Gossip Girl Season 4 and Everwood Season 4 DVD Reviews
“Everwood” has class and “Gossip Girl” is pure trash.
The popular “Dallas” wannabe/CW primetime soap opera series “Gossip Girl” returns for its fourth season and fans of the series can look forward to more over-the-top drama. Episode plots include: Serena and Blair in Paris, break-ups, romantic triangles galore, Jenny interviewing for a job with Tim Gunn, a birthday bash for Blair, backstabbings, relationship issues between Blair and Chuck, Bass Industries drama, a multi-person revenge plot against Serena, Ben in trouble with the law, Georgina’s child, Gossip Girl postings (obviously), and much more that I would rather not spoil. The fourth season contains 22 episodes total.
I know that teens eat this show up and that it has a devoted fanbase, but I simply can’t get into this show. It’s one of the trashiest shows outside of “The Jerry Springer Show.” The entire series is nothing more than insufferable, selfish rich characters feuding, arguing plotting against one another, and sleeping around. Why are we supposed to care about anything happening on screen when you can’t connect with a single character? Why are the sets so cheap? Why is there so much stock footage? Why are talented actresses and actors such as Leighton Meester, Michelle Trachtenberg, Kristen Bell (the narrator), Wallace Shawn, and Blake Lively slumming it on this show? These are the real questions that plagued me and I’m afraid I have no answer to them.
Summary: The seaosn 4 DVD set is strictly for “Gossip Girl” devotees. I can’t imagine this set winning over any new fans.
Video/Audio:
The widescreen picture quality is fine, but a little bit on the fuzzy side. I have to say that I am a bit puzzled as to why there isn’t a Blu-ray release though. Virtually every other current Warner TV series has a Blu-ray release.
If a TV show set (like “Gossip Girl” season 4) has a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, you can rest assured it delivers.
Extras:
* Deleted scenes (or scene) from episodes 1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, and 22.
* “Bisoux A Paris!”- A behind-the-scenes look at the shoot in Paris.
* “Exposing Gossip Girl: The Making Of Episode 418”
* An 8 1/2 minute gag reel.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is the former WB series “Everwood” which also plays like a soap opera, but isn’t trashy in the least. In fact, it’s a sappy relationship/family drama that primarily revolves around a single father (Dr. Andy), his son (Ephram), and his daughter (Delia) as well as Dr. Harold, his wife (Rose) and their daughter (Amy). Plots in this 22 episode season involve Ephram returning from a London trip, Rose recovering from Cancer, Ephram moving in with Bright and Reid, Bright and Hannah’s troublesome relationship, Ephram’s piano playing skills, Doctor cases, Rose wanting to adopt a child, Delia’s Bat Mitzvah, Edna and Irving renewing their vows, Andy’s father, and Jake in rehab. The two biggest storylines, however, are that Ephram is in love with Amy despite her being involves with Reid and that Andy is also in love with a woman in a relationship (Nina). Will there be happy endings for this final season?
Despite the fact that isn’t the type of show that I would normally watch, I have to give it credit for having its heart in the right place. Unlike the trashtastic “Gossip Girl,” the characters in “Everwood” actually seem like human beings (even with the overly dramatic scenarios they encounter). It doesn’t hurt that the series has a lot to say about family and relationships thematically.
In regards to the cast, there are two stand-outs for me. Emily VanCamp (Amy) and former “Party Of Five” star Scott Wolf (Jake). For me, these two characters were the most interesting in the series as they had a lot to go through emotionally. It made for solid TV for sure.
On the downside, I do feel like the writers tend to juggle far too many characters and storylines. It’s a very busy series and you may find yourself wanting to see less of stories like anything involving the annoying Brett character and Delia’s forced Bat Mitzvah subplot (I guess they had to give her something to do).
Summary: For a primetime soap opera, you can certainly do worse than “Everwood” (I’m looking at you “Gossip Girl”).
Video/Audio:
The widescreen picture quality is pleasant enough. For a TV series on DVD, you can’t really ask for a better transfer.
The Dolby Digital audio track is adequate. There’s not much going on audio wise except for dialogue and music so there’s not much going on with this track.
Extras:
* Deleted scenes (or scene) from episodes 1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 22. The highlight here is a downer of an alternate ending to the series finale.
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