The Good

A funny show that tries to be current.

The Bad

Nothing about this situation comedy really felt that unique. Only 7 episodes.

Adam, Jennifer, Jeff and Audrey are friends and couples who are at various stages of the life spectrum. Adam and Jennifer are getting ready to tie the knot, while Jeff and Audrey have have been tied to one another for some time. Thrown into this mix is their single friend Russell who seems to somehow end up getting the other males on this show into trouble. The situations are pretty simple and typical for the most part, but fans of sitcom humor should find that the jokes and routines in Rules of Engagement: The Complete First Season go down quite easy.

In this 7 episode set some of the stand out episodes were "Pilot" which, aside from setting the stage and introducing us to the characters, sees Adam and Jennifer having a fight which causes them to question whether or not they want to even be married. "Game On" finds Adam having to check with Jennifer on purchases after he buys a video game console and Jeff gets in the doghouse when he pays more attention to sports than he does to Audrey. Lastly, "Jeff's Wooby" sees Audrey regretting making Jeff a quilt out of his old t-shirts when he won't stop talking about the them. Meanwhile, Adam and Jennifer get into a misunderstanding over exactly what day they are getting married.

Features

Set Tour with Oliver Hudson

Oliver Hudson who plays the role of Adam walks us through the apartment that his character shares with Jennifer (Bianca Kajlich). He explains that 90% of the show is done there and as he walks around he makes jokes as the person behind the camera asks him questions. I guess one could call this short piece a set tour. I didn't expect it to be that enlightening but for what it was fans of this show will most likely enjoy it.

From Table Reading to Taping

Bloopers

In this segment we see the characters blow their lines, they ask questions about their lines, they talk about forgetting their lines, and we also hear their curse words bleeped out. In fact at one point some of the characters make up lines which of course bring this show to a grinding a halt. I knew that with actors this strong this segment would play quick and funny. One should certainly watch this blooper reel if they are fans of this show.

Video

1.78:1 - Anamorphic Widescreen. As I often say about sitcoms, this one was simply lit, simply shot and traditionally edited. The lighting was of the soft variety with our cast members wearing all the current clothes. It was weird seeing Patrick Warburton on this show mainly because I think of him as being a lot older. It's probably because of his role in Joe Somebody, I just thought that Warburton was out of place here.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Mastered in High Definition. English 5.1. Close Captioned. The audio for this show was strong. I had to turn the sound up about half way but it played fine over all of the episodes. I can't really say that it was anything that great but it was fine. As I also often say about situation comedies, so many of them are dependent on dialogue. The fast, back and forth banter that this show has creates the mood and feel that it hang on. Rules of Engagement has all of that in spades.

Package

The two main couples snuggle in bed together on this front cover with David Spade looking at a nudey magazine between them. The back cover of this release gives us cast images, as well as some picture from the show itself. There is a description of what this show is about, a Special Features listing and technical specs.

Final Word

I liked Rules of Engagement but I can't really say that there's anything about it that felt that original. Also, these characters seem to be a tad old to be acting like slackers. There's something about David Spade being a video game playing, stud that never quite worked for me. In my eyes he's one of those actors that is better off just playing his persona. I know that that is a tough thing to ask because he considers himself to be an actor, but his persona is such that it always seems to come out in his performances anyway, thus, it becomes hard to separate the two. Spade is obviously a smart guy but he seems too smart for the role of Russell. As I wasn't familiar with the other actors on this show (except for Warburton), I obviously believed who they were in these roles.

As I have said, there isn't anything about Rules of Engagement: The Complete First Season that is that amazing. It is a fun show that goes over topics and ideas that are very well worn. I enjoyed seeing the interactions between the characters, but I can't say that there was any time in my watching of this show that I was surprised.

Rules of Engagement was released .