The Bernie Mac Show: Season 1 (2001)
Created by Bernie Mac and Larry Willmore
Starring Bernie Mac, Kellita Smith, Camille Winbush and Jeremy Suarez
22 Episodes on 4 Discs / Fox Television / Unrated
Retail: $49.98 / Street: $35
by Alex Mestas 5/09/2004
More info: Fox Store
Bernie Mac ShowDVD Cover
The Cover
Comedians have been getting their own sitcoms for longer than I care to remember. After all, it's the perfect gig: the money is great, you usually can put whatever you want on TV, and you don't work THAT hard. So when it was announced that Bernie Mac was getting his own show, people didn't know quite what to make of it. His intense and strangely mesmerizing standup act wouldn't exactly make a good direct translation to the very limiting small screen. Personally, I was waiting to see what kind of contrived, ridiculous situations the creators were going to put him in.

Bernie Mac is a janitor at a school! Bernie Mac is the President! Bernie Mac is an owner of a struggling baseball franchise! You get the picture. It could be a very bad scene. Luckily, it appears that the real Bernie Mac was able to retain some creative control over his image. And so, we get Bernie Mac as, yes, Bernie Mac. Yes, this is the same Bernie Mac who was on Kings of Comedy. And to make things even slightly more circular, the show is also based in a large part of the comedy that he presents in his act.

You see, the real Bernie Mac took care of one nephew and two nieces when his sister no longer could. She was addicted to drugs, and Mac offered to help out. Not that he was comfortable with it. The Bernie Mac Show captures all that wonderful fish out of water mentality that he manages to put across so well.

The show differentiates itself from the rest of sitcom-dom by the way that it doesn't pull any punches and isn't afraid to say things that people may find offensive (I'll bust your head 'till the white meat shows, comes to mind.) It's not willing to pussyfoot around the issues of race, homosexuality and suburban living. The show also spices things up with Bernie's direct addresses to the camera in which he addresses "America" and tells him what they really think.

Essentially, Bernie Mac is the perfect show for today's modern family. It has enough cute, traditional comedy to please the youngsters, and enough cutting edge material to keep the adults enthralled.

TV Grade: A

Video: 3 out of 5
It looks just as good as it does on satellite, but there perhaps is a little too much edge enhancement. It sparkles and distracts a bit.
Full Screen 1.33:1


The Happy Family

Audio: 3 out of 5
Nothing special - your usual television sound.
English (Dolby 2.0)

Extras: 3 out of 5
The first extra is a commentary track with Bernie Mac, Larry Willmore (co-creator) and the director of the pilot episode. It's a nice little commentary that sheds some light on the early direction of the show. The only other extra is an A&E Biography, running approximately 45 minutes. It discusses Bernie's life and the evolution of his comedy. As usual for the pieces developed for A&E, it's very well done.

Overall: 4 out of 5
If you're a fan of Bernie Mac's comedy, and for some reason you haven't seen the show, then it comes highly recommended.

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