The Bernie Mac Show follows the successful comedian's
struggles to maintain order in his house. That is, Bernie's sister
in Chicago is sent to rehab, and Bernie agrees to take custody of
her three children, teenage adolescent Vanessa, asthmatic
weaseling Jordan, and sweet, innocent Bryana. From the first
day he realizes his mistake, but with the help of his wife Wanda
he tries to make the best of it.
CRITIQUE
For a 30-minute
sitcom (22 minutes sans commercials), The Bernie Mac Show
is a welcoming surprise. It enjoys a funny cast of characters,
especially Mr. Mac, and a neat premise that goes many different
places during the first season. I really like the fact that the
show doesn't use a laugh track. It wouldn't work for this show
because the track would interrupt Bernie, and who would want that.
The comedy comes
from Bernie Mac, which should come to no real surprise. He always
tries to outsmart the kids, but sometimes he tries to do too much,
and when that happens embarrassment sets in. Bernie spends a good
amount of time in his room where he confesses his displeasures
with things and rambles on idle thoughts. The comedy also depends
on various idiosyncrasies, which is fun most of the time.
While I think the
laughs could be more consistent, the overall quality of the
writing is quite good. The dialogue is realistic and fitting, but
sometimes I'm a little put off by Bernie's comments; I just don't
really care for some of his emotional outbursts. Not everything
about The Bernie Mac Show works for me, but it's funny and
original enough for me to recommend to audiences.
The first season's
22 episodes break down as follows:
Disc 1: Pilot; Now You Got It; The Main Event; Bernie Mac, Ladies
Man; Saving Bernie Mac; Here To Stay
Disc 2: A Christmas Story; Starting School; Hot Hot Hot; Wanda's
Week Off; The King and I; Hall of Fame
Disc 3: Handle Your Business; Back in the Day; Lock Down; Mac 101;
If I Were N-Riched Man; Stop Having Sex
Disc 4: Secrets and Lies; Kelly's Heroes; Sweet Home Chicago (1);
Sweet Home Chicago (2)
THE VIDEO
Fox presents The Bernie
Mac Show in 1.33:1 fullscreen. This is a perfectly good
presentation for a recent TV show. Colors are bright and
well-saturated. Image quality is pretty good without any big
flaws. Some scenes look a bit soft, but most of them are clear.
Sharpness and detail are just fine.
Optional subtitles
include English and Spanish.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents The Bernie
Mac Show in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. Dialogue is clear
and easy to understand as the two front speakers get a decent
workout. As with the video, the audio presentation sounds
perfectly fine; suitable quality.
THE EXTRAS
This 4-disc set
includes only two extras, but they are good. The first extra is an
audio commentary by Bernie Mac, creator Larry Wilmore, and
producer Ken Kwapis on the pilot episode. They share the
same room and play off each other well enough, offering good
information on the show and joking from time to time.
Second is the
Bernie Mac: TV's Family Man (43mins) documentary as seen on the TV-Ography
program on the A&E network. This is an enjoyable and
interesting look at Bernie Mac, covering the struggles of his
early days to the success he enjoys now.
The DVD menus are
simple and easy to navigate. Episodes can be played individually
or continuously using the "play all" option. The packaging is
practical, four slim cases inside a box.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Bernie Mac Show
is funny but not on a consistent basis, however the premise is
original and the characters are fun. An easy recommendation for those
who like comedy and enjoy sitcoms. The DVD offers video/audio quality
that's fine. The two extras are good, but that's all there is.
