In the third season, the show built a soapy reputation and significant buzz with the saga of the Carver, a maniac who was killing people in the world of McNamara/Troy. Sure, it had some extreme moments, but the elements of the program that worked were grounded in relatable human emotions. This is back when “Nip/Tuck” was a drama. Actors Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon were perfectly cast and Joely Richardson did nomination-worthy work. Creator Ryan Murphy (who completely creatively discarded this show in the last few years, probably to focus on “Glee” and “Eat Pray Love”) tapped into a great concept by presenting people obsessed with image but unable to address the serious psychological and emotional issues underneath.

The first two seasons of “Nip/Tuck” (it ran for six seasons and produced exactly 100 episodes) were downright fantastic. And so I greet the “Complete Series” box set, recently released on DVD, with a tinge of sadness as I say goodbye to a program with definite highlights that somehow never quite lived up to its potential.

Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) more than any other program. Quentin Costa (Bruno Campos), a tango expert and perhaps an expert at dissecting the practice for his own ends.CHICAGO – Having started writing about television and DVD right around the time that “Nip/Tuck” premiered on FX and always having lovely contacts at both the network and Warner Brothers, who released the DVDs for the series, I have possibly written about the adventures of Drs. Guest stars Vanessa Redgrave and Joan Rivers return for a sensational Season 3 filled with eroticism, suspense and medical challenges ranging from a daring facial transplant to a 650-pound woman whose skin has fused with her sofa. But mending the rifts in their own families and careers will require much more than their famed technical skills. Plastic surgeons Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) have vowed to make whole victims of the elusive, mysterious serial slasher called the Carver. He – or is it she? – slices, they stitch.

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