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releasing
September 9, 2008

S4 DVD Page



And here we go again...
Another season past, a new one beginning. And with that brings another Grey's Anatomy DVD release from ABC Studios.
Last year, if you remember, fans were pretty unhappy with the information they had gathered about the Season Three DVD set. The style was different, the cover art was "ugly," the features didn't seem great, and apparently it wasn't packaged so well (although, I haven't had that problem with mine). However, I think we are all going to agree that the Season Four DVD set is REALLY REALLY nice. True, the style of the set is different than that of the previous three sets - the images aren't "broken," there's a new ABC Studios logo on the spine, the logo isn't red, and the inside packaging is also quite a bit different. However, this DVD set is AWESOME. It looks really great when placed on the shelf next to the previous sets (although I still wish season one's had been a fold-out too!).
Let's discuss the packaging. For these sets, packaging is a big deal. And while the rest of the studios seem to be moving to smaller, cheaper packaging, it is AWESOME to see that ABC Studios chooses to stick with the fold-out digipacks for their sets, which gives them more value and makes them look really nice. The actual fold-out part fits more snugly in the outer sleeve than season three's, which is nice, but sometimes makes it hard to put the fold-out back in. One awesome thing is that the cover art "changes colors." It's that kind of material where the light changes the colors you see in the cover. It looks really awesome. The discs don't have any cast photos on them, as there are too many members for only a mere five discs, and instead use the "Changes"-themed taglines from season four (the first time we've seen the promotional material used in a Grey's DVD set). It actually looks really neat. My main issue with the packaging is the booklet. It comes with a booklet, but it's a timeline of events on the show - not episode summaries. This is really, really disappointing. A lot of people actually rely on those to choose an episode to watch. Rather, we get a mere list of episode titles and that is all.
Onto the actual DVD. The press release was pretty skimpy on what was actually included on the set, so you'll be glad to hear that there are TWO (yah, only two) extended episodes - 408 "Forever Young" and 414 "The Becoming." 408 is extended by 3-5 minutes, but 414 is extended by around 10 minutes! They originally aired so long ago that I can't point out what is extended, but the episodes are awesome, nonetheless. You'll also be glad to hear that there are THREE commentaries - one by Chyler Leigh and someone else that I've never heard of on the season premiere episode 401 "A Change is Gonna Come," one by Laruen Stamile (Rose) and executive producer Rob Corn on 408 "Forever Young," and one by Sandra Oh (Cristina) and director Julie Ann Robinson on 414 "The Becoming." The one by Chyler is actually enjoyable, but there's nothing ground-breaking revealed. The commentary by Stamile and Corn is actually very dull and I found myself not liking it at all. It was kind of disappointing, because I expected Rob Corn to have a lot to say. But the one by Oh and Robinson is by far the best. It is very enjoyable and reveals some neat things.
The other features found on Disc Five are actually pretty neat. "On Set with Patrick and Eric" is hilarious and shows how awesome these two guys are - you people will eat this featurette up! The deleted scenes are a nice batch of scenes, but they only take like 25 minutes to go through, so you don't have to spend all day watching them. There aren't really any of much interest except for a deleted scene from 411 "Lay Your Hands on Me" which has a nice Lexzie moment. There are no MerDer deleted scenes, Callica deleted scenes, and as a relief to you all - NO Dose deleted scenes. Here's the deleted scenes breakdown:
The "Good Medicine: Cast's Favorite Scenes" featurette is pretty neat (you get to see an alternate view of the candle house scene!) but there is no participation from Katherine Heigl or Ellen Pompeo and lots of participation from executive producer Betsy Beers - who, last time I checked, wasn't a member of the cast (love you Betsy!). Some moments lull, but there are some neat moments, so it's worth checking out.
The bloopers are hi-larious, and feature every single cast member - even Seth Green and Kate Walsh! It really goes to show how much fun this cast has.
But here's what's missing: There is NO participation from Ellen or Katie in ANY of the features, at all. Same goes for Shonda - which is extremely odd, considering how involved she is in these things. Plus, we still haven't gotten our Patrick/Ellen commentary that the fans are BEGGING for. My only other gripe for the set is that the season finale - "Freedom" - has been split up into two parts - two separate episodes that you have to push "play" for. It wasn't originally aired this way, so it is kind of disappointing, but, at the same time, is OK because Part 2 is certainly better than Part 1.
As for video and audio, it seems almost flawless. After a summer of watching the iTunes-downloaded version of these episodes, the picture and sound look really great. (FYI: I'm reviewing the DVD version here, not the Blu-ray version as I'm not fortunate enough to own a BD player just yet.)

So what do I suggest for future sets? Well...
  1. This is totally random, but... Don't skew out of the Grey's Anatomy color scheme for the sets. (Can you imagine a bright green or yellow or pink Grey's DVD?) Besides the obvious grey that they haven't used, they've used the rest of the Grey's-appropriate color spectrum for the color of the boxes. My advice is do a silver set, then do a black fold-out set (since season one wasn't fold out), and then do different shades of red and blue.
  2. GIVE US MORE ELLEN AND SHONDA! The commentaries by Shonda on the seasons one and two sets were by far the best. And Ellen hasn't even had an imprint on ANY of the sets, which is odd considering she is the star of the show (so to speak).
  3. More Extended Episodes. Four is nice, but two is ridiculous. The Grey's team is always talking about how almost every episode has to be cut down because they write too much, so why does the extended episode limit seem to be set at four?
  4. Give us an actual booklet. The booklets from seasons two and three were really nice, so why not bring them back?
  5. Keep the fold-out packaging. ABC's going to be screwed if they decide to go cheap.
  6. And, finally, pack the final season set full of extras! I'm thinking full cast commentary, extended, Shonda commentary, the works. I mean, seriously - doesn't a full cast commentary sound fun?! (Yes, I realize this is probably - hopefully - a few years off, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning, oh, now.)
I know that a lot of people are skeptical of buying a season four set - the season was a very big letdown to a lot of people. But this set is really, really nice and is going to look great on the shelf. True, it may be lacking in the features section somewhat, but the features that are present are extremely awesome. Not to mention you will finally own that awesomely amazing finale in great picture and sound quality once and for all! So, if you are sitting on the fence on whether or not to buy this DVD on September 9, I would certainly recommend that you do. You won't regret it.