Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: Season 5
A&E Home Video
Cast: Jane Seymour, Joe Lando
Extras: Commentary Track, Cast Biographies
Rating:
If you look at today’s TV landscape there is little in terms of series that try to convey family values in any form. The other extreme is generally more applicable, such as hit shows like "Malcolm In The Middle" which, in essence, serve to show you how not to raise your kids and how dysfunctional today’s families can be. You will also notice that there are virtually no shows on TV that are fun to watch for families as a whole from the youngest to the oldest member. Each show is typically targeted at a very specific demographic audience without having any appeal outside that age or IQ group. Well, there was a time when that was different. I remember a time when my whole family used to sit in front of the TV set to enjoy weekly installments of "Little House On The Prairie" or even "Bonanza." "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" has been able to fill that gap in the television landscape, and successfully so for many years.
It is the story of young doctor Michaela Quinn (Jane Seymour) wrapping up her practice in Boston to move to provincial Colorado in the 1860s to help the settlers in that area. Full of ambitions, dreams and hopes she soon realizes that Colorado is not exactly what she had expected, but at the same time sees that it is much more than she could ever have hoped for. Interpersonal relationships, dynamics of a growing small town and simply living in the wild as opposed to the big city has its own challenges. Over the course of the TV series, Dr. Quinn turned from the outsider to one of the cornerstones of the community.
Season 5 of the show was, as the others, full of great episodes and plots. Always exciting, each episode had something to say about society, family values, moral values and ethics without ever raising the finger. The morals were always neatly woven into the context of the story, making for sublime, though-provoking moments throughout each season.
A&E Home Entertainment is presenting "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" in a whopping 7-disc DVD set in its original <$PS,fullframe> aspect ratio. The image is clean and clear and without defects or blemishes. Grain is at a minimum, rendering the image solid and with a good level of detail. Colors are vibrant and rich, nicely reproducing the vistas on display, as well as perfectly reproducing the darker interior shots. Black levels are rock solid, never breaking up. No edge-enhancement is evident and the transfer is without compression artifacts.
The original Dolby Stereo audio track is provided on the release and it is also in top shape. No distortion or sibilance is evident and the frequency response is wide and natural. As a result dialogues always sound faithful and are never drowned out by music or sound effects. The track’s dynamic range is also good, making sure ever nuance of the sonic presentation is reproduced flawlessly.
All 26 episodes of the season are included on this DVD and on the episode "Legend" you will also find a <$commentary,commentary track> by Shawn Toovey and Chad Allen. It is insightful and full of valuable information about the show in general and the episode in particular.
Also included in the set are cast biographies.
"Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" is a TV show that followed very traditional values yet at the same time managed to keep its content fresh, modern and surprisingly contemporary as it covered a lot of issues that concern each of us. The show is well acted – hardly surprising with an accomplished and versatile actress like Jane Seymour at the helm – and has some wonderful production values, not to mention the wonderful landscapes on display in the show. A&E Home Entertainment has once again put together a stellar DVD set for this season that every fan of the show should simply devour.
