Soap

I remember when this premiered on TV. I was in high school and this played at 9:30 at night. The original airings had a warning saying that "some material may not be suitable for younger viewers". Naturally every high school kid in the country tuned in! It was ahead of its time. It dealt with senility, racism, adultery, murder, sex...all in a funny manner! Also it had the first positive gay character on TV--Jodie played by Billy Crystal (in fact he said many gay men thanked him for how well he played it). Also it had a great cast--Katherine Helmond and Cathryn Damon especially (both won Emmys for their work on this).

I was unsure of seeing this again on DVD but--it still works! It's dated of course (especially in the clothes and hair styles) and it's nowhere near as shocking as it once was, but it's still very funny and the cast works exceptionally well together. The first three seasons are the best--it really started to fall apart during season four (it's last). However the dramatic parts never really worked--they didn't jell with the comedy well and were HORRIBLY written. Still the focus on the show was the comedy so it worked almost all of the time.

DVD: Season one is OK but the colors are faded and I've noticed bits and pieces missing from certain episodes. I assumed they got the originals but maybe not. The color got better with seasons 2 and 3. No extras on any of the discs--couldn't there have been a few little interviews with the surviving cast members? Still--I would rather have these than not. Recommended highly.