Will & Grace Season One: any good, what's the format? (1 Viewer)

[CraigF]

[Sorry if there's another thread on this, search is useless for titles like this.]

This is a blind buy for me, never seen the show, but heard the first season (at least) was pretty good. Set was cheap so picked it up.

What's the audio/video format of the content? Why don't they put that info on the box? Absolutely no info on the package, probably the most uninformative TV series packaging I've ever seen.

Thanks.

 

[CraigL]

The show has very few extras.

No chapter stops.

All 24 episodes are included on 4 discs. Full screen (wasn't shot wide).

Information about original air dates and plot synopsis included.

Interviews with creators and actors. Themed vignettes.



Simply the best show on TV right now.

I'm buying the UK season 3 this month and have every episode on tape since season 1.

 

[Yumbo]

running time not listed!

 

[Sean Laughter]

I love this show and never got to see alot of the first season so I picked it up. It looks really good to me picture wise. My ATI DVD player doesn't deal with it very well though, alot of interlacing artifacts kind of stuff, but it plays fine on my standalone (I don't guess the ATI DVD player deals with video sources very well as opposed to film sources).

Pretty bummed about not having chapter stops within the episodes. That's one of my huge gripes with the "Sex and the City" sets and I really don't see what's so hard about putting a stop at every commercial break or something!!

Overall, don't go in wanting alot of insight into the making of the show or anything. If you're just interested in just the show it's fine.

I particularly find it fascinating how the characterization of Karen changed from the pilot to the second episode.

 

[CraigL]

My malata is showing a lot of shimmering on this title. Almost like the PAL artifacts on the R2 discs.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Can someone compare this to another show in terms of pacing and style -- for someone who has never seen the show but has heard the buzz and is considering picking it up at such a low price?

Also, does this show have a lot of continuity (like Friends) or is it a lot of one-shot episodes (like Three's Company and so many older sitcoms)?

 

[Robert Montoya]

Will and Grace is definitely one of the more funier shows on t.v. The writing and acting are first rate. The show won a well deserved Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series a few years back. Its much more irreverent than Friends and tends to push the envelop as much as it can on network t.v.

It may not be everyone's cup o' tea due to the subject matter. Its still one of the best shows on t.v.

 

[Julian Lalor]

Basically, it's about a single gay man (who can never have a boyfriend longer than 2 episodes), his anorexic best friend/fag-hag with whom he shares a rather creepy co-dependent relationship and a song and dance routine (ripped straight from the pages of Ab Fab) named Karen and Jack, who really provide the series with its humor. Nothing particularly shocking, original or controversial if you subscribe to Comedy Central or HBO, but somewhat risque for network television.

The first 2 seasons were pretty good (not great, mind you). From Season 3, however, the show has been on a steady decline into really bad farce (and, oddly, in at least one episode, homophobia). NBC are too "middle America" for this show to ever realise its full potential - it would have been much better on HBO. How many "Mary" jokes can you have?

I have the R2 Season 1 DVDs and, to me, they look great. And each episode does have chapter stops.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Julian, which episode was homophobic?

One of my gripes with this show is the stereotypical portrayal of the gay community. It's supposedly pushing the movement foreward, but in reality they present gay life as a flamboyant guy, and a guy who apparently never gets even a kiss onscreen.

 

[Julian Lalor]

The show supposedly pushing the movement foreward, but in reality they present gay life as a flamboyant guy, and a guy who apparently never gets even a kiss onscreen.

I don't think the point of the show is to push the gay movement forward; I don't think it has any agenda other than to make people laugh. Which is fine by me. What I find objectionable is the paucity of originality in its humor. Yes, Jack is a flamboyent queen - that is funny for approximately 5 minutes. Ditto, Karen's rich bitch with a drinking problem act. But it's the same schtick every single week. And, worse, the producers are so scared of offending anyone, they insist on redeeming these characters at the end of each episode - thereby diluting any impact they have (ie it's just an act so don't take us seriously, we're really sweet underneath all these bitter and twisted layers).

The main problem with this series as I see it is in the relationship between Will and Grace themsevles. Frankly, Grace is a superfluous character; there is no reality or believability to her relationship with Will and she serves no purpose other than to appease middle America. Give her the relationships (as disfunctional as they are), not Will. And by doing so, they've turned Will into a self-loathing, hyper sensitive, mean sprited bore with so many neuroses that no sane gay man would touch with a 10 foot pole.

 

[CraigF]

Thanks for the info guys!

CraigL: I have a "Canadian" version, don't know how it may differ from the U.S. version, but cost a lot less than the U.S. "import" version (about which the packaging also said little). But it's distributed by Lions Gate, and for Canadian releases lately they've been doing a lot of converting PAL transfers to NTSC...if it was done in this case to Can./Am. versions, that could possibly explain some of the artifacts people are seeing. IOW, they may have done the PAL version transfer first...seems odd for an American (NTSC) series though. This is pure speculation...

Run time is supposedly 484 minutes (i.e. 24 x ~20).

 

[NickSo]

How much did you get it for and where? Futureshop.com lists it for $31.99

 

[CraigF]

Got it at Best Buy, same price.

 

[CraigL]

Regardless of what others have said...it's still the best show on tv. It's been a bit more hit and miss (4th season) but the 5th was great with only a couple of turkeys the whole season.

As far as Will and Grace's relationship being unrealistic...ummm...are you gay? cause I am. And that's everywhere. Look at Boy Meets Boy. Look at my life. It's pretty realistic...and almost every gay guy i know has a "grace."

 

[CraigL]

Also...i seriously doubt they did two different transfers for the american/canadian version. I got mine through DVDsoon and it was $24 shipped to the US so I guess I got the Canadian version...though there's nothing on there to indicate it as such.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I have about three Graces, haha, have you beat!!!!

 

[CraigF]

Also...i seriously doubt they did two different transfers for the american/canadian version. I got mine through DVDsoon and it was $24 shipped to the US so I guess I got the Canadian version...though there's nothing on there to indicate it as such.

Doesn't make sense, does it? That's why Canadians wonder why Lions Gate does it. Must be a licensing thing. I'm not saying the versions sold in the U.S. and Canada are different, looked the same to me from the package, but the U.S. version cost 50% more...but then sets cost somewhat more in the U.S., so I guess they just converted the price to Can.$.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

That's the only 'beef' I have with the show. It doesn't claim to push the rights ahead, but people claim that it does.

The people who make it are just making a comedy, but I hate when in interviews they act like they're making a huge movement for the gay/lesbian community. It's just a sitcom.

 

[CraigL]

If there was any doubt in your mind...

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=7230