Sordid Lives - The Series

 

 

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The series is way more funier then the movie and the movie was fantastic. I would recomend Sordid Lives to anyone with a sense of humor.
I only wish and hope Logo wakes up and does a season 2 of one of the best shows ever Sordid Lives!!!!

Love this funny hilarious side splitting show .. humor at it's very best. A prequel to his movie of the same name. Add this to your collection! Starring a fabulous cast featuring, Beth Grant, Rue McClanahan, Bonnie Bedelia, and the irrepressable Leslie Jordan of Will and Grace fame. Jason Dottley, Rosemary Alexander , Newell Alexander, Ann Walker Sarah Hunley, Olivia Newton John, Caroline Rhea,David Steen all make this series work! You will watch this over and over again. "Now if you would excuse me I have a show to do!"

I heard quite by chance that the Sordid Lives series was now available on DVD---but I'll tell you, the moment I did, I ordered it at once. I won't discuss the merits of the series itself in this review---the premise is given in the Amazon description---other than to say I thought it was hilarious. I loved the cast, the scripts---the whole package. I have no complaints to make about the series at all, other than expressing some regret that it looks like there will never be a series two. Let me focus here on the actual DVDs themselves.

There had been some reports of quality control problems immediately after the set was put on the market, with pixilation and out-of-sync audio issues. I have to say that on my own copy, I've noticed none of that at all (it would appear that there was an isolated bad batch of discs, perhaps?). I'm watching this on a 50-inch widescreen plasma set, and the picture looks fantastic; nicely detailed with no problems in that respect whatsoever.

The set includes three discs. The first two each include six episodes, plus a bonus feature of an extensive slide show featuring stills shot during the filming process. The third disc is all bonus material; it includes the premier's teaser and a number of complete Olivia Newton-John performances. It also includes a fairly comprehensive blooper reel and many, many deleted scenes; a satisfyingly large amount of material for viewing, there.

Some viewers expressed a bit of frustration at the time this aired on television, due to the very frequent commercial interruptions and the "bleeping" of some of the dialogue. It's quite a pleasant difference, to watch each episode in one 22-minute uninterrupted go. The DVD release is completely uncensored---and for those interested in such things, contains a bit of nudity not present in the televised version, as well. (Heh.)

Now, there are two drawbacks to this set; one is a bit of a disappointment for me personally, the other could possibly be a problem for a number of viewers. First off, there was a huge amount of promotional/behind the scenes material produced about this series, which appeared on the Logo website as the programme aired on television. I found much of the material fascinating---among other things, it included interviews with many of those involved with the show, and the vlogs creator Del Shores taped for each episode, where he would discuss the particulars of filming with co-star Jason Dottley and (on occasion) some of the other people who appeared in the episode under discussion. I don't know who owns the rights to all this footage, whether it is Del Shores or Logo, but unfortunately not a single bit of it appears in the extras on this set (and none of it is still up on the Logo website). So, that is quite disappointing. I hope it will appear on the American DVD release, but have no idea if that is even a possibility---and who knows how long it will be until the American release, anyway?

The second drawback is a technical issue---one I've never encountered before, so I'm hoping for some input from anyone else here who has viewed the DVDs. The picture is framed in the widescreen 1.78:1 ratio, so as to fit perfectly on widescreen/hi-def television sets. (The image should be letterboxed---with black bars at top and bottom---if viewed on a standard tube television.) Now, every single DVD I have that is "enhanced for widescreen televisions" has played just fine on my own widescreen set---slide in the DVD, the picture comes on and fills the entire width of the screen, no problem. But in the case of the Sordid Lives DVDs, on all of the episodes the picture is displayed with an anamorphic squeeze---in other words, the widescreen picture is compressed to a 4:3 aspect ratio (the squarish shape of an old television screen), which is centred in the widescreen display. And oddly enough, this is only an issue with the episodes themselves---the slide-shows, and the bonus material on the third disc, have no problems with squeezing/distortion.

Now, this anamorphic squeeze is not really a problem for me, because of course every widescreen set has several pre-set aspect ratio settings---so with the touch of a button on the tv remote, I can adjust the picture so that it displays properly in the correct 1.78:1 shape (and without cropping any part of the frame). However, the point is I shouldn't HAVE to do this. And, this would seem to be a problematic situation for anyone watching the discs on a standard CRT television. I tried playing the discs on a second set-up here (standard TV, standard DVD player), and yes, the anamorphic squeeze was still present---but of course there's no way to compensate for that on a regular television. So, if that viewing method is your only option, you'll be watching a distorted image where all the people appear to have very thin faces and stand about eight feet tall.

Has anyone else had this problem with the discs? I'm most curious to know!

At any rate---absolutely love the series, and although I'm a little disappointed with the lack of some of additional content I was hoping for, I can't complain very much----I'm very pleased with my purchase. I don't know whether the particular playback problem I experienced is widespread, but anyone watching these on a widescreen set should be able to make the necessary adjustments.

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5.0 out of 5 stars "Her Hair Looks Like the Cat's Been Sucking on It"
There hasn't been a TV comedy in years that has made me laugh out loud so often as I did watching "Sordid Lives". Read more

Published 18 months ago by Kasey G

5.0 out of 5 stars great shows, difficult to find DVD
I've looked for this series for years after seeing the movie a few years ago. I heard that it was going to be a series, but as far as I know, it was never carried by stations here... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Teresa L. Millard

5.0 out of 5 stars Sordid Lives
Absolutely fabulous. Olivia Newton-John is fantastic as always. Great to see her do something completely different. Very funny. All the cast very good! Read more

Published on Feb 24 2010 by K. Rushby

5.0 out of 5 stars Great laughs and one liners...
I purchased this DVD for a friend of mine who never heard of the series. Needless to say, it was a great hit. The laughs and one liners are non stop. Read more

Published on Jan 24 2010 by R. Borges

5.0 out of 5 stars sordid lives great series
I am glad that I was able to purchase through Amazon.ca . It is unfortunate that it will probably be the end of the series and that it won't be released in the United States... Read more

Published on Jan 2 2010 by Douglas Finch

1.0 out of 5 stars ONE NOTE JOKE
Glad I was given this as a freebie - the joke goes on and on on Male lead is dreadful.
The exta DVD w/ ONJ songs was fun though.

Published on Dec 14 2009 by Padma Kleiser

5.0 out of 5 stars Sordid Lives the Series
I love this show but could not find the DVD for the series anywhere but at Amazon.ca.

Published on Dec 11 2009 by Eileen M. Rosado

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD Problems Have Been Fixed
I loved the movie, but wasn't able to watch the TV Series since we didn't get LOGO where I live. I had been waiting for Sordid Lives: The Series on sale so I could watch it. Read more

Published on Nov 30 2009 by Eric Laufenberg

5.0 out of 5 stars Original and funny
I am only half way through, but it is funny and it is original. I have always liked ONJ and her songs here do not disappoint. Read more

Published on Nov 23 2009 by Mr. J. Mclaughlan

3.0 out of 5 stars Great show, faulty DVD set
I was thrilled to receive this set, and watched it in (for me) record-breaking time: all 12 episodes plus the bonus disc in less than two days. Read more

Published on Nov 17 2009 by Frank Pittarese

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