Girlfriends: The First Season

For years now I've been out of touch with the "Girlfriends" TV show. For one, they kept moving it from Monday to some other day, then from one time to another, so I'd never know when to set the VCR. Whenever I could finally catch it, I'd never know what was going on, since "Girlfriends", like another show I'd like to see, "Providence", was serial in nature, in that it had a running story line. I finally gave up trying to watch it on TV, in fact, I've given up watching TV, period. However, I never really gave up wanting to just start over with the show, either through syndication or other means. I'm very happy then, that the DVD of the first season of "Girlfriends" is here at last.

I've just finished the first season through the four DVDs sent to me by Netflix rental. It left with quite the cliffhanger, giving me the feeling that things aren't going to be quite the same between the four women from here out. The writing for this show is great. It's about the lives of four black women of varying socioeconomic and marital status who have managed to forge a great relationship with each other: Attorney Joan, her best friend from childhood, Toni; their friend from college, Lynn; Joan's secretary Maya, and Joan's colleague William is there to offer the male perspective.

Tracee Ellis Ross, as Joan, is a fantastic comic actress; I love those segments where she thinks out loud to the audience! That she's the daughter of a show business legend makes for a good Jeopardy question, however the younger Ms. Ross has carved out a niche of her own as one of the new queens of comedy! And don't we all know people like Joan, the peacemaker who's always trying to fix someone's problems, with the best of intentions. Golden Brooks, as Maya, is a beautiful actress who gives her character a spiritual groundedness as the thus-far only married character. Maya may be lower on the totem pole socially than her boss and Toni, but she brings to the table a pride and intelligence that's not often considered from a secretary, and I like that about this character. On the other hand, Jill Marie Jones' Toni Childs brings all sorts of issues to the table, from skin color to the fact that the way to her heart is through her wallet; and haven't we all known, either personally or otherwise, someone whose sheer gall gets them into trouble and whom we feel obligated to rescue because we've know them so long? Persia White plays the striking young drifter who can't seem to reconcile with life outside of college. Lynn seems to be the flower child who is a couple of decades too late.

I wish I had a posse like this...without the drama, of course! Seriously, the writers have created four very believable women and put them in very believable situations, some of which are very serious, and still there's room for humor. I don't think there's another show like it, and it doesn't hurt that the executive producer of the show is Frasier's Kelsey Grammar.

"Girlfriends" is the best thing to happen to network television, and I hope this is the first of all seven seasons to be released to disc. It will be interesting to see how the show and the characters evolve from here. One thing I would like to see on future sets, is some commentary, either from the main actors or the guest artists or the director of each show. Don't just put the shows on and that's that; this is the only thing that was disappointing There should be extras for a show like this. Surely there were outtakes and other things that didn't make it to broadcast. I would have liked to have seen something on how "Girlfriends" came into being in the first place. This would have been good for a first DVD, but since we didn't get that I'm hoping subsequent releases will be more interesting.

I absolutely LOVE this show! When it first aired I was thinking it was going to be a corny show with no substance. Usually shows that depict African American women are too stereotypical or they are totally unrealistic. This show gets it right FINALLY. I love Tracee Ellis Ross and the other actresses on this show because they keep it REAL. I knew Kelsey Grammer was a winner when I watched his show Frazier (another good sitcom) and I am pleased with his job as producer of an all black show. He has done an excellent job of portraying black women in a positive light which isn't always the case in Hollywood. Go Tracee, Golden, Persia, Jill Marie, and Reggie! This has been the best black show on television since the Cosby's and A Different World!!! Keep it coming!!!!

BTW-CW when are the REST of the seasons coming out? Don't make the fans wait too long!!!!!!

Although season 1 of Girlfriends was a tad off the mark, they were probably just going thru growing pains. They really hit the mark in seasons 2 thru 6. Why they took 6 years to start releasing the first DVD is puzzling to me. I started taping them about 2 years ago, but gave that up due to the bulkiness of vhs tapes. I will be ordering the season 1, and hopefully they will release the other seasons. If anyone finds out why they took 6 years to release Girlfriends on DVD please share it with us.

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