The Practice is coming!

Re: The Practice is coming!

yeah why not release both s1 & s2? why just the first 7 eps of s2? odd

Re: The Practice is coming!

ok, Boston Legal, Picket Fences and The Practice.... now it's time to give us Ally McBeal in season sets. I mean, Calista is on one of the seasons most popular new shows, this is the perfect time to give us season 1 (the best season anyways) of Ally. Unlike many shows, Ally peaked at the beginning, so it's a show that many fans would be satisfied with one season, even tho I admit I'd go up through the Downey season, wouldn't want to revisit the abonimation of the last season again (which may sell well because of that Hayden chick from Heroes)

Re: The Practice is coming!

Fox's choosing to release in Volumes instead of Seasons may have to do with the fact that 28 episodes aired as Season 2. However, 7 of the 28 were originally produced as part of the initial 13 episode order. In reality, Season 1 should have had 13 episodes and Season Two 21. The seven were sprinkled throughout Season 2 and did not air in the order in which they were actually made. I guess Fox was afraid of confusing people by call it Season 1 vs Volume 1. So the next release - Volume 2 - would be the rest of the Season 2 episodes (21 eps). After that, the volume numbers would match up perfectly with the season numbers.

Re: The Practice is coming!

yeah but if you look at the episode list and then productions codes its not all the season one episodes or the ones that were produced for it. its just the first 7 of season 2 so it will still be out of order

Re: The Practice is coming!

Yes, that is true. I wish they would put the 13 initial episodes produced on Volume 1 instead of organizing by broadcast order.

Re: The Practice is coming!

Maybe that's erroneous information? Sometimes the studios PR departments get it wrong. A few months back, A&E got the episode count of WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY (UK) Seasons 1 & 2. I e-mailed TVShowsOnDVD, they contacted the studio, and we had an answer soon after.

Maybe someone here should drop TVSonDVD a line to get some clarification from the studio.

I agree. This is one case where "production order" should trump "broadcast" order, especially as the initial 13 shows had the character of Renee Williams, and Helen Gamble wasn't introduced until show 14. ABC showed them out-of-order to simply get Lara Flynn Boyle on the air quicker, if I recall correctly.

I'm actually kind of surprised that they didn't issue the final season first, to capitalise on James Spader's popularity, and the linkage of the final weeks of that show to Boston Legal. Figure it would outsell any of the other Practice seasons.

Re: The Practice is coming!

I got the episode listings from the item posted on DVD Times. TVShowsonDVD hasn't posted the info yet. I wonder if it's too late to do anything about this.

Re: The Practice is coming!

This really doesn't matter to me. I'm actually glad to see they're releasing them in the order that they originally were aired. It preserves the "completeness" of the sets. I also PRAY that music changes are extremely limited, if none at all. Now, just waiting on Ally and L.A. Law!

Re: The Practice is coming!

There was a Best Buy bonus disc along with Boston Legal season 1 with the last few episodes of the Practice.

Re: The Practice is coming!

Yeah, I remember than. I'm still surprised they didn't release the last season first, in order to capitalise on James Spader's popularity. I just hope the earlier seasons sell well enough that they'll make it through to the end!

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Yeah, I got shafted when my pre-order from Best Buy didn't show up with that bonus disc.

As someone who loves Boston Legal, would I enjoy The Practice?

Re: The Practice is coming!

I'd say that you'd probably enjoy the final season of The Practice, though the rest of the series may or may not be to your liking. The Practice wasn't quite so much about the broad comedy as Boston Legal is. The Practice, particularly its earlier episodes, tries to be a bit more serious.

Maybe you should check your listings and catch a few episodes in syncication before taking the risk of a purchase?

Re: The Practice is coming!

Am I the only person who remembers that there are two different versions of the first handful of episodes of The Practice. After its original run the episodes were completely re-edited, and scenes from later in the season were integrated into earlier ones.

Somewhere in my enormous - and largely uncatalogued - collection of tapes I have both versions, and I promise to write something more substantial on this, rather than relying on my memory, when I find them!

Re: The Practice is coming!

Hmmm. I think what you're referring to involves the addition of Lara Flynn Boyle to the cast. However, ABC had seven "leftover" episodes from season one that they decided to hold back and use as part of season two (perhaps in anticipation of a writer's/actor's strike?). Anyway, these "held-back" episodes did not include Helen Gamble, but had other DAs (Renee Williams, for example) instead. ABC were keen on having "hottie" Lara Flynn Boyle introduced as soon as possible, so (as my memory goes), some storylines were reshuffled to get her introduced as soon as possible.

Something similar happened with Boston Legal between seasons 1 and 2. Episodes from season one were "held back", and over the summer, two cast members left. Since neither was available at the start of the "real" season 2 filming to film exit scenes, the leftover episodes were re-edited, so that all of the "old" footage was spread out over more episodes, and so that the season's new characters could be introduced from the beginning of the season and the two characters were simply written out 'off camera.'

Re: The Practice is coming!

So, you're suggesting that the first few episodes of series two were blended with held back (ie: untransmitted) episodes from series one?

That doesn't tally with my memory (which may be faulty).

There are definitely two versions of some episodes, with different scene orders, as I remember running the two side-by-side to compare them.

I'm pretty certain that the re-ordered scenes included bits of the tobacco company story from the pilot, suggesting that these were very early S1 episodes.

Oh well, not much point speculating further, until I find the tapes I recorded in 1997.

I very much appreciate your comments, though, Andy! Thanks!

Re: The Practice is coming!

Oh, by the way, the list of episodes at http://epguides.com/Practice/ suggests that the held-back season one episodes (the ones with the "PR" production code prefix) were simply slotted into the season two running order.

That list also reveals that the remaining "PRxx" from the second (US) season aired in the UK months before they aired in the US.

Sky One showed the first thirteen episodes in an uninterrupted run between the 29th of April and the 22nd of July 1997:

8402 - Part 1 - 29th April 1997
PR01 - Part 2 - 6th May 1997
PR02 - Trial and Error - 13th May 1997
PR03 - Part IV - 20th May 1997
PR04 - Part V - 27th May 1997
PR05 - Part VI * - 3rd June 1997
PR06 - Dog Bite * - 10th June 1997
PR07 - First Degree * - 17th June 1997
PR08 - Sex, Lies and Monkeys - 24th June 1997
PR09 - Race With The Devil - 1st July 1997
PR10 - The Civil Right - 8th July 1997
PR11 - Hide and Seek - 15th July 1997
PR12 - Pursuit of Dignity - 22nd July 1997


* - title not given at time of UK transmission

Re: The Practice is coming!

I...am so...confused. I will leave it up to Kelley to re-edit or reconfigure the episodes, or leave them as is. By the way, did the damn set ever come out??

Now at first this could be great news, but bearing in mind the studio releasing it (Mediumrare), the transfers may not look good. However, I thought I'd mention that The Practice: Seasons 1 & 2, an 8-disc set, is being released by Fremantle Home Entertainment/Mediumrare in the UK on Monday 27th February, 2012 (source: Amazon UK, HMV.com and Play.com).

I saw this on Play but I wondered if it was the UK show The Practice? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practice_%281985_TV_series%29
Fremantle release a lot of UK shows.. I really hope it is the US series, though.
Edited by Wezzo - 11/15/11 at 3:57am

The season of The Practice that I really want is the final one which intro's Alan Shore and Denny Crane.

I'm assuming this is the US series, as Fremantle have released some US shows in the past.

Final 3D front cover artwork for The Practice: The Complete First and Second Seasons (source: Play.com):

 

 

Edited by WaveCrest - 2/6/12 at 2:35pm

I really hope we don't end up only with a PAL speedup version from the never released episodes (Play.com states it's a R2 disc). The Practice was a great show and sadly forgotten.

Whether or not it's sped-up will depend on whether the masters they used were taken directly from film prints (better visual quality, but would have speed-up) or standards conversions from NTSC tape masters (perhaps not as good visual quality, but at least there would be no sound speed-up).

Am hoping the Ally McBeal episode "The Inmates" (the first part of a two-part crossover with The Practice (the second part being the episode "Axe Murderer") might be included as a bonus feature, but won't too surprised if if it isn't. Dylan McDermott would cross over again to Ally McBeal (in the episode "These Are the Days").

Couple of DVD extras included in Mediumrare's set of the first and second seasons (source: Play.com):

 

 

- Featurette: Setting Up The Practice

- Stills gallery.