My Boys: Complete First Season [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Thanks to a marathon TBS aired last year around Oscar time, I finally got to see some back-to-back episodes of the TBS original series My Boys. But not all of them. Just enough to get me hooked on the show.

Thanks to the Sony DVD release of My Boys - The Complete First Season, I can finally watch all 22 episodes from the show's brilliantly funny first season completely unfettered. The marathon, of course, was just an appetizer. With this Season One DVD, you get the main course with all the fixins. My Boys - The Complete First Season is a 3-disc set featuring all 22 episodes in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) video; English 5.1 audio; English, French subtitles; Closed Captioning; plus a host of bonus features including featurettes, deleted scenes and more.

My Boys stars lovely Jordana Spiro (who sounds like Kristen Johnston from 3rd Rock from the Sun) as Penelope Jane "PJ" Franklin, a tomboy sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times whose life is surrounded by men, both professionally and personally. Playing the pivotal roles of PJ's guy friends are Kyle Howard (The Drew Carey Show) as rival sportswriter and former love interest Bobby; Reid Scott as pretty boy radio DJ Brendan; Michael Bunin as odd and quirky memorabilia store owner Kenny; Jamie Kaler as excitable skirt-chaser Mike; comedian Jim Gaffigan as PJ's married, sarcastic and sardonic older brother Andy; plus Kellee Stewart as Stephanie, PJ's best gal pal, who schools her on the fine art of modern dating. Look for memorable guest appearances from Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) and Nicole Sullivan (The King of Queens) as Kenny's hipster friend Trouty and very pregnant girlfriend Kimmie.

Though presented from a female point of view, My Boys, replete with baseball analogies (narrated by Spiro) and naturally witty dialogue exchanged over ritual poker games and drinks at the bar, offers plenty of fun and entertainment to both male and female viewers. Not to mention great production values, not unlike those of Sex and the City. My Boys - The Complete First Season is definitely a welcome addition to any TV DVD collection which I highly recommend. Here are the episodes, plus extras and how the discs will be configured:

Disc 1:

Pilot

Mixed Signals

Team Chemistry

The Slump

The Show

Clubhouse Cancer

Free Agent

Superstar Treatment

Disc 2:

Managers

Take One for the Team

When Heroes Fall From Grace

Released

Baseball Myths

Promise of a New Season

Off Day

Ethics

Disc 3:

Dirty Little Secrets

Second Chances

Douchebag in the City

States of Hoffman

110 Percent Solution

Rome, If You Want To

Special Features:

* Life in the Press Box: Behind the Scenes Featurette

* P.J.'s Rules for Sports and Dating: Featurette

* No Crying in Baseball: Outtakes and Bloopers

* Favorites in Sports: Montage of Sports from the Show

* Sports Quiz with Cast and Crew

* Riding the Pine: Deleted Scenes

* Bonus Minisodes: Diff'rent Strokes "Mr. T and mr. T"

Silver Spoons "Me and Mr. T"

My Boys has instantly become one of my favorite tv series. I downloaded the complete season 1 on Itunes and came instantly addicted to the series.

It follows the life of Penelope Jane "PJ" Franklin, a Chicago Sun Times sportswriter and tomboy who is surrounded by men in her work arena and her personal life. Her boys include:

-Andy, PJ's older married brother whose constantly complains how his wife Meredith keeps a short lease on him

-Brendan (nickname Brando), one of PJ's oldest best friends and good looking radio DJ who constantly crashes at PJ's house

-Bobby, newcomer to the group and rival sportswriter as well as one of PJ's former love interest

-Kenny, owns a memorabilia sports store

-Michael, who worked in sports front office/works at Kenny's store

To balance out all this testosterone is PJ's best girl friend, Stephanie, whom she met in journalism school. Stephanie is always trying to get PJ to dress like a woman not a tomboy all the time. She is also helps her navigate the world of dating.

This series is told from PJ's point of view on the single life and the modern dating world with baseball analogies used through out. PJ and her boys all get together at PJ's place for their weekly poker game or at their neighborhood bar, Crowleys.

This series reminds me of Sex and the City with the female lead who narrates the show and takes place in a big city. The difference is that she has friends that are mostly guys instead of girlfriends. I enjoy the witty batter exchanged between her and her boys. There are definitely some laugh out loud moments. It is also about real life and making friends. These boys are like her family and she loves them. She stands up for them and also tells them when they are acting like idiots which is pretty often with this group. They would do the same for her.

Season 1 left us with a cliffhanger. Stephanie and PJ had been planning a couples Italy trip. Stephanie had her date. Who is PJ going on the Italy trip with? She had more than 3 possibilites so it is anybody's guess. I can't wait to find out when the new season starts in June.

What a find! Don't even ask me what network this show airs on, because I don't know. I just rented it after reading good reviews, and I see what all the fuss is about. My Boys can compete with just about any comedy that has aired on the major networks in recent years. It's laugh-out-loud funny, but in a subtle, mellow, uncontrived way that puts most sitcoms to shame. The acting and writing are superb, and overall it's just totally charming.

I could really do without the cheesy sports-analogy voiceovers, but aside from that I think it's pretty much a perfect show, and every episode leaves me wanting to watch another. I hope the DVD release helps it to find a wider audience, because I think it's a shame that I hadn't even heard of this great series.