Info:
Release Date: September 20, 2005 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color 1995/96
MSRP: $39.95
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 24
Running Time: 535 Minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 45 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English; Closed Captioned.
Special Features: Featurette - Strings Attached (brand new interviews with Thomas Haden
Church, Debra Messing, Greg Germann, Nadia Dajani, and
David Litt); Commentary on pilot episode by series creator Michael Weithorn
Introduction:
What happens when two people hate each other at first
sight? They get married, of course, in Ned and
Stacey, the fast and funny shotgun
marriage-of-convenience sitcom from the producers of
“The King of Queens.” The show stars Academy
Award-nominee Thomas Haden Church (Sideways, Wings),
and Emmy Award-winner Debra Messing (Will & Grace).
Ned Dorsey (Church) is a pompous advertising executive
who needs a wife to get promoted. Stacey Colbert
(Messing) is a freelance writer desperate to move away
from her parents. So what happens one week after
these two stranger meet? They become in-name-only
newlyweds with a great new job and a terrific view of
Central Park. This three-disc DVD set includes all 24
hilarious episodes.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Episodes to watch for include the pilot – which is a
must see for nearly ANY first-season set, as well as
episode 2 “Portrait of a Marriage,” episode 9 “Reality
Check,” and the season finale “The End? (Part 1)” – as
well as any of several episodes, shown below,
containing guest stars.
List of Guest Stars
Paulina Porizkova (uncredited), Episode 5, Model
Husband
Olivia Newton-John, Episode 9, Reality Check
Pat Summerall (Voice Only), Episode 12, Threesome
Kathy Griffin, Episode 13, Accountus Interruptus
John O’Hurley, Episode 17, Promotional Rescue
Jason Bateman, Episode 21, Pals
Packaging:
The packaging is actually quite well done. The box
is black, with the show title in a red & white font at
the top, with a large picture of Thomas & Debra in the
middle, and “The Complete First Season” below it in
the same font. The reverse cover has Debra and Thomas
sitting on a couch – in front of the city skyline. The
art for the two slim cases follow nearly the exact
same theme, but the case for discs 1 and two uses blue
as the dominant color, while the case for disc three
uses orange. Each slim case uses a different picture
of Thomas & Debra. Episode listings and info for each
disc is on the back cover. Inside the box is also a
promotional booklet advertising various Sony TV DVD
releases. Disc 1, containing the first 8 shows, is
a skyline shot colored in a dark blue color. Disc
two, containing episodes 9-16, is identical except for
the parts of text saying the disc # and episode #s.
Disc three is similar, but is orange in color
(matching the packaging).
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus tend to follow a theme wholly and entirely
separate from the design of the packaging (more sleek
and upscale looking). For the menus, a theme of
rounded-corner rectangles with various pictures, the
show title, and menu options dominate. Disc one has
red menus, disc two features blue ones, while disc
three features pink menus. The episode selection
and bonus feature menus follow the same design nearly
to the letter.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video is…ok. On discs one and three, the video
has minor problems with digital pixilation due to the
compression of the discs. I also noticed a slight
amount of grain. Disc two is strange. On several
episodes on the disc, the image was prone to
jittering. On another episode, a glitch caused the
credits to repeat themselves--simply shoddy. I REALLY
don’t know what happened with the episodes on disc two
– particularly Thanksgiving Day Massacre, but it’s
terrible. The video’s still watch able, but there’s
EASILY noticeable pixilation (at least on ALL the
screens I viewed it on), and the video IS prone to
strange glitches, pretty much par for the course for a
Sony TV DVD release. Audio’s the same Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo track that it is on virtually every TV DVD
release between the 1980s and the mid 2000s. It’s
wildly unremarkable. It’s just, audio. Chapter
stops are well-placed at the end of each scene.
Due to the recent practice by some outfits of
releasing syndicated episodes of a series onto DVD as
opposed to the much-preferred master copies. I am
listing the runtimes of every episode in the DVD set
next to the episode title. As I don’t always have the
resources to judge every show versus the original or
syndicated copies, I may be unable to state with
certainty whether a set is original broadcast-length
or if it’s syndication-edited in some cases, therefore
I’m including runtimes, and you can make up your own
mind.
Pilot: 22:33
Portrait of a Marriage: 22:29
Take My Wife, Please: 22:30
Cover Story: 22:27
Model Husbank: 22:30
Saul and Ellen and Ned and Stacey 22:16
Here's to You, Mrs. Binder: 22:28
Halloween Story: 22:15
Reality Check: 22:30
Thanksgiving Day Massacre: See Note #1:
Sleepless in Manhattan: 22:33
Threesome: 22:29
Accountus Interruptus: 22:30
New Year's Eve: 22:15
Paranoia on the 47th Floor: 22:15
The Tender Trap: 22:17
Promotional Rescue: 22:15
Friends and Lovers: 22:12
Gay Caballeros: 21:58
Gut Feeling: 22:14
Pals 22:14
It Happened One Night 22:13
You bet Your Wife: 22:15
The End (Part 1): 22:13
Note #1: The credits are strange on Thanksgiving Day
Massacre - the SPT closing logo comes in at 22:00,
then there's approximately 22 seconds of black screen,
then the same credits come in silent over the black
screen. I don't know if this was a glitch in the
master, but it's just strange. Runtime is 23:00 with
glitch, 22:00 without.
Special Features:
Featurette - Strings Attached: Ned and Stacey, Season
One. This has brand new interviews with Thomas Haden
Church, Debra Messing, Greg Germann, Nadia Dajani, and
David Litt. There are the usual comments by everyone
about the first season of the show. Typical talk
about how great everyone was to work with, etc. etc.
(22:09)
Commentary on Pilot episode - with the creator of the
series, Michael Weithorn: The scene from the
"wedding" later on was actually meant to be the
opening scene of the pilot - THEN go into the
back-story. Total Runtime of Commentary: 22:33
Sony DVD Release Previews: Yes, this is technically a
special feature. I'm not even going to bother...
Total Runtime of Features, EXCLUDING PREVIEWS: 44:42.
Final Comments:
For the most part, this is an enjoyable set. But
something went wrong on disc two. Jittery video,
phantom credits, pixilated video, it’s just BAD. It’s
still “watch able,” but it WILL hinder your viewing
experience. Discs 1 and 3 are better, but are
essentially par for the course for Sony releases.
Normally, I’ll use this space to talk about what
features I’d like to see for the second season set.
May I just simply recommend that Sony make sure that
whatever happened on Disc two of this set does not
happen again? Now, THAT aside: Sony will only have
one more shot at a Ned & Stacey set. I hope, beyond
hope, that there are more commentary tracks for the
next set – particularly wanted would be at least one
track with Thomas and Debra doing commentary. I would
LOVE to hear the two of them commentate on ANY of the
second season episodes – the finale or season opener
would be two great ones. Also, perhaps some previews
from the original network broadcasts could be added
in, or bloopers or deleted scenes.
Honestly, I’m a rather big fan of the show, so I hope
this set sells so that season two comes sooner rather
than later. I genuinely think that most anyone will
enjoy the show if you’ll just give it a chance (no one
did originally).
