Flashpoint Finally Begins Broadcast in Japan, Season 1 Boxset Out Soon There Too!

Flashpoint continues to surprise us with new countries that it visits! One we were waiting for a while to hear about was Japan, just a month ago we reported of an actor from the Sailor Moon musicals appearing on a show with a similar premise. Today, Mark Ellis via his Twitter account RT'd a Japanese fan's tweet, and didn't know what it meant. After translating it, we wondered if the show was on the air there and turns out it is!

Flashpoint began on February 4th on FOX TV's special sister channel, FOXCRIME. The show is called "フラッシュポイント　-特殊機動隊ＳＲＵ-" - pronounced Flashpoint -Kidoutai SRU- which translates to Flashpoint -Special Riot Police SRU-. The show airs on Friday and Saturday nights, and the Japanese fans get a special treat since two episodes air back to back. They show the same episodes both nights. On January 22nd, Gaijin Tarento Dave Spector commented on the show, and this is featured at the bottom of FOXCRIME's Flashpoint Page. He writes (roughly translated):

Dave Spector - This is the best drama to get into!
Flashpoint -Special Riot Police SRU-

Every time I watch the show, the indescribable tension is unbearably good!
The SRU Group of the Canadian Police is always cool, composed, and professional.
They are more excellent than the American cops!
The casting is also in good taste.
Teamwork predominates!

There were only dramas featuring the American SWAT Team, up until now. This time, Toronto, Canada is baptized, and becomes the stage.

The calmness and professionalism make the SRU shine. Interesting! All at the first glance!

But the main reason I watch this show is because Jules is cute *laughter*.

The casting is all in good taste too.

As for the man who is the boss and leader, “Parker”, there is no messing with this negotiator.

The man who is always reliable "Ed" is an excellent first sniper.

The team leader gradually rearranges the team.

These adults all have sex appeal. Especially the Sniper "Jules", she's cute! I've been in love with her character since the first episode. This is a bit of a stretch, but I look forward to her future character development.

The rookie, "Sam" (a similar sniper) restrains his feelings and works very hard through the trauma of his best friend who was mistakenly shot.

Additionally, there is also "Spike", who knows the explosives and how they work, "Wordsworth"a devoted husband who has a good combat pace, "Lewis", a good soul who takes charge of the non-lethal weapons like stun guns and tear gas, and "Doctor Luria"

Anyway..."Flashpoint -Special riot police SRU-"?
It fits right in with everything you see.
I saw every episode.
It is the best!

Please watch the introduction that I hosted!

Paramount has also set up an official site for the show and the really neat thing is, they are getting both Season 1 and Season 2 boxset releases this summer. Season 1 will be released on July 9th, and Season 2 will be released on August 6th. Season 1's boxset will contain 13 episode, and Season 2's will have 9 episodes. The boxsets will cost you, each one is close to $100 USD. Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern were even quoted in a news release! It makes special mention of the incident in 2004 which piqued their minds and made them ask "In front of many people, you had to execute someone. How would you spend the rest of your day?"

Congratulations again to everyone in Flashpoint, and especially to Stephanie Morgenstern. You are the second person involved with Sailor Moon to make it big in Japan!

German DVD News, CBS Vaguely Hints About Flashpoint (Again)...

Koch Media to Release Flashpoint Season 1 in Germany!

Last week, Koch Media of Europe announced that its German distribution arm will be releasing Flashpoint - Das Spezialkommando, Staffel 1 (Flashpoint - The Special Command, Season 1) on May 28th. This will come out just after the start of Season 2 in Germany in April of this year. As far as extras go, it will have a Making Of featurette, and the pilot commentary (these must be either dubbed or subtitled in German). This also marks the first European release to come with extras (the one released in the UK came out well before the North American releases did and had none). Our German readers can pre-order this through Amazon.de. The cover? We've got it featured below, and it looks like they used the same image CBS DVD used for their Season 1 release, but without as much smoke, and you can actually see the city's silhouette! We like the color on this release a lot more than CBS's release too!



And in other CBS News...

In a Q&A last week with Nina Tassler (Entertainment President CBS), the Hollywood Reporter asked if there was any possibility of any new scripted dramas this summer. She answered "We haven't completely determined, but it's done so well for us. And we still have "Flashpoint." Conversations are ongoing." She seemed a little wishy-washy with her words here, and if Flashpoint is pushed further later into the year, we're sure all the American fans are going to try to make their way up to Canada each week when new episodes air. She also made no mention of CTV's other new cop drama that they are also co-producing, The Bridge. The premiere of The Bridge last week wasn't the best premiere ever, but the show probably has a lot of potential to grow in coming episodes!

Caption This: Season 2 Boxset Edition!

So many of you agreed with us on Twitter when we thought the SRU looked a little angry on the US Season 2 boxart - but the Canadian boxart isn't without its flaws too. Hugh Dillon is wearing those tacky sunglasses that are too big for his head!

Since Flashpoint news is a little slow, we'll open this up to the masses. In the comments below, caption the boxart for "Dreary" (US) or "Sunset" (Canada)

Dreary:	Sunset:

BREAKING NEWS: New Details about American Season 2 Boxset and Cover Art

Not a huge update, but still a noteworthy one indeed. TVShowsonDVD reports that the upcoming American version of the Flashpoint: Season 2 boxset will contain 9 episodes, exactly the same as Canada's Flashpoint: Season 2 Volume 1. We think this is only going to add to the confusion of which season the last 9 that aired in Canada are going to be a part of. These were once billed as Season 3 by CTV, but they have since added them to Season 2. It is currently unknown what CBS will bill these episodes as when they come to air. Our site (for consistency) will follow whatever episode order CTV lists. Today, CBS Paramount also released a high-res image of the official boxart (featured below), but it's more or less the same idea as the first boxart! Once again, some members of the SRU are featured in action in front of a cityscape with some added smoke. This one features Sargent Greg Parker a little more prominently than the others. The Canadian covers show the SRU among cityscapes as well, but without the smoke and a lot more color. These easily make the CBS Paramount covers look somber and dreary. Hopefully, the US will have a much more exciting cover for Season 3!



Fans can order the American boxset at:
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Best Buy