DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006 (Universal Home Video)
Color/1984-85
MSRP: $34.98
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 22
Running Time: 546 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 52 minutes
(counting bonus episode)
Audio: English
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French; Closed
Captioned.
Special Features: “The Great ‘80s TV Flashback” and
Season 2 Bonus Preview Episode “Amityville”
Introduction:
New boy in the neighborhood. Lives downstairs and it
is understood. He’s there just to take good care of
me, Like he’s one of the family. Charles in Charge of
our days and now on DVD! Yes, Charles in Charge is now
on DVD for the first time with the complete first
season. See this rare season with Charles living with
his first family—the Pembrokes! The Powell family
didn’t move in until season 2 and they lasted the rest
of the series, but the Pembrokes also had a great fan
following. See Charles be in charge of the Pembroke
kids—Lila, Douglas and Jason. The parents of the kids
(Stan and Jill) are also popping in and out along with
Charles’s best friend Buddy (who is very wacky) and
his beautiful girlfriend Gwendolyn Pierce. So join
the fun with Charles and the rest of the gang at
Copeland College and New Brunswick, NJ for some fun on
the complete first season of Charles in Charge!
Charles in Charge season one stars Scott Baio
(Charles), Julie Cobb (Jill Pembroke), James Widdoes
(Stan Pembroke), Willie Aames (Buddy Lembeck),
Jennifer Runyon (Gwendolyn Pierce), April Lerman (Lila
Pembroke), Jonathan Ward (Douglas Pembroke) and
Michael Pearlman (Jason Pembroke).
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Some memorable episodes include “Pilot” in which the
fun all begins with his new job and possibly with his
new girlfriend; “Cousin Elliot” is the one where the
kids’ fun but trouble making cousin comes for a visit;
“Slumber Party” is the one where Lila invites her
friends to a overnight sleepover; “A Date with Enid”
is the one where Lila’s friend has a crush on Douglas;
“Home for the Holidays” has Stan’s mother coming to
town and Charles leaving for his hometown for the
holidays but something comes up; “Pressure from
Grandma” has Stan’s mom returning and planning a
scheme to get rid of Charles as she pressures him to
go into the pizza business by selling pizzas at
Rutgers University; “Charles’ Spring Break” in Florida
doesn’t go as planned; and “Mr. Brilliant” in which
Jill’s old friend is in town but he is very rude.
There are tons of before they were stars guests this
season. Some include Meg Ryan as Megan Harper in
episodes “War” & “Charles “R” Us”; Christina Applegate
as Stacy (“Slumber Party” & “Snowed In”); Kathy
Ireland (“Snowed In”); and Matthew Perry as Ed Stanley
(“The Wrong Guy”). Regular special guests include Rue
McClanahan as Grandma Irene Pembroke (“Home for the
Holidays” & “Pressure from Grandma”); Julianne
McNamara as Paula Thackery (“Extracurricular Activity”
& “Slumber Party”); Jerry Levine as Cousin Elliot
Pembroke (“Cousin Elliot” & “Mr. President”); and Dick
O’Neill as Grandpa Harry (“Meet Grandpa”).
Packaging:
The packaging is an outer box with three slim cases.
It is very well put and designed. The color scheme is
light blue and purple. A nice photo of Charles is on
the box along with a scrapbook type photo of the cast
of season one. On the back of the box we see another
nice photo of Charles along with synopsis of the
series and the set. Underneath that, we see two small
snapshots of Charles & Buddy and Charles with the
three kids. The special features box is below that.
The cases have the same cover as the box, but the
scrapbook image is different on each. Case one has
Charles with the kids; case two has Charles and Mr. &
Mrs. Pembroke; and case three has Buddy and the kids.
The back of each case has episode info for each case.
The episode title and a synopsis of the episode are
given. Purple is the color.
When we open each case, we get to the discs. Inside
case one there is an insert for other Universal TV DVD
products such as Gimme a Break! Each disc has the
same photo of Charles from the boz cover. Disc one
holds episodes 1-8, disc two holds episodes 9-16, disc
three holds episodes 17-22 and the featurette and
bonus episode from season two.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screen is well designed and is very similar
to the packaging. The main menu screen has the same
photo of Charles as the box art and disc art, and the
scrapbook photo of the cast from the box is also on
the menu screen. For disc one, before the menu screen,
we get previews from other Universal products: The
A-Team, Knight Rider & Magnum, P.I. Season 3’s; Kate &
Allie, Charles in Charge and Gimme a Break Season
1’s; and seaQuest DSV Season 1. Then we get to the
main menu screen where the season one theme is playing
in the background. For those of you wondering, yes,
it does loop. The options are: Play All, Episode
Index, Languages, Bonus, Sneak Peeks. Sneak Peeks is
only on disc one. Sneak Peeks of Northern Exposure;
Revelations; Cleopatra 2525, Earth 2; Sliders;
American Gothic; The Munsters; Kolchak: The Night
Stalker; Battlestar Galactica Season 1; Battlestar
Galactica Season 20; Law & Order; Leave it to Beaver;
and Miami Vice. Episode Index screen has the episodes
listed with titles and a screenshot from the episode.
Options are: Play All, Menu, Episode Index. The
Episode Index just shows you the list of episodes on
the disc; I find it strange to have this. When you
select an episode, you get to the episode summary
menu. It has the episode title, long summary of the
episode, a photo from the episode, along with the
options of Play, Languages, Episode Index, Bonus,
Menu. The Bonus menu only works on disc three, but is
present on each disc. Languages menu has spoken
language of English and subtitles in English SDH,
Spanish and French. For some reason the episodes do
NOT have chapter stops. No scene selection menus
either. That is not good.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video and audio are both excellent. The series has
never looked and sounded better. I found no flaws in
either. The episodes are all unedited at around
24:30, give or take a few seconds. Though, the
Halloween episode was at 23:48, but that episode
probably just ran shorter than the other episodes. No
need to worry. I found no problems whatsoever in this
department. The bonus episode ran 22:28, but remember
the show entered into first-run syndication by season
two, so that is a normal run time. Chapter stops is
the only real issue for this area. I don’t understand
why they didn’t add chapter stops. They do it for all
their 80s dramas. At least we don’t get the Universal
logo before every episode like some other sets (Knight
Rider S3 for example).
Special Features:
The special features are decent enough. They gave us
a featurette on “The Great ‘80s TV Flashback.” It run
29:01 and it is very interesting. The featurette
talks about all of the Universal ‘80s TV series on DVD
(example: A-Team) or are coming soon to DVD (Simon &
Simon). The shows featured are: Miami Vice, Magnum
P.I., The A-Team, Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, Murder
She Wrote, Quantum Leap, Gimme a Break, Charles in
Charge and Kate & Allie. Interviewed are: Ray Richmond
(Writer, The Hollywood Reporter), Alex Ben Block
(Columnist, TV Week), Robert Ward (co-executive
producer, Miami Vice), Stephen J. Cannell (executive
producer, A-Team), Debbie Matenopolous (Host of “The
Screening Room,” TV Guide), Julie Cobb (Charles in
Charge), Glen Larson (executive producer, Knight
Rider), David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider), Jack Gill
(stunt coordinator, Knight Rider), and Lara Jill
Miller (Gimme a Break!). It is nice to see Jill
Pembroke (actress Julie Cobb) herself being
interviewed! Maybe next time they can have a
featurette just on Charles in Charge?
Up next is a preview episode from season two. The
series turns a different direction, as Charles now
takes care of the Powell family, as the Pembrokes move
to Seattle. See Nicole Eggert and the other new cast
in the season two premiere “Amityville” running 22:28.
The Powell family was always more popular and I also
prefer those seasons, but I like the Pembrokes, too!
Final Comments:
I thought I’d never see this show on DVD. Thanks to
Universal for such a wonderful set. I hope we get
season two this summer at the latest. And maybe
season three by Christmas? Are you listening
Universal? I want the series to be released at a fast
pace. This is one of my favorite sitcoms, so I’m very
happy to have this show on DVD. My only gripe was the
omission of chapter stops. I think all DVDs should
have this. It is very useful to have—especially when
you want to look for a particular scene. The bonus
material was good. I liked the ‘80s TV featurette.
It is pretty good. But I don’t think they mentioned
the Pembrokes vs. the Powells. That is like the main
Charles in Charge debate. Well, if you like the
Pembrokes or the Powells, I think you should buy all
seasons of this show on DVD to support it. The
episodes are very good and Universal has done a decent
job. So, come this Valentine’s Day, buy this set for
yourself and a special someone!
