The Good Life-Complete Series 4 (1977) (NTSC) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Bonus Episode-When I'm 65 - 1978 Royal Command Performance Interviews-Cast & Crew-Richard Briers Biographies-Cast & Crew |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1977 | ||
Running Time | 203:21 (Case: 260) | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | None Given |
Studio
Distributor |
Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Richard Briers Felicity Kendal Penelope Keith Paul Eddington |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | $29.95 | Music |
Burt Rhodes Bill Harris Ian McKendrick |
Video (NTSC) | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 480i (NTSC) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The Good Life stands the test of time as a classic English sit-com which began life in 1975 on the BBC. Despite including some obviously dated ideas, fashions and hairstyles the show is still funny more than 30 years later. This is the third series I have reviewed and I thought it was not quite as good as the first two. It originally ran for four seasons and was shown in the US as Good Neighbours.
The series follows the lives of Tom Good (Richard Briers) and his wife Barbara (Felicity Kendal) who have decided to turn their backs on their normal day to day lives and become self sufficient by starting a farm in their own backyard in the suburbs of London. Tom is a bit of a smart ass in a lovable sort of way and Barbara encourages his eccentricities. Their neighbours and best friends, Jerry & Margo Leadbetter (Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith) think they are crazy but indulge them and help them out as they can. Jerry is a successful marketing executive and Margo is his snobby wife. This final series of the show was made in 1977 and features the last seven official episodes, although another not quite so official one is available in the extras. There are some excellent episodes here and the show was certainly not stopped due to any lack of quality in this final season. This set includes two discs. All the episodes are contained on the first disc and the extras are on disc 2.
The episodes included here are:
To my mind the star here is Felicity Kendall who is very funny and very droll as the cheeky Barbara, although in this series she has been given a new and frizzy hairstyle. Richard Briers was considered to be the star in terms of billing. Interestingly, this particular series is rated PG for sexual references.
Lots of laughs and it's certainly recommended for fans of British 1970s sitcoms.
The video quality is poor. Unfortunately, it is in NTSC, which is odd considering it comes from a PAL country. This probably adds to the significant colour artefacts to be seen. Ensure you television can reproduce NTSC before purchasing this disc. The video here is probably the best of the four series but still leaves a lot to be desired..
The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.
The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, as good as you could expect from 30 year old television. There was some minor low level noise. The shadow detail was pretty average. There was grain throughout and some mild macro-blocking.
The colour was quite ordinary showing bleeding, chroma noise, flaring and comet trails in vivid greens and reds and bits of cross-colouration. Faces were quite blotchy as were some backgrounds for example a yellow backgrounds looked green in parts. Things are generally quite dull and somewhat washed out.
In the non-colour artefacts there were some minor tape tracking issues and motion blur. There was also some mild aliasing and also some edge enhancement.
There are no subtitles.
The layer change must be between episodes.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
The audio quality is fine with no major issues to report.
This DVD contains a English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.
The music 'specially composed' by Burt Rhodes is fine, neither spectacular or annoying. It would have been quite a big thing for a BBC show to have had specially composed music at the time.
The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
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Subwoofer | |
Overall |
This is the first of the four series to include extras and they are definitely worth having.
The menu included an intro, animation and music.
This is a complete new episode filmed in front of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. According to the very proper and serious voiceover it was the first time that she watched a sitcom recorded live. The first ten minutes or so are of the Queen arriving and then finding her seat in the box. The episode is introduced by floor manager, Brian Jones and then it plays out the same as any episode. It is a funny episode about Tom worrying about retirement and Jerry wanting to get fit. A great extra.
Obviously made for US TV as it refers to the show by its US title, Good Neighbours. This was recorded recently and Briers discusses the show, acting, his career and what he has been doing recently. Well worth watching.
Text bios are included for all the main cast, Reginald Marsh who played Sir and the writers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This series is available in Region 2 under this title and in Region 1 as Good Neighbours. The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The Region 2 version of this disc misses out on;
The Region 1 version is exactly the same as ours except for the title. I think the Region 2 would be the best bet due to the PAL transfer as that should avoid the colour issues in our local release.
The video quality is poor.
The audio quality is fine.
A good selection of extras including a Royal Command Performance.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output |
Display | Sony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC). |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Yamaha YST SW90 subwoofer |