Drop Dead Diva – DVD review and season two thoughts

After a strenuous week of vacation and beach travel, I finally sat down and reviewed the Drop Dead Diva DVD copy that landed on my doorstep a couple weeks back. Because of my unapologetic fandom-ness, I dorkishly refused to watch S2 until I finished re-watching S1. (Yeah, those words are made up.) Was my eight-year-old-on-Christmas-day excitement worth the wait? Not really; but, find the skinny below….

The Quadruple D (Drop Dead Diva DVD) Review
If you want a permanent copy of the first season without illicitly capturing it off of Hulu, this set is for you. However, if you’re a faux-pop culture elite who enjoys listening to the producer, the lead actress, the actress sitting in the back row, the writer, the gaffer, the best boy and the best buy, this isn’t for you.

• The DVD Case enclosed three DVDs in a slim case, enveloped in magenta-pink coloring, seemingly matching the show’s triple-D title. Although Brooke Elliott (and everyone else) looked a wee bit CGI’d, I loved the dress and the shoes.
• The Splash Screen seemingly reduced the characters to stereotypes the show subverted. While title screen Deb rocked a tight blue dress, dreaming of salad with a side of makeup, menu screen Jane ignored her fabulous side split suit and dreamed of delicious doughy donuts.
• DVD Commentary: Although I typically hate production DVD commentary, I respect DDD for creating a full-figured heroine who is not restricted to filmic templates and had hoped to hear the leads\producers\writing staff’s thoughts regarding the pilot, the finale, any one of the shows featuring last year’s amazing guest stars (Rosie O’Donnell, Paula Abdul, Kathy Najimy, Gregory Harrison, Marla Sokoloff, Nia Vardalos, Jorja Fox, Faith Prince, etc.), or even feedback on the eps surrounding Deb\Jane meeting their parents.
• The DVD Extras felt a bit bare bones, despite including ‘Cho and Tell’ (snippets on the show from Margaret Cho’s perspective), ‘Dreamisodes’ (three dreams held by Deb that I don’t believe made the final cut), additional deleted scenes (that you could tell were meant for the cutting room floor), and a few behind the scenes mini-features. The densest and most informative portion of the DVD included ‘Dropping-In with Drop Dead Diva.’ In fact, most DVD mini-features are typically promotional, but Josh Berman talked about creating the show in honor of his grandmother who had experiences similar to Deb\Jane.

S2 v. S1: Was Aryeh Right?
In terms of content, S1 gets the kickass bootleg fireworks award for re-working old territory into new. Julia was right about its S1 awesomeness (I’m surprised Chaka Khan didn’t write the show’s theme song), but, Aryeh was right about its S2 lack of depth. In S1’s initial episodes, Deb highlighted the tendency of romcom heroines to rock more makeup towards the film’s end. I not-so-secretly believe Jane’s enhanced makeup palette this year is indicative of the show’s increasing focus on surface. While S1 gave us a Williams-sister grand slam with Deb’s mom, Jane’s mom, the ‘dress,’ the difficulties of a working woman (why we don’t have time to diet, work and cook), and Jane’s pseudo-partner aspiration; S2 just focuses on the case of the week or the various interchangeable love interests.

Although I’m glad the writers aren’t fully restricting themselves to weight issues or Jane\Deb consolidation concerns (although I  enjoyed those bits in S1), that didn’t mean they needed to stop fleshing out the protagonist. Currently, the show surrounds the overtly sappy case of the week (dying babies\almost deported brother figures), while effacing the quirkiness of past cases (cloned dogs\pajama wearing businessmen). While the show was never about the law, this year the solutions are ridiculous. Teri’s relative is saved from deportation because they discover he’s North Korean in the final five minutes? I miss when they solved cases based on a combination of Jane and Deb’s ingenuity. Didn’t ‘heaven’ put our blue nail polish-wearing diva in Jane’s body because she needed to learn to help people? Despite Stacey’s cameos and Fred’s new job, Jane is in full on Deb mode where the only person she really talks about (or talks to) is Tony, giving the supporting characters the wet side of the bed. Without Jane as the lynchpin to catalyze their interactions with her and each other, I don’t quite care about Parker, Grayson, or even Fred. If not for the second ep in S2, I would’ve fully compared DDD’s second term to Ugly Betty’s, which committed similar mistakes.

Final Verdict: Buy the DVD, Ditch the Show?

• Show Verdict: While I might continue to check in to see what’s going on, until it returns to its S1 awesomeness, it might lose its dedicated slot on my TV watching schedule.
• DVD Verdict: If the DVD featured actor commentary, I’d say pony up for the $29.99. If the DVDs were around $19.99 I’d totally say get it. But, considering the path S2 is on, you might want to purchase it anyways in remembrance of (what is hopefully not)  a golden season past.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jun 30, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT