Having George Michael pop up in a series like ELI STONE is just pure divine genius. Eli Stone is a San Francisco lawyer who starts having visions that features George Michael, George Michael songs, and more. He has to decide whether God is electing him as a new prophet to do great things or the visions are just wild hallucinations caused by a brain aneurysm that he inherited from his Dad (who also saw things). Eli has a friend in an acupuncturist named Chen who is his friend and spiritual guide. Then Eli also sees his relationship with Taylor (Natasha Henstrige) fall apart and develop a growing attraction to Maggie, a rookie lawyer who joins the law firm (Weatherly, Posner, and Klein) Eli works at (and may be his future wife if his visions are to be believed).

ELI STONE is at it's best when it tackles the humor and the emotional threads of the characters. I also like it when George Michael show up (and they even make fun of that). The gay chimps storyline is downright funny in addition to the unintended funny moments in court with various cases. I can't wait for season 2 as Eli's profile grows bigger.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio commentaries were recorded with cast and the writers/executive producers for the extended PILOT, I WANT YOUR SEX, and SOUL FREE. They're very entertaining tracks that provide plenty of info and humor. I feel for Victor Garber when he mentions he never got to sing on ALIAS. I hope they get George Michael for an audio commentary in season 2.

The seven deleted scenes amount to cut moments between Eli and Chen, Eli and Maggie, and two scenes between Maggie and Natasha's character. I wonder where the cut stuff mentioned in the audio commentary for the finale are. Eli Oops! is the somewhat funny gag reel that happens to be not as funny as the show.

Four featurettes:
TURNING A PROPHET: THE CREATION OF ELI STONE- over ten minutes of promo fluff that has interviews with cast and crew plus some behind-the-scenes footage.
CREATING VISIONS: THE EFFECTS OF ELI STONE- is all too brief look at the VFX that mostly includes before and after shots, and also showing the filming of the practical elements for one scenes before finally showing the pot work done to add in CGI and blend everything together.
ACTING ON FAITH: ELI & GEORGE MICHAEL- Cast and the producers talk about George Michael while George Michael recounts his experiences on the show.
INSIDE THE FIRM: THE NATASHA HENSTRIDGE TOUR- Natasha gives a tour of the two story law firm set.

FINAL ANALYSIS: ELI STONE is a fun quirky and yet surprising drama. I hope season 2 sees more George Michael and the season 2 has more extensive behind-the-scenes featurettes.

this DVD review is (c)9-2-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  

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