Modern Family - The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, both of whom previously worked on Frasier, the Emmy Award-winning Modern Family uses the documentary style brought into vogue by The Office (UK). With two other series currently using the format (NBC's The Office (US) and Parks and Recreations), it seems slightly overused, but Leviatan has said in an interview "it's a family show done documentary-style rather than a true documentary" as the series had originally been intended. What also helps is the series is very funny.

The head of this Modern Family is Jay (Ed O'Neill). He has been married to his much younger Columbian wife Gloria (Sofía Vergara) for six months. She has a child from her first husband, 11-year-old Manny (Rico Rodriguez) who might well be the most emotionally mature member of the family. Jay has two children from his first marriage: Claire (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Claire and Phil (Ty Burrell) have been married for 16 years and they have three kids: pretty Haley (Sarah Hyland), smart Alex (Ariel Winter), and Luke (Nolan Gould) , who tries his best. Phil tries hard to be the cool dad and is unaware he fails miserably. Mitchell and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have been together for five years. As the series opens, they have adopted Lily, a Vietnamese baby girl.

Over the course of 24 episodes, spread across three discs, the very funny cast and the talented writers create a very engaging sitcom. The characters are compelling and the situations can get wonderfully ridiculous at times, but ultimately it's a sweet show about a family that loves each other.

Not only did Modern Family win for Outstanding Comedy Series, but Emmys were also awarded to Stonestreet for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series, to Levitan and Lloyd for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series ("Travels with Scout"), and to Fred Willard for Outstanding Guest Star in a Comedy Series playing Phil's father Frank.

More members of the extended family are introduced during the season such as Jay's ex-wife and Claire and Mitchell's mother DeDe (Shelly Long) and Gloria's ex-husband and Manny's dad Javier (Benjamin Bratt). Other guest stars that appear include Elizabeth Banks, Edward Norton, Chazz Palminteri, Kristen Schaal, Minnie Driver, and Kobe Bryant.

The 50GB Blu-ray discs are very slow to load. The video is presented with a 1080p/ MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Colors are bright and blacks are solid. There are good details evident throughout. The only artifact I caught some slight aliasing on clothing that has sharp lines. The audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Not surprisingly, the series is dialogue heavy, resulting in the track being front heavy. There is great directionality and placement of effects within the soundscape. In one early episode, a ringing doorbell can be heard off to the right. Not much happens or is required for the rears or subwoofer.

Fans of the series will be delighted with all Special Features. There are "Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes" (45 min) and also "Deleted Family Interviews (11 min). The "Gag Reel" (6 min) is mildly amusing. "Real Modern Family Moments" (10 min) covers where ideas for episodes come from and how they get incorporated into the series. The cast discusses what they were doing "Before Modern Family" (13 min). Stonestreet reveals the origins of "Fizbo the Clown" (4 min). "Modern Family: Making of "Family Portrait" (9 min) and "Modern Family 'Hawaii'" (5 min) are episode-specific features.

For those looking for laughs, I highly suggest inviting this Modern Family into your home. They may make yours seem normal. The first season is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Taxi - The Final Season

Taxi is a very funny situation comedy that tells the exploits of the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company. The main characters are cab drivers Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch), Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner), Tony Banta (Tony Danza), and Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) and his wife Simka (Carol Kane), and dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito).

After ABC cancelled it, the series was picked up by NBC for what would be its fifth and final season, airing 22 new episodes and an hour-long retrospective, broken into two parts here, during the 1982/'83 television season. Comedy Series Emmys were awarded to Hirsh for Lead Actor and Lloyd and Kane for Supporting Actors, both of which won the previous year for the same roles.

The season opens with newlyweds Latka and Simka hosting a traditional Schloogel whereby they play matchmaker with friends, and this has implications that run through the season. Tony is set up with Vicki (Anne De Salvo), who returns pregnant in "Tony's Baby." Elaine is paired with Arnie (Wallace Shawn), who tries too hard when he "Meets Her Kids." Louie is set up with a blind woman named Judy (Murphy Cross), and later in "Louie and the Blind Girl," influenced by Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights," Louie fears Judy getting her sight back and seeing what he looks like.

Latka and Simka have their own relationship issues in the two-part "Scenskees From A Marriage" when Latka has sex with a cab driver to keep from freezing to death in a blizzard. Their minister suggests that to save their marriage, she must sleep with one of his co-workers. When unable to choose, they leave it up to fate by seeing who the last person is to appear when they say they are having a party.

The only other major change to a character is Jim becoming a millionaire after his father passes away. He buys Mario's, the bar he and his friends hang out at, and gives everyone $1,000 so they can give it to someone in need.

Many episodes feature people from the characters' past. Emily (Andrea Marcovicci), the woman who Louie threw away his relationship with Zena (Rhea Pearlman) for only to be dumped by her, comes back into his life. Zena also returns, but it's not to ask Louie back as he expects, but to announce her wedding. Alex's ex-wife (Louise Lasser) comes back into his life and so does his dog, Buddy. When Tony's Dad, Angie (Donnelly Rhodes), appears, he says he saw the guys six months previous, but it's his only time on the series according to IMDB. Alex is attracted to an old friend of Jim's and Elaine falls Zimka's cousin, a monk from Caspiar who is on a week-long break from his vows.

While the show is consistently laugh-out funny, as the studio audience frequently demonstrates, there are many touching moments as well. From Jim dealing with the loss of his father to Louie admitting to Zena she was the one who got away, the writers show they are also quite adept at drama.

Unfortunately, the series ended without any resolution to the characters' stories. Another disappointing aspect to this release is the liner notes claim of special features, but CBS/Paramount doesn’t understand episodic promos don't count.

Sitcoms lovers will "veddy much" want to add Taxi – The Final Season to their collection.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Complete Fifth Season

Three years since the DVD release of the fourth season, Twentieth Century Fox has finally released the fifth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on DVD this month. I couldn’t find any reason for the lengthy interval, so I presume previous sales numbers didn’t meet their expected goals because it’s hard to believe one of television’s funniest and most honored sitcoms (held the record of winning 29 Emmy Awards until Frasier passed it in 2002) has been treated in such a shabby fashion. Not only does The Complete Fifth Season come with no extras to accompany the 24 episodes, an unfortunate but common occurrence with many TV-on-DVD releases, but Fox didn’t even bother to provide synopses of the episodes.

The fifth season continues the funny exploits of Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and her WJM coworkers, the main trio being the gruff but lovable news producer Lou Grant (Ed Asner); the wisecracking writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod); and the dopey, self-absorbed news anchor Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Other recurring characters are Ted’s girlfriend Georgette (Georgia Engel), a Gracie Allen-type character, and man-hungry TV host Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White). Mary’s friend and neighbor Rhoda (Valerie Harper) is no longer around because she was spun-off into her own series and landlord Phyllis (Cloris Leachman) would leave after this season for her own series as well.

There are quite a few changes for the characters over the course of the season. Mary takes more responsibility for producing the news broadcast. Murray nearly has an affair in “I Love a Piano” then a few episodes later in “A Son for Murray” he and his wife adopt a Vietnamese boy. Ted proposes to Georgette in “Marriage, Minneapolis Style.” Even though Rhoda is gone she is not forgotten because in “Neighbors” Lou moves into her old apartment above Mary. Also, the gang is shown getting wedding presents for Rhoda in “A New Sue Ann,” a funny episode with shades of All About Eve.

Created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, the series excels because it has a simple formula of great writing brought to life by great acting. The fifth season was the first time the series won the Emmy for Best Comedy, a designation it would earn the next and final two seasons of its run. Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" where Mary has to decide about naming her sources. This year also saw Acting Emmys go to Asner, White, and Leachman, and editor Douglas Hines was also honored for his work.

Although fans looking to complete their collection are likely already sold, anyone who enjoys smart comedy owes it to themselves to revisit Mary and the gang in the fifth or any season. For those who have yet to get acquainted, the material is rarely dated and the humor is timeless.

Taxi - The Fourth Season

CBS/Paramount presents the continuing adventures of the employees of the Sunshine Cab Company with the release of the Fourth Season of Taxi, the final year it aired on ABC. The following year on NBC would its last.

The cast of characters feature fulltime cabbie Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch), divorced mother Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) who also works in an art gallery, former boxer Tony Banta (Tony Danza), ‘60s burnout Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), and mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman) an immigrant from the island of Caspiar. They all work under the mean and vengeful eye of head dispatcher Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito), one of the more despicable characters in television sitcoms.

This season, Louie’s shenanigans include sleeping with his girlfriend’s drunken friend, attempting to ruin his mother’s wedding to an elderly Japanese man, and getting caught peeping on Elaine as she changes clothes. Actor Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway), a former series regular, makes a return appearance after having left for Hollywood in “Bobby Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” as does Simka (Carol Kane), a young woman from Caspiar who Latka fell in love with though she’s a different ethnicity.

The strength of the show comes from the writing. Creators James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed.Weinberger have an amazing pedigree in television comedy. Their combined resume of series they created, produced, or wrote for include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, The Bob Newheart Show, The Simpsons, Get Smart, The Munsters, and The Cosby Show. Writer Sam Simon went on to develop The Simpsons with Brooks and Mtt Groenig, and Glen & Les Charles created Cheers.

It’s hard to believe ABC cancelled the series after this season because it is consistently very funny. “Jim The Psychic” finds Alex tempting fate after Jim predicts the bizarre circumstances of his death. “Cooking For Two” finds Louie in one of the few instances where he acts like a compassionate human being when he takes a recently homeless Jim into his apartment. Naturally, the fates punish his kindness.

Alex and Louie seek team up and revenge for Elaine in “The Unkindest Cut” after she receives a terrible haircut, which cost a whopping $200, and is insulted by the stylist (Ted Danson). The best part of this season occurred due to Kaufman’s boredom with playing Latka. To accommodate him, the writers gave Latka multiple personality disorder, which manifests itself in sleazy womanizer Vic Ferrari and co-worker Alex Rieger, to Alex’s frustration.

The DVDs are presented in an aspect ratio of 4:3 and the audio is mono.

If you are looking for quality sitcoms, hail Taxi – The Fourth Season. It offers almost 10 hours of laughs as the meter runs.

Bosom Buddies: The Second Season

Presented for the first time on DVD, Bosom Buddies – The Second Season continues the madcap adventures of Kip Wilson and Henry Desmond, two characters who partake in the long-standing comedic tradition of cross-dressing. Kip and Henry lost their apartment and the only place they had to turn was the Susan B. Anthony Hotel for Women, where their friend and co-worker Amy lived. Henry was against the idea, but Kip fell for a gorgeous blonde named Sonny who resided there, so he persuaded Henry that staying there would be great experience for a book. The plan also appealed to Amy because she had a crush on Henry. The boys became their sisters Buffy and Hildegarde respectively and the high jinks ensued from there.

The premise of the show changed slightly in the second season. In the first episode, Kip and Henry revealed themselves to the main cast at an embassy dinner. Lily the hotel manager was written out of the show and Isabelle filled her role. In the second episode Kip, Henry, and Amy left the ad agency and take over Henry’s Uncle Mort’s commercial production house.

Bosom Buddies is best known as the launching pad for Tom Hanks, but Peter Scolari was equally as funny. He went onto to costar brilliantly as Michael in Newhart. The show wasn’t groundbreaking, the plots were ridiculous, and the characters didn’t have much depth, yet it still succeeded at being very funny show. Everyone cracked wise with a lot of gags and one-liners. The show also had its tender moments. In “The Reunion” Henry has to deal with his guilt for the way he treated a deaf girl back in high school.

There was no wrap-up of the series as the final show in the set is just another episode. It did have a funny cameo with Penny Marshall, who would later direct Tom Hanks in Big and A League Of Their Own.

The one extra includes a sales presentation video that was shown to television station programmers in an attempt to sell the show in syndication. It was created some time after 1984 because a selling point was that Hanks starred in Splash and Bachelor Party.

Purists will notice that show is labeled as The Second Season. That’s because some of the shows have been edited from their original broadcast version due to cuts, mainly relating to music, as is usually the case in these instances. This is obvious in every episode because the awful “Shake Me Loose,” which was used when the show aired in syndication, has replaced the original theme of Billy Joel’s “My Life.”

For those that like their comedy silly, Bosom Buddies was one the funniest television series of the ‘80s.