TV Land | 2010 | 215 mins. | NR
Having grown up watching Valerie Bertinelli on One Day at a Time, and being a fan of fan of Betty White for as long as I can remember, meant that convincing me to sit down and screen the first season of TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland didn’t take much of a hard sell. The series’ concept—three single older women living together in a house with a feisty octogenarian will likely bring to mind The Golden Girls, a mid-eighties staple of the NBC lineup. At first glance, Hot in Cleveland might seem like a blatant ripoff of the earlier show, even bringing in Betty White to play the octogenarian.
However, a closer look at the show reveals that while creator Suzanne Martin (a former writer on Frasier) isn’t doing anything particularly new, she is bringing some fun and interesting sensibilities to the table. The series finds a trio of middle-age women stuck in Cleveland after their Paris bound flight is forced to make an emergency landing. The women, determined to get out of the rut their lives have become end up roommates in the house by Melanie (Bertinelli), the recently divorced, and most sensible of the trio. The house comes with a caretaker, Elka (White), a sharp-tongued, Polish woman who seems to have a taste for marijuana. With an opportunity for a fresh start, Melanie, Joy (Jane Leeves), known as the “Eyebrow Queen of Hollywood”, and Victoria (Wendie Malick) an actress, still smarting because the soap opera she was a part of for 27 years has been canceled, begin life in Cleveland.
The casting is perfect. Creator Suzanne Martin turned to two Frasier alums in Leeves and Malick; and in Bertinelli she got someone who has been a television favorite since the 1970’s All three women have great chemistry, and it seems as though they could be great friends off screen as well. As for Betty White, she a pro, and shows it here. She is most often brought in to deliver a zinger with a deadpan delivery and exit stage right. Some of her best moments of the season come in her scenes with the great Carl Reiner, who plays her boyfriend. One can only hope he’s around during the second season.
Hot in Cleveland: Season is strictly for laughs, sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle. The series takes classic sitcom shenanigans and interjects a dose of the modern; a great example comes when Melanie plays the classic “nosy mother” routine, but instead of searching a diary, she winds up reading her son’s (who’s visiting from college) texts and with some prodding from Joy, jeopardizes the relationship between her son and his girlfriend. The series really feels like a throwback to the network sitcoms of the late 80s and early 90s, right down to the bevy of guest stars including Tim, Hal Linden, Susan Lucci, Huey Lewis, and John Schneider among others. These supporting roles never feel like stunt casting and the experience the actors bring to the table is a shot in the arm for the series.
With a first season of just ten episodes, I found myself wanting more. Each episode provides solid laughs, even if it doesn’t change the face of television. With twenty episodes lined up for the second season, and a guest list said to include Mary Tyler Moore, Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Griffith, Illeana Douglas, Jack Wagner and Bonnie Franklin, Hot in Cleveland should be even more fun.
The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer isn’t the greatest. Color levels are warmer than they should be, with bleeding occurring on occasion. Detail is moderate, while compression artifacts occasionally become an issue. There is a sizable amount of aliasing.
The English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track is a pumped up version of the accompanying standard English Stereo track. A dialogue driven show, the series is largely front loaded with surrounds occasionally getting some action during an in-studio location scene or when the disposable soundtrack kicks in.
The second disc features three, very brief, behind-the-scenes featurettes titled “Set Tour,” “We Love Our Age,” and “How’d They Get So Hot?” each focusing on the set, the characters, and the wardrobe respectively. A short blooper reel and the complete “Lady Pants” commercial from the accompanying episode are also included.
Most interesting is the original “Pilot” episode, shown in full-frame. For the most part it’s the exact same show as featured on the series, but is a bit longer and some minor plot points are changed. Also included is the pilot episode of TV Land’s new series Retired at 35. The only memorable aspect is how drastically different Jessica Walters is here compared to Arrested Development. In short, I don’t have much faith in it.
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