JAG (1995)

Watchseries; Is this an original show or the television equivalent of an army-navy recruiting poster? What made the movie "A Few Good Men" such outstanding cinema was its willingness to steer clear of obvious military cliché. Sure you can have the fanatical colonel who was a disciple at Patton's knee but there's also ingredients in his character that makes him different. Jessup certainly had the passion of a Patton but also the contempt for authority of a Nixon. But JAG offers the hot-headed and sweating military officer whose veins pop out of his neck ad infinitum that has been seen so many times that it's a textbook study of stereotypes to avoid. Budding screenwriters take note. (Take note of a similar character in the recent film "Avatar".) But in JAG few characters are anything more than these caricatures who are exactly as you would expect them.

The opening pilot episode wreaks with so much wall-to-wall story cliché, it seems a collage of scenes from other films and shows. From the strands of trumpet fanfares accompanied by snare drums at the opening (my kingdom for different music) to the flashback of the main character as a naval pilot, JAG never quite transcends to an original story. I couldn't help but think of the parody "Airplane!" with the flashback sequence. There's the tough butch woman out to prove she's as good as men, the hot-headed aircraft carrier captain, the obnoxious guy in the officer's lounge who knows the investigator, the sexual innuendos between the two investigators who just happen to be a male and a female, and the creme-de-la-creme: the main character's father was also a naval pilot who died on a mission. If I had $100 for every time someone referred to his father, I could probably buy a Carravagio. I guess you just had to have the obligatory "Your father would be very proud of you." Give me a break. Were the writers sick the day they taught how to avoid hackneyed dialog? This came off like a by-the-numbers approach to film-making that you could probably purchase at a game store for about $10. There's "Patton", "Top Gun", "Moonlighting", "A Few Good Men", almost any western of your choice where there's bar or saloon, and of course almost any over-the-top war movie of your choice, like "The Longest Day".

The plot of the first episode is somewhat interesting: a woman naval pilot on the verge of an outstanding career goes missing from aboard her aircraft carrier. The two JAG corps investigators, a boy-girl team in the style of "Hart to Hart" and "Moonlighting", board the carrier to reveal the truth. Of course the implied sexual play between the two leads is so over-the-top I expected them to be leaping into a bunk together by conclusion, which is against naval regulations. At first the female character states that this is strictly a business-investigative relationship. However, when the male lead is speaking to her in private, he gets closer to her than would be necessary to kiss. And she lets it happen as if she can't refuse him. So much for the rhetoric of the show. (One thing I liked about "A Few Good Men" is that the young leads, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, never got together.) The only notable performance of the entire episode was by Terry O'Quinn, playing a military colleague of the lead investigator's late father. He's tough, smart and not entirely sold on the idea of women naval pilots. Simultaneously he doesn't come

Is this an original show or the television equivalent of an army-navy recruiting poster? What made the movie "A Few Good Men" such outstanding cinema was its willingness to steer clear of obvious military cliché. Sure you can have the fanatical colonel who was a disciple at Patton's knee but there's also ingredients in his character that makes him different. Jessup certainly had the passion of a Patton but also the contempt for authority of a Nixon. But JAG offers the hot-headed and sweating military officer whose veins pop out of his neck ad infinitum that has been seen so many times that it's a textbook study of stereotypes to avoid. Budding screenwriters take note. (Take note of a similar character in the recent film "Avatar".) But in JAG few characters are anything more than these caricatures who are exactly as you would expect them.

The opening pilot episode wreaks with so much wall-to-wall story cliché, it seems a collage of scenes from other films and shows. From the strands of trumpet fanfares accompanied by snare drums at the opening (my kingdom for different music) to the flashback of the main character as a naval pilot, JAG never quite transcends to an original story. I couldn't help but think of the parody "Airplane!" with the flashback sequence. There's the tough butch woman out to prove she's as good as men, the hot-headed aircraft carrier captain, the obnoxious guy in the officer's lounge who knows the investigator, the sexual innuendos between the two investigators who just happen to be a male and a female, and the creme-de-la-creme: the main character's father was also a naval pilot who died on a mission. If I had $100 for every time someone referred to his father, I could probably buy a Carravagio. I guess you just had to have the obligatory "Your father would be very proud of you." Give me a break. Were the writers sick the day they taught how to avoid hackneyed dialog? This came off like a by-the-numbers approach to film-making that you could probably purchase at a game store for about $10. There's "Patton", "Top Gun", "Moonlighting", "A Few Good Men", almost any western of your choice where there's bar or saloon, and of course almost any over-the-top war movie of your choice, like "The Longest Day".

The plot of the first episode is somewhat interesting: a woman naval pilot on the verge of an outstanding career goes missing from aboard her aircraft carrier. The two JAG corps investigators, a boy-girl team in the style of "Hart to Hart" and "Moonlighting", board the carrier to reveal the truth. Of course the implied sexual play between the two leads is so over-the-top I expected them to be leaping into a bunk together by conclusion, which is against naval regulations. At first the female character states that this is strictly a business-investigative relationship. However, when the male lead is speaking to her in private, he gets closer to her than would be necessary to kiss. And she lets it happen as if she can't refuse him. So much for the rhetoric of the show. (One thing I liked about "A Few Good Men" is that the young leads, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, never got together.) The only notable performance of the entire episode was by Terry O'Quinn, playing a military colleague of the lead investigator's late father. He's tough, smart and not entirely sold on the idea of women naval pilots. Simultaneously he doesn't come

JAG watchseries. First, I would like to say that if you have never seen "JAG" before, you need to watch it, especially if you are even just remotely interested in the Navy, the Marines, the Military in general, military law, civilian law, good stories, Catherine Bell or any other of the actors/actresses. The stories are very interesting, especially so in the last two or three seasons. I have watched the show regularly for several years, and the stories seem real, not just a lot of shooting and talking with no plot, like some other shows(cough..Pensacola..cough..). Watching this show has given me insight into how many things work in the military, and also it has many cool things that fit into the story without making it plotless-like SEALs, Naval/Marine Aviation, and even Russia and the KGB. If you hadn't figured it out already, JAG stands for Judge Advocate General, the legal branch of the military. The show centers on a group of Naval/Marine lawyers and legalman(somewhat of researchers and assistants to the Judge Advocates(lawyers)). The characters evolve over time, and you see their characters change. For example, Lt. Bud Roberts, a junior naval officer that debuted on the show as a public affairs officer or something on an aircraft carrier that Harm(David James Elliot) and Mac(Catherine Bell) are sent to to investigate a crime. Bud later became a regular on the show, transferring to the office of the JAG and becoming a legalman. Later, he goes back to the carrier with Harm and Mac(this is much later), and falls in love with then-Ensign Simms, who has replaced him in what he did on the carrier, who later does what Bud did and transfers. Bud becomes a lawyer and is promoted to Lt. jg and later Lt., and the two are married and have a child together. The characters are also developed somewhat more subtly, such as when Bud's father, Master Chief Bud Roberts(Sr.), Ret. is court-martialed(is charged of a crime and brought to trial in military court. The Master Chief is a drunk and abused Bud and his brother Mikey when they were children. Bud Sr. didn't show up for his son's wedding. Mikey is eventually coerced to enlist in the Navy, becoming a fire controlman, and is eventually charged with crimes himself(Bud Sr. and Mikey both are found innocent). I went to all the trouble of registering and writing this so the least you can do is watch the show once. It's on 8pm EST on CBS(new and recent re-runs) Tuesdays, and 7pm EST every night on USA(re-runs from past seasons), excepting for special shows/events such as Big Brother and the Grand Open. It's a great show and I think you will like it, so at least watch it.

It surprises me (assuming the show is reasonably accurate) how relatively little the Navy has changed since I got out of it 31 years ago. I assume the show gets some cooperation from the Navy, anyway it's worth watching. I have yet to see a bad episode. My only criticism is there is a tendency to wrap up an episode too quickly sometimes and there is too much time spent on romance and not enough on action (wow, I sound like I am about ten years old. Hmm.)

Decent series created by Donald P. Bellisario, Dana Coen, Stephen Zito , it was produced by by NBC , but due to low ratings , it was left , then it was picked up by CBS , it became a success soon afterwards. Being on the air for ten seasons, and two hundred twenty-seven episodes . It deals with the cases of Harmon Rabb (David James Elliott) , former Navy fighter pilot, as he was originally an F-14 Tomcat pilot , and crashed during heavy seas, and after being diagnosed with night blindness, he joined JAG . He is accompanied by Lt. Sarah Mackenzie (Catherine Bell) and other fellow (Patrick Labyorteaux , his wife Karri Turner , Scott Lawrence , among others) lawyers and assistants of the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's office , and in their twisted cases they intervine as defender lawyers or prosecutors . They work under direct orders of A.J. Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) and Major General Gordon Biff Cresswell (David Andrews) . In every episode Rabb and Lt. MacKenzie have new cases to resolve. As their defense never rests and occasionally, they engage into dangerous missions , and risked adventures especially in Iraq and Afganisthan . All of them investigate and litigate crimes and misdemeanours committed by Navy and Marine personnel .

Good but overlong series in which two officers carry on the trial cases , at the same time they become involved into adventurous activities in order to solve them . They form a charming and enticing hot team , both in and out of the courtroom. ¨JAG" stands for "Judge Advocate General". The office of JAG , is a part of the Navy, which according to their official website "provides legal and policy advice to the Secretary of the Navy in all legal matters concerning military justice, administrative law, environmental law, ethics, claims, admiralty, operational and international law, litigation and legal assistance . In many episodes, the screen types out the location and 'zulu' time. 'zulu' time is the same as Gmt and is five hours ahead of Falls Church, Virginia time .It stars Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. : David James Elliot and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie : Catherine Bell , they are JAG lawyers, both of them deliver the necessary as well as enjoyable chemical and interweave good looks to get a nice show . David James Elliot (227 episodes, 1995-2005) plays Harmon Rabb, Jr. who at the beginning used to be a fighter pilot until he and his co-pilot were in an accident , from then, he became a Jag . As a Jag he was a hard-working Lieutenant , by the time the series ended, he was promoted to Captain, and was being transferred to London. David James Elliot gives an agreeable acting , he shows up in every chapter of Jag , he is the only regular cast member to appear in all episodes. His partenaire the attractive Catherine Bell (206 episodes, 1996-2005) who is very fine as Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie , she investigates and defends complex criminal cases and she has to choose in love either the attractive wealthy Lt. Cmdr. Mic Brumby : Trevor Goddard and his faithful and good friend Harmon Rabb: David James Elliot . For the aerial scenes and others about airport bases and planes was used footage from known Paramount films as Top Gun , Hunt of Red October , Flight of the Intruder , Crimson tide , and Clear and present danger . And a lot of their submarine and underwater footage is from either or both the movies The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Crimson Tide (1995).

Here appears important secondaries as Patrick Labyorteaux as officer Bud Rober

I've always been a huge fan of Don Bellisario's creations, starting with 'Airwolf' (still my all-time favourite), and then 'Quantum Leap', but J.A.G. is really Don's excuse to get back to what he does best... military-based drama series (preferably with some big aerial toys to play with).

I loved the 1st Season of J.A.G. especially... the scripts and cast were at their best (with Andrea Parker - who later moved on to one of the main roles in 'The Prefender'), Tracey Needham and Andrea Thompson, but a network & cast change at the start of the 2nd Season brought about a slight watering down of the show [the same happened after the superb 1st Season of 'Airwolf'] increased the ratings - so much so, that by its current 1999-2000 5th Season, it is now a Top 20 Nielsen show.

The show has returned more to its action roots with the 4th and 5th Seasons, so I'm happy again.

Some of the 2nd & 3rd Season episodes are terrible though - including the one based in Northern Ireland, which was completely unrealistic. Like the Russian post above this one, the producers/writers of the show should visit other countries first before using every foreign stereotype they can come up with.

But, in the end, I still wouldn't miss this show (the only one I currently even make time to watch regularly) as it is, after all, a Belisarius Production!

I started watching JAG about a year ago. I fell in love with the show immediately. The episodes are well written, humorous, and sometimes controversial. I am also a huge Navy fan, so it definitely attracts my attention when shows revolving around the military air. However, please don't let that last comment sway you if you are not as gung-ho about the military as I am. The show is essentially "Law & Order" (another one of my favorites) with the Navy as the backdrop. The characters are very well developed, and they grow with each episode. Too often, shows err by keeping their characters stagnant. If you haven't watched an episode yet, try it! I don't think you'll be sorry.