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The New Adventures of Old Christine

What do you get when you try really hard to cross Seinfeld with Two and a Half Men?

The New Adventures of Old Christine.

I hadn't had the opportunity to see The New Adventures of Old Christine before this DVD release. I imagined Julia Louis-Dreyfus' return to TV would be a safe, right down the middle, jokey sitcom and lo and behold.

From the product description: Now, there's a kick in the self-confidence: Single working mom Christine Campbell has just learned that her ex is dating a much-younger woman with the same first name. To avoid any confusion, everyone calls one woman New Christine and the other Old Christine. You can guess which is which. Julia Louis-Dreyfus' hilarious and insightful performance in the title role won fans and earned her the 2006 Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Christine struggles to hold it together as she adjusts to her new nickname, confronts the meanie moms at her son's private school, jumps back in the dating pool with a post-bikini bod, and gets laughs every misstep of the way. You go, old girl!

This show practically writes itself, at least I found myself anticipating the punch lines before they came and guessing the all too familiar plotlines before they're played out to pitter pat predictability.

Although it does get better as the season progresses, the cloying performances, excessive mugging for the camera and contrived jokes all adds up to Larry David light. For me, this show epitomizes everything that is stale and hollow about the modern sitcom and points out what a miracle shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and 2 and a Half Men are to transcend the ordinary.

That said, if you're one of the many fans of the show you're sure to be pleased with this austere but inexpensive package. Maybe that's why it's the top selling TV show on DVD on Amazon right now. Extras include a blooper reel, unaired scenes and an entertaining, in-depth behind the scenes documentary.

Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: January 15, 2008
Run Time: 278 minutes 

TVparty! for TV on DVD!

Reviews by Billy Ingram, as seen on VH1, Trio and Bravo. Watch for Billy Ingram on BRAVO this month!

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Two and a Half Men - The Complete Second Season

Tagline: Two adults. One kid. No grown-ups.

Plot Outline: A hedonistic jingle writer's free-wheeling life comes to an abrupt halt when his brother and 10-year-old nephew move into his beach-front house.

Plot Synopsis: The Harper brothers Charlie and Alan are almost opposites but form a great team. After years they had little in common except their dislike for their mundane, maternally cold but domineering mother Evelyn, Allan, a compulsively neat chiropractor and control-freak, is thrown out by his manipulative wife Judith who nevertheless gets him to pay for everything and do most jobs in the house. Charlie, a freelance jingle composer in a luxurious beach-house and irresistible Casanova who rarely gets up before brunch around noon, puts him up 'temporarily' with his son Jake, a lazy fat school kid who shuttles between his parents. This starts off the sitcom around their conflicting lifestyles, such as how to raise the boy (who now has an efficient, caring dad for the boring stuff while having a ball with his fun-loving sugar uncle who teaches him boyish things), be moralistic or have fun, a stickler or popular, what's a 'white' lie... Other fairly regular characters include Charlie's fat cleaning lady Bertha and his rich, obsessively infatuated neighbor-girl Rose who often sneaks in.

Product Description:
Welcome back to the Harpers' Malibu beach house, home to one of the funniest TV comedy hits in a long, long time. Bachelor Charlie's trying (but not very hard) to remember the name of the girl currently taking a shower upstairs. And Alan, Charlie's divorced, uptight brother, who's proud to have been named the San Fernando Valley's Chiropractor of the Year. And Jake, Alan's 11-year-old son, who's happiest with a juice box in one hand and the TV remote in the other. After a year of living together, the guys have figured out how two and a half men equal one family. Sort of. But there are plenty of hilariously rough spots along the way. And you'll share them all in this 4-disc collection that includes all 24 episodes of the series' smart and sparkling second season.

DVD Features:
Featurette
Gag Reel

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