Room 222: Season One
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Actor: Denise Nicholas, Karen Valentine, Lloyd Haynes, Michael ConstantineBrand: Universal Music Video Dist.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 660 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-03-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: SF11184
Studio: Shout Factory
Product features:
- ROOM 222-SEASON 1 (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of Room 222: Season One
DVD Review: one step in the long road to change . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
1969 was a historic year. A few weeks before Room 222 premiered, Neil Armstrong had become the first man on the moon, taking that `one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. One of the early creations by James L. Brooks (The Mary Tyler Moore Show/Taxi), the series' title comes from the classroom number of Walt Whitman High School, American history teacher, Pete Dixon, played by Lloyd Haynes. In this role, Haynes projects class and dignity, the perhaps the closest thing to Sidney Poiter to appear on the small screen up to that time. Dixon comes across as a real person, not a cardboard cutout of perfection. He has a temper, and a tendency to get carried away. Michael Constantine, who had previous played many ethnic roles with accents, is great as Principal Seymour Kaufman, the often beleaguered administrator. Denise Nicholas, as Liz McIntyre, is the kind of guidance counselor everyone wishes they had. Karen Valentine is perky student teacher Alice Johnson, finding her way in the public school system. The faculty is complimented by a core student body with some unique members like Richie Lane (Howard Rice), Jason Allen (Heshimu), Helen Loomis (Judy Stangis), and Bernie (David Jolliffe), who we get to know better over time.
Things have changed so much since Room 222 first aired, when segregation was part of the educational experience for many in the country. Today, some forty years later, when America has recently elected its first President of African-American ancestry, the magnitude of the change is truly monumental. How significant this change is, may depend on your ethnic background. Series creator James L. Brooks refers to racial integration, as `the elephant in the room'. While the series seldom directly address race, being what it was, featuring African-American costars interacting with an integrated student body, Room 222 was making a statement in 1969, that African-Americans, and representing their point of view was important.
While being socially significance was part of the package, Room 222 was before anything else, a drama about high school life. There again, many things regarding the high school experience (violence and school shootings), have changed radically since 1969, but there are still certain elements that are still relevant today. The transition from adolescence to adulthood remains a challenge for both students and parents. The series examines a variety of issues and situations, some serious, others flighty, some school related, and others involving the personal lives of the characters. Often idealistic beliefs are put to the test in the `real' world. In an ensemble format, character development proceeds rather slowly, as the writers feel their way around, focusing on different characters, and featuring different settings.
The tone of the stories is all over the map from a little goofy and light, to very serious. The quality of the writing varies as well, more often in the good to average range, rather than great. Some notable episodes include, `Ralph' where one of the students in Dixon's night class has an overbearing interest in history, that starts to interfere in Pete's personal life. `Seventeen Going on Twenty-Eight' is one of the more provocative episodes, where Pete becomes involved in an awkward situation involving a female student. Liz McIntyre experiences a similar situation in `The Coat', when Whitman student Jason Allen, gives her a stolen coat as a token of appreciation. In `El Genio', Alice works hard to get a Hispanic student into college, only to find that he has other plans. Jason Allen is a unique and intriguing character that the writers apparently were trying to figure out. Sometimes silent and intimidating, other times a rebellious outsider, and still other times one of the social leaders. He was hip, cool, and enigmatic. In `Triple Date' Jason enlists the help of classmate Richie Lane, in order to by-pass the father of a girl, who has objections to his daughter going out with Mr. Allen. The relationship between Principal Kaufman, and Pete is explored in `Just Between Friends', the finale of the first season.
Some TV programs from this time period look fantastic, unfortunately Room 222 is not one of them. Image quality is definitely an issue. Almost all of the episodes have washed out or inaccurate colors, often there is a noticeable lack of sharpness, and the presence of dirt on some of the prints. This is a huge disappointment, but hopefully subsequent seasons will be better. The featurette, `Forty Years On' is a look back at the series, and features Michael Constantine, Denise Nicholas (who both look great), James Brooks, and Allan Burns. Of course a longer more in depth feature would have been fabulous, but this is better than nothing. Lloyd Haynes passed away in 1986, but it would have been great to hear from Karen Valentine, and some of those who played the students. What did happen to Heshimu, who apparently did not pursue acting after Room 222?
The series gets off to a good start here, taking one small step in the process of the integration of television. If future seasons are issued, hopefully image quality will be improved, and extras like commentaries will be included.
Description of Room 222: Season One
Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 03/24/2009Bestsellers in DVD
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