Info:
DVD Release Date: May 17, 2005 (Paramount Home Video/Nick DVD)
Color/1991
MSRP: $26.99
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 13
Running Time: 328 Min
Total Run Time of Special Features: 9 Mins. 20 Secs
Languages: English
Closed Captioned
Special Features:
• Melissa Joan Hart on MTV Cribs
• Nick Time Capsule (Promos from 91-93)
Introduction:
The first season of Clarissa Explains it All is now on
DVD! Clarissa Explains it All was a classic
Nickelodeon sitcom that ran for five seasons/three
years in the early 90s. The show starred Melissa
Joan Hart, pre-Sabrina, as Clarissa, the oldest child
and only normal member of the Darling family.
Clarissa lived a normal teenage life in a surreal
family that included her younger brother/bane of
existence Ferguson (Jason Zimbler), as well as her
father Marshall (Joe O’Connor), an architect with a
penchant for weirdly-shaped buildings, and her
health-nut mother Janet (Elizabeth Hess). Along for
the ride is her best friend Sam (Sean O’Neal). In
the guest star-less first season, some great episodes
come when Clarissa has to live through a Mom-imposed
“No TV Week” (Episode 3), as well as episode 4, when
Sam and Clarissa sell Christmas cards door-to-door to
help pay for a used 1976 Gremlin…which would be ok, if
it weren’t July. The ninth episode, Brain Drain,
finds Clarissa and Ferguson on a kids game show called
Brain Drain, with hilarity ensuing.
Packaging:
The two discs are each held in a slimcase that goes
into a holding box. The front-cover has a shot of
Clarissa with the show logo, on all a piece of paper.
The back cover has Clarissa playing the electric
guitar, along with the episode listing and special
features list. The first slimcase cover is pink, with
the same show logo on paper at the top, and a shot of
Clarissa on her bed reading a magazine in the bottom
half. 2nd Disc Cover (the blue one) has Clarissa
looking annoyed at Ferguson (in foreground). Back
cover of each is a listing of what’s on that disc on
another sheet of paper, with a shot of Clarissa
filling in the white space. The first seven episodes
are on the first disc, and the other six episodes plus
the Cribs and Nick Promos bonuses are on the second
disc. Included inside the outer box is an insert with
an ad on each side (one side for Pete and Pete, the
other for Spongebob). I honestly don’t know why they
didn’t follow the pattern set by Pete and Pete, and
put an ad on one side, and the Nick schedule at the
show’s debut (1991) on the other, but oh well. Each
disc features the same art as the slimcase cover.
Menu Design and Navigation:
Menus are rather simplistic. Main menu on both discs
is a rework of the main box cover shot, Episode
Selection features some of the same shots used on that
disc’s front cover, and there is a Special Features
option as well. Really not that creative, but they
serve the point well. Play All enthusiasts, take
note; there IS a Play All button.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video is amazingly grainy for a show from twelve
years ago. All the episodes have at least some
noticeable grain. In addition, like Pete and Pete,
parts of the video look problematic to the point that
one almost has to wonder what conditions the original
episodes were being kept in - there are glitches in
the video that look like the video was transferred to
a VHS tape and back again, particularly on the Pilot.
I honestly expected better. Something else that must
be talked about is that the video goes nuts on fast
motion, either by the camera or if the characters move
too quickly. Some scanlines look like they’re
lagging behind the others, creating an almost “strip”
effect. This effect is particularly noticeable on the
pilot. Also, there are NO chapter stops in the
episodes. Pressing the button that would normally
advance chapters, at least for me, took me straight
into the next episode/main menu (depending on episode
and whether I chose Play All). Amazingly, for a
sitcom from 1991, the episodes run between 25 and 26
minutes. I do believe at the time Nick had this thing
about running more show, and less commercials. What a
concept. Audio’s a Dolby Digital Stereo track
although there’s some hiss in places, overall, it’s
not bad. Largely unremarkable.
Special Features:
There are only a couple special features on this
release, both on disc two. As licensing would be a
snap (Viacom owns Paramount, Nickelodeon, AND MTV),
they’ve included the segment of MTV Cribs featuring
Melissa Joan Hart. It’s just over 7 Minutes total.
Also, they’ve combed the Nick vaults, and have
included NINE of the various Nickelodeon bumpers used
between shows and show segments from the early/mid
1990s. Included are Lockers, Uneven Bars, Funky,
Dance, Pinchface, Disco Dogs, Barnyard, Bones, Opera,
and Wacky Paper Chase. There’s a Play All option for
the promos, however, something went wrong when
programming the Play All, as Wacky Paper Chase doesn’t
come up when Play All is selected (Play all only plays
Lockers through Opera). Either someone was just
being careless, or Wacky Paper Chase (one of my
favorite Nick bumpers) was added at the last second.
Final Comments:
I thought, overall, that the set was fairly well done
for a kids show from 1991 - except for the video
problems, and the glitch with the bumpers. If
Nick/Paramount plans to release any more seasons of
the show, they need to fix whatever went wrong this
time around with the video before releasing anything
else. Also, if Nick has any additional bumpers or any
other Nick promos those might be a nice addition.
Clarissa never was my favorite show, but the episodes
are still enjoyable, and if you’re looking for a
little retro trip to the better days of Nickelodeon,
you definitely want this set.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video Quality: 3/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 2.5/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher on 05/10/05
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