Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/31/2009 Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8738 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 551 minutes

Amazon.com
An amusing blend of cop show action and dysfunctional family fireworks, the comedy-drama In Plain Sight benefits greatly from the charisma of its lead, Mary McCormack, as well as some promising episodes in this first-season set. TV and film vet McCormack (The West Wing, Murder One) finally gets a lead as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal working in the Albuquerque office of the Witness Protection Program. The array of offbeat characters that fall under Mary’s jurisdiction--everyone from innocent witnesses of terrible crimes to less scrupulous types like Dave Foley’s obnoxious mob squealer (“Trojan Horst”) to a diamond smuggler (Missi Pyle) with wedding fever (“Never the Bride”)--present less problems for her than her family, which includes her overly dramatic mom (Lesley Ann Warren) and troublemaking sister (Nichole Hiltz), who has designs on Mary's on-again-off-again boyfriend (Cristian de la Fuente). Frederick Weller (as her quirky partner) and Paul Ben-Victor as her boss offer solid support, but In Plain Sight is McCormack’s showcase, and she shines in both the comic moments and more serious elements, most notably a confessional monologue in “High Priced Spread.” One wishes the scripts lived up to the performances--too often, the program coasts on glib dialogue, or worse, heavy-handed voice-overs--but these are fixable problems in the face of considerable potential. All 12 episodes of the first season are included in the three-disc set, as well as brief deleted scenes from each episode. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

Mary McCormack Shines As Mary Shannon
Hopefully, Mary McCormack reads her Amazon.com reviews. IN PLAIN SIGHT is the kind of intelligent comedy-drama that commercial TV should be producing, but can't or won't.

The life story of U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon who works for the U.S. Witness Protection Program (WITSEC), as told through her encounters with her colleagues and various "clients," IN PLAIN SIGHT's storylines are multidimensional and complex. So are the characters.

Mary is a tough, competent, and sharp-witted woman with ice in her professional veins. She's also nostalgic, emotional and warm, dedicated to friernds, family and the witnesses under her charge, and is committment-phobic. She drives a junkbox. She has a non-boyfriend who loves her. She may or may not love him, but she sleeps with him. She has a brilliant partner named Marshall Mann who loves her. She clearly loves him. They'd each take a bullet for the other. She doesn't sleep with him, but she's apparently jealous of his involvements with other women.

Mary has a mother (named Jinx) and a sister (named Brandi) with a combined bimbo quotient of over 250 and revolving doors on their bedrooms, who are both likeable and surprisingly innocent, and deeply wounded, and love her very much. They live with her. They don't work. She supports them. For their protection she has a cover as a low-level courier. They can't understand why she's wasting her life, and criticize her for not meeting a man as they leaf through this month's issue of Cosmo.

At work she's barbed and her emotions and moods change faster than the tides. She has a boss. He respects her. Despite titles, she's very definitely in charge. She argues vociferously with the law and order ADA who can't stand the fact that her witnesses are often career criminals with a lifetime pardon. His name is Bob Dershowitz. He's African-American. Nobody can figure that out, even Dershowitz.

Mary's private life isn't exactly a mess, but its far less clear-cut than her professional life, or would be, if she'd stop caring about her charges so much. But, as she says in so many words, she's one part secret agent, one part mother, one part confessor, one part friend, one part cop. A woman of many parts.

Mary McCormack was made for this role. "Not exactly petite" (as Mary Shannon is described), Ms. McCormack exudes a sense of self-confidence and solidity on camera, and imbues her character with layer upon layer of personality. This is a great acting job, because Mary McCormack brings Mary Shannon to life in full-color, sometimes conflicted and contradictory. She's also incredibly sexy, which doesn't seem to fit, but it does. Thank God. A competent professional, a warm caring person, and a sexual human being. Television has finally discovered a real woman.

YES!!!

Welcome to Witness Protection Indeed!
I didn't catch onto this series until the first season was already over, but have been enjoying reruns on the USA network and Sleuth. And I have been anticipating the release of this series on DVD ever since. The characters are well developed, full of the flaws which accompany us all on life's path, and for the most part are very likable. That said, the over-the-top dysfunctional antics of Mom and Sis DO get old, and I find Jinx's character to be a waste of the talents of Leslie Ann Warren. She is absolutely the queen of quirky, but of all the characters, her storylines are the least entertaining, and in fact, bring down the entire show a notch. If I get tired of this series, this will be the reason for it. Mary certainly has dysfunctions of her own, but she at least, appears to be able to learn along the way. I'd like to see the dysfunction toned down. If these characters can all grow a bit, then I believe this series could have a long and successful run.

The interaction between Mary McCormack and Fred Weller's characters is especially delightful; it's the jewel of this series, and without it, I'm not sure how successful this show would be. What with his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things arcane and quirky, and his perfectly dry, straight-man delivery, he and Mary have a delightful kind of chemistry you don't see too often. In fact, I feel he really should have equal billing to Mary McCormack.

The Witness Protection aspect of the story makes for somewhat unusual storylines, which are MORE than welcome, and the show is well written. All in all, it adds up to a lot of fun. And as an extra bonus for me, it's filmed in Northern New Mexico, my favorite place in the world. What more could I ask for?

funny, action- drama series
I'm not really into "cop" shows or "detective" shows that dominate network t.v. because they are usually dull, predictable, depressing, and totally lacking any humor. "In Plain Sight" doesn't suffer from these problems.

Luckily, I stumbled across this series last summer. The main character is a Federal Marshall who is involved in the Witness Protection program. She has to keep her clients safe and solve murders based upon her client's testimony. She and her partner Marshall have great chemistry together on-screen.

If you're a fan of "Burn Notice" you will enjoy this series as well; although they are different shows, what they share in common is humor, action, and great characters which are well written. The writers also explore the personal dramas of the main characters which makes for an interesting back-story.

Season 2 premieres April 2009 on USA network for existing fans of the show- for those that are curious and have never watched the show, rent/buy season 1 on dvd and you'll be up to speed when season 2 starts.

** highly recommended **