Inside Pulse DVD Review – The Job: The Complete Series

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(Credit: www.buy.com)

Creators:

Denis Leary and Peter Tolan

Cast:

Denis Leary……….Mike McNeil
Bill Nunn……….Terrence “Pip” Phillips
Lenny Clarke……….Frank Harrigan
Diane Farr……….Jan Fendrich
Adam Ferrara……….Tommy Manetti
John Ortiz……….Ruben Sommariba
Julian Acosta……….Al Rodriguez
Keith David……….Tom Williams
Karyn Parsons……….Toni

Shout! Factory and Dreamworks Television present a Denis Leary and Peter Tolan show. Total running time: 8 hours. Rated TV MA. (Mature audiences all the way!!!)

The show:

When a network pulls the plug on a TV program loyal viewers are dumbfounded. Mail-in and e-mail campaigns begin so these throngs of fans can show their support in an attempt to save their favorite drama or sitcom. One of the latest casualties is the CBS program Joan of Arcadia. Kind of ironic, actually. The cancellation came a few weeks after the first season was released on DVD.

So when Denis Leary’s The Job was canceled back in 2002, I was upset. Each week I rushed to my television set to see this different type of comedy. The show used a single camera set-up and didn’t downplay its TV MA rating, which is a relief. ABC – the network that aired the show – only had one complaint for the initial pilot episode. The network didn’t like the fact that Leary as a married man with children had a black girlfriend. Subsequently, ABC didn’t mind the alcoholism or pill popping of the show’s protagonist, they had qualms about infidelity. Makes you wonder what the Standards and Practices meetings were like when the show made it to air.

In his best role since playing the bumbling thief in The Ref Denis Leary stars as Mike McNeil, a hard-drinking drug-abusing detective with the NYPD. When he’s not at home with his wife or on duty, he spends his time with mistress Toni (Karyn Parsons, best remembered as Hillary on Fresh Prince). Over the course of nineteen episodes McNeil lies and schemes to manage the chaos of his personal life. This is pretty much his same MO in FX’s Rescue Me.

Joining Mike McNeil is a conscientious partner nicknamed Pip (Bill Nunn). The nickname is reference to Gladys Knight and the Pips, or so the story goes. Pip is one of those guys who worries about his hefty figure and won’t hesitate to ask his partner if his backside is fat. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sneaks a peek at his wife’s Cosmopolitan magazine from time to time.

The other squad members also inject their own style of humor to the show. In the pilot episode, for instance, Captain Williams (Keith David) walks into the squad room and refers to detectives Ruben Sommariba (John Ortiz) and Al Rodriguez (Julian Acosta) as “rice and beans” because of their Puerto Rican complexions. Politically incorrect, maybe? But who cares. This is Keith David we are talking about. You can never get enough of Keith.

Diane Farr plays Jan Fendrich the only female detective in the squad room. She has the unenviable task of dealing with six male dicks (detectives) on a daily basis. So, she gets an earful of derogatory-laced comments and sexual innuendos. She won’t hesitate to spout off a curse word or two when a situation arises, though.

Then there’s Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara. As Frank Harrigan and Tommy Manetti there are times these two are the best of partners and other times when they want to kill each other. Clarke has a fondness for eating saturated foods. It is that fondness that gets under the skin of Ferrara, especially when his breakfast muffin goes missing in one episode.

A show like The Job you don’t watch for the story. You watch it for the characters, the repartee between them and the situations they face. Blackmailing, cross-dressing, a crotch-tickling nun and a severed foot are just samplings of some of the shenanigans that take place in “The Big Apple.”

In many respects this program is an acquired taste. If you enjoy Rescue Me on the FX channel, you are sure to enjoy The Job. With the proper advertising campaign this show could have been a modest hit for ABC. It’s not as enjoyable as Scrubs, but not many comedies these days are.

Still, I commend Shout! Factory for releasing this series. Maybe now it will find the audience it sorely lacked when ABC pulled the plug.

Score: 7/10

THE DVD:

VIDEO: How does it look?

Eh, well, for starters the episodes on the first disc appear in their full frame television format. The episodes on the remaining discs are all in 1.85:1 widescreen, which is nice. Even though the show was produced four years ago, the video quality is lacking. It snaps, crackles and pops during each episode. Grainy images are also apparent.

Score: 7/10

AUDIO: How does it sound?

Denis Leary’s sarcastic wit and the jokes of The Job are available in two audio formats: Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1. Shout! Factory should have dropped the 2.0 track to have enough disc space to amp up the video quality. Since the show is mostly dialogue-driven you don’t have to worry about loud explosions or car chases drowning out the conversation. You’ll love listening to the dark humor rifts by Leary and Co. in 5.1 audio.

Score: 7.5/10

SPECIAL FEATURES: Five commentaries, an interview with Leary and Tolan, and more behind-the-scenes features!!!

There are five commentary tracks with Denis Leary and Peter Tolan on the mike. For the most part they are a mixed bag. Having listened to their comments on “Barbeque,” I’m wondering if I each commentary is like this. There are times in the track where Tolan and Leary are just laughing, which is something I am capable of doing on my own. And when they aren’t laughing their comments aren’t very enlightening. For purists of the show, however, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind hearing what Leary and Tolan have to say.

The remaining extras can be accessed on disc 4.

The first feature is an interview with the two creators. Running a little over 27 minutes, Leary and Tolan discuss the show, its characters and its inspiration. During the interview Leary admits that most of his Mike McNeil’s character was based on the life of NYPD detective Mike Charles. Like McNeil, Charles was a recovering alcoholic, a pill head and a married man who had numerous affairs.

After watching this feature you will notice the rest of the extras lack in substance. There is a five-minute gag reel that makes you chuckle a few times. Series Premiere Promo Spots emphasize how ABC marketed the program for gullible TV viewers. The behind the scenes footage is a five-minute disappointment. It’s just some guy with a camera filming the director and stars at various stages of the production.

Rounding out the extras is on set interviews by the cast and crew and Denis Leary using 30 seconds to spread the word about his firefighter foundation.

Score: 5/10

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!