Seinfeld:
Seasons 5 & 6 on DVD
Even the biggest anti-Seinfeld, anti-sitcom person in the entire
world cannot deny the genius of the show.
A show about nothing was somehow a show about something. It took
average, ordinary, everyday situations (ones with which we can all
identify), and spun hilarious half-hour episodes out of them. The
writing was often brilliant, not only being infinitely more funny
than most of the tripe on TV, but also the way seemingly insignificant
details from seemingly insignificant subplots can have a massive
impact on the end result (not to mention how everything always seems
to tie in together, somehow).
The Seinfeld DVDs have been exquisite thus far. Sure, they took
their time coming out, but only because those involved wanted to
make sure they were done properly. Every episode from every season
has looked and sounded great, and each set has included a wealth
of entertaining supplements.
Seasons 5 and 6 are the latest to hit the format. Nary a bad episode
in its entire run, these two particular seasons are chock full of
pure gold. The show was in full stride by this point, knowing what
it did best and giving it to us in spades. Season 5’s opener,
“The Mango,” is an instant classic, as well as “The
Puffy Shirt,” “The Barber,” “The Marine
Biologist,” and “The Opposite” (the season finale).
Highlights from Season 6 include “The Switch,” “The
Jimmy,” “The Fusilli Jerry” and “The Understudy.”
In the later seasons, Seinfeld episodes got both more elaborate
and more basic. An entire episode is woven around the concept of
faking an orgasm, while another episode is based entirely around
Jerry getting a bad haircut (now that’s funny stuff!). Some
would argue that the show is boring or underwhelming, but if you
can appreciate the genius of it all, Seinfeld will surely go down
as the greatest sitcom ever, and the one to base all others upon.
You really can’t argue with great characters, great writing,
and a whole lot of nothing.
The Seasons 5 & 6 DVD presentations are just as good as they
should be. Each episode is presented in full frame with Dolby Digital
Stereo, and look and sound as good as they possibly can. We care
not for having 5.1 audio tracks for TV shows, as long as they sound
better than through our TV speakers (which they do, tenfold). The
picture is flawless, with not a trace of grain, which unfortunately
ixnays the feeling of watching it on TV.
Season 5 extras are as follows: “Jason + Larry = George”
is a featurette on how Jason Alexander embodied Larry David’s
alter ego to become George Costanza. Hilarious. We get short “Inside
Looks” on most episodes, which are entertaining and informative
pieces focusing on the making of a single episode, and we also get
cast & crew commentaries for about half of them. Also hilarious.
Production notes, bloopers, advertisements and deleted scenes are
available, as well as Jerry Seinfeld himself in an extended “Master
of his Domain” stand-up routine.
Season 6 also includes the typical Inside Looks, commentaries,
production notes, trailers, deleted scenes and bloopers, and also
sports a few other bits. There’s more exclusive Seinfeld stand-up
stuff, some “Sein-Imation” classic scene re-imaginings
(not as good as you’ll hope for), and “Running with
the Egg,” which takes us through the making of a Seinfeld
episode from idea to air. Pretty fascinating.
The latest Seinfeld DVD offerings are absolutely on par with the
previous releases. If you’re a Seinfeld fan, it’s hard
to justify not having these ones.
Seinfeld: Seasons 5 & 6, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
1049 minutes, 1.33:1 full screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Starring Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Michael Richards
and Jason Alexander
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