Touched By an Angel - The Third Season, Vol. 2
Roma Downey, with her apple cheeks, cascading brunette hair, and Irish lilt, has the kind of warm benevolence that has been the bedrock of television from its inception. Starring as Monica, an angel "caseworker"  who walks among mortal humanity to help them solve their problems, Downey glows beatifically as she dispenses homilies about God's enduring love.  The cantankerous authority of Della Reese as Tess, Monica's immediate superior, and the bland manliness of John Dye as Andrew, the Angel of Death (though by this season, he'd became pretty much all-purpose) gaveTouched by an Angelits own holy trinity. By the third season, the trio had settled into a comfortable blend of earnest empathy and vaudevillian banter.While fans of the show praise its moral values, the scripts vary erratically, slipping all to often into melodrama and hamfisted dialogue.  Even viewers comfortable with problems being solved by the Lord's direct intervention will probably scoff at the ending of, for example, the episode about an escape artist who feels guilty over his brother's death--not only is the resolution farfetched, the execution is clumsy.  Still, the show pulls in an impressive array of guest stars;The Third Season, Vol. 2features James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, Esther Rolle, Edward James Olmos, Camryn Mannheim, Chris Noth, and many, many more. Jasmine Guy returns as Monica's diabolical nemesis, and Hudson Leick (Xena: Warrior Princess) appears twice as a sweet fledgling angel. This four-disc set features 14 episodes with no extra features.--Bret Fetzer