Veronica Mars The Complete Third Season DVD with Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni (Unrated) +Movie Reviews

The day the CW killed Veronica Mars (no spoilers)

zirzird | El Paso, TX | 05/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Today the CW officially cancelled the best show on television (understandably, some would say, due to abysmally low ratings). There lingers a chance that the series might be revitalized in a different form, but the hammer has officially fallen. Veronica Mars is unceremoniously over.

Season 3 was the first (and last) season of the show to air on the fledgling CW network. It took a different approach to storytelling than seasons 1 and 2, featuring two separate mystery arcs and a number of one-episode mysteries, rather the season-long affairs for which the show had become known and loved. Despite the change, season 3 works as excellent, intriguing television. The writing is witty and the acting in sharp, as before.

The creator of the show, Rob Thomas, once heard the series described as "Chinatown meets Heathers." That's a perfect description. I would say it also owes heavily to Twin Peaks. Chinatown happens to be my all-time favorite movie. I'm a noir junky, and V-Mars serves it up in lusty, lipsticked, smoke-tinted glory with every episode. Many people are turned off by the concept of a high school/college girl solving mysteries. And they should be. As a premise, this show would easily fail in the hands of most producers. But Thomas and co-writers have created something magical and perfect here. The heroine Veronica is sarcastic, at times mean, overly hard-boiled, and full of acerbic wit. There's nothing candy-coated about Veronica. First time viewers often disregard the show as "another teen drama," and for this reason more than any other it failed to attract a sustaining audience. I urge you to give it a chance. Especially if you have a sarcastic mind, if you've lost faith in the basically good nature of humanity, if noir interests you, or if you just like an intelligent mystery or exceptionally well-acted drama, this may be what you're looking for. It was for me.

Admittedly, I watch very little television, but to put things in perspective this is a short list of the TV shows I've watched and loved over the years: Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Freaks and Geeks, Deadwood, and Wonderfalls. I would place Veronica Mars at the top of this delightful heap. (Actually, looking at that list, every show was cancelled before its time save BSG which is still on the air. Maybe that says something. Maybe not.) Recently, my wife and I started re-watching season 1 and 2 of Veronica Mars with a friend. His comment after one episode was this, "This show shouldn't be on television. It's too... challenging, too beautiful." I couldn't have said it any better. Unfortunately, our friend was right in the end. V-Mars was too challenging, too beautiful. And now it's gone."

WHAT HAPPENED?????

Chris Kennison | Jefferson City, Mo United States | 08/28/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Based on a lot of the reviews that are already posted here, I don't think there are a whole lot of people calling it like it is. So, I will take it upon myself to be the voice of truth about VERONICA MARS season 3. There are 5 star people raving about it because they love the show and are unwilling to accept the truth and there are 1 star people who aren't giving the 3rd season a fair assesment.

There is not a single show on TV, not a single one, that my wife and I don't flock to week to week, other than VERONICA MARS and the 3rd season was no exception. As the 3rd season played out, we found ourselves completely involved as we had been the previous 2 season, all the way up to the midseason cliff hanger. A serial rapist. A murder on campus. All the suspense and mystery was in tact and juicy as ever.

Then, when the show started back up, all the things that we had gotten involved in were solved in the first handful of episodes. The following episodes were, for lack of better words, UNEVENTFUL. All the way up to the odd and uncomfortable season finale that ended with the yawning cast of a vote.

Even my wife was shocked at the abrupt and uneventful ending. What did they do? What happened? Did the writers lose interest? Did the network pull the plug on the show before they wrote the final episodes? This is what I think. Personally, I believe the only thing that explains the weak ending of the 3rd season would be that the writers and producers knew that the CW had given up on them. So, they in turn, gave up on the CW.

All speculation aside, VERONICA MARS fell off the table halfway through the 3rd season. The charm and personality of the characters and actors involved was still intact, but the stories being told were in par with a fledgling show instead of a show that has given us some of the best television moments around over it's 2 1/2 prior seasons.

The CW just needs to face the facts. The ratings that they're suffering aren't because of quality of show, but because of lack of STATIONS and lack of bribing the NIELSON and ARBITRON companies... like the big boys do... cause we're watching... and unfortunately, we're not watching VERONICA MARS anymore."

Veronica Mars Season Three (There should be more)

BUFFY/CHARMED/Star Wars Finatic! | RHODE ISLAND | 06/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The CW has got to be the most pathetic TV network (next to FOX, where it seems no shows last any longer than 2 years, but we get TWO NIGHTS of AMERICAN IDIOT, I mean, IDOL!!, yet great shows on FOX such as Tru Calling, Dark Angel and Firefly bit the dust far too soon).

The CW killed their best show, Veronica Mars, by halting it's third season by showing America a generic RockStar/American Dufus(oops!Idol) televised search for...THE NEXT PUSSYCAT DOLL????!!!

When this happened, I was like, This is TRULY the end of new quality TV being aired.

Veronica Mars was a breath of fresh air to the TV airwaves after losing BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL (yet another show that was patheticly cancelled by the CW's former, WB, way too soon). Veronica Mars had great, young actors, clever dialogue and involved great twists and turns with it's crime solving/mystery story-telling..But, then again, maybe that's why the show didn't last: IT TOLD STORIES and INVOLVED ACTING!!! Unlike the irrational forms of "entertainment" fodder that, sadly, too many americans swallow and think they are getting quality TV..

The only show that is worth watching on the CW now is SUPERNATURAL (Some of you may say what about SMALLVILLE? Sorry, that kid who plays Clark Kent just isn't believable as the boy of still, I mean steel, my opinion). Let's hope SUPERNATURAL won't get the Third Season axe like Veronica Mars with the CW pre-empting the show with the likes of Searching for the new Boy Band!

Glad there are the Discovery and Sci Fi Channels...

"

Regardless of a mixed season, S3 DVD delivers on extras (fin

J. Kim | 10/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Heads-up: This review is for the S3 DVD set as a DVD set, and not an editorial about the quality of Season 3. (For the record, I'd give most S3 episodes a solid 4-stars) This review is more for the VM fans who don't need to be "sold" on the series, but are deciding whether to shell-out $45 for the DVDs, given that the last 2 DVD sets were pretty skimpy on the extras.

The Season 3 DVD set, while it still doesn't have commentaries (not everyone is as chatty as Matt Groening and Co., I guess), it finally includes a few substantial behind-the-scenes extras, most notably, a 90-minute (or so) discussion with Rob Thomas, who walks us through clips and explains his choices. Very episode commentary-like, just more efficient-- you go through a lot of good clips from the whole season.

Chapters from the RT commentary I especially liked were on favorite guest characters, favorite pairings (Veronica and her dad; VM and Logan; VM and Duncan was not included here, mercifully).

It also includes RT's 14-minute mini-episode presentation for the CW heads that takes Veronica to the FBI in season 4. It's fun to watch, even if it DOES make you kind of sad because it never came to fruition, and instead you now have to sit through a whole convoluted thing of Heroes to see Kristen Bell on TV for 3 minutes. (Hypothetically, of course, as Heroes is, like, awesome!)

In conclusion, a good buy for established VM fans who wished for extras on the S1 and S2 DVDs."

No other can compare

Kaitlin | Columbus, Ohio | 10/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Networks often cancel the best shows and leave the ones that truly almost no one cares about on tv for far too long (According to Jim, Two and a Half Men, Will and Grace [seriously, that show went on too long], etc). The good shows that have cult followings, which are the strongest type of following in my opinion, often get the axe, usually because the American public can't think while watching TV, hence America's Next Top Model, Laguna Beach, and every other terribly boring reality show. Veronica Mars is one of those shows that should have lasted.

It was witty and smart and to figure out the season long mysteries was a hard task, but the show had amazing talent with show lead Kristen Bell as the snarky Veronica Mars. In season one she was a high school student working part-time as a receptionist at her father's (Enrico Colantoni) PI business. The use of flashbacks created an actual history that most shows never show the viewer. We got to see what happened before and it created a more fulfilling show. Not to mention the supporting cast of Percy Daggs III, Jason Dorhing, Teddy Dunn (absent from season 3), Amanda Seyfried, Michael Muhney and Francis Capra (and later to much suprise Ryan Hansen) created a perfect noir world filled with mystery, murder, and a perfect amount of wit and sarcasm.

In season 3, Veronica began her freshman year at Heart College in Neptune, California, which only meant more murder and scandal for the young PI. With the additional cast members Chris Lowell as Piz, and Julie Gonzalo as Parker (and the final additions of Tina Majorino and Michael Munhey as series regulars), the show hoped to bring in more viewers. They also changed the format from season long mysteries to shorter arcs around 7-9 episodes a mystery, but still keeping with a Mystery of the Week theme. This was in hope to bring in more viewers because it was believed by tuning in during a season long mystery somewhere in the middle woudl deter viewers from watching. The episode count was cut from 22 to 20 which threw off series creator Rob Thomas' original vision for season three, but the show still managed to keep it's wit and spark up until the end.

Most viewers saw the end coming before the season (and thus series) finale ended, but the devout cult followers held their breath hoping and holding on to their beloved show. The writers and creator did too. The storylines were left open, with Veronica dating Piz instead of fan-favorite Logan (Jason Dohring) after a tumultuos season although it was always assumed the star crossed lovers would end up together after it all, and Veronica's father Keith Mars (Colantoni) was in a heated sheriff race which viewers will now never know the end to. The story line was left open but Thomas had been working on a new direction for the show which would have taken Veronica into the FBI and would have been set a few years in the future from season 3. She was accepted into an internship at the end of the season so the idea was not too far-fetched. However, the network did not go for it and decided not to renew our beloved neo-noir show.

I'd highly recommend Veronica Mars, especially to anyone who enjoyed the cult TV phenomenon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only this time Veronica isn't slaying the undead, she is slaying the criminals that inhabit her wealthy, pristine, and perfect (on the surface) community. The snark and wit and wonderful acting by the cast created an environment that invited viewers in every week. I've converted many people into die hard fans, but I can't take credit for that, it was all the writers and actors on the show. Obviously it would make more sense to watch the seasons in order as to fully grasp the backstory which is woven in throughout the three seasons.

Overall, five stars, all the way."

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