Life: Season One [DVD]

I first watched Life - both seasons - while in bed recovering from surgery. I bought and rewatched it recently. Loved it then, love it now.The premise is in the description so I won't repeat that here. It's a new spin on a lot of the classic police procedural elements. The overall mood is similar to the first season of Dexter. Maybe toss in some original CSI and NCIS. Sometimes serious, sometimes funny. Predictable but lovable characters.I enjoy it because Charlie Crews - the main character - has this whole Zen perspective. Genuinely Zen. The first time I watched it, a lot of what he said was interesting but I couldn't quite grasp it. The timing in the show is great. The delivery is great -- it's typically delivered in a funny context, too. These aren't serious parts of the show.But that was 10 years ago. In that time, I've done a lot of studying and observing and meditating. Now, watching Life for the second time, I Get It. I'm really interested in the backgrounds of the writers because this stuff is legit.There is an underlying philosophy that connects everything. If this turns out to be someone pulling nice seeming quotes out of a book, then the person doing the pulling understands a lot more about the world than they are aware they do.Great show. Fun characters. Interesting relationship development. Has mostly good captions. It's only 2 seasons and it ends without leaving a bunch of unanswered questions.

I have run out of words for the utter disgust I feel towards the NBC network. They really, REALLY screwed up by canceling this INCREDIBLE show called Life.The peacock network has a habit of arrogantly canceling shows long before their time. They do away with quality programming for lesser quality shows that cost them pennies to produce. All they care about is the bottom line. If it's too expensive, too smart or high quality, you can forget about it having a long life on this networkk.It started with Surface. Remember the wonderfully creative show about oceanographers back in 2005/2006? If not, it's no wonder. They cancelled that after one season. Just one. They didn't bother to look beyond the numbers. If they had, they would have seen a very large fan base of loyal viewers. Surface went on to be one of the best selling TV series on DVD, still being steadily purchased almost 4 years later.And now we have Life. A show that was so unique, so intelligent, so funny, so high quality, so well scripted and acted that it's unlike any other show I've seen. Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi & Adam Arkin were unbelievable in bringing deep, sensitive, complex characters to life. Sure, NBC gave Life two seasons, but wasn't fair to it when it was on. Like another reviewer mentioned, they bounced it all around the schedule like a rubber ball. They didn't promote it; I barely saw commercials when it was on. So instead of backing the show, putting their faith behind it, they just canned it like everything else that's good. Didn't even think twice. All for that so-brilliant idea of putting Leno on at 10 (robbing 5 shows a spot in prime time). What a great business move, guys!NBC shouldn't have to look further than their own decisions to figure out why they are failing miserably as a network, and why they don't have one hit show right now. Surface. Life. It's a miracle that Heroes is still on the air. They are so unfair to their shows in a way that's just beyond sad. NBC is chock full of executives who are their own worst enemies, and then scratch their heads as to why they fail. We, the viewers, suffer more than anyone. BRING BACK LIFE!!!!!But, if you are reading this review and haven't seen LIFE, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's amazing. Truly unique.

Like other great shows before it, "Life," (whose poor title is possibly its main liability) is an exceptionally intelligent and creative show that the general public is missing.The centerpiece of the show is the fasinating character Charlie Crews played to perfection by Damian Lewis. As a wrongly convicted cop who survived prison on guts and zen, he now works to solve the mystery of who framed him while continuing on as a detective with the LAPD. There isn't a single moment he's on the screen that doesn't entertain on some level and there's no doubt it's his show. Watch any one episode and tell me Lewis isn't getting screwed by Emmy.Leading the rest of the cast is Sarah Shahi playing Charlie's partner Dani Reese. Her knockout looks are impossible to ignore, even in Dani's dowdy, recovering addict attire. But it's too easy to stop there. I consistently enjoy Shahi's straight-man role to Charlie's quirks and find her portrayal of Dani to be a very real and intregal part of the show. Oh, did I mention, she's great looking. Like I said, it's Charlie's show and comparing others to him is unfair. Adam Arkin also brings good chemistry to the series as Charlie's former prison mate who now serves as his money manager. Arkin's droll sense of humor is always spot-on and he's a fine actor as well.For those who missed season one, or like me, just want to see it again, this DVD collection is a good buy at $20 or less. Watch "Life" for it's great dialogue, interesting plots, original characters and tremendous casting that includes several favorites from another unfinished masterpiece, "Deadwood." I hate to say it but it's probably too good to last.

Since I do not watch television programming, I came upon this title by chance. I found the characterization and plot devices quite interesting and like it so well I also purchased season 2. Although in a different world, I found Life as interesting as Monk.