JAG (U.S. military acronym for Judge Advocate GeneralSometimes stylized as J*A*G in promotional materials, including the DVD releases) is an American legal drama television show with a distinct U.S. Navy and Marine Corps theme, created by Donald P. Bellisario, and produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Network Television (after 2006 known as CBS Studios).. From the Paramount website, through archive.org. Retrieved on 2015-03-22.It was one of the last Paramount-produced TV series to end under that name, prior to the firm becoming CBS Paramount Television. The first season was co-produced with NBC Productions.
Originally pitched towards the studio, network, and later also marketed for audiences as a Top Gun meets A Few Good Men hybrid series,Karlen, Neal. "COVER STORY;From the Man Behind 'Magnum, P.I.,' 'Top Gun' Meets 'A Few Good Men'", The New York Times (November 5, 1995) the pilot episode of JAG first aired on NBC on September 23, 1995, but the series was later canceled on May 22, 1996, after finishing 79th in the ratings, leaving one episode unaired. Rival network CBS picked up the series for a mid-season replacement, beginning on January 3, 1997. For several seasons, JAG climbed in the ratings and was on the air for nine additional seasons. JAG furthermore spawned the hit series NCIS, which in turn spun off NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, and NCIS: Hawaiʻi.
In total, 227 episodes were produced over 10 seasons. At the time of the original airing of its fifth season in the United States, JAG was seen in over 90 countries worldwide. JAG entered syndication in early 1999.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (1995–1996)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, and Tracey Needham as Meg Austin. Patrick Labyorteaux and John M. Jackson both have continuous arcs throughout the season. Catherine Bell guest stars in one episode, Andrea Parker recurs.
Season 2 (1997)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb. Catherine Bell joins the main cast as Sarah MacKenzie, alongside Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as A.J. Chegwidden. Steven Culp and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 3 (1997–1998)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Tracey Needham guest stars in a flashback, Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 4 (1998–1999)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Trevor Goddard and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Mae Whitman guest stars, Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 5 (1999–2000)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Trevor Goddard, Randy Vasquez and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Mae Whitman guest stars, Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 6 (2000–2001)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Trevor Goddard, Randy Vasquez and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Mae Whitman and Andrea Parker guest stars in one episode, Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 7 (2001–2002)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Trevor Goddard, Zoe McLellan, Scott Lawrence, Nanci Chambers, Randy Vasquez and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 8 (2002–2003)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Zoe McLellan, Scott Lawrence, Nanci Chambers, Randy Vasquez and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Tamlyn Tomita guest stars, Chuck Carrington recurs.
Season 9 (2003–2004)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, and John M. Jackson as Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Steven Culp, Zoe McLellan, Scott Lawrence, Randy Vasquez and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Chuck Carrington guest stars.
Season 10 (2004–2005)
This season stars David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, and Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts. Scott Lawrence joins the main cast as Sturgis Turner, alongside Zoe McLellan as Jennifer Coates. Steven Culp, David Andrews and Karri Turner have continuous arcs throughout the season. Jordana Spiro, Meta Golding and Chris Beetem also star.
U.S. television ratings Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of JAG from Nielsen ratings on NBC (first season) and CBS (other seasons). Note: U.S. network television seasons generally start in late September and end in late May, which coincides with the completion of the May sweeps.
Season Time slot Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank Viewers(in millions) 1 Saturday at 8:00 pm (EST)(September 23, 1995 – February 3, 1996)Wednesday at 8:00 pm (EST)(March 13 – May 22, 1996) September 23, 1995 May 22, 1996 1995–1996 79 11.56 2 Friday at 9:00 pm (EST) (January 3 – March 7, 1997)Friday at 8:00 pm (EST) (March 28 – April 18, 1997) January 3, 1997 April 18, 1997 1996–1997 68 11.80 3Tuesday at 8:00 pm (EST) September 23, 1997 May 19, 1998 1997–1998 36 12.90 4 September 22, 1998 May 25, 1999 1998–1999 17 14.20Final ratings for the 1998–1999 TV season . Reocities. Retrieved on 2011-05-14. 5 September 21, 1999 May 23, 2000 1999–2000 25 14.07US-Jahrescharts 1999/2000 . Quotenmeter.de (May 30, 2002). Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 6 October 3, 2000 May 22, 2001 2000–2001 26 14.60 7 September 25, 2001 May 21, 2002 2001–2002 15 14.80 8 September 24, 2002 May 20, 2003 2002–2003 26 12.97Nielsen's TOP 156 Shows for 2002–03 – rec.arts.tv | Google Groups. Groups.google.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 9Friday at 9:00 pm (EST) September 26, 2003 May 21, 2004 2003–2004 37 10.80. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 10 September 24, 2004 April 29, 2005 2004–2005 50 9.66. Retrieved on 2010-11-26.
JAG had generally an older skewing audience: for the 2002–2003 season, the median age viewer was 58 (the same figure was also held by other CBS shows Becker and The Guardian). As a comparison, for the same season, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC had a median of 50, while The Practice and NYPD Blue on ABC had a median of 48. However, as the article in Broadcasting & Cable states: "fewer broadcast network primetime series than had median age audiences over 50"
Home media JAG was not available on DVD (or VHS, with the singular exception of the pilot movie, which was given a VHS release by Paramount Home Video in 1998 ) during the course of its original run. It was suggested that a syndication deal with USA Network possibly prevented Paramount from issuing DVD releases. Before it did happen in 2006, JAG was the second most requested TV series not commercially available on the TVShowsOnDVD.com website.
Season Episodes DVD release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Discs 1 22 6 2 15 4 3 24 6 4 24 6 5 25 7 6 24 JAG – Season 6 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. JAG: Judge Advocate General – The 6th Season (6 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD . Ezydvd.com.au (2009-09-02). Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 6 7 24 JAG – Season 7 [DVD] : Amazon.co.uk: DVD. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 5 8 24 JAG – Season 8 [DVD] : Amazon.co.uk: DVD. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 5 9 23 JAG: Judge Advocate General – The 9th Season (5 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD . Ezydvd.com.au (2010-11-04). Retrieved on 2010-11-26. 5 10 22 5 Total 227 55
See also NCIS (franchise)
References
External links JAG at CBS