The Wayans Bros.: The Complete First Season (1995) - DVD Review

Film:
DVD:

Created by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Leslie Ray, David Simon
Starring Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, John Witherspoon, Lela Rochon

Features:

• All thirteen first season episodes

Released by: Warner Brothers.
Rating: NR.
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; episodes appear in their original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Hardcore fans of the show or of the Brothers Wayans should own.

As sitcoms based around existing comedic personalities go, this one is looser than most. The basic conceit is thin enough that it allows the two brothers to get up to just about any kind of shenanigans that they desire, doing everything from bringing Gary Coleman in (playing himself) to sell pomade to getting Sherman Hemsley to make them the supers of their building.

The show's plenty manic enough for those who enjoy the Wayans Bros' work, though the last work of theirs I really enjoyed was the original Scary Movie. And Marlon definitely has the edge over his brother: Shawn holds his own fairly well, but anybody who can fly back and forth from making Dungeons and Dragons to work on Requiem for a Dream at the same time is a force to be reckoned with. Overall, though, the show doesn't break any new sitcom ground, nor was it necessarily meant to.

This is the only bare bones entry in the current wave of Warner Brothers Television titles. It would have been nice to have a commentary track from the brothers, or their co-creators. Hell, even one of those retrospective docus would have been a decent enough touch. Considering this show lasted five seasons, it wasn't anything to sneeze at, so you'd think they would have put something on here. But alas.

This show isn't the epitome of The Legion of Wayans bringing the funny, but it will do in a pinch. If you love the guys, you might consider picking this up, but the lack of features should truly give you pause. Rental is probably perfectly acceptable in this instance.

• Buy it from Amazon.
• Buy more Wayans stuff from Amazon.