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By
NICK ZEGARAC
In a series which never had
a misfire and always seemed to be at the peak of
its game, "Frasier - The Complete Third Season" is
the companion DVD box set to seasons one and two.
It still stars Kelsey Grammer as the eminent
psychiatrist and radio personality Dr. Frasier
Crane, David Hyde Pierce as his even more neurotic
and insecure younger brother Niles, John Mahoney
as their curmudgeonly father Martin, Jane Leeves
as scatterbrain physical therapist Daphne Moon and
Peri Gilpin as Frasier's calculating hard-knock
radio programmer Roz.
All of the scuttlebutt and horseplay in the prior
seasons culminates in what is perhaps the series
greatest year of all: Frasier's old love from
"Cheers" -- Dianne Chambers (Shelley Long) --
returns for a hilarious encounter, Frasier meets
his new station manager, the maniacal and very
demanding Kate (Mercedes Ruehl), Maris finally
kicks Niles out of the house, and Martin's
sensitive side is exposed when the boys discover
that their father was once a songwriter who almost
wrote a hit tune for Frank Sinatra. Meanwhile,
both Roz and Daphne encounter their own special
brand of toxic secret admirers.
Paramount's DVD, "Frasier - The Complete Third
Season" aptly delivers all 24 episodes of this
trendsetting comedy in a deluxe four disc box set.
Unfortunately, Paramount's DVD quality seems to be
lagging once again. Although colors are accurately
presented with a subtle muted palette and good
contrast levels, and blacks are deep and solid,
there continues to be a significant amount of edge
enhancement and shimmering of fine details
throughout many of the episodes. Fine details
become hard-edged and highly unstable. As with the
"First Season" and "Second Season" discs, certain
episodes have a slightly hazy look to them and
suffer from color imbalance in which tonal quality
and brightness seem to shift -- not only from
scene to scene but shot to shot. Thought the
overall quality of "Season Three" is infinitely
better than Second Season," it remains a less than
stellar mastering effort.
The audio is stereo and very nicely balanced.
Extras include a brief but succinct conversation
with art director Roy Christopher, a "Bulldog
Crazy" game that one has to access by toggling on
the remote, short snippets that illustrate all the
guest star cameo voiceovers used as call-in guests
and audio commentaries on selected episodes. If
you're a fan of this television series, you will
want to snag this box set. Recommended more for
the content rather than the presentation. |
