Home Improvement – The Complete Fifth Season
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C
Tim
Allen’s patented grunts (Oh! Oh! Oh!) that are all too common throughout the
activities of the Home Improvement
Series, have turned into ‘uggh uggh uggh’ to a bored audience. The series has not stood the test of time
well at all. Looking back at the hit
series it is truly the show about nothing, and not the good “nothing” like Seinfeld. The entire garbled TV Sitcom that is Home
Improvement has no substance or deep-rooted humor. The lack of substance creates a confusing,
bored atmosphere after only a few episodes, not allowing viewers to watch
multiple episodes without an overwhelming aura dullness to set in. Home
Improvement: The Complete Fifth Season remains deficient in the same areas
as all previous season with its monotonous humor and an odd manner of
addressing serious issues. Most of the
time no true issues are undertaken by this safe sitcom, but on rare occasion
controversial or tough issues are addressed the emotion, language, and
attitudes which should exist are mysteriously absent.
The
technicals of this DVD set should be upsetting for fans of the series. The DVD’s picture is presented in an
unimpressive 1.33:1 Full Screen Format.
The picture remains most of the time too bright, somewhat blurry, and
grainy. It seems as though no effort was
placed into these DVD transfers. The
sound quality is presented in an awful Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The lack of surround takes away from most DVDs,
this monotonous series included, the sound quality often sounding distant and
in incorrect range. The extras for this
set are practically nonexistent only containing an uninteresting Blooper Reel,
often similar to that viewed at the end of each episode. Overall, the technicals of this DVD set need
much Improvement, maybe Tim Allen can fix them up… he couldn’t hurt it.
Tim Allen
by no means has made many great contributions to the art of film, though he
does have some cult favorites such as the humorous Galaxy Quest (sequel please) and the soon to become holiday classic
The Santa Clause (No more sequels
please!). Home Improvement was a safe
show, lacking emotion and depth, when it first aired and with age this problem
has become even more apparent. The
saving grace of this TV sitcom is the chemistry of the cast, who seems to be a
loving family though at times they even seem bored with their lines. In the
end, if you love the series and own the previous box sets you will enjoy this
set as well, for all others this set is a definite miss in everyway.
- Michael P Dougherty II
