"BROTHERS AND SISTERS: THE COMPLETE FIFTH AND FINAL SEASON"
DVD Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars)
I have reluctantly become a fan of “Brothers and Sisters” over the years. While it’s not my typical show, I have grown to really enjoy the writing and the character interaction. The fifth season was just as fun as the previous ones and features some fantastic drama. Kevin and Scotty’s story takes a front seat as they struggle to adopt and reconcile a previous surrogate. And Norah’s story about getting back into the dating game – with a neat bit part played by Beau Bridges – is also quite entertaining. I was less interested in Kitty’s post-cancer, post-widow story, but at least how things went down with Sarah and her sexy model hubby-to-be worked in quite well.
“Brothers and Sisters” sometimes stretched the drama too tightly and caused problems with relationships that were forced (including the story of the prodigal bastard Ryan or the break-up between Justin and Rebecca). And with this in mind, the fifth season being the final one – while sad to see – is just as well. The show didn’t have the chance to jump the shark, and this last few episodes work as well as any dénouement of the series could have to wrap up people’s lives.
The DVD set comes with a handful of deleted scenes, audio commentaries, bloopers and outtakes. There’s also two featurettes: “Giles Marini: Uncovered” looks at Gilles Marini as an actor and sex symbol, as well as “Writing for the Walkers” about how the writers of the show use the drama in their own lives to seed the stories on the show.
"COUGAR TOWN: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON"
DVD Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
While I was reluctant to start watching “Cougar Town,” after I got half-way through he first season, I became a huge fan. Now, after the second season, the show has hit a real stride and found its purpose. And that purpose is to have a group of comfortable friends (who may or may not be decent people when you boil them down) who poke fun at each other and like to escape from reality.
Like “Scrubs,” which is showrunner Bill Lawrence’s previous series, this is a single-camera sit com that uses hyper-reality and extreme characters to find the funny in everyday situations. The premise of cougars has been almost completely abandoned (with a few exceptions when Carolyn Hennesy shows up in the show), and it’s more of a “Friends” for fortysomethings. This season shows growth in the characters, but not too much. Just when it seems to be heading down a meaningful path, things get kicked back into the bottom of a wine bottle. There are tender moments, but mostly there are funny moments, featuring everything from college and girlfriend woes for Travis to Laurie trying out Twitter (follow her at @TheLarmy) and Andy continuing his heterosexual man-crush on Bobby. Oh, and watch for the hilarious cameo by Abed from “Community” in the season finale.
This three-disc DVD set comes with deleted scenes and outtakes. There’s also a humorous look behind the scenes in the featurette “(still called) Cougar Town: Season 2” and six webisodes of “Andy’s Dreams.”
"DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON"
DVD Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
When “Desperate Housewives” first premiered, I kinda liked the show. I wasn’t a huge fan, but I did enjoy the scandalous underworld of idyllic suburban life. However, over the years, the show has crumbled. It strapped on a pair of water skis a few years back when it rocketed five years ahead of its own time frame (bringing the full in-future setting to six and a half years, once you factor in a previous 18 month leap). By this seventh season, the show is in mid-air with a “Happy Days” shark underneath. I was okay with Vanessa Williams showing up as the new hot tottie on the block, but her storyline is wasted in the morass of the Scavo marriage. Though its the storylines of the other women that crush this series.
Bree’s love affair with Brian Austin Green was the best one out there, though her treatment of her ex was simply deplorable. Susan’s storyline of a woman who needs a kidney not only made no sense in the context of the show, but it completely ignores that the father she found several years ago lives only a town or two away. Gabby’s storyline is all over the map, trying to make her a self-centered bitch and simultaneously a good mother. But it’s Lynette’s storyline as a control-freak pariah who thinks she can do no wrong but is really the worst mother on the planet and a caustic person that makes me want to choke. The only sadness I feel about the series getting canceled is that ABC is letting it play out its hand with a season eight first.
The DVDs include 12 deleted scenes, a blooper reel and some outtakes. There are two featurettes that are actually more entertaining than the season itself: “Desperate for Trivia” posts questions to the cast, who often struggle to answer; and “Growing Up on Wisteria Lane” takes a look at the actors who have portrayed the desperate children over the years.
"OFF THE MAP: THE COMPLETE SERIES"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
“Off the Map” is the latest series meant to capitalize on the “Grey’s Anatomy” model of television medical dramas. Executive produced by Shonda Rimes and created by her “Grey’s Anatomy” writer Jenna Bans, “Off the Map” follows a team of problematic doctors to the South American jungle where they deal with interpersonal conflicts, encounter bizarre jungle medical issues and find a way to handle primitive conditions. While the medical angle of the show is interesting and strangely informative, it’s the “Grey’s Anatomy” model that just doesn’t work for me.
I’m sure there’s an audience out there for attractive people whining about their problems and having sex all the time, but it just gets boring. Plus, “Off the Map” has a worldview in synch with “Grey’s” and its spin-off “Private Practice”... one in which you have to be an asshole to get ahead in life. Seriously, the characters are all damaged, mean-spirited, narcissistic sociopaths who aren’t in the jungle to help people but rather to prove their worth. I like to think that people are better than that. In the end, the series put a new coat of paint (a jungle setting) on a tired product (the bitchy, preachy medical soap opera) with a slate of actors who really aren’t that compelling on an individual basis.
There are decent bonus features for a first-season DVD, including outtakes and deleted scenes, plus the featurettes “On Set at Off the Map” and “Jungle Medicine,” the latter which features some of the real-life medical tricks used to treat diseases and injuries in the rainforest.
