DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007 (Shout! Factory)
Color/1996-1997
MSRP: $34.98
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 35 (including 7 episodes never aired on NBC)
Running Time: Aprrox. 780 minutes (13+ hours)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English, no subtitles, unknown closed captioning
Special Features: None
Introduction:
Best friends and roommates, Kevin (Ron Eldard, E.R.) and Jamie (Rob Schneider, Deuce Bigalow)
are devoted to prolonging their adolescence. Kevin's girlfriend, Sarah
(Justine Bateman, Family Ties), is determined to civilize Kevin, but his bad-boy
charisma teamed with Jamie's immoral support are hard to fight.
In this irreverent sitcom's second (and final) season, Jamie takes on a new roommate,
Steve (Ken Marino, Veronica Mars), who's equally keen on reclaiming that "boyish charm."
Based on the hit British series, NBC's Men Behaving Badly was originally broadcast
from 1996 to 1997. It pushed the boundaries of sitcom humor to all new extremes,
promising 22 full minutes of laughter in every episode!
Show History / Notable Guest Stars:
Men Behaving Badly premiered on NBC on September 18, 1996. It aired on Wednesday
nights at 9:30-10:00PM for most of the first season before moving to Sunday nights
at 8:00-8:30PM for the second season. For the 22 episode first season, the show starred Rob
Schneider as Jamie Coleman, Ron Eldard as Kevin Paterson/Murphy,
Justine Bateman as Sarah Stretten/Mitchell and Julia Campbell as Cherie Miller.
Eldard and Bateman left (or were fired) after the first season because of a dispute with the
writers and producers. Rob Schneider was joined
in the second season by Ken Marino as Steve Cochran, Jenica Bergere as Katie
Hubble and Dina Spybey as Nurse Brenda Mikowski. After 6 episodes aired
in the second season, the show was canceled by NBC. The remaining 7 episodes
were never shown on NBC. Men Behaving Badly was based on the British series
of the same name. It was produced by Carsey-Werner and was known internationally as
"It's A Man's World."
Notable guest stars included Jamie Farr as himself in "Sarah's Vestigial Organ."
Teri Garr played Carol in "Christmas." Richard Riehele appeared as the Stranger
and Heather Page Kent was Ellen in "The Odds Couple." Kathryn Joosten
was the Saleswoman in "After Midnight." Andrea Elson ("ALF") played Girl #1 in
"It's Good To Be Dead." Brian Doyle-Murray appeared as Bob in "The Box."
John Mendoza was Dominick in "Got Milk?" and "Here We Go Again." Geraldo Rivera appeared
as himself in "Special Delivery." Aaron Neville appeared as himself in "The Gift of Jami."
Packaging:
This four-disc set includes all 35 episodes from the series - 22 from the first
season (1996-1997) and 13 (7 which never aired on NBC) from the second season (1997).
The outer cardboard box featurees a photo of a naked Rob Schneider holding a newspaper and has
Ron Eldard and Justine Bateman standing next to him. On the back of the box,
there is a synopsis of the set and the DVD specs and credits. There are 3 small
photos on the right side of the box: Rob Schneider; Season 1 cast photo with Rob Schneider,
Julia Campbell, Ron Eldard and Justine Bateman; Rob Schneider and Ken Marino.
Two thin, clear slim cases slide out from the right of the outer cardboard box.
They feature the Men Behaving Badly title font and photos on the covers. Slim Case #1
features Ron Eldard and Rob Schneider sitting in recliners, wearing sunglasses and robes,
and smoking cigars. Slim case #2 features a photo of the season 2 cast in a photo
lineup. Dina Spybey, Rob Schneider, Jenica Bergere and Ken Marino are pictured.
Three additional small photos of the cast are on the back of each case. The
episode titles are listed by disc number. It would have been nice to see them
list the original airdates and include the episode summaries somewhere
on the packaging or in a separate episode guide booklet. Inside the slim cases,
there is just blank blue space. They could have used some more photos, trivia or quotes
from the series here. The discs have a white background and have the Men Behaving
Badly title font and a small photo on each of them. Discs 1 and 2 feature Ron Eldard
and Rob Schneider. Discs 3 and 4 have Rob Schneider and Ken Marino. A small
booklet is included that promotes some of Shout! Factory's other TV DVD releases, music
on DVD and CD and other gift items.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are simply designed and easy to navigate. The main menus have a cast photo and
show logo on them. Discs 3 and 4 also rotate in a season 2 cast photo (minus Dina Spybey).
The theme song, "Bad Boy" by Marshall Crenshaw, is looped
in the background. There are options for "Play All" and "Episodes." The highlighted
option is in red text while the other is in light blue. When you select "Episodes,"
there is a short transition that has a photo of Rob Schneider on a motorcycle and it shakes
like it is moving. It then takes you to another sub-menu that has a cast photo. Episode
titles are listed vertically in yellow text. Discs 1 and 2 have a cast photo of the
season 1 cast standing (including Julia Campbell) and Discs 3 and 4 feature a photo of Rob Schneider and Ken Marino playing cards.
The ending instrumental theme is played in the background of the "Episodes" menu.
There are chapter stops within the episodes but no separate menus for scene selections.
When you first insert disc 1, there are 5:32 of trailers for some other Shout! Factory
TV DVD releases like Freaks and Geeks, All-American Girl, Undeclared and The Job that
you have the option of skipping.
Video and Audio Quality:
The episodes are presented in their original full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio. These episodes
are only about 10 years old, so they all look pretty clear and clean like they were
originally broadcast. Some episodes look a bit grainier and darker than others. This was
probably because of the lighting on the sets. They used a lot of old stock footage
from movies and other sources which varies in quality. There are 9 episodes on some discs, but there
weren't any major compression issues. I did notice some pixellated spots, but it wasn't that
bad. All the episodes appear to be unedited, running around 20-23 minutes in length.
The first season episodes are presented in their original broadcast order.
The second season episodes appear to be in their production order, which
makes the most sense since many of them never aired on NBC. I'm sure the unaired
episodes have aired in overseas syndication and probably in the U.S. on the
USA Network (?). For the closing logo enthusiasts, there is one for Carsey-Werner.
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo track is very nice. The volume ist at a good
level, and the dialogue is easy to understand. Although the Amazon.com listing for
this set lists this release as having closed captioning, there is nothing on the
packaging to indicate that it does. No subtitles are available.
Here is the episode breakdown by disc, including running times:
Disc 1
---------
1. Babies Having Babies (09/18/96) (23:08)
2. Temptation (09/25/96) (22:41)
3. The Bed (10/02/96) (22:44)
4. Hot Parkas (10/23/96) (22:08)
5. Getting The Bugs Out (10/30/96) (22:41)
6. Jamie's In Love (11/06/96) (22:40)
7. Drunken Proposal (11/13/96) (22:43)
8. Sarah's Vestigial Organ (11/20/96) (22:36)
9. Road Trip (12/11/96) (22:41)
Disc 2
---------
10. Christmas (11/18/96) (21:32)
11. Wet Nurse (01/08/97) (21:32)
12. The Odds Couple (01/15/97) (22:06)
13. Jamie Needs A Kid (02/05/97) (22:42)
14. Playing Doctor (02/12/97) (22:23)
15. Brenda Is Moved (02/19/97) (22:27)
16. I Am What I Am (04/02/97) (22:27)
17. The Party Favor (04/09/97) (22:23)
18. Getting Rid of Harry (04/16/97) (22:28)
Disc 3
---------
19. After Midnight (05/07/97) (22:02)
20. Testing, Testing (05/14/97) (22:02)
21. It's Good To Be Dead (05/21/97) (22:02)
22. The Box (06/04/97) (22:28)
Season Two
23. No Retreat, No Surrender (09/28/97) (21:51)
24. Here We Go Again (unaired) (20:57)
25. Got Milk? (10/05/97) (21:56)
26. The Sting (10/12/97) (21:46)
27. Spoils of War (11/02/97) (21:42)
Disc 4
---------
28. Special Delivery (11/09/97) (20:51)
29. The Gift of Jami (12/17/97) (21:43)
30. Jamie's Got Next (unaired) (21:06)
31. The Tape (unaired) (21:51)
32. The Truth About Cats & Ducks (unaired) (21:56)
33. The Fur Man Cometh (unaired) (21:55)
34. Welcome To JamieCo (unaired) (21:26)
35. Carpe Dino (unaired) (21:58)
Special Features:
No special features are included. It would have been nice to hear some audio commentaries
by Rob Schneider and the creators/producers/writers. Why did Ron Eldard
and Justine Bateman leave the show or were fired after the first season? It
would be interesting to hear the real reason. Some other things that would have
been great to have as extras would be bloopers or promo spots.
Although there are no special features, this release is priced cheaply and there are a
number of extra episodes -- more than what you usually get on a season set. There probably won't
be a lot of complaining about the lack of them.
Final Comments:
I'm not sure I'd call it Must See TV, but this seemed like a pretty decent show that
probably plays better on DVD than it did on NBC originally.
After watching a few episodes from both seasons, I think the show was much better
and funnier the first season. Losing 2 of the 3 main stars would be hard for any show
to overcome. It was interesting to see that this show was set in Indianapolis. One
of the few like One Day at a Time. This was Rob Schneider's first series after leaving "Saturday Night Live," and he
was very funny here before his hit films. It has also been a good couple of recent months for
Justine Bateman fans. Family Ties - The Complete First Season
is being released later this month, and she can currently be seen on ABC's "Men in Trees."
I'd recommend this set to fans of any of the actors that appeared in the two seasons or
to those who like raunchy humor and boisterous antics.
