Two’s Company – The Complete Series Three
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B-
By 1977, Two’s Company reached its third season and
was a hit. Simple as it was, it worked
for enough people. This time, with the
situations familiar, two things happened.
The exchanges became faster between Elaine Stritch & Donald Sinden
and either it became funnier by default or was getting played out. Oddly, I found it a bit better since it
meant less dead space and speeding up the obvious meant more jokes could fit
in. The episodes this time are, all
starting with “The” in the title:
1) Invitation
2) Freezer
3) Pet
4) Take-Over
Bid
5) Virus
6) Critic
7) Picnic
8) Politicians
No matter what, they certainly were having fun doing it
and that also offsets other potential criticisms. Of course, these characters like each other or they would have
split by now and the show subtly acknowledges this to a narrow extent. But this is a comedy and there are just more
laughs here.
The 1.33 X 1 full frame image is from the original PAL
sources, but does look more like a generation down with color noise here and
there. The overly simple hand drawn animation of the credits is always
amusing. The shows tapes have still survived well and are in good
condition, so that goes well with the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, which has been
boosted to a simple stereo form the original TV monophonic sound. The
only extra again is biography text on the two actors in this case. Two’s
Company is worth a look, but if you start here, it’s hard to tell what
one’s reaction might be. You’ll juts
have to compare seasons to find out.
- Nicholas Sheffo
