When I first got the DVD set of “Reba: The Complete Fourth Season,” I cringed. I had never watched the show, but there was nothing about its advertisements or box cover that really made me want to see it. On the surface, it looked like your standard family sit-com revolving around a previously-known star.

And it was. But I have to admit that once the show got rolling, it did grow on me. Watching the first episode, I wasn’t terribly impressed. At first, it just seemed like a rehash of “Roseanne” or “Grace Under Fire,” only with the white trash nature toned down quite a bit.

However, as the episodes ran along, I found some fun in the show. Perhaps it’s because that once I got past the season premiere and into the regular episodic nature of the show, the stories went from being serious to being whimsical. By the end of the season, the stories fell back towards the more serious nature, tackling the tired sit-com subject of alcoholism.

I imagine that season five will have one or two episodes in the beginning to deal with alcoholism, and then it will go back to being a standard sit-com. Sigh... the things these shows do to keep people interested through rerun season.

“Reba” tells the story of a single mom (Reba McEntire) who lives four doors down from her ex-husband Brock (Christopher Rich) and his dimwitted blonde wife Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman). Despite Reba’s desire to hate Barbara Jean, she finds her to be one of her closest friends.

Also living with Reba is her daughter Cheyenne (Joanna Garcia) and her simple-minded football playing hubby Van (Steve Howey). They’re married due to Cheyenne’s pregnancy when she was seventeen. Reba’s son Jake (Hitch Holleman) also makes brief appearances, but he’s only there for support. The other cast member is Kyra (Scarlett Pomers), Reba’s other daughter who lives with Brock and Cheyenne.

The strength of a show like Reba, which tops the ratings on the new CW network, is its light-hearted nature. It doesn’t deal with drama well, coming off as preachy and wooden. After all, can you really solve severe problems like infidelity and alcoholism in a 22-minute episode?

“Reba” shines when the simpletons are in the spotlight. Melissa Peterman is hilarious as Barbra Jean and offers a great deal of the best comedy. However, she is topped out by Steve Howey as Van. Howey manages to play the idiot perfectly but differentiate himself from other idiots like Michael Kelso and Cosmo Kramer. Howey is spot-on with his physical comedy, and he is completely believable as the moron. Plus, his chemistry with Garcia is excellent, and it doesn’t help that she’s really easy on the eyes.

After raving about the supporting cast, I will also throw some kudos out to McEntire. She handles herself well as the grounding force and displays a strong tendency towards comedy. But I already knew that after seeing her years ago in “Tremors.” I give McEntire credit for allowing herself to be goofy on screen rather than being too grounded in seriousness. It’s the only thing that keeps the show fresh.

I do tend to get tired of the theme song, though. I guess you can’t win all the time.

The three disc set contains all 22 episodes of the fourth season. There are no special features on the DVDs.



Specifications: Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Fullscreen (1.33:1). Spanish language track. Spanish subtitles. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.