What is JAG like?

[nwgarratt]

I have never seen this show but am I big fan of NCIS (watch it on Channel 5).

How much of it is courtroom drama? I feel that might put me off as I rather see the investigative side of the cases.

 

[Razor]

I am a fan of NCIS to and hunted JAG down.

I am half way through season 3 and this has been over a period of over a year since I started watching JAG.

JAG is ok but it is a bit dated and very, very cheesy. Some episodes are enjoyable and some you can fall asleep too. I use it as a hospital job, by that I mean I watch it when there really is nothing else on too watch. Its no where near the same league as NCIS but it will kill some time if you have seen all the other shows out there. Some of the stories are good and it has a certain style of humour to it. What makes it a bit unbelievable is that for a lawyer the star role goes into combat situations and does all sorts of wonderful stuff which a lawyer clearly wouldn't do.

I think its going to take me years to watch all 10 seasons.

In a nut shell:

Worth a punt if your bored but dont expect another NCIS. Some not bad stories but a bit cheesy and unbelievable.

 

[nwgarratt]

Thanks. Sounds like a miss then. Season one is only £13 from Amazon but as I just found out there is only two season out from a total of ten on R2. I don't think I could keep watching it until they do all the seasons.

I am watching season three of NCIS atm and really enjoying it (big Abbey fan). The ending to season two was brilliant and one of the best cliffhangers I have seen. Jag would have a lot to live up to for me Which sounds like it doesn't.

I would like to see the JAG/NCIS Ice Queen/Meltdown two parter through.

 

[Razor]

NCIS is a class show. I first started watching it as I thought it was part of the CSI groups of series. I actually preferred NCIS to CSI (I find CSI to samey).

At £13 it might be worth a punt, I know JAG is shown on Satalite/Cable tv, I think it might be the FX channel. Its definitely not a show which makes you say 'I'll just watch one more'.

 

[nwgarratt]

Also a CSI fan.

I have to do with just Freeview where I live.

I have a feeling it would just get be another set in my "to watch" pile. I have the complete Highlander and Babylon 5 to watch and I have had them for over a year already.

However, as the TV version of NCIS is 4:3 and not a very good picture. I would probably happily buy the proper DVD's sometime. It is a show (like 24, Star Trek, Stargate) where I could just keep watching and watching it till I had no more left.

 

[Razor]

Also a CSI fan.

I have to do with just Freeview where I live.

I have a feeling it would just get be another set in my "to watch" pile. I have the complete Highlander and Babylon 5 to watch and I have had them for over a year already.

However, as the TV version of NCIS is 4:3 and not a very good picture. I would probably happily buy the proper DVD's sometime. It is a show (like 24, Star Trek, Stargate) where I could just keep watching and watching it till I had no more left.

The latest season of NCIS is in HD if you know where to look.

JAG is definitely not a show which you are compelled to keep on watching. If you want a few recommendations then try The Wire or OZ. Both are superb.

 

[Starburst]

JAG was/is an excellent show but as mentioned it's dated compared to the more "realistic" demands of modern TV which is were NCIS takes over.
That said I was hooked on JAG from day1 when it premiered on SKY1, then vanished then came back and then turned up on Five and then FX and eventually watched all 10 seasons thanks to alternative means

At £13 for the first season I would give it a go if only thanks to spot the movie clips and of course Andrea Parker and Tracy Needham in full uniform (gotta love a woman in uniform ). Later seasons introduced the incredible Catherine Bell and the on/off attraction between Mac and Rabb which was finally resolved at least upto a point in the series finale.

Cheesy, yes but great fun

 

[nwgarratt]

I never noticed it on Five.

 

[Starburst]

I never noticed it on Five.

A few years ago, two maybe three seasons were shown all over the place and thanks to the bizarre scheduling from both SKY1 and Five I saw season 5 before season 4 so the cliff hanger resolution at the s3 finale was a mystery for years

 

[PoochJD]

Hi,

1) JAG has never aired on Five, and they have never held the rights to air it. However, both Sky 1 and FX do air the show. FX is your best bet, as they constantly cycle through all ten Seasons, so you can save yourself some moeny, and simply record all of them, of you are really keen to see them all, without buying the DVD's.

2) I've read and heard rumours that some of the NCIS team were actually introduced at some point in Season 9 and/or 10 of JAG. Can anyone confirm or deny this, and state which episodes would be the ones to watch please?


Pooch

 

[Razor]

2) I've read and heard rumours that some of the NCIS team were actually introduced at some point in Season 9 and/or 10 of JAG. Can anyone confirm or deny this, and state which episodes would be the ones to watch please?


Pooch

I have heard the same. I dont know which episodes though. May be a trawl through TV Hits would reveal what you want.

 

[Starburst]

Hi,

1) JAG has never aired on Five, and they have never held the rights to air it. However, both Sky 1 and FX do air the show. FX is your best bet, as they constantly cycle through all ten Seasons, so you can save yourself some moeny, and simply record all of them, of you are really keen to see them all, without buying the DVD's.

2) I've read and heard rumours that some of the NCIS team were actually introduced at some point in Season 9 and/or 10 of JAG. Can anyone confirm or deny this, and state which episodes would be the ones to watch please?


Pooch

I'll have to disagree with Pooch on this one, many years ago probably before Five became Five they showed JAG and I watched it
In the early days Five had quite a few shows lifted from SKY1.

The NCIS team (Gibbs, Libby, Tony and Ducky) appeared in two JAG eps in season 8 (Ice Queen & Meltdown) in which Rabb was accused or murder.

 

[nwgarratt]

I'll have to disagree with Pooch on this one, many years ago probably before Five became Five they showed JAG and I watched it
In the early days Five had quite a few shows lifted from SKY1.

The NCIS team (Gibbs, Libby, Tony and Ducky) appeared in two JAG eps in season 8 (Ice Queen & Meltdown) in which Rabb was accused or murder.

If you can believe Wiki. It also only states Sky and FX as the broadcasters in the UK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAG

 

[Starburst]

If you can believe Wiki. It also only states Sky and FX as the broadcasters in the UK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAG

Well I could sign up to Wikki and change it, give me a minute


Just found an article that says JAG was also on Hallmark.
A post in the DS archives say Five only showed the JAG pilot but they only go back a few years.

 

[nwgarratt]

I found this rather poor website. It does say Channel 5 has shown season 1 and the second link say it was back in 1997.

http://fp.culttv.plus.com/ukculttv/jag.html

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/25383

 

[Greg Hook]

I started watching Jag when it first aired. It was OK but nothing special.

I always remember the first epsiode, I think it was, it took the lawyer to Columbia where he was ambushed and they used the exact same footage from Clear and Present Danger, when the SUVs got attacked by RPG guys on the roof.

 

[Starburst]

I started watching Jag when it first aired. It was OK but nothing special.

I always remember the first epsiode, I think it was, it took the lawyer to Columbia where he was ambushed and they used the exact same footage from Clear and Present Danger, when the SUVs got attacked by RPG guys on the roof.

Top Gun provided many scenes even when they took off in one aircraft and the combat was actually a totally different aircraft and who could not forget the "seamless" integration of Clinton

 

[Starburst]

It does say Channel 5 has shown season 1 and the second link say it was back in 1997.

That would be about right, I go back a few more years than some of my fellow forum members but hopefully not so long I can't trust my own memory

 

[Razor]

Sounds like a Segal Movie.

Scene: Summer time, Warehouse in built up town. Segal blows it up and they show a warehouse in the snow in the middle of no where. LMAO

 

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Well, if the BFI (British Film Institute) says that Channel Five aired the show back in 1997, then I guess I must be mistaken. And yes, Hallmark, have shown some episodes, though mainly from the earliest Seasons.

Oh well.... Just think, if Five had stuck with the show, you'd only just have come to the end of Season 10 by now!


Pooch

 

[nwgarratt]

I got the JAG/NCIS two Parter Ice Queen/Meltdown coming soon. I am two thirds through season 3 so I will watch it after I finish it. Apparantly, the two episodes were cut into one episode for the proper NCIS Pilot.

 

[nwgarratt]

I watched Season 3 and it was a excellent season. I have to wait for Season 4 on CH 5 now.

I also enjoyed the two part JAG/NCIS episodes. It plays out as 80% NCIS and 20% JAG. It made me decide not to bother with JAG as I didn't like any of the JAG characters at all.

It was also worth watching to find out that the NCIS regulars (Gibbs, Abbey, Ducky, DiNozzo and the Alan Dales as the Director) are exactly the same as in the NCIS series. I thought they might be a bit different as changes often occur between the pilot (particularly when it is unaired) and the proper series.

I put this in a spoiler just in case.

Spoiler

I also liked seeing different NCIS characters such as Blackadder but can see why they didn't appear in the series. I didn't like them and the Kate replacement for Blackadder was a much better character.

I also thought the bit where we see through the eyes of the murder victim looking up at Ducky in autopsy ratherJAG creepy.

End of spoiler

I recommend watching it if you are fan of NCIS just to see that they managed to get most of what makes NCIS so good right in the Pilot.