DVD Release Date: June 13, 2006 (Universal Home Video)
Color / 1989
MSRP: $34.98
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 13
Running time: 5 Hours 12 Minutes
Running time of Special Features: 53 Minutes 14 Seconds
Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital English 2.0 Mono
Video: 1:33:1 Full Frame.
Subtitles: English
Special Features: Special Limited-Edition “Playbook”
Packaging; Season Two Episode: Homewreckers; The Great
‘80s TV Flashback
Introduction:
Emmy winner Craig T. Nelson stars in Coach, the
hilarious sitcom that’s a touchdown with fans! In
season one, Coach Hayden Fox (Nelson) teaches the
moves to his football team, the Minnesota State
University Screaming Eagles, while learning a thing or
two about offense and defense from his close-knit
family and friends. Co-starring Emmy nominees Jerry
Van Dyke and Shelley Fabares, this ready-to-rumble
show is FINALLY on DVD.
In addition to the three mentioned above, Season 1 of
Coach also stars Clare Carey as Hayden’s daughter,
Kelly; and Bill Fagerbakke as Dauber.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
With only 13 episodes to work with, this section will
be a little shorter this time. I’ve always thought
that the first season of coach…eh…isn’t necessarily my
favorite. The subsequent seasons were always just
funnier to me. That said, there ARE a few episodes
that definitely ask to be mentioned. I always mention
the first episode of a show’s run in a season 1 review
in this section, and this is no different, and yet it
is. The thing is that the first episode that aired
is the second episode on this disc, because the second
episode that aired is actually the first episode
actually made, the pilot. The set refers to it AS
“The Pilot” even though the episode is actually called
“Love Me Tender”. In the pilot, Kelly returns to go
to college at Minnesota State, reawakening Hayden’s
paternal instincts, getting in the way of his
relationship with Christine. In the second episode,
the first episode to actually air, Kelly tells Hayden
she has a date with a faculty member at MSU, and
everything begins to snowball from there. In the
third episode, Christine and Kelly finally meet. The
fourth episode introduces Stuart (Kris Kamm). In
episode six, Gambling for Meat, Hayden’s team suffers
(yet another) loss, but even worse, Luther
BETS…AGAINST THE TEAM….AND WINS. To avoid NCAA
sanctions, Hayden has to suspend Luther…which is only
the beginning of trouble. In Parents’ Weekend,
Hayden’s homely ex-wife Beth returns for Parent’s
Weekend. Hayden hadn’t mentioned Christine to Beth
yet, because he didn’t want to upset her. But when a
newly slim and attractive Beth shows up, Christine is
the one who starts to get nervous.
In terms of guest stars, Alan Rosenberg guest stars in
Kelly and the Professor. Don’t really have anything
other than that.
Packaging:
Limited Edition:
The main thing everyone’s probably reading this review
for. The first thing you’ll notice when you see the
packaging is that due to the way the front slopes
inward, and the awkward shape resulting, this box will
be difficult to place with the rest of your TV DVD
series. Surely there had to be a way to augment the
way the “playbook” packaging was presented to still
allow it to be easily placed (it’s still possible,
mind you, it’s just more awkward now) with other DVDs.
That said, the playbook packaging is really nice --
it’s too bad Universal couldn’t have offered a special
limited packaging for, say, Quantum Leap. Touching
on the outer holder the playbook comes in for a
moment, the front is largely open space to allow as
much of the playbook as possible to show through. At
the bottom right of this outer container is a bar
running across the bottom (that holds the playbook in
place if you put it back in) that has a yellow line
and an orange line running across it, with the word
“Starring” on the orange line. Below it, on the blue
(the color of the rest of the outer packaging) is
Craig T. Nelson’s name. The two side panels both have
the Coach logo and text for The First Season and
Limited Edition. On the back are Hayden, Luther, and
Dauber lined up in a pre-snap football position in
front of a blue/white gradient background. At the top
are, in rather large letters, “TOUCH” and “DOWN” on
separate lines. Bonus features and release
information are at the bottom.
Now for the playbook itself. The front and back are
both designed to look like a football the front and
back even have football-like laces, and the brown
covering to the playbook is close enough to being
football-like. In the middle of the front of the
playbook, pressed in, is the Minnesota State
University Screaming Eagles logo. At the very top is
the Coach logo, again with Limited Edition and The
First Season texts. When you open the playbook,
you’ll notice play diagrams written on the black
surface on either side. Each of the two discs is
held in a little sleeve, similar to what you’d find in
a consumer multiple DVD/CD holder. Each sleeve is
then attached to rings that can be opened and closed
(just like a binder) allowing for removal of the disc
sleeves. Flipping the two disc sleeves up reveal the
actual “Play Book,” essentially a mini-notepad. The
front is blue and has the same Screaming Eagles logo
as the front. Opening it up reveals information for
the first disc of the set (episode info, etc.)
Flipping up to the second page reveals the second
disc’s information. The remainder of pages in the
play book notebook are…blank. Honestly, I was kind
of hoping for show info, or little play diagrams, or
something to justify this. Some little extra tidbit
or morsel to make it that much nicer, but, that’s not
to be. The play book is attached by having the back
run into and behind the plastic covering of the
inside-back of the playbook. Disc 1 and Disc 2 are
nearly identical. They’re both predominantly white,
with the Coach/The First Season stuff on top. There
are then, in this order, dark blue/orange/yellow
(wide)/orange (narrow) circles around the white.
Just below the disc’s hole is the Disc One or Disc Two
information, in an alternately styled version of the
Coach logo font.
Regular Edition:
We are waiting for our copy of the regular edition. We will update the review as soon
as possible.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are rather simple. The 1:00 version of the
main theme plays in the background. Craig T. Nelson
is on the right of the main menu. The Coach logo is
on top. The rest of the disc text is in a block font
similar to the coach logo, but not quite. Play All,
Episode Index, Languages, Bonus Materials, and Sneak
Peeks. The menu system is the exact same on Disc 2
except that Sneak Peeks is not listed. On Bonus
Materials when on Disc 1, you’ll get a message the
features are available on Disc 2 only. On the bonus
materials menu is the same shot of the Hayden, Luther,
and Dauber from the back cover. Languages simply
allows you to turn English subtitles on or off,
nothing more. Behind the languages menu is a play
(different than either of the two in the playbook
packaging), with Resume Episode and Menu options.
Play All is obvious, so I won’t get into that.
Episode index has a still image from the episode,
inside a blue frame, with the episode title below it
(in the same font as the menu options). The border of
the active selection turns red. The first four
episodes on each set are on the first page, while the
last 3 (D1)/2 (D2) are on the second.
Video and Audio Quality:
Let’s start with the audio. It’s a Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono track. Yup, Mono. I’ve seen shows from 15
years before this was made given stereo tracks on
release, and Coach gets a mono. Wow. I’m not
asking for something along the lines of 5.1, but the
show could’ve definitely benefited from a Stereo
track. For a mono track, it’s not that bad. But
it’s a mono. Video is ok. It looks like video from
the late 80s. Could have probably stood to have been
cleaned up a bit more, but it’s not bad. Colors are a
bit bright, and the artifacts are noticeable.
There’s also some grain. The video also looks
somewhat blurry on a lot of episodes. Chapter stops
are after the opening credits, midway through the
episode, and before the ending credits.
Runtimes:
Pilot: 23:56
Kelly and the Professor: 24:27
Kelly, Meet Christine: 23:53
I’m in Love with a Boy Named Stuart: 23:53
The Loss Weekend: 23:59
Gambling for Meat: 23:18
19 Candles: 23:24
Parents’ Weekend: 24:06
I’m Sorry I Told You My Wife was Dead: 23:52
Define Romance: 23:51
Whose Team is it, Anyway? 24:00
Hoot Hoot, Hike: 23:32
Dauber’s Blow-Out: 24:02
Special Features:
The Great 80s TV Flashback: This is essentially an
elaborate, well-produced promotional piece for the
various Universal TV DVD properties that we’ve seen on
most other Universal TV DVD releases in recent months.
Runs 29:01
Bonus Season 2 Episode: Homewreckers. I admit, this
is one of my favorite episodes. While Hayden and
Luther are at Christine’s apartment while she’s away
for the weekend, they nearly destroy the place.
24:13
Total Runtime of Special Features: 53:14
Final Comments:
I love this show. I really, really love this show.
When I originally signed up to do this job at Sitcoms
Online almost two years ago, this was one of THE shows
I wanted to review. And now, two years later, having
reviewed it, I can say that it was a bit uninspiring
on the technical side, but the packaging for the
limited edition is extremely nice, and the episodes
are definitely worth it, even considering that the
first season is weaker. Admittedly, the shape of the
packaging will make it tougher to store with the rest
of your collection, as I’ve mentioned, but it’s still
quality work. For future releases, I’d like to see
Universal clean up the video a bit extra it wasn’t
that great in some places and possibly try to
include more features. Perhaps some bloopers, or
deleted scenes, or something. Or at least a season
three bonus episode. And getting the next set in
STEREO might be nice. For the technical flaws that
do exist though, I still definitely have to say
RECOMMENDED.
