Big
Bang Theory: The Complete Seventh Season
(2013 - 2014/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD set)/Jay
Johnson: The Two & Only!
(2014/Jaysons DVD)/Mom:
The Complete First Season
(2013 - 2014/Warner DVD set)
Picture:
B & C+/C+/C+ Sound: B- & C+/C+/C+ Extras: B-/D/C-
Main Programs: B
Here's
some comedy that cannot fail to make you laugh, or think...
Big
Bang Theory: The Complete Seventh Season
(2013 - 2014) continues the winning ways of the most commercially
successful sitcom since Seinfeld and one that continues
to be as great as ever with few misses this season as the characters
have more growth and change, yet the writers never forget how they or
their situation work. The three male/female couples (Sheldon and Amy
start having something akin to more contact, Howard and Bernadette
have to deal with his mother (the voice of Carol Ann Suzi) being
injured, Leonard and Penny hold steady) continue to hold steady while
Raj still tires to find a gal with unusual results and Professor
Proton (Bob Newhart) makes two very different returns.
To
say more would ruin things and though you can pick up on any show and
start laughing, the more you know and have seen the early seasons,
the better. The cast and the writers are in top form, sharp as ever
and from the first few lines that open an episode, the world these
science geeks who happen to also love pop culture (that tends to not
always be the case, leading to real life science and computer people
seeing this show as stereotyping) always on. The shows can get a
little gross, but I noticed some more sexuality finding its way into
the humor and situations than in past seasons, so we'll see where the
series goes with that.
I'll
not ruin any of the other surprises, but am pleasantly surprised the
show has managed that rare feat of overcoming the weekly TV grind,
though some changes (like in later seasons of Daria)
have upset some early fans. The one thing I am surprised is that no
one has dared to try to put on a similar show, but as this was
posting, Sony and NBC announced that they will take the 1985
spiritual feature film cousin of this show, Martha Coolidge's
brilliant Real Genius,
and make it into a TV series. However, it will be moved from a
school to an office and be produced by Adam Sandler! Guess Big
Bang Theory has nothing
to worry about.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices and episode guide booklet inside the Blu-ray case,
while the disc versions add a piece on the 2013 Comic Con Panel,
Galecki crashing the BBT Writers Panel, four Behind The Scenes
featurettes (String Theory Serenade, May The 4th,
The Big Cendrowski: Backstage with the Coolest Director in the
Universe & James Earl Jones: The Un-Convensional Guest
Star) and a Gag Reel.
Over
the years, we have covered the occasion ventriloquist concert and
while they have been decent, none have really stuck with me. That
has all changed with Jay
Johnson: The Two & Only!
(2014), the Tony Award-Winning stage play by coming to DVD running
two hours and it is nice to finally see Johnson back and someone who
is an expert in the artform. Most still know Johnson from the
groundbreaking hit soap opera Soap
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) as the family member with the
wooden dummy who said things at the worst times; just one of the many
wacky elements of of that classic.
Johnson
manages to devote a nice chunk of the show to how he landed up on
that show, but also makes this a semi-autobiography and a great crash
course in ventriloquism that makes these two hours very compelling
and Johnson shows himself off as the premiere artist in the artform.
The comedy is as great as the stories and when all was said and done,
I realized how much I missed his work. I strongly recommend this
show and trust me, it is worth going out of your way for.
There
are no extras.
Mom:
The Complete First Season
(2013 - 2014) should have been a huge hit off the bat, a huge splash
of a hit with all the talent involved, but something stalled. From
the producers of Big Bang
Theory, the underrated
Anna Faris plays a mother doing her best to deal with her addictions
by not using drugs or drinking anymore, raising a daughter who is
very disappointed in her, a younger son hanging in there, an
ex-husband who is inappropriate, a bit much and one of the reasons
her life is a mess and all while trying to get help, maybe find
someone and stay gainfully employed as a waitress. At a group
meeting for addiction, her mother shows up, played by the amazing
Allison Janney, who is also an addict.
That
was the pilot episode, which along with the next few shows, establish
the series tone and situations, but the makers dropped the ball by
making them too slap-dash, typical and in the Two
& A Half Men mode
down to a cameo by one of its stars in the pilot. It cost the show
early on, then it takes it cues from Big
Bang Theory by focusing
on the ladies and their issues, their world, even with most of the
writers are male. That is when the show gets interesting and then it
starts to get really explicit about certain personal situations and
that is when it becomes shocking and a show network TV could have
never broadcast 10 to 20 years ago.
The
latter is not always a bad thing, as everyone in this world is more
flawed than usual, especially when it comes to drugs and drinking.
This mildly says no one has a moral center and what are the women to
do. Some shows are suddenly particularly funny, meaning that versus
the pilot, it took a while for the show to find its way, but it has
and now has critical acclaim if not the big audience first expected.
I don't know if it will continue to become a hit or find an audience,
but thanks to the quick growth of the show, smart casting (including
French Stewart as the perverted, corrupt head chef at the restaurant)
and combination of Faris and Janney, this might turn into something
special after all... the show I thought we;d get in the first place.
It
should be said however that like Big
Bang Theory, its fat suit
episode is its worse.
A
Mother Of A Gag Reel is the only extra on the discs, while an
episode guide is induced on a paper pullout.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Bang
are the same consistent, colorful, nicely shot transfers we've seen
from every previous season Blu-ray set in what I one of the
best-looking shows on TV. The DVD
version are passable, but just cannot pull off the color and some
depth and detail from the Blu-rays. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78
X 1 image on Jay
and Mom
are as good as those DVDs, but all a bit soft and limited as
expected, though it is nice none of them gut their color.
The
DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Bang
is well recorded, but being dialogue and jokes based, does not always
use the full capacity of its soundfield all the time. That is more
apparent as more TV shows push 5.1, but Bang
should not change. Its DVD versions offer
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 that is fairly good, but lacks the nuance and
warmth of the DTS versions. Mom
also has
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, while Jay
has lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (with loose Pro Logic surrounds),
but they are even with the Bang
DVDs in delivering what you need to hear, yet not much more.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
