DVD Review: Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season

By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 5/18/2009

DISNEY
Street: June 2
Prebook: now
> Steven Bochco’s latest small-screen legal drama is a little tired, but still intelligent and entertaining.

The latest series from award-winning TV producer and writer Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Murder One), Raising the Bar concerns a group of one-time law school classmates who now encounter one another in court, be they opposing each other or taking the same side. Not as radical or unique as many of Bochco’s earlier series (remember Cop Rock?), it’s still an entertaining and intelligent show with a solid cast that includes such familiar TV faces as Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle), Gloria Reuben (ER) and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Bochco’s NYPD Blue). The well-supplemented disc includes commentaries from Bochco about how it’s all done.

Shelf Talk: As Raising the Bar is slated to return for its second season, fans of legal dramas who might have missed this one should jump on board now, so they can catch up. Of course, Bochco has had a loyal following for the past two decades, and there are several people who will be interested in knowing this is his latest project.

TV drama, color, NR (mature themes, language), 430 min., DVD $39.99
Extras: commentary, featurettes, bloopers
Directors: various
First Run: TNT, 2008