Info:
DVD Release Date: January 30, 2007 (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Color
MSRP: $9.98
Number of Discs: 1
Number of Episodes: 5
Running Time: 125 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 25 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English; No
Subtitles; Closed Captioned.
Special Features: John Ritter: Working with a Master
(approx. 25 minutes)
Introduction:
Jack Tripper is among the best sitcom characters of
all-time and now he has his own DVD set! Now Anchor
Bay Entertainment will release five classic Three's
Company episodes that will be 'capturing the laughter'
of Jack Tripper on DVD. These five episodes are among
John Ritter's personal favorite episodes and are all
laugh-out-loud funny.
Episodes Included / Notable Guest Stars:
The five episodes on this set are: #84 “Downhill
Chaser,” where Jack tries to pretend to be a champion
skier to impress a girl; #119 “Urban Plowboy,” where
Larry is in some sort of trouble and uses Jack’s name
and the angry man hunts down Jack at Cindy’s aunt’s
farm; #166 “Baby, It’s Cold Inside,” is a touching
episode between Jack and Mr. Furley as they are
trapped inside a restaurant freezer; #127 “Up in the
Air,” is the classic episode where Jack goes on an
island and goes crazy; and #172 “Cupid Works
Overtime,” is the one where Jack meets his love--Vicky
Bradford.
Guest stars include Barry Williams, David Ruprecht,
Mary Cadorette, and Robert Mandan.
Packaging:
The packaging is a simple but effective single case.
The front of the case features three small Jack
Tripper photos in small circles surrounding a huge
circle with his face. The color scheme is sky blue.
Three’s Company Capturing the Laughter: Jack’s
Favorites is written on the front. The back of the
case has two cast photos of the trip (Jack, Janet,
Chrissy -- although there are no Chrissy episodes on
this set), along with a photo of Jack hugging Chrissy.
The disc itself is in the same style as the
packaging--sky blue, and the same art from the front
of the case. Again, it is simple but nice.
Menu Design and Navigation:
Now to the menu navigation--it is very similar in
style to the season sets. The full theme song (from
the seasons 6-8 years) is playing in the background.
Moreover, different rotating images in little circles
of Jack are in the background. The options on the menu
screen are: “Play All,” “Episodes” and “Extras.” When
you select episodes, you will go to an episode index
screen where you can choose what episode you want.
When you choose an episode, you get a decent episode
synopsis, about a paragraph or so in length, and a
screenshot from the episode. Then you hit play and the
episode plays in its full-unedited form just like how
it aired on ABC. Each episode is about 25:05 minutes
long, counting the opening and closing credits. There
are no chapter stops, just like the season sets,
though they have a chapter break after the opening
credits, so you can skip over the theme anytime. Still
no chapter breaks where the commercials would be.
Therefore, it is very hard to find a scene you want to
watch in particular.
Video and Audio Quality:
All five of these episodes have been released on their
respective seasons’ DVD sets, so it is the same
quality as those. Moreover, if you have not bought
all the seasons, I’ll be simple and say both the audio
and video have no problems and are great. All the
episodes are unedited and in the 25:05 minute range,
as I previously stated.
Here are the runtime for each episode on this set:
“Downhill Chaser” (25:04)
“Urban Plowboy” (25:05)
“Baby, It’s Cold Inside” (25:06)
“Up in the Air” (25:06)
“Cupid Works Overtime” (25:08)
It is strange why “Baby, It’s Cold Inside” is listed
before “Up in the Air,” as “Up in the Air” is from
season six and “Baby, It’s Cold Inside” is a season
eight episode.
Special Features:
Compilation sets usually do not have extras, but this
one does! It is not a new extra, but still good
enough. The season eight DVD had this extra, but that
is OK. Anchor Bay pays tribute to John Ritter, with a
nice 25:18 feature called “John Ritter: Working with a
Master.” It starts with a nice title sequence that is
like a rock-style Three’s Company theme. Nancy Morgan
Ritter and director Dave Powers are together
discussing John. A nice clip montage of John with some
of the guest stars is included, with guests Joanna
Kerns, Jordan Charney, Loni Anderson, Anne Schedeen,
John Larroquette, Keene Curtis, Jeffrey Tambor, James
Cromwell, Rita Wilson, and Barry Williams. Each guest
star they show they show list of three credits of
their other works. Then Nancy and Dave talk about
John’s choreography from the classic sixth season
episode “Up in the Air.” Then they show the full clip
of the dance he did on that episode. Then they talk
about John and the Emmy win in 1984. They also show
the full clip and his full acceptance speech. I always
wanted to see the full thing! Finally, they show the
last scene of Three’s Company where the trio leave the
apartment.
Final Comments:
Anchor Bay has released all eight seasons on DVD, so
now we can expect these compilation sets. Warner
Bros. has done the same with Friends…they are trying
to get more money or get casual fans to get a taste of
the show on DVD. However, I will not rest until we get
both spin-offs, The Ropers and Three’s a Crowd on DVD,
too. I need everyone emailing Anchor Bay and DLT. Tell
Anchor Bay to get the rights from DLT and release both
spin-offs on DVD. Their email is
TVonDVD@anchorbayent.com. In
addition, tell DLT to sell the spin-offs to a DVD company. Their e-mail is
3sco@dlentertainment.
This set is well done and all the episodes are
unedited (which they should be since they were on the
season sets) and in great quality. My only complaint
was why Up in the Air was not listed before Baby, It’s
Cold Inside. All fans should buy this set because it
had all classic episodes and fans who don’t have the
season sets yet, buy this first to get a little taste
before you start buying. In addition, if you have
never watched the show…this is a good way to start I
think. We will not rest until everything Three’s
Company is released, so e-mail them about The Ropers
and Three’s a Crowd! John Ritter is deeply missed and
kudos to Anchor Bay for releasing a Jack Tripper set.
Long live Jack Tripper! Lordy, Lordy, Lordy!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 1/5
Menu Navigation/Design: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 01/19/07
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