Info:
DVD Release Date: May 9, 2006 (Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
Color / 1989-90
MSRP: $39.95
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 26
Running time: 616 minutes
Running time of Special Features: Approx. 144 minutes
(all in the form of commentaries)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English;
English subtitles; Closed Captioned
Special Features: Commentaries for "Sick and Tired
(Part 2)" (Rue McClanahan), "The Accurate Conception"
(Bea Arthur), "Dancing in the Dark" (Betty White),
"Not Another Monday" (Betty White), "Clinton Avenue
Memoirs" (Bea Arthur), and "An Illegitimate Concern"
(Rue McClanahan).
Introduction:
The girls are back! The fifth season of The Golden
Girls on DVD, that is! Every single episode from the
1989-1990 season of the hit show that made being old
"cool" is available on a three disc set from Buena
Vista Home Entertainment, and this time, we've finally
got some decent special features!
By now, you know the story of The Golden Girls--three
women that are of "advanced age" (though not really
that advanced, Rue McClanahan was barely over 50 when
the show started!) and the mother of one of those
women, living together in a house in Miami, basically
becoming a "new type" of family. This season continues
with a lot of the consistency in story lines that were
presented in earlier seasons, but with new adventures,
like trips to a sperm bank. And it touches on many
serious issues (many "very special episodes," but they
are never too sappy with this show) such as chronic
fatigue syndrome, suicide, dementia, and even AIDS.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Let's face it--they're all memorable. So I'll just say
a little bit about every episode. I've probably seen
every episode at least a dozen times, and I'm betting
many other fans probably have too (and it never gets
old!).
Disc 1 begins with "Sick and Tired," a two-part
episode where Dorothy is constantly sick and tired and
can't figure out why. This is actually based upon
Susan Harris' own struggle with chronic fatigue
syndrome. Look for Jeffrey Tambor in this episode, and
also look for Richard Mulligan and Park Overall
"crossing over" in this episode. Blanche's daughter
wants to have a baby--by using a sperm bank--”in "The
Accurate Conception." Rose gets a new job as a
production assistant (a job that she maintains
throughout the remainder of the series) in "Rose
Fights Back." Dick Van Dyke plays Dorothy's latest
love interest; a lawyer that decides to quit his job
in order to fulfill his lifelong dream is to be a
clown in "Love Under the Big Top." Rose has a new
boyfriend--Miles--in "Dancing in the Dark." In "Not
Another Monday," Sophia's friend decides it is time
for her life to end. Blanche's brother-in-law visits
in "That Old Feeling," and Blanche finds herself
falling in love with him--or is it just his
resemblance to her deceased husband? Dorothy finds her
own fulfillment when she decides to try stand-up
comedy in "Comedy of Errors."
Over to Disc 2, Dorothy's son, Michael, is back home,
and is looking for a free ride (don't worry, this
isn't nearly as bad as that lame show that FOX is
airing) in "All That Jazz." Big Daddy is dead in "Ebb
Tide;" can Blanche handle it? Stan is homeless in
"Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas." Julie
McCullough ("Growing Pains") guest stars as an unwed
teenage mother in "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Robert
Mandan ("Soap") is Blanche's newest boyfriend, and she
is really in love with him, but can she handle it when
he has a heart attack? There are (appropriately) three
different stories going on at once in "Triple Play;"
Blanche is selling a car that she doesn't own, Sophia
is on her way to becoming a millionaire, and Rose is
finding that Miles' daughter doesn't accept her. In
"Clinton Avenue Memoirs," Dorothy and Sophia take a
trip back to the old apartment in Brooklyn to help
Sophia reclaim memories that she lost (the idea of
this episode has unfortunately become a reality for
Estelle Getty in real life even).
Blanche is giving up sex after she gets a pacemaker in
"Like the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-Tom," but can she
survive without it? Mark Moses ("Desperate
Housewives") plays Blanche's stepson that she never
knew she had in "An Illegitimate Concern."
Finally, to Disc 3, Rose is worried that she may have
AIDS after receiving notification that she may have
received a tainted blood transfusion in "72 Hours."
Rose must choose between a love of her past and Miles
in "Twice in a Lifetime." Blanche's sister writes a
book (perhaps based upon Blanche's sexual life?) and
Stan's cousin, an actual communist, visits in "Sisters
and Other Strangers." Jerry Orbach ("Law and Order")
plays Glen O'Brien, the man that Dorothy has always
wanted in (and he wants her too, except he is still
married) in "Cheaters." Sophia decides to put a curse
on the man that was once engaged to her in "The
Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present."
Dorothy has a gambling problem in "All Bets Are Off."
And finally, the season ends with "The President's
Coming! The President's Coming!," a two-part episode
where President George Bush is visiting Miami, and
decides to visit the girls as well! Harry Shearer
("The Simpsons") does the voice of George Bush, and
Quentin Tarantino has a brief role in the clip show
footage, but for some reason, Buena Vista decided not
to market this entire release around that brief cameo
appearance as they did with season 4...
Packaging:
Why even bother discussing this? It is just like
season 1... and season 2... and 3, and 4. Nobody can
complain to Buena Vista about consistency! Just as a
recap, we once again have the three panel digipak, and
on the inside, a list of the episodes is on the far
left panel, Discs 1 and 2 are on the middle panel, and
Disc 3 is on the far right panel. And on the back of
the digipak, there are plenty of pictures of the
girls, as always. The only thing that really changes
from season to season is the color scheme and cover
art; well, this time we have a weird orange type of
color scheme and the cast photo that appears on the
cover is a star with a cast photo of the girls on it.
A lot of people around the 'net seem to hate it, but
really, is box art why you are buying DVDs? It isn't
the prettiest box art I've seen (and let's face it,
all of these Golden Girls sets have been disappointing
in the box art area), but it does the essential job of
letting you know what is inside the box.
The discs themselves are consistent too, again in an
orange color scheme. Blanche's face is on Disc 1,
Rose's face is on Disc 2, and Sophia and Dorothy share
Disc 3. There is one slight difference (and this was a
change made for season 4 as well), and that is that
the individual discs do not include the episode
contents. But, if you have the box, do you really need
this anyway? And as for the disc breakdown, we have
episodes 1-9 on Disc 1, 10-18 on Disc 2, and 19-26 on
Disc 3.
Menu Design and Navigation:
What can be said that hasn't been said before? This is
the same as every other season as well. The color
scheme is the same orange color as the box, and the
main menu has the closing music playing in the
background. The main menu options on each disc include
Play All, Episode Selection, and Setup (where you can
turn on English subtitles and get information on
registering your DVDs). Discs 1 and 2 include audio
commentaries on some episodes, so there is an menu
option to go to these commentaries (appropriately
titled "Audio Commentaries") and Disc 1 allows you to
view Sneak Peaks (which play at the beginning of the
disc as well).
There is no scene selection menu, but there are
chapters. But let me warn you, the chapters will drive
you crazy on this set! On Disc 2 and Disc 3, the
chapters are fine. They are placed after the opening
credits, at the commercial break in the middle, and
right before the closing credits. But, for whatever
reason, something went horribly wrong over on Disc 1!
The chapters are placed at very odd positions here.
For some reason, the first chapter is placed
approximately 2 minutes before the middle commercial
break rather than just after the opening credits. And
it is never at an arbitrary position either; it is
usually at a scene change. I can't figure out what the
point of this is!
Video and Audio Quality:
This is just as good as the other releases; well
actually, as one would think, this naturally gets
better as the seasons go on. I can't find any
particular issue of concern on these sets, so I have
nothing to complain about here (of course, the Sitcoms
Online standard for good video and audio quality is
that it looks and sounds at least as good as it should
for its age; the websites for the technical DVD
fanatics can worry about the "more serious" problems
that they may see). The set is closed-captioned, and
there are English subtitles.
There are some "shorter" episodes in this set, but I
wouldn't be concerned about them, because they are
definitely longer than the current syndication
standard and not much shorter than the rest of the
episodes (and let me make this clear now: these
episodes are to the best of my knowledge UNEDITED, and
I see no reason at all for anybody to believe
otherwise). The episodes also include the original
opening credits, which as much as Lifetime would want
you to believe, were not exactly the same for all
seven seasons (but they didn't change too much). The
runtimes for each episode are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. "Sick and Tired (Part 1)" (24:01)
2. "Sick and Tired (Part 2)" (23:51)
3. "The Accurate Conception" (24:01)
4. "Rose Fights Back" (23:39)
5. "Love Under the Big Top" (23:31)
6. "Dancing in the Dark" (23:49)
7. "Not Another Monday" (24:01)
8. "That Old Feeling" (23:28)
9. "Comedy of Errors" (23:51)
Disc 2:
10. "All That Jazz" (24:00)
11. "Ebb Tide" (24:01)
12. "Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas" (23:36)
13. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (23:40)
14. "Great Expectations" (23:55)
15. "Triple Play" (24:01)
16. "Clinton Avenue Memoirs" (23:55)
17. "Like the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-Tom" (22:49)
18. "An Illegitimate Concern" (24:00)
Disc 3:
19. "72 Hours" (23:10)
20. "Twice in a Lifetime" (23:55)
21. "Sisters and Other Strangers" (24:00)
22. "Cheaters" (24:00)
23. "The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding
Present" (22:50)
24. "All Bets are Off" (23:50)
25/26. "The President's Coming! The President's
Coming! (Parts 1 & 2)" (46:43)
Special Features:
Finally!!! We have special features that are REALLY
worth it! After going through a disappointing four
seasons with very meaningless special features (not to
mention the nauseating "Quentin Tarantino Special
Edition" stuff they tried to pull on us in season
four!), the girls themselves are actually
participating in this set in commentaries!
Unfortunately, they aren't doing commentaries together
(they each do them individually), but Betty White, Bea
Arthur, and Rue McClanahan do have two episode
commentaries each. They are as follows:
"Sick and Tired (Part 2)" - Rue McClanahan
"The Accurate Conception" - Bea Arthur
"Dancing in the Dark" - Betty White
"Not Another Monday" - Betty White
"Clinton Avenue Memoirs" -Bea Arthur
"An Illegitimate Concern" - Rue McClanahan
So, my thoughts? Well, these are good, but they would
have been MUCH better if they would have done
commentaries together; at least two could have done
them together, not necessarily all three for one
commentary (although that would be even nicer). There
are long periods of silence on some of these
commentaries, but when they do talk, it is interesting
to hear their thoughts and insights. Rue McClanahan
just can't stop talking about all of the outfits she
took from the wardrobe department after the show had
ended! And although it isn't a WHOLE lot (maybe one or
two occurrences), be prepared to hear some colorful
language on Bea Arthur's commentaries... I guess that
is just her way of expressing things! I really thought
that the choice of episodes for the commentaries was a
little strange. For example, why doesn't "72 Hours"
have a commentary? And "Sick and Tired (Part 2)" is
obviously the second part of a two part; why would
they include a commentary for just one part of a two
part episode like that? And even further, that is a
Dorothy-centered episode, so why is Rue doing the
commentary? Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased with
the commentaries, but they could have done better in
organizing these. The commentaries can be turned on by
using the Audio Commentaries option on the main menu
(don't try playing the episode the normal way and
using the audio button to access it; it doesn't work
here).
Final Comments:
I know what you might be thinking: as often as this
show airs on Lifetime, why should I buy it on DVD? The
simple answer is that these DVDs present the show in
an uncut form that seems to resemble nothing even
close to what Lifetime airs, and plus, for a great
series like this, it is a good idea to own every
episode of it! This is one of those very rare shows
where you can sit down and watch an episode over and
over again fifty billion times (I feel as if for some
of them I have), and still laugh at the same jokes, or
sometimes even discover jokes that you never really
noticed before.
While I would like to see a better effort in special
features on the last two releases (yes, last two! Five
down, two more to go!), such as better episode choices
for commentaries, more than one person doing a
commentary, and maybe even some cast interviews, this
set is great, and is certainly better than the other
seasons that have been released to date. I have a
feeling that we will see the remaining two seasons
released within the next year (perhaps even by the end
of 2006), and then maybe even The Golden Palace... who
knows! But for now, pick this one up--I strongly
recommend it!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 5/5
Audio Quality: 5/5
Special Features: 2/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by skees53 on 05/04/06
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