Spin City – Season Two (Shout! Factory DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Episodes: C+

 

 

While we have already covered the first season of Spin City, you can read about that review here, I personally was not a huge fan of the show, but found it perhaps a bit more entertaining than my fellow reviewer at times. 

 

Season Two adds more to the mix with some new characters and of course the usual formula of comedy that goes with a mayors office and the oddballs that make up that particular office as our Mike juggles the mayors various blunders plus his own personal romances and struggles.  Perhaps one of the reason that season two worked a bit better was the entire cast getting more familiar with their particular character role and understanding the comedic timing of that, plus the entire cast seems to work better off each other in this season and that makes for better television overall.  While the flavor of the show starts to wear thin by the end, it wouldn’t be too long before the entry of Charlie Sheen to take over for Michael J. Fox and then the show went down faster than the Hindenburg.   

 

Disc One

 

Paul Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Porn in the U.S.A.

Wonder Woman

The Goodbye Girl

In the Heat of the Day

Radio Daze

 

Disc Two

 

Thirty Year Itch

My Life is a Soap Opera

Family Affair Pt. 1

Family Affair Pt. 2

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Miracle Near 34^th Street

 

Disc Three

 

Same Time Next Year

The Paul Lassiter Story

Gentlemen’s Agreement

Deaf Man Walking

The Marrying Men

One Wedding and a Funeral

 

Disc Four

 

A River Runs Through Me

The Pope of Gracie Mansion

Bye, Bye, Birdie

The Lady or the Tiger

Single White Male

The Paul Bearer

 

 

All episodes are presented in their original 1.33 X 1 presentation and look soft like Season One, there is also the issue of color, which seems far too saturated and even at times skin-tones look unnatural, even a bit too red or orange in nature.  The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and while good, is not enough to compensate for the poorer picture quality, which will likely disappoint fans of the show.

 

 

-   Nate Goss