21 Jump Street: Complete Series 1-5

I recently had the opportunity to review the Mill Creek re-issue of the Complete 21 Jump Street on DVD and I have to say that I'm both a little excited about it and a little bit bummed out. First off, I have to make it clear that Mill Creek provided a review copy of the DVD, but I'm also a fan of the show already owning a few of the seasons that were previously released by Anchor Bay on DVD.

First, the DVD set Pros...
-The set is decently affordable at about sixty to seventy bucks (especially compared to the season by season box set cost.)

-The quality of the transfer is pretty close to the original Anchor Bay DVDs. The original source material was rough to begin with though, and there's only so much you can do to pretty it up. It's not the nest looking show on film.

As far as the cons go...
-The packaging is medium to subpar. Mill Creek is the king of budget DVD releases, and over the past year or so they've changed the style with which they box their DVD sets. Though the sets are packaged in clamshell-style cases, the DVDs themselves aren't housed on individual pegs or spindles. Instead they're individually wrapped in plain black paper sleeves which stack together and sort of snap into a frame on one side of the case. That means that when you want to pull out DVD #17, you have to pull them all out and sift through the sleeves, which can be a pain. With a smaller set it's not that big of a deal, but with these complete series sets it really gets to be a pain.

-There are no liner notes and no DVD booklet. You want to know which episode guest star's Brad Pitt? Go to IMDB and find it that way. Again, with a smaller or season set this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but with a complete series set it's really a pain.

-Also, and this was a problem with the original DVD releases as well, most if not all of the original music has been removed from the show. It's a sad fact of TV on DVD production that music rights are just too expensive and were never negotiated since there was no market at the time. It's nothing Mill Creek did wrong per-se, but it's also something they did not remedy from the Anchor Bay DVDs...

As far as the show itself goes, this is an example of Stephen J. Cannell at his most playful. Starring Peter and Michael Deluise, Holly Robinson (Peete), Dustin Nguyen, Steven Williams (the X-Files), Richard Grieco, and of course a young Johnny Depp in his break-out role as Officer Tom Hanson, 21 Jump Street was like the older brother of Saturday Morning cartoons in the 80s. Usually centered on some hot-button topic of the day, the series was a fun spin on detective shows that gave the actors a lot of range to play all sorts of undercover roles.

Though the episodes do stray more toward a lighter tone, they're usually fun and always entertaining. The series is a snapshot of what the Fox Network was like during it's inception as well, and helped to define a slightly hipper alternative to the normal programming on the main three networks. It works best as a time capsule of 80s television and features a plethora of guest stars like Brad Pitt, Pauley Shore, Mario Van Peebles, Kurtwood Smith, Jason Priestley, Mindy Cohn, Bridget Fonda, Sherilynn Fenn, Josh Brolin, Christina Applegate, Vince Vaughn, John Waters, Shannon Doherty, and Thomas Haden Church.

All in all, for the price, the set is probably worth picking up if you're a fan and don't already own the series, though I would wait for a sale.

It's a great deal for all 103 (or 104) episodes. I was glad that Wheels and Deals Part 1 (from Booker) was included. However, Johnny Depp's final episode "Blackout" is nowhere to be found, either on the final disc of Season 4, nor the first disc of Season 5. Can Miller Creek Entertainment explain what's going on here??? Thank you!!!

The set claims to be the complete series seasons 1 thru 5. This is misleading and not accurate. The episode Black Out, which was filmed in the fourth season and held over the fifth season is not included. This was Johnny Depp's last episode. Complete series means all the episodes. Buyer beware that if you want the episode Blackout you have to purchase the fifth season.

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