5 Stars for the Show BUT 1 Star for the Lousy DVDS!!
R. Hollander | Los Angeles, CA USA | 05/29/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Paramount has completely destroyed this series. I was looking forward to sharing this series with my daughters but wind up trying to explain what was missing and why it might have been funny. This is nothing short of criminal and whoever did this at Paramount deserves to be fired. I have never NEVER seen anything like the utter disregard for anything in the arts. It's not just the music. There are definitely other cuts throughout the series. Like I'm pretty sure they cut the line from "I Gotta Be Me" in Season 3 where Oscar (in role reversal as felix) during the wine tasting tells the dinner guests to 'roll it around in your mouth until it tastes like shoe polish. 'What's next, Paramount? Going to strip the Nino Rota score from the Godfather?? You owe fans an apology and you also owe them new uncut DVDs that we paid good money for."
Wonderful but beware Season 1
Slowhand | Bangkok, Thailand | 12/14/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Well written with superb performances from Jack K., Tony R. and most of the supporting cast. Sure, it's an old series made for a US audience but the 70's styles and occasional US-specific gag does not diminish the real enjoyment and delights of this comic masterpiece. However, beware Season 1. "The first season of the show was quite different from the ones that followed. It was filmed using only one camera, and used a laugh track instead of a studio audience. Many characters from the original play appeared in the show but, when the second season began, many were eliminated and the show filmed in front of a live studio audience with three cameras". Though the performances and writing in Season 1 are good, the absence of a live audience, the single camera and a laugh track do make the experience rather less joyous. Try starting with Season 2. By the time you have finished season 5, you may be so desperate to see more of Jack and Tony, that Season 1's 'shortcomings' become unimportant."