Samantha Newly (Christina Applegate) was hit by a car, fell into a coma, and woke up with retrograde amnesia. She discovers that prior to her coma, she was a mean piece of work, and the show revolves around her reactions to what she discovers about her past, as well as the relationships she now has with friends (Melissa McCarthy – the good one – and Jennifer Esposito – the bad one, basically channeling Kim Cattrall), family, and ex-boyfriend (a generic Barry Watson). Season Two picks up with Samantha returning to her apartment, discovering she used to be able to dance, getting herself a new guy (again), and so on.
Christina Applegate is a talented comic performer. So is Kevin Dunn, who plays her father. The other people here might well be, too. But there’s nothing they can do to salvage the hoary, predictable gags. Forced, painful, irritating, we can be glad that this second season is also the last one, but must shakes our heads in wonder that the show made it this far.
Video
Before your eyes glaze over completely, you might nonetheless note that the picture is pretty good. The colours and flesh tones are naturalistic, the image is sharp, and there is no grain. The opening seconds of the first episode look dismal, but this is, I hope, stock footage of the little birdies learning to fly. The image clicks into proper focus immediately thereafter.
Audio
One doesn’t expect much surround from a network sitcom, never mind having the thing in 5.1, but that is the mix we have here, and like the picture, it isn’t bad at all. There are even some good environmental effects to be heard in some scenes. Most of the time, though, you won’t be particularly aware of the rear speakers. No distortion on the dialogue, and the music sounds fine, if uninspiring.
Special Features
Starter Kit: This is on Disc 1, and summarizes the first season. I found it very useful, since I hadn’t seen that season, though it did make my heart sink as I anticipated what would come next.
Deleted Scenes: Six of them, with intros by executive producer and co-creator Donald Todd. His intro to the complete batch has some lines are that are funnier than anything I heard in the series itself.
Bloopers: (0:55).
Tour the Set with Christina Applegate: (4:41) Exactly what it sounds like, with the star leading us through the primary locations.
Christina Dance Moment: (3:11) Basically a short making-of featurette about the season’s opening dance-oriented episode.
Girl Chat: (2:31) Mini-interviews with the three female leads.
More Sam: Three bonus episodes, which presumably didn’t make it to air.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot of really good TV out there. So go watch that instead of this.
