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Tru Calling - The Complete First Season

Tru Calling - The Complete First Season

List Price: $59.98
Your Price: $44.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ...and season 2 would have been even better...
Review: Apparently, Tru Calling is going to be the latest example of the FOX network's idiotic obsession with cancelling good shows. It's really too bad because, based on what I heard on the dvd commentaries, it sounded like season two would have been even better than the first season - which was already very good. As a huge Buffy fan, I started watching "Tru" from the very beginning. On BtVS, Eliza Dushku had already shown herself to be one of the best young actresses around, so it was only logical that I would follow her to her new show. She, and the show, did not disappoint. I was glued to my seat every episode, and it kept getting better and better as the season went on. So, you ask, why did I only give the dvd a three star rating instead of the five stars that I had originally intended when I started watching it? One thing was wrong with the dvd that most people probably wouldn't even notice or care about, but it was very important to me. My absolute favorite moment from the show, as it was originally broadcast, is MISSING from the dvd. In the original broadcast of the episode "Reunion", Tru enters her high school reunion to the sound of the same song that was playing when Buffy entered her Prom in the BtVS episode "The Prom". "Reunion" was written by former Buffy writer Doug Petrie. I'm sure Doug must have specified that the music be the same as the Buffy episode in recognition of all the Buffy fans who were now watching Tru. However, when I came to that spot on the dvd and was looking forward to hearing that song again, IT WASN'T THERE. It had been replaced by something much different. What really ticks me off about that is, unlike some other dvd sets where the music has been changed, there is NO WARNING ANYWHERE (that I could see) on the dvd box. OK, rant over. Like I said before, the show is great and this dvd set is still worth buying anyway. However, for me (and possibly other Buffy fans) it was a huge disappointment not to have that music tie-in to our other favorite show included on the dvd. Was it worth docking the show two stars? To me, since it was my favorite moment of the show, absolutely. To most other people, probably not. In conclusion, I guess I would say, if you weren't a Buffy fan before Tru Calling, this is a five star show that you should definitely buy. If you were a Buffy fan, you should be aware that a significant Buffy tie-in is missing from the dvd set, but the set is still worth buying anyway - it's just not as great as the original broadcast.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Great Show Axed
Review: At least the first season of this show was released on DVD. I really enjoyed this show. It had an interesting premise and Eliza Dushku is a great actress. This is just another example of TV executives cancelling another great show, while leaving TV viewers with more mindless reality shows and sitcoms to watch. Congrats FOX.

Pick up this DVD it is great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: unique idea!
Review: can't say why some are so critical about the show! Eliza Dushku plays well in it and hopefully there's more to come! I'm through with the first season in only a few days and can't wait to get more of it. Sure, it's all fiction but what can you expect more of entertainment????? Eliza was good in Buffy as "Faith"(the bad girl) and is even better as "Tru" (as the good girl who tries to save lives). Don't analyze it, just watch it! You'll love it. I'd give 10 stars if possible!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BEST show you may never see again on tv....
Review: I have been a fan of Eliza Dushku for a long time now. When I heard of this show, I knew I had to give it a chance. From the first episode I was hooked. Yeah, sure it's a stretch from reality, but isn't that what Tv and the movies are for? seriously. I'm sure everyone has wished they could go back and save someone they've lost, or change soemthing they had done. That's exactly what Tru can do. And it's amazing.

The way this show was put together, the writing, the directing, the acting - it was a perfect mixture of talent.

If you missed this show when it originally aired, pick this up and prepare to be entertained. If you watched it and you now miss it, what are you waiting for?

As a fan I can only hope that FOX reconsiderd their decision to cancel this show. But I know my chances of having that wish come true are slim to none, if only FOX would give the good shows a chance.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Genre TV
Review: I have to admit that I was not expecting much of Tru Calling. Upon watching the show's premiere in the fall of 2003, I was expecting to see just another genre outing that wouldn't do much for me. Well, surprise, surprise. I really enjoyed the premiere, and the rest of the season for that matter. Tru calling was a very enjoyable genre fest that, unfortunately, was never given the chance to grow.

Eliza Dushku is perfectly cast as Tru, the young woman who works in a morgue. Sometimes, dead bodies reawaken and ask for her help. The clock winds back, time rewinds, and Tru is given a new chance to help this or that character from his or her inevitable fate.

The stories are usually completely enjoyable and full of twists and turns. And the series works so well because of all of its quirky supporting characters; like Tru's troublesome brother, her is-he-or-isn't-he boyfriend, her drug addict sister and her boss at the morgue, probably the funniest and most mysterious character in the series.

Unfortunately, near the end of the season, the series took a turn for the worse when a new character played by Jason Priestly was introduced. The actor is totally miscast as Tru's nemesis. He seems uncomfotable and bored in his role. The character isn't well defined, but we could blame this on the fact that this subplot was never given the chance to grow before the series was cancelled by FOX.

I'm surprised that the show didn't have a bigger audience. The soundtrack is hip and modern, the style of the show incredibly well thought-of and very intersting to look at, the set pieces are very atmospheric and intriguing... This show had a lot going for it. Of course, putting it on Thursday night against must-see tv was a deathwish. I guess FOX never really had fate in this series.

Fans of Buffy and Angel, as well as genre outings (such as the X-Files) should be able to enjoy Tru Calling. Dushku is great, and the stories had be going week after week. I'm glad to see this series out on dvd. And hopefully, if it is successfull, it will help FOX make the decision it should have done in September; to bring Tru Calling back on the air!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enthralling and addictive - especially for Buffy fans
Review: If I were to be twee, I'd say this is Murder She Wrote meets Groundhog Day, with stylistic inspiration from the outstanding German film, Run Lola Run. Tru Davies is a layered and intelligent character (not to mention Eliza Dushku is just downright sassy, gorgeous and sexy). Her ethical dilemmas in how fate plays its hand is riveting, and there's always a few good red herrings tossed into each absorbing episode. Aptly supported by characters such as Davis the morgue supervisor, and Tru's younger brother Harrison, Tru's exploits are thought-provoking and engaging. After several years of our TVs being filled with mindless "reality" rubbish, it is like fresh water in the desert to watch this show. The end of season cliff hanger simply must be resolved in series 2.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ouch!
Review: This show has everything but good writing and good acting. Oh, Eliza! How could you?

Here we have Eliza playing Tru. Tru lost here mum at a young age, as you are reminded many, many times; you have to be keep being reminded how pathetic she is since Eliza just doesn't cary it off. She's too tough-seeming, honestly, despite the pout and the floppy ruffly shirt.

Now Tru has to get a job that will help her with Med School. She ends up working in - GASP! a Morgue! And no-one cracks a joke about CSI; they all act as though this is somehow grim, ick, and definitely not something pretty little Tru should be doing. No-one is supportive, not even fake-supportive. Tru's family is obviously messed up; Dad is no-show, sis is an upwardly mobile yuppie druggie (and all the cliches that come with this, although I like how she lies so consistantly - it's a rare moment of reality in this show), little brother is a gambler and rogue (remind you of, oh, someone from Dead like Me much? rogueish skinny boys are the current trend)

While working in the Morgue, Tru learns that she can - no, not see - HELP dead people. Not be dead. Because they really weren't supposed to be dead. It's fate or something that she fix the problem that got them dead in the first place. Ohh, look, we can rewind the day and make it all better... denial at its best.

Anyways, it turns out that with all this stupidity going on onscreen I still watched it and sort of enjoyed it. You might still want to get it, but you should definitely not be expecting anything really great - lower your expectations and you'll be quite happy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: =)
Review: Tru Calling is a really good show.It had interesting elements to it. I must admit though, casting Jason Prestily(spelling?)was pretty lame.He's over and gone.(loved 90210=P) I hope it comes back for at least 6 episodes. Fox axes all the good shows!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Well, It Ain't Exactly Joss Whedon
Review: What's so frustrating about Tru Calling is that the elements of a great series are there - the creators HAD something. They just didn't know what to do with it. The premise is a killer. When she was 12, Tru Davies saw her mother murdered. At 22 and on her way to med school, a promised internship falls through, she takes a job working night shift at a city morgue. Her first night alone in the morgue, a corpse turns its head, stares into her eyes and whispers, "Help me." Suddenly time "rewinds," Tru has hours to discover who the victim was, why she died, and prevent it. Every episode thereafter has Tru racing against time to save a life. Sometimes she succeeds, sometimes she doesn't.

Great set-up, huh? Add into the mix that Tru Davies is played by Eliza Dushku who has more charisma in her little finger than most Hollywood actresses do in their entire bodies, a supporting cast of (mostly) decent actors, and how can you miss?

Well, first you need to make all the regular cast but Tru so dysfunctional they're actively unpleasant to watch. Make Davis, Tru's boss and initially the only other person to know her secret, a socially maladept loser. (An indication of just how poor is the writing in Tru Calling: a basic rule of writing fiction is not to have multiple characters whose names sound too similar; it's confusing to the reader/viewer. Having our main character named "Davies" and her sidekick "Davis" wouldn't pass Writing 99.) Make her brother Harrison an unreliable, self-pitying compulsive gambler; her sister an overbearing, nasty drug addict; her best friend a classic case of lousy relationship skills who spends most of her time complaining about the lame men in her life without ever cluing into the fact she owns the responsibility for that; give Tru a boyfriend with a personality so limp you can't really say much good or bad about him. These are people you'd resent having to hang with in the real world if some horrible necessity made it unavoidable - and, if you do have a choice, you're certainly not going to spend an hour visiting them every week.

But most importantly, if you want to pee away your great premise and talented star, you need bad writing, with the sort of groaners that make viewers go, "Oh PLEASE." Example: Have Tru investigate a young woman so desperate to unlock repressed memories of childhood molestation she risks repeated, life threatening Flatliners-type near death experiences. She returns from these "trips" knowing only that yes, she was molested, and for some reason has this image of stars and moons. Have her flip out, accuse her father of molesting her. And never let it occur to the woman, her father, or Tru (until late in the episode) this just might have something to do with the very distinctive pattern on the front door of the man who's lived right across the street from the family for, say, 20 years. Groan. (A major problem with Tru Calling, especially in early episodes: the "twist" endings are so clumsily obvious Tru seems like a moron for not figuring them out until half an hour after we do.)

Here's another bad idea: Have Tru try to prevent a death that occurs during an armed robbery in the diner where she, her brother and sister eat on a regular basis (we've seen this diner numerous times already in the series). Inside the restaurant, Tru warns an off-duty cop of the impending crime. The robbery begins, the cop draws down, the robber takes a hostage at gunpoint as a human shield. And Tru talks her down. This is the sort of thing people notice, y'know? Then, to maintain her anonymity, Tru slinks out of the restaurant. And the cop never says, "Hey, there was this girl...." And the waitresses never say, "Yeah, she comes in here all the time...." She's just gone, incognito. Oh PLEASE.

Tru Calling does have its good moments. We're six shows into the season before we get a truly (pun intended) satisfying episode ("Star Crossed"). Well-written, surprising "twist", no plot holes or groaners. A rare event, that. Eventually the addict sister goes into rehab, is completely missing for several episodes, then, except for a few brief appearances, is written out of the series. Since she's by far the most irritating character in the show, this is good. Harrison becomes a much more well-rounded and endearing little brother. Zach Galifianikis as Davis does a great job (aside from Eliza he's the show's biggest strength). Tru Calling benefits tremendously in later episodes from the introduction of Jack Harper (played by the criminally underrated Jason Priestley) as a sort of dark mirror image to Tru. But what never goes away are those moments of ghastly writing, of plot holes and twists so braindead you want to grab the writer and director by their throats and scream, "What were you THINKING?"

It's a real shame. Tru Calling could have been great. But it's not. And there are just enough flashes of brilliance to let us know what might have been.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply Amazing!!!
Review: Wow!! Just got done watching the series on DVD and all I can say is that this is the best show I have ever seen. What a well written, well casted series. The season finale was brillent and couldn't have been better. After reading all these reviews on this series, many people thought that the beginnig was slow and not very good. I have to disagree, I thought that it set the tone for the show and was entertaining.

This is a must have TV series and if you are scepticle about giving this a chance, it is worth it, I was in the same boat, and I must say it was worth every cent.

Now to get down to buisness! With all the gosip going around, it is said that season 2 will not air on TV (at least on FOX) and probibly not be brought to DVD, all I have to say to that is CRAP, I cant believe they would not bring this back; just goes to show you how a good judge of talent FOX is. Oh well, maybe they can air some other low class TV show in its place. I know, why don't we do a Survivor season 15 in its place. I mean come on, this show has potential and is amazing.

Anyways, must own DVD box set. Please pick it up and visit the Tru Calling web page to show your support and try to get this back on the air!! As fans to this show, we need closure to this series.


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