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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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"Fraiser-Season Three"
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
Screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 2.0 |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
550 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
5/25/04
|
| Studio |
Paramount
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
"The Mystery of Maris:
The Breakup Begins", "Bulldog Crazy" |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
Kelsey Grammer
and David Hyde Pierce, "A Conversation with Art Director Roy
Christopher" |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Previews |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Celebrity
Voices |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Kelsey Grammer,
David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin, Dan
Butler, Mercedes Ruhl |
| Written
By: |
Joe Keenan,
Steven Kevitan, Christopher Lloyd, David Lloyd, Linda Morris,
Denise Moss |
| Produced
By: |
Maggie Blanc,
David Angell, Kelsey Grammer |
| Directed
By: |
Andy Ackerman,
Gordon Hunt, James Burrows, David Lee |
| Music:
|
Bruce Miller |
| The
Review: |
Although
"Fraiser" has left the building, through the magic of reruns
and DVD his humor, like guilt, continues to stick around. One
of the most honored shows on television may have grown a bit
haggard at the end of its long run, but it was still one of
the funniest and wittiest shows to win a berth on a mainstream
network. During the third season of "Fraiser" bad things continued
to cling to Fraiser like a cotton suit run through the washer
one too many times. He spars with a new boss (Academy Award
winner Ruhl) and then promptly begins a passionate affair which
he keeps from no one. Why? He broadcasts his first tryst by
accident. Niles (the very funny Pierce) becomes a single man
when his invisible wife Maris gets tired of him. Finally, Martin
(the sublime Mahoney) and Roz (the very funny Gilpin) continue
to do the tango with Fraiser's ego and pompous nature. Ultimately,
though, the show's success or failure rests on star Kelsey Grammer.
Grammer has developed the slow burn to an art form and he can
only be matched by the late, great Jack Benny at turning even
the smallest move into a laugh attack for the viewer. --- |
| Image
and Sound: |
"Fraiser"
looks and sounds terrific on DVD. The digital transfer looks
especially good considering that the show was videotaped. Many
videotaped programs can suffer when transferred to DVD looking
even more garish with a sense of hyper reality than filmed programs.
|
| The
Extras: |
The extras
include very funny interviews with Grammer and his television
brother Pierce as well as a discussion of one of Fraiser's great
foils Bulldog (Dan Butler in hyperkinetic macho funny mode).
We also get a glimpse into the process of building the character
of Maris from a one-joke punch line into a continuing series
of witty jokes throughout the entire run of the show. The featurette
on the art direction is actually fascinating as it provides
a glimpse into the amount of detailed work that goes into producing
something as simple as a weekly comedy series that takes place
on the same sets every week. Finally we get all the celebrity
voices that appeared as call in guests to Fraiser's radio talk
show. All the guests have very funny bits but its when you finally
put the voice with the name that it all clicks particularly
for some of the Hollywood in jokes that appeared during season
three. --- |
| Commentary:
|
No commentary
track but, honestly, commentary tracks tend to clutter episodic
comedies. It detracts from the truly funny episodes and the
comic timing on screen. Perhaps we can get a more involved discussion
on one about the collaborative writing process but that would
still be best served in a featurette. --- |
| Final
Words: |
I'd never
let "Fraiser" mess with my head but he and his family can mess
with my funny bone any time. The third season of the show catches
the cast and crew beginning to peak. While other shows frequently
get cited for how "ground breaking" they are/were, "Fraiser"
beats them all out simply by being funnier than most of them.
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