IN PLAIN SIGHT - SERIES 1 - COMPLETE [DVD] [2009]

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