The big issue with this season's DVD release is the music. As most know, music was a critical part of the show, and certain songs were selected to tie into or wrap up the episodes' storylines. Universal, the company that owned the rights to the US DVD releases, did not want to pay for the rights to some of the original songs; they just replaced them with horrible canned instrumental music that rivaled Elevator Musak in quality. The first season had all the original music, and the second season had most or all of the original music, depending on which release you got. However, season three (and the subsequent season releases) replaces much of the music, which is more noticeable with each release. One good thing about this season's DVD release is that they eliminated the awful double-sided DVDs used for the first and second season releases.
The DVD extras include deleted and expanded scenes for most (if not every) episode, unexposed scenes (which amounts to basically a gag reel), and lost storylines (which are really more deleted scenes. There are no commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes material, or the like.
This season does have some outstanding episodes, for example, the season premier in which we meet Adam's (Adam Arkin) wife, appropriately named Eve (played wonderfully by Valerie Mahaffey), an episode in which Joel and Maggie are stranded in the wilderness, an episode in which a small traveling circus troupe is temporarily stranded in Cicely, an episode in which Joel gets adopted into a tribe by a tribal elder, and an episode that flashes back to the founders of Cicely.
The season is very good, but the DVD release leaves much to be desired. The acting and writing are great, and the show continued to put things on TV that other shows at the time did not (e.g., lesbian relationships, Native American themes, etc.). It was not always politically correct, and some things would not fly today. The US releases are fine if you do not care about the music issue. But, if you really want to see the show as it aired and with the best picture quality, picking up the Region 2 Blu-Ray is the best option (if you can find a copy and are willing to pay the increased price).
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