Review of Caroline In The City

Introduction

Like a great many good American tv shows in the 1990s, this series never got much of a high profile on British television, compared with shows like Frasier and Friends. The premise of the show was pretty typical thirty-something fodder of the time - much angst-ridden dating, complicated on-off romances between the (likeable) characters and a fair smattering of oddly surreal situations.

The series was a vehicle for Back To The Future`s Lea Thompson, as a perky New York cartoonist who becomes involved with both her commitmentphobic editor (Del, played by Eric Lutes) and her waspish colourist (Richard, played by Malcolm Gets). All American sitcoms at this time had an oddball character - Friends had Phoebe (and Joey), Frasier had Niles, and Caroline has Charlie, Del`s sidekick, played by Andy Lauer. Rounding off the group is Annie, Caroline`s neighbour and friend, a Broadway dancer played by Amy Pietz. Caroline In The City premiered in September 1995 on NBC in the US and carried on for four seasons until 1999 when it was unceremoniously dropped with the final episode unaired.

The show has lived on in syndication and regularly gets screened on cable channels here in the UK (defaced with all kinds of banners and on-screen junk imposed by broadcasters). This set is your chance to watch this charmingly dotty show uninterrupted, ideally with a tub of Haagen-Dazs.

The review copy I received appeared to be a full production copy, but I received a frantic email from Revelation`s PR that we were to disregard the set due to a production fault (it turns out the episodes weren`t in transmission order, but production order). I`d have let the matter rest, but they never sent replacements and the set is now out with Season Two imminent if not released by the time you read this. RJ reckoned I should get the review posted, and it seemed a shame to leave a positive review lying around, so…

Video

The episodes are quite immaculate. Colours and contrast are excellent and there are no digital or film/tape artefacts.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 - pretty standard stuff.

Features

Included in the test disc extras are a couple of text pages of "continuity errors", but as these are based on the incorrect running order of the discs, I can only assume the extra won`t be on the reauthored production version. I have to say Revelation should be applauded for caring enough about the content of the discs to include such observations and for correcting the running order when the error was discovered.

Conclusion

Caroline In The City is a fun show. It`s easygoing comedy in the Friends vein, aimed at the Bridget-Jones-at-heart in all of us. Disengage your brain, take a spoon and a litre pack of icecream and take the phone off the hook.