The concept would appear to be slightly misplaced on ABC’s Family Network. The prerequisite underage drinking and promiscuous sexual lives don’t appear to be the best “family” entertainment. We don’t get even halfway through the pilot episode before we’re already charting those waters. To be sure, Greek is no Animal House, and the atmosphere is toned down considerably, but the issues remain, and this is not a show for the kiddies. The story is very much like a soap opera. Casey (Grammer) is a sorority sister for Zeta Beta Zeta, and after two years is a woman on the rise. She’s dating the rich and handsome Evan (McDorman) and is in line to be the next House president. Her life is about to change when her nerdy brother, Rusty (Zachar) arrives at college. In his hope to experience college life and shed some of his geek reputation, he decides to rush a fraternity and enter Casey’s perfect world. Casey’s other problem is Zeta Beta Zeta’s own new pledge in the form of Rebecca Logan (Vadsaria), the spoiled daughter of a US Senator and rival for Evan’s affections as well as the future House leadership. To further complicate matters, Rusty has pledged Omega Chi Delta, which is led by Casey’s former boyfriend, Cappie (Foster). Most of the episodes deal with the crossover of these various worlds, and there’s a ton of competition not only between the houses but the characters. The show is all about the parties and the rivalries. There’s an interesting enough group of supporting characters, all well cast, which make this series a little more interesting than it really should be.
I think it started with the writers’ strike and somehow got out of control on this series. None of these sets represent actual seasons, which is why the releases are called chapters. The first two chapters represent the times before and after the strike from the show’s first year. I kind of understand how that might work out. What I don’t quite get is why it is now continuing. This chapter begins with the 11th episode of the second season and stops with the 22nd, even though the season actually included 22 episodes, all of them aired before the release of the DVDs. There doesn’t appear to be any reason to spread out these releases except to capture a couple of extra bucks from the fans. At least we are at a season end. With this logic “Chapter 5” will begin with the start of season 3. Let’s see if we get to keep an entire season next time.
The 4th chapter is pretty much like the series in general. It’s all about the relationships and the “party of the week”.
Video
Each episode of Greek is presented in its original 1.78:1 broadcast format. The presentation is pretty solid. Colors are not overly bright or stunning, but the level of detail is solid. This also includes a very solid black level. There are 4 episodes to a disc, and there is remarkably little to no compression artifact.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track does everything it needs to do and more. This is an extremely dialog heavy series, so that’s what you’re going to want to hear without distractions. The clarity is good, and never does the 5.1 mix interfere with the staples. Musical cues are always solid but never overpower the drama.
There are audio commentaries with cast and crew on the episodes. They range from dry to a little too giddy for my tastes. It appears the cast and crew all enjoy themselves on set.
Special Features
Bloopers:(5:20) The usual messing up and messing around.
Music Video: (3:56) Jesse McCartney’s How Do You Sleep.
At World’s End: (8:19) The cast begins by answering the question: What would you do if the world were going to end in 24 hours. After that cast and crew talk about the season 2 finale, which brings all of the show’s relationships to some kind of crossroads.
Final Thoughts
Greek is the kind of show that never really goes anywhere. It’s strictly what I would call a relationship drama, a prime time soap, if you will. The characters are certainly interesting, and the show sports better than average production values. I just don’t get any sense of evolution to the show or the characters. If this stuff hasn’t settled into a cliché, “I don’t know what cliché means”.
