Overview: Partnered with hardened, veteran colleagues, a rookie cop (McKenzie) tries to make a difference in the not so glamorous parts of Southern California, where he quickly learns that the reality of being out in the field is nothing like his preparation at the Academy.

DVD Verdict: As we all know by now, 'Southland' was an excellent, excellent show, and although NBC dropped the ball by cancelling it, TNT has purchased all the shows and started showing them on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. this January.

Trying to step into the gritty shoes of the first show that most people are going to think of when they see it, “The Shield,” can be a tough hill to climb. Of course, no one can say “Southland” is as good as Shawn Ryan’s brilliant program yet, but it’s been cut from a similar cloth, complete with censored profanity, as if you’re watching a movie on network TV.

For those that haven't seen any of these episodes, and don't want too much given away, ... well, the pilot episode follows an investigation into a random shooting of a guy who just happened to get off the bus at the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s also a story involving a missing girl. What we see as the episode progresses and the cops attempt to bring down the bad-guys isn’t a CSI-like analysis of a standard police investigation but rather, a glimpse at everyday life for a bunch of cops working in a dangerous neighborhood.

Only the 7 aired episodes are included here on this sparse 2-disc set, while the remaining 6 float about waiting to be broadcast - on TNT, we can all but hope! Why didn't they just wait and put all 13 episodes on this release? Marketing, only one can guess, but that simply means all the remaining, unaired episodes suddenly become the Second Season, I guess!

Anyway, 'Southland' was/is a GREAT show and it was a dumb/stupid decision to have it dumped from NBC ... but, in reflection, look what's happening over there at that station as we speak! Nuff said! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Seven episodes on two discs
Southland: Redefining the Cop Drama: producers and cast reveal the story behind creating a new series about the LAPD