I Married Joan – Collection Two (VCI)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Episodes: C+

 

 

VCI has decided to follow-up their first I Married Joan set with a second one, as Joan (Joan Davis) just “looooooooves” being married to her husband (Jim Backus), still playing a judge.  This time around, it seems as if NBC was trying to do a toned-down version of I Love Lucy as if they felt Lucy was a political threat. 

 

The show’s “too serious” approach with some comedy seems to confirm this, making one think there is more of an agenda here than first noted with the last set.  There is again not enough true character development and the comedy never gets physical enough.  If anyone thought this was funny, it would be nice to know what made it funny to him or her.  The episodes from the 2 DVDs here include:

 

Home Of The Week

The Acrobats

Mabel’s Dress

Bev’s Boyfriend

Mountain Lodge

Broken Toe

Dreams

The Jailbird

Clothes Budget

Class Reunion

The Allergy

Jealousy

 

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is in black and white and varies in quality from show to show, but is grainier and muddier than the prints from the previous set.  The prints are a couple generations down.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also not as clean or clear as the previous set, with more strident sound from the source material.  The only extras once again a general VCI video preview and biographies of the two leads, but no promos from the show’s past.  Wonder if any are in the NBC archive?

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo