GROSSE POINTE on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Ethan Riley]

That's what I did, Don. I cancelled it last week and reordered it. It shipped Thursday.

 

[Venice-H]

For the fun of it, I've decided to provide a mini-review of this show. So far I've gone through the first 9 episodes, which is all the episodes on the first DVD. I haven't gone through the extras yet.

Well, let's start with the bottom line: This is an excellent, excellent show that is reliably funny and sometimes hilarious.

The first question is... why did I give up on this show in the first place? I saw the first four episodes in their original run, but didn't watch any of the others. I thought it was great at the time, so that's not a factor. Maybe I was busy during the time slots (Fridays & Sundays were hectic for me). Maybe I could never get back into rhythm after being derailed once. Or maybe I thought it would always be on so I could catch the reruns. None of this matters now, but for a long time this was the DVD I wanted more than anything else.

A couple of reasons for its appeal to me (and part of why it got canceled, IMO):

1) It poked a lot of fun at the WB. Never mind that Darren & Co. were really parodying FOX (which was in much the same position in '90-'92 that the WB was during 2000-01), the constant jabs at the network couldn't have made them very happy. I can almost forgive them for wanting to put on another show that didn't take such digs at them. ALMOST.

2) This is probably the most challenging sitcom since Police Squad, but in a different way. PS was challenging because there was something happening (or could happen) throughout the show, from open to close - and sometimes several things at once. GP isn't like that (though it does move at a fast pace), but it does require its viewers to know a lot.

Let's take as an example GP's resident queen bee, who happens to be my favorite among many good ones on the show. In order to get the most out of thngs, you have to know about:

a) Hunter Fallow, the character on the show;
b) Becky Johnson, Hunter's character on the show-within-a-show;
c) Shannen Doherty, the person that Hunter is parodying; and
d) Brenda Walsh, the 90210 character that Becky resembles more than a little.

It also helps to know about Irene Molloy (who played Hunter & Becky) and the other details about other divas on the other teen/20something soaps of the '90s.

This can get a little exhausting at times, but like most challenging things, it's worthwhile in the end.

Yes, it's true that the theme song "Sex Bomb" is only on the first track of each DVD, but I missed it less than I thought I would.

I'd like to conclude by saying thank you to all those involved in bringing Grosse Pointe to my television.

P.S. Amazon.co.uk is listing release dates for season two of both 90210 and Melrose as May 14, 2007. I have no idea how reliable those dates are, but I wouldn't put a lot of stock in them. BTW, I was tipped off from a post in a different forum.

 

[Chris Minogue]

According to this item

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6679

Grosse Pointe will be available in all stores starting Feb. 13.

At the rate Amazon is going with my order (placed on Oct. 1st) it will be in stores before I get my copy.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Just do what I did. Cancel the order, and reorder it. That's how I go my copy. I'd pre-ordered it the day it was first announced but others were getting their copies before me. How dare Amazon treat me that way!

Yes, I finally got my copy; could hardly believe my eyes. And I've started watching it...and the video quality is terrible.

 

[julienUK]

ordered ity last thursday and got it monday.
Started watching it monday and finished teh whole set last night.

I had a very very good time watching these eps, as I missed a lot when first aired here in the U.K.

Picture quality is a little 'grainy' sometimes, but overall pretty good.

Shame there is no subtitles at all.

As for the Darren Star interview, it was ok, but he just doesn't look like a fun guy at all if I may say....

Anyway, I think thi sset is the best purchase I have made this year.

 

[Jay_B!]

got this set today and completely loving every minute of it. I was a huge WB fan around this time and I love all the inside jokes.

The show totally fit alongside Popular, like it did on Friday nights in 2000. The fact that it's 30 mins actually worked to it's benefit IMO because it made the episodes all killer, no filler.

A shame that of the entire cast, Kyle Howard seems to have been the only one to amount to any sort of a career after the show ended. One would've figured with Al Santos' looks (the show even parodied his pretty boy image), that he would've had a much easier time breaking out. You look at other short-lived teen/early 20-something shows from the same era like Popular and Freaks And Geeks and see so many "wow, s/he has gone onto big things" but not on this.

I've always been a fan of camp comedy and ironic humor and I love owning this show for the said reasons. Too bad Joely Fisher left the cast so quickly (she's only in the first five episodes) though, but oh well.

 

[Kris_AB]

So it was supposed to be in stores in February. Has anyone seen it on shelves? I've only checked the odd HMV, MusicWorld, and Sunrise here in Canada (Blockbuster too, but I never expect them to have much as far as lesser-known TV-on-DVD goes).

Or is it still an Amazon.com exclusive and the wide release got delayed ?

 

[Jay_B!]

nope, it went everywhere, I picked up my copy at Best Buy

 

[Kris_AB]

I bought this show back in January (or maybe December, can't remember) and finished watched it when I had some vacation in February. I love this set so much. It's funny, the characters are awesome, the parodying hasn't gotten old...

I can tell a lot of the music has been removed and replaced with score instead (sounding suspiciously like Sex & The City's score, which fits since Darren Star created that as well, but...did Grosse Pointe originally have that sound to it?). There's only like one licensed song in the whole show aside from the opening credits "Sex Bomb" song. I feel like there used to be more.

Tried lending it to a friend who's a huge fan of quality TV but loved 90210 and Melrose place all the same (and Sex & The City), but she hasn't tried it yet. I know she'll enjoy the spoofing when she gets into it, she'll probably share with her sister too. They catch the repeats of 90210 and Melrose pretty often. They watch more repeats of stuff they used to love than they do new TV shows and movies.