Banks) and "Lifeguard" (played by Jim Brynes)-Vinnie works through his demons.

The first season has two story arcs. The show built its'characters around a specific crime syndicate that Vinnie infiltrates and works to destroy the crime within. The first story arc centers around a crime syndicate led by Sonny Steelgrave (probably the best role of Ray Sharkey's career). Following this story, you experience along with Vinnie-the difficulties of his work, his alienation from his family and all that is dear to him. Even at the final confrontation between Vinnie and Sonny, an amazing scene well acted by Wahl and Sharkey, you see the struggle. In this scene, Vinnie tells Sonny that, "it never occurred to me that we would be friends. There is a lot in you I felt close to". In other scene with his mother, she tells Vinnie (to help him gain perspective on his relationship with Steelgrave), "What good is it when a man loves his own children but kills someone else's".

In the second story, Kevin Spacey portrays Mel Proffit, a psychopath, who heads an international drug and arms business with his sister, Susan. Vinnie gets entangled with these two and their hired gun, Roger LoCocco (played well by William Russ). The best way to describe Mel Proffit-Sonny Steelgrave is a saint compared to him. This character will give you chills and Spacey nails him beautifully.

Re-watching the first season of "Wiseguy" was very enjoyable-very intense and compelling series that I am thrilled to have in my library. If you like a well written and well acted crime drama that will keep your attention, you can't go wrong with "Wiseguy".

One note of caution, the packing of this newly released first season is not very good. All you get is a box with the four enveloped DVDs-there are no bonus materials or extra text with the set. I watched it all and the DVDs play fine. The 22 episodes are complete and I am pleased with the quality. As with the sound, I didn't have any problems. Even without all the "bells and whistles", the show is worth purchasing this set.

Music issue as mentioned by others, but in addition, its not playing well with four interruptions on the first three episodes. Two minutes of a crucial scene can't be played with numerous video pixelations elsewhere. This may go back.

Okay, I was bummed when in the original DVD release of Season 1 Part 1, there was no Nights in White Satin in the No One Here Gets Out Alive episode...but just the fact that this set FINALLY includes the Mel Profitt arc is worth the $9.99(!!?!) The arc where I first encountered an amazing actor named Kevin Spacey and my eyes first feasted on the 100% woman that was Joan Severence. William Russ' awesome Roger Lococco, as well as the rest of the usual suspects Jonathan Banks, Lifeguard, and of course Ken Wahl. Yeah, it's a bummer there's no Moody Blues, and I was expecting some minutes trimmed here and there, but I'm almost done with the Profitt arc and I swear, there were even a few scenes that I'd never even seen originally on TV( and I'd seen the reruns a few times thanks to my now dead VCR). If the music thing is really that distracting, I'll cue up 'Nights' on the old iPod and listen to it while Vinnie and Sonny stare at each other. Good times. Can't wait til Season 2 comes out. Wiseguy's back, my friends. Here's to holes in the ozone, buckwheat.