This month's TV highlights featuring American Dad, Boston Legal and That '70's Show!
May TV Highlights: Boston Legal: Season One, That '70s Show: Season Four, American Dad: Volume One
Directors: N/A
Producers: N/A
Writers: N/A
Features: *Commentaries *Featurettes * Documentaries * Deleted, extended and alternate scenes * Outtakes
Characters:
N/A
Genre: Comedy
Review:
Hello again avid DVDFuture readers. The format here won’t be the same as typical DVDFuture style, it will be similar to the lump review style I've worked with in the past. We will be making this the standard for TV reviews. If you have any comments about this new format, please let me know. Enjoy!
MAY TV HIGHLIGHTS:
American Dad!: Volume One
For some, American Dad is a breath of fresh air, for others, American Dad will be one of the worst experiences ever. American Dad comes from the weird and wicked mind of Seth MacFarlane, who brought us the irreverent and often puerile Family Guy and like that show, Dad offers a supreme amount of silly, human mockery. But, like Family Guy, American Dad often stumbles into territory it’s not mature enough to handle.
Thankfully the show doesn’t rely on easily interchangeable jokes like Family Guy and the result is a much more formulated and comprehensible political commentary. However, American Dad never reaches the satire level of shows like South Park, The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, which may leave many viewers wanting.
There are 13 episodes in total in this first volume of American Dad. Every episode, with the exception of one, comes complete with an audio commentary with the cast or the crew. There are also 42 deleted scenes, a few featurettes and several animatics comparisons worth perusing.
Show Scorecard:
As entertainment: * * *
As a film: * * 1/2
Overall: * * *
DVD Scorecard:
Video: 7.5
Audio: 7.5
Extras: 9
Overall: 8
Unrated.
* Running Time: 284 Minutes
* List Price: $39.98
* Available on DVD: April 25th 2006.
That 70’s Show: Season Four
Season Four of That ‘70s Show is probably its best. Everything is perfect. The cast is finally fitting perfectly into character and the jokes haven’t run stale, just yet. The later seasons of the show tend to recycle love interest subplots to an annoying degree.
The shows best performances come from the series star, Topher Grace, who portrays Eric Forman, and Wilmer Valderrama, who portrays the lovable sex-starved foreign exchange student Fez. Both have impeccable timing and some truly great lines. It’s a shame that Kutcher took off so quickly as the star and these guys were left in the dust. Thankfully, Grace has finally started to pop up in the film world, starting with his awesome cameo in Ocean’s Twelve and his role in next year’s sure-fire hit, Spider-Man 3.
There are 27 episodes of Season Four. The usual set of featurettes and select commentaries from the cast and crew round out this fairly typical TV release. There’s also a fun featurette regarding the look and feel of the show.
Show Scorecard:
As entertainment: * * *
As a film: * * *
Overall: * * *
DVD Scorecard:
Video: 6.5
Audio: 6
Extras: 8
Overall: 7
Unrated.
* Running Time: 598 Minutes
* List Price: $49.98
* Available on DVD: May 9th 2006.
Boston Legal: Season One
Who would have thought that a spin-off of The Practice would have such success, but it has. Boston Legal is a fantastic, quirky little lawyer dramedy. You have two stars known for their roles in Star Trek (William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois) and well known character actors, James Spader and Candice Burgen. The result is a very funny, well written, character driven show with very few holes.
Of course, the show has seen several major cast changes, must like it’s brother The Practice. Let’s hope that the cast changes don’t sink this otherwise very entertaining show. Kudos to William Shatner, who plays crazed lawyer Denny Crane, for turning in one of the best performances of his long, underrated career.
All 17 episodes of season one are here. Special features are a bit light unfortunately. It would have been nice to hear William Shatner in a commentary on at least one episode. However, we’re only treated to a series of deleted scenes from the pilot and two EPK-style featurettes.
Show Scorecard:
As entertainment: * * * 1/2
As a film: * * *
Overall: * * *
DVD Scorecard:
Video: 8.5
Audio: 6.5
Extras: 3.5
Overall: 7.5
Unrated.
* Running Time: 728 Minutes
* List Price: $49.98
* Available on DVD: May 23rd 2006.
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----R. L. Shaffer