Silver Spoons - The Complete First Season
by Bob Lally, Jack Shea
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DVD details
Actor: Erin Gray, Jason Bateman, Joel Higgins, John Houseman, Ricky SchroderDirector: Bob Lally, Jack Shea
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 536 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Silver Spoons - The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Excellent value!
Summary: 5 Stars
This set was a big surprise to me. The show has to be carried by the performance of young Schroder and I had only vaguely remembered a couple of his movies from when I was a kid, none of which had made me realize what an excellent job he was able to do and how versatile not just with the early dramas he did but, as seen in this show, particularly with outstanding comic delivery. An excellent style in which so many things are very funny mostly by virtue of being played totally straight, but with a lot of additional styles of comedy thrown in and pulled off very well too.
Unfortunately, when the show was first on the air, I remember tuning in just once, seeing a guy ride a mini-train into his living room, saying to myself "oh, how silly" and turning it off. Well, silly me! For this show certainly turns out to be enormously entertaining and worth preserving on DVD, and I'm now eager to see additional seasons become available! Had I actually given the show a chance when it was new (at the time I pretty much only watched pay channels like HBO) I would have watched a lot more. But I'm happy that it's now available without commercials for efficient viewing in this handy format. It may be hard for them to provide extras, but really none are needed - I just hope additional seasons become available. The characters (all of them!) certainly grow on viewers in a way that wasn't available through a random "tune-in" back when the show started, and includes fine comedy from John Houseman as the boy's grandfather, and surprisingly effective work by all other cast members. But Schroeder really does prove capable of carrying the series, and the generic amazon review descriptions are way off the mark when they suggest that "rich" means "spoiled" - that is simply not how this show was written. In fact, there is a very funny episode in which Mr. T (remember him from Rocky III and the A team? He's in his heyday here complete with Mohawk!) shows up at Rick's school as a bodyguard, because a bully named "Ox" had given him a black eye and his father was worried. What follows is very representative of the show - Rick determined NOT to be a pampered, sheltered (and stereotyped) rich person but to get to know people and fit in at his area public school after feeling rejected from his time spent "dumped" by his mother into a military boarding school. And while the show is highly comedic and energetic, the surprise comes from the just how moving many of the episodes really are - particularly the early ones in which the family is just forming, and the characters are struggling to understand each other. The show is surprisingly rich thanks to the surprising depth of its characters. What could have been simply an unbelievable exercise in role-reversal instead is quickly developed toward credibility through good characterization. Rick is not a "know it all" nor a "parent" to his father, as so much commentary tries to suggest in an effort to explain the show in simple and easy terms. Instead, Rick starts as an isolated figure seeking friends and family, and who earnestly respects other people because of the rejection he has sometimes felt in his past - his character is immediately humanized even if some of the writing continuity is considered of secondary importance (one of his friends coincidentally shifts from military school along with him to public school, without explanation given). In fact, so many of the cliches that I was worried would appear turned out not at all to be dealt with as cliches, but well-developed into the characterizations that I'm guessing the main actors probably contributed a great deal of effort to develop (along with the writers/producers). For example, the school "friend" at first looks like a simple Eddie Haskell type of character (from "Leave it to Beaver") but there are no dim-witted Beaver-style reactions here...for we see Rick pretty quickly catching on and able to start outwitting him as the series progresses. Part of the fun is seeing the assertiveness of the character who values people too much to ever actually total reject anyone as a potential friend, but who has to learn (sometimes the hard way) to put his foot down rather than be taken advantage of or compromise his sense of ethics. Who would have expected such good character development here, given the type of packaging and publicity the show receives? Yes, of course there are some elements that are quite youthful in tone, but nothing headslapping and they don't dominate the show - the show does not ever seem to be aiming to audiences *younger* than the main character, but *older* - and of course the main character is a lot smarter and wiser than his years, but without ever a sign of preachiness, and with a few moments of smugness reserved only for temporary "punchlines" in the dialogue - most of which is directed toward the Haskell-like friend. The main characters turn out to be well grounded in defensible points of view and do not ever settle into a simple predictability throughout the whole season. They are also pretty good role models, actually! (given the usual temporary exceptions allotted for purposes of plot and humor and characterization)
At the time of this writing, in 2007, tv sitcoms all seem to have pretty much suffered from terminal overdoses of cynicism. I strongly recommend this product as an example of what the genre should be like when properly done. (And yes, it is the style that's performed, like a mini-stage play in front of a studio audience, but in my opinion this mainly emphasizes the skill of the actors and what they have to pull off during performance.) Look for appearances by Mr. T, Robert Picardo (the doctor from Star Trek Voyager), Gary Coleman (from Different Strokes), Allison Smith (later to appear throughout the Kate & Allie series), Robert Tessier (who seemed to play a million villainous roles in that time period), and Sharon Stone!
I wasn't familiar with co-stars Joel Higgins and Erin Gray before seeing this (since I'm not a commercial tv viewer) but they do a wonderful job! And a couple of supporting appearances by John Reilly are a real hoot!
Anyway, the five star rating shouldn't lead anyone to believe that this series is a great work of transcendent art. Rather, the rating is to draw attention to this package that offers an excellent quality product and many hours of enjoyable comedy (with lots of light drama) over 22 episodes of the kind of pleasing show that they just don't make anymore, and all for a very reasonable price! (After all, how much money would a person pay out to purchase six 90-minute feature films?)
Description of Silver Spoons - The Complete First Season
It?s a train ride of laughs in the first season of Silver Spoons, the classic ?80s hit sitcom starring 12-year-old Ricky Schroder as the loveable, preppy, wise-beyond-his-years Ricky Stratton. His dad is millionaire Edward Stratton III (Joel Higgins), an overgrown kid with more interest in his toys than in business or his beautiful assistant Kate (Erin Gray). This season, Ricky realizes that Edward?s relaxed attitude toward discipline doesn?t mean Edward doesn?t love him. Ricky gets his first taste of puppy love and learns to stand up to the school bully. Kate and Edward realize they have feelings for each other. Plus tons of guest stars including Mr. T., Sharon Stone, Joey Lawrence and Jason Bateman.Bestsellers in DVD
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