Seinfeld Seasons 1 and 2, Season 3
February 2005 Reviewed by: Marc Mickelson Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Following its nine-season run on NBC, Seinfeld was mentioned in the same breath with The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy as the best situation comedies ever made. TV Guide, in fact, has called Seinfeld the best TV series of all time. Seinfeld had to attain its greatness, however; it began as a fall-schedule fill-in whose ratings were only marginally more promising than its negative focus-group assessment. It wasn't until the show's third year that NBC hired the Seinfeld cast and crew to produce a full season's worth of episodes, and consequently this is the season during which the show that most of us fans know really began.

Seinfeld’s recipe is deceptively simple but hard to duplicate: a terrific cast -- can you imagine anyone else playing Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer? -- and very smart writing. The show's influence is seen in the number of sitcoms on network and cable TV that feature comedians and attempt to get laughs from the seemingly mundane details of modern life. That Seinfeld is funny is a matter of opinion, I suppose. In my opinion, only The Simpsons rivals it for laugh-out-loud moments.

These two four-DVD sets document the beginnings of this influential and very funny TV show. The five shows that comprise the first season introduce the characters and vibe of the show. The second season shows characters that are more developed and includes some memorable episodes, such as "The Chinese Restaurant," which takes place on only one set. The third season is where everything begins to gel and the Seinfeld that viewers most admire is wrought. I remembered instantly how hard I laughed years ago at the spoof of the movie JFK during both parts of "The Boyfriend." Part of the interest in owning these DVDs is to see episodes you may not have caught. I thought I had seen them all, but there were two from the first season that I missed along with a couple from the second and third.

Extras are abundant. Cast commentaries and deleted scenes give insight into each show and are joined by promotional ads, outtakes, pop-up "Notes About Nothing" and features, including an hour-long documentary with insight into the creation and tenuous first steps of the show. All are available from some of the best menus I've encountered. They treat each episode individually, and group all materials that pertain to it together. The video image is said to be "remastered in high definition." It shows great care -- it's clear and sharp. Each episode is presented in its original broadcast length, not cut down by a couple of minutes to accommodate extra commercials squeezed in for reruns.

Six seasons of Seinfeld are still to be released, and these sets will include some of the best-known episodes from the golden years of the show. There are plenty of nuggets in the first three seasons as well. These are carefully created DVDs -- I can't wait for the rest.

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