Newlyweds - Nikc & Jessica - The Complete Season 2 & 3 DVD Review:
Reality
television is hardly ever really shown in a way based on reality,
but few shows have warped situations as badly as Newlyweds.
Anything that
could possibly be done to make Jessica seem more ditzy was done
on this show, however unethical it may have been. The show is
labeled as reality television and yet reality is warped. This
does not, however, take away from the fact that this show is
still hilarious and entertaining.
Newlywed
couple and pop stars Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey could not
be more different from each other. While Jessica has led a sheltered
life and has trouble cooking or cleaning even the simplest things,
often making Paris Hilton look more domestic, Nick was raised
to do things himself. Nick will go out of his way to move things,
fix things, and build things rather than spend the extra money
to hire someone else to do it. Considering the fact that he
has married one of the prissiest girls in entertainment, it
is shocking when Jessica burps and announces her need to poop.
This is the lifestyle that Nick and Jessica live.
Season
2 starts with the first year anniversary of Nick and Jessica
in one of the few romantic episodes in the show. From there
the season drifts
through the holidays and the struggle to pick a dog, with no
real direction. The third season has a bit more story when Jessica
hires her best friend as
a personal assistant and she moves in with the newlyweds. There
is also a great deal of traveling as Jessica has tours and photo
shoots, and by the
end of the season it is one more romantic gesture by Nick to
have the two seasons come in full circle.
Many of
the episodes are edited together in an order that is not quite
accurate, just so that the twenty-minute episode can have a
theme, or so the
show will seem to be more tense in moments between certain people.
This is not nearly as bad as the moment when the audio is looped
over, so that is sounds like Jessica is repeating the same comment
over and over again. They are very tricky about doing this when
her face is not towards the camera or when they are very far
from the camera. They make it seem as though a baby cries every
time she holds it as well, but there are moments when the baby’s
face is seen and he is clearly not crying despite the audio.
What makes this
most frustrating is the fact that the show is entertaining enough
without the added editing tricks. Jessica’s comments alone
are worth viewing the show. As the family sits around the table
trying to figure out whether or not an acorn is wood or not,
the show is at its most ridiculous and most
entertaining. What makes it better is having Nick there, almost
as a representative for normalcy to the viewers, often reacting
the same way that
anyone watching naturally will.
The
presentation of this DVD package is fantastic, with great artwork
on the front of the box which holds the three slim discs that
contain all of
the episodes from seasons 2 and 3 as well as special features.
The DVD menus are also great, with music by both the pop celebrities
and great artwork.
The features
in this set are nearly as entertaining as the show itself. The
deleted scenes are far better than most deleted scenes on any
other release,
but one of the coolest special features is the Nick and Jessica
MTV Timeline, which shows all of the video footage on MTV from
the beginning of
their relationship up to their marriage. The clips are short
and entertaining, as almost everything on MTV seems to be. There
is also a
Birthday special for Jessica’s birthday in which Nick
surprises her. The other special features include short clips
of the funniest things Nick and Jessica do individually and
some TV spots for the show and other MTV shows.
This is
a great package, and although the show may seem a bit hokey
to those who have not seen it, it is guaranteed to hook you
after only a few
episodes. Since there is only one season after these episodes,
with just ten episodes, this may be the last we see of Newlyweds
on DVD, and it is a great ending if this is so.
