Bull Season 1

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

My wife and I have been watching the CSI series and the Criminal Minds series, but eventually, the very graphic story lines got to us. WIth the exception of CSI:Cyber, we were generally fine with all three CSI shows. Criminal Minds was fascinating, but as we progressed further into the seasons, we finally found ourselves no longer enjoying the series. There was simply too much graphic violence (blood and gore), and so we turned it off.

In searching for something new, we explored Scorpion, but that got so silly and formulaic that by the end of the fourth season, we could see why it got cancelled. IT is too bad that Bones did not stop a lot sooner, because it went down a path that just no longer worked. Some series go too long and Castle is another example where it could have stopped with Rick getting married (without all the drama that ensued).

Now comes Bull. Very much along the lines of “pulling it out by the skin of our teeth” in a Perry Mason flavor (court-room drama), this has been a surprising and refreshing breath of fresh air. Not much in the violence category and no on-screen graphic violence, blood, or gore. Dr. Bull is somewhat of a arrogant personality that can easily get under people’s skins, but as a psychiatrist, he knows just how far to push and when to stop.

We are now well into this first season and so far, each case has been different. There have been some surprises that were unexpected and other instances where we could figure out what was going to happen. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, there are no hidden clues. We are on a search of discovery with the TAC team as they not only work with mirror juries to figure out what works and what doesn’t, but also dig into the case to find out what really happened.

No spoilers here, but seeing Dr.Bull’s team tackle cases ranging from criminal and civil cases, to military courts martial cases, and seeing justice handed out in each case, this has turned into a wonderfully entertaining series. Not a lot of action for those who like high-speed chases and gun battles, but just good mysteries to be solved.

-Old Timer Too

Bull is a different twist on the serialized case-of-the-week show that CBS has become famous for. It stars Michael Weatherly (formerly of NCIS and Dark Angel) as Dr. Jason Bull, a psychiatrist who specializes in trial science/trial analytics, acting as a jury consultant to help his clients win their case. It is inspired by the kind of work that Dr. Phil (who serves as a producer for the show) was doing before he became famous.

While the show is set around trials, the real story is not really the trial itself or the event that led to the trial, it is more the human story about why the people involved did what they did, and why the jury is reacting to what they are hearing. Because of that (and just generally because of the way legal dramas are) they take a lot of liberties with the law part of the show (cross-examination laced with closing arguments, a very compressed time frame, the fact that the in-house lawyer for TAC seems to be licensed in every state), but since it is not focused on being legally accurate it is fairly easy to overlook. The meat of the show really centers around how the jury is picked (which involves some shady online stalking and/or hacking by TAC to find out who the jurors are) and how the strategy changes as the trial goes on.

The supporting and recurring cast is very strong Freddy Rodriguez who plays the in-house counsel Benny, has his own story arc that spans a few episodes, and given that it is such an ensemble cast show I think everyone gets a good amount of character development. The end of the season few episode story arc introduces a new foil and possible love interest for Bull played by Angel and Buffy alumn Eliza Dushku. They definitely set up a way for her character to appear in the second season.

For those who get the discs, it is only available on DVD. The extras include about 50 min worth of behind the scenes and making of featurettes including interviews with the cast and showrunners. The discs and box also mention deleted scenes, but there were not any included in my set. That is why I knocked it down a star. Overall though it is well-written and acted, and definitely worth checking out. The extras are okay, but not extensive so you may be okay with just streaming it.

– Mike S.

I have not been a fan of new shows for the past few years but this year there are five that I’m willing to pay to see and Bull is one of them. I loved watching Michael Weatherly on NCIS but I’d lost interest in the show. I was so excited to hear that he had a new show and what a show!
I like the pacing, the supporting characters, the story lines and I could go on… But I will not ruin it for you. If you are looking for a new drama with likable characters, laughs and with that hint that there is so much more beneth the surface, this is the show.

– Layla Bishop

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Michael Weatherly, Freddy Rodriguez, Geneva Carr, Jaime Lee Kirchner, Annabelle Attanasio
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 6
Rated: NR – Not Rated
Studio: Paramount
DVD Release Date: August 15, 2017
ASIN: B071HW5CB7