Mad About You Season 1 DVD Review:

Marriage is not a easy thing! Everyone who is or has been there knows this all too well. For newlyweds Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) and Jaime Stemple (Helen Hunt) who are just starting life together find out that it doesn’t go as smooth as they would like too and are trying to take the daily problems thrown at them one at a time. This of course leads too various of funny situations but also heart warming moments of how two different people can make something called marriage work and last. The show relies heavily on the two main characters but in this case both Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt are excellent and after a while you start to think that they maybe are a couple in real life! The supporting cast is also good with Anne Ramsay as the mentally unstable sister Lisa who always seems to be on the edge of a breakdown, Richard Kind and Leila Kenzle as befriended couple Devanow. Completing the supporting cast are Tommy Hinkley as the college friend Selby and in later episodes we meet John Pankow as Paul’s annoying but yet still enjoyable cousin Ira. The show’s season 1 is also spiced up with guest stars like Steve Buscemi, Lisa Kudrow, Jerry Lewis, Regis & Joy Philbin, Michael Richards, Barbara Feldon, Jerry Hardin and Charles Shaughnessy.

Picture and Sound:
All of the episodes are presented in their original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. Painfully they have achieved to put 11 episodes on each of the two dual-layer discs so that the picture quality is really grainy, unsharp and sometimes the colours are kind of grey or bland. Bottom line the picture quality is like you’re watching old VHS tapes but since this is not a effects heavy series it doesn’t make the show unwatchable. The stereo sound is average but the dialogue comes through fine although the laugh track does get irritating after a while.

Extras:
No extra’s which is a shame since there must be tons to talk about the show itself. The lack of extra’s and also the picture/audio quality can be explained that Columbia Tri/Star has marketed this DVD box set towards the more casual buyers of DVD’s that are not really interested in background information or any other extras and just want to enjoy the magic of the show. This is great for buyers that don’t have tons of money too buy every season at 50£ a piece but for DVD lovers that demands high picture quality and tons of extra’s it well be kind of a disappointment and a missed opportunity by the movie company.

Overall:
The DVD offers really average audio/video quality and sadly no extra’s are to be found but since it’s being sold at a low price it still a recommended buy for fans of the show and people who love to watch a neurotic people in a comedy show about marriage and the situations that follow.

Verdict:
The Film: ***/5
Video quality: */5
Sound quality: **/5
Extra features: 0/5

DVD as a whole: ***/5

Kuang Soan

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