Married with Children-Complete First Season (1987) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy | Featurette-Married...With Children Reunion Special | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1987 | ||
Running Time | 301:39 | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Zane Buzby Richard Cottrell Katherine Green James Eric Hornbeck |
Studio
Distributor |
Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Ed O'Neill Katey Sagal Christina Applegate Amanda Bearse David Garrison David Faustino Ted McGinley |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $49.95 | Music |
Michael Andreas Shawn K. Clement Jonathan Wolff |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
|
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
French German Dutch |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | Yes |
Twenty years after its first broadcast, the first season of the classic family sitcom that was undoubtedly the inspiration for many other 30 minute sitcoms based on a "dysfunctional family" for years afterwards is finally available on DVD … only this one is actually funny, whereas many of its predecessors have a tendency to grate on the nerves.
Originally planned to be titled Not The Cosbys (but the racial references alone there would have had the studio in litigation, that title was eventually dropped), Married ... With Children follows the exploits of failed high school football hero and now ailing shoe salesman Al Bundy (Ed O'Neil), his homecoming queen wife Peggy (Katey Sagal), their "bad girl" daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate), their potentially psychotic son Bud (David Faustino), and their two charming neighbours Marci (Amanda Bearse) and Steve (David Garrison) – who later would be replaced by new husband Jefferson (Ted McGinley).
Littered with sexual innuendo, and episode long jokes with excellent payoffs in the final scenes, this show is definitely a winner. Better yet, it has stood the test of time, and is just as funny now as it was then - perhaps more so, given the dated backdrops that add an edge of seedy "eighties" to the whole thing.
This collection has all 13 episodes of the first season split across 2 discs (in production order, not broadcast order). You can find a full episode summary at TV.com. Episodes are all approximately 23 - 24 minutes.
If you're tired of the banal and uninteresting sitcoms currently polluting our airwaves (a list too long for me to publish here, though I want to throttle some L.A. producers for the drivel they manage to green light), I urge you to pick up a copy of this series and remember why Al, Peggy, Kelly and Bud, were such hot stars back in the day. While there are definitely more intelligent sitcoms out there that deserve equal attention (Arrested Development, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Extras), this one is definitely a laugh riot and should not be dismissed as passé despite its age.
Presented here in 1.33:1, Full Frame, this is the original broadcast aspect ratio of the series.
Given this has been transferred onto video for broadcast, the DVD transfer is mastered from the broadcast video with all the problems inherent thereto.
I watched most of this on my 42” rearpro given that when watched on a 100” projection screen the faults were extensive, and this show was never designed to be watched on such a broad canvas, so such an evaluation is unfair.
Colour is a little dull, with a definite shift to brown. Dirt and graininess are a slight problem. There is some minor cross-colouration. This is not a pristine transfer, but it could have been much worse.
Subtitles are available in French, German and Dutch, but oddly no English for the Hearing Impaired. Bit of an oversight there.
Both discs are dual layered, with the layer pause falling between episodes.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Audio is available in English, French and German in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo encoded at 192Kb/s.
As an entirely dialogue driven track, this isn’t bad. Audio sync is good, and you can hear what’s being said without a problem (though sometimes the laugh track can get in the way a little).
There are no directional cues, or any real surround presence. Indeed, it’s hard to distinguish this as an actual stereo track.
Subwoofer use is nil.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
All menus are presented in 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, static and silent.
Presented in 1.33:1, Full Frame, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, this is an amusing “reunion” special.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I do not have an R1 copy for an exact comparison, but from what I can tell the content is largely the same, with one special feature “New comedy sneak peek” available in R1 but not R4, and more language options in R4. Additionally, 6 seasons are already available on DVD in R1. The difference is largely in the NTSC picture format (which could be better, given this was originally mastered for NTSC broadcast) and the region coding. Buy whichever is cheapest.
Married ... With Children is hilarious, all these years on. It’s sad to think that we still find the same social foibles amusing. Think The Simpsons aimed at an adult audience but without the non-sequiturs of The Family Guy.
Well worth the time.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony DVPNS92, using HDMI output |
Display | Sony VPL-HS60 WXGA 3LCD Cineza Projector (10,000:1 contrast ratio) with 100" Longhom Pro-Series Micro-Textured White Matte PVC 1.78:1 16:9 Fixed Mount Screen with Black Velour Trim. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony TA-DA9000ES |
Speakers | Jensen QX70 Centre Front, Jensen QX45 Left Front & Right Front, Jensen QX20 Left Rear & Right Rear, Jensen QX-90 Dual 10" 250 Watt Subwoofer |