The Good

This show is both hilarious and irreverently ahead of its time. Brilliant.

The Bad

No commentary tracks.

Everybody Hates Chris: The Second Season is both a true and untrue show that is inspired by the life of Chris Rock. Essentially, we see the childhood of young Chris (played here by Tyler James Williams) as he deals with his family, his school life and the world around him. Some of the stand out episodes are "Everybody Hates Rejection" in which Chris tries to get some girls to like him with very unfavorable results. "Everybody Hates Hall Monitors" sees Chris trying to up his stock with his classmates, the only problem is that he takes his new job a little too seriously. Lastly, "Everybody Hates Gambling" finds Chris being lauded for his ability to to predict winners. The only problem is that this talent gets him in with some "fast" company.

What makes Everybody Hates Chris: The Second Season really stand out is its ability to give viewers a lot of funny but also throw in life lessons about race, family, childhood and everything else.

Features

Featurettes

They have given this 4 disc set a bunch of featurettes which begin with the line "Everybody Hates...." I am not going to list them all out but a few of the ones I watched were "Everybody Hates Mrs. Morello's Racism," "Everybody Hates Stand-Ins" and "Everybody Hates Caruso-isms." In "Morello" and "Caruso-isms" the characters are broken down a bit. "Caruso-isms" is clearly the best because it shows us all the racist things this character says without anyone (who doesn't have a degree in African American studies) knowing. "Morello" simply looks at this character who, while trying to be sensitive, is blatantly offensive. Lastly, "Stand-Ins" shows us the Stand-Ins for the Rock family.

Gag Reel

Video

Widescreen Version enhanced for 16:9 TVs. This show mixes elements of Parker Lewis Can't Lose with Malcolm in the Middle, yet it comes at the world with a completely original, Chris Rock inspired bent. The actual shows themselves seemed to be compressed really well and I didn't notice any dirt on any of the images. The editing is quick but doesn't get in the way of telling this show's story.

Audio

Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Surround. The audio for this set was very strong over all the four discs. In fact, once I leveled everything it seemed to play really well across the board including during the special features (which are on Disc #4). While there wasn't anything about the audio that really blew me away, what I heard was enough to make me give this release "thumbs up" in the sound department.

Package

A put upon Chris stands on the front of this slipcase cover with his family seeming to have a laugh at his expense behind him. The back cover shows us more images from this show, it gives us a nice description of what it's about, a Special Features listing and system specs. All four discs are stored in two slim cases which are different colors. They offer up more pictures as well as descriptions and airdates for each episode. Lastly, they make finding all the Special Features very easy.

Final Word

Chris Rock once said that the best comedians are those who put their entire life on display. If he isn't doing that with Everybody Hates Chris than I don't know what he's doing. This show breaks every rule yet it isn't dumb. For example, rather than simply make white folks out of touch, they have been skewed in the characters of Caruso and Mrs. Morello. They both comment on racism by having them be overtly racist and not even know that they're doing it. Throw into this Chris's family and the other people in the neighborhood and you have the kind the show that is intelligent while also making viewers think.

I was honestly blown away by the depth and richness that was present in Everybody Hates Chris: The Second Season. I think if more shows went out of their way to be like this and Two and a Half Men, the sitcom in general would be in better shape.

Everybody Hates Chris was released .