Home Improvement – The Complete Fourth Season
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C
By comedy standards, I always thought of Home
Improvement as The Red Green Show for those who like safe humor to
the point it is not really funny. I never
understood the appeal of Tim Allen, though he does have some talent, but this
is the kind of phony TV situation comedy that ruined the sitcom as we know it,
with its regressive portrait of family, sexuality, socio-economic class and
dialogue that never represented any way people talk in real life. That it made it to its Complete Fourth
Season only confirms that only formula made it a hit simply because there
is nothing innovative or clever about this show.
So it was meant for younger and family audiences, but its
idea of family and being “happy” is as plastic as a Disneyworld amusement
ride. The chemistry of the cast family
was just enough to match the contrivances of the consistently awful teleplays
for all 25 terrifyingly bad shows from the 1994 – 1995 season. It did have some production values and did
not totally degrade the audience, reinforcing the “safe” factor. Only diehard fans should apply for this set.
The 1.33 X 1 image is bad, with digititis and a bad
professional NTSC-to-DVD-MPEG 2 video transfer even worse than anything we have
seen in sets for The Golden Girls.
I have seen this look better on analog cable TV for the minute it took
me to identify a given episode before searching for something good to
watch. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has
absolutely no surrounds and is poor in range.
The only extra is a bloopers reel, which goes to show that the cast and
studio are even bored with the show.
Also amusing is the slipcase that is designed to look like Tim cut it
with a buzz saw, something not unlike the Pioneer cover for Tobe Hooper’s
original Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, reviewed elsewhere on this
site) that reminds us that the similarities between this family and that one
may be closer than many have considered.
- Nicholas Sheffo
