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DVD: Get A Life, Vol 2
Rhino Home Video
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
There were only 35 episodes of this tragically under appreciated and misunderstood sitcom, and while we never see it in syndication even on the strangest cable channels, at least Rhino has now brought the available episode count to 8. Volume 2 gives us 4 more classics (each one was, in its own way, a classic) to watch again and again until we finally storm the Rhino building demanding either a complete box set or a brisker release schedule. That's assuming they plan to release any more at all. (Rhino folks, if you're reading this, I will crawl on my aching knees and kiss your asses for that box set. Seriously. I'm a good kisser. Think about it and get back to me.)
A quick explanation for the uninitiated: Chris Elliot plays Chris Peterson, a terribly awkward 30-something dolt who still lives with his parents and has a paper route. Not the adult kind, but the toss-em-from-your-bike kind. He's constantly making bold announcements of grand schemes to his thoroughly uninterested parents, who spend their lives in the breakfast nook wearing bathrobes and drinking coffee. Why should they get dressed and go out? People would point and say "There go Chris Peterson's parents." They're embarrassed by his very existence, and they make no secret of it. (Chris' dad is played by his real life father, Bob Elliot, of Bob & Ray fame, and his mother is played by Elinore Donahue, who played Princess on Father Knows Best.) Chris' best... well, ONLY friend is Larry (Sam Robards, son of Jason), though his wife, Sharon (Robin Riker), doesn't want Larry playing with Chris, whom she's correctly identified as a bad influence and labeled "the enemy". These are the constant characters the show revolves around. I should say "revolved," since it was blown out of the water during its second season due to people not knowing what to make of it. Today it has a large following that want it all. All 35, please. Did I mention the ass kissing thing? Checking.
Any four episodes would be drooled over, so it seems strange to say "what a fantastic set of shows." But hey, what can I do? Lie and say it's so-so when it's a fantastic set of shows? "The Big City" finds Chris finally leaving his suburban terrarium and going through those big iron doors to find out what the world's really like on the other side. What he finds is fame and fortune, and what we find is off-the-wall special effects that are so cheesy they're surreal. The only thing missing is Superman streaking through the skies. Before long, that cheesy look had me hypnotized and wanting to find those iron doors myself. "Married" finds Chris meeting his soul mate - a beautiful and world famous model - and courting, marrying, cheating on, and divorcing her all in one wild day. None of which seems the least bit odd to Chris, of course, because Chris is more than the least bit odd. So odd that he'd be likely to play the lead roll in "Zoo Animals On Wheels," an episode named after the community theater play in which Sharon, to her eternal horror, is forced to share the spotlight with Chris (and is this a typo in the script, Mr. Director? This must be a typo, right, this part about the tongue kiss?). Last but not least, Chris and dad do some real bonding as they share a near death experience trapped in a homemade submarine in Chris' tub/shower stall. As the air runs out and the water seeps in, will dad say those three magic words Chris has waited all his life to hear? Or at least something like "You didn't embarrass me EVERY day of your life"? Or will he just sit there in his bathrobe and die wishing he'd brought his coffee mug?
Real fan of this show will probably gulp it down in one sitting and go back for more several times, all the while composing their letters to Rhino in their heads. There are a few extras to occupy their minds for a bit. There's a 28 minute interview with executive producer and co-director David Mirkin, cast and crew filmographies in text, and a feature that allows you to turn the laugh track off. It's interesting hearing it sans laugh track because it wasn't intended to be seen that way, and therefore when an off-camera cast or crew member found something funny, they cracked up. You hear a lot of that going on when you use this feature, and that's fun, but even though laugh tracks normally bug me because they're the epitome of "cheesy," intentional cheese can be cool and in this case it was, so the laugh track adds an important element of the corniness that makes it all so wonderfully weird. 17 bucks for 4 episodes (130 minutes) sounds okay to me, but let's just go with the box set, huh? I don't care about having to get 8 episodes I already have in the process. Honest. Did I mention the ass kissing thing? Oh, yeah, I forgot.
© 2002 - DJ Johnson