STUDIO: Shout! Factory | DIRECTORS: David Mirkin, Tony Dow, Dwayne Hickman, Tony Down and others | CAST: Chris Elliott, Bob Elliott, Elinor Donahue, Brian Doyle-Murray, Robin Riker, Sam Robards
RELEASE DATE: 9/18/12 | PRICE: DVD $59.97
BONUSES: “Paleyfest 2000” panel; featurettes with crew, executives, celebrity fans; writer featurette; episodes without laugh tracks; audio commentaries for each episode
SPECS: NR | 14 hours | Comedy | 1.33:1 widescreen | Dolby Digital StereoRATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie
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Chris Elliott is a hard comedian to categorize. The characters he created for the NBC Letterman show were odd, abrasive and very, very funny. His humor is an odd combination of intentionally idiotic physical comedy and razor-sharp lampoons (of “drop-in” bits on talk shows, ridiculous TV and music phenomena, and sitcom clichés). Enter his cult television series from the early 1990s, Get a Life.
The show lasted for only two seasons on the then-still-fledgling Fox network, but it has garnered a major cult following since it was axed by Fox in 1992. Four VHS tapes and two DVDs (consisting of the same eight episodes as the tapes) were previously released by Rhino, but this six-disc box represents the long-awaited release of the entire series.
Chris Elliott stars in Get A Life.
The good news is that the series is as good as most of us remember it being. There are scant few bad episodes in this series, which found Elliott playing a stubbornly dim-witted 30-year-old paperboy who lives at home with his parents (played by sitcom staple Elinor Donahue and Chris’s real-life dad, Bob Elliott, of the legendary radio comedy team Bob & Ray).
The few episodes that do resound with a crash can be excused because the bulk of the shows (35 of ’em!) are still fresh, lively, and very weird. GAL prefigured the nasty, surreal humor found today in numerous cable series, mostly notably those on Adult Swim — where Elliott can currently be seen on Eagleheart.
Online cultists debate which GAL episode is “the best,” but three stand head and shoulders above the rest: “Zoo Animals on Wheels” finds Chris starring in a wonderfully idiotic mash-up of Cats and Starlight Express; “SPEWEY and Me” is without question the most savage spoof of E.T. to ever appear in the mainstream; and “The Big City” is a wholly unique episode derived from the film Nothing Sacred, in which Elliott and his cast mates walk among an eye-popping array of back-projected, color street-level footage of Times Square in the Fifties.
Thus, fans of Elliott and the show can rejoice in this box’s appearance, replete with the original music that was used in the broadcast versions of the episodes, including REM, James Brown, The Bee Gees, Lulu, Sly and the Family Stone, Depeche Mode, and Cream. More troublesome, though, are the many supplements and audio commentaries included here (about a half a day’s worth!), all of which are centered around the show’s co-creator/director/scripter David Mirkin, and none of which contain contributions from either Chris or Bob Elliott, or the show’s other creator, Adam Resnick (Cabin Boy).
Mirkin apparently decided that he should be the one to hold forth on the GAL box set. And hold forth he does — and hold forth, and hold forth…. All told, Mirkin appears as the main speaker in the nearly three hours of original on-screen featurettes included in the set and is front and center on the audio commentaries for all 35 episodes. One in fact reaches the third disc before Mirkin is joined by other commentators; in this case, GAL scripters Steve Pepoon and Jace Richdale.
Mirkin is a very talented individual, as is witnessed by his long-term work on The Simpsons and his wonderful scripting and direction on GAL episodes, including “The Big City.” However, Elliott’s skewed sensibility was clearly the driving force behind GAL, and his is the presence most fans of the series would’ve wanted on the supplements.
As it stands, the featurettes are most interesting when the other scripters, or GAL fans James L. Brooks (Broadcast News) and Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids), speak about the show. A panel held at the Paley Center in NYC back in 2000 is illuminating, but again the lion’s share of the clips from the event included here find Mirkin speaking, overshadowing the cast members who attended and the two GAL scripters who went on to prominence, Bob Odenkirk and filmmaker Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich).
We will probably never know what prevented Elliott, his father and Resnick from contributing to this collection. This reviewer saw Elliott and Resnick announce during a Q&A at NYC’s Anthology Film Archives back in July 2005 that they were indeed in the midst of recording audio commentaries for a GAL box set at that time.
In any case, the fact that the series is finally legally available trumps all considerations of the Mirkin ego-fest found in the supplements. Get a Life was one of the strangest and funniest sitcoms to ever air on a non-cable network, and it has long deserved to be available to the DVD-buying public.
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You say “Mirkin apparently decided that he should be the one to hold forth on the GAL box set” but you have no basis for this idea. I read in another interview that Chris decided, for whatever reason, not to be involved in this release.
You need to do at least a tiny bit of research before making accusations, Grant. Mirkin has said in multiple reviews that Elliott was asked to contribute but declined. For example: this Mirkin quote about Chris from Paste – “Shout! asked him to do the DVD and for whatever reason—that’s sort of his answer, whatever it is—he didn’t wind up participating.” That took about 2 minutes to find and would have prevented you from making your idiotic assumption. As for Mirkin’s commentaries, Moviemet said this: “The audio commentary on the pilot episode “Terror on the Hell Loop 2000” is one the best DVD extras of the year…Mirkin is an absolutely phenomenal commentator…” Finally the AV Club’s Nathan Rabin said “Mirkin obviously loves and respects the hell out of Elliott”. If you want to try and do this for a living you need to up your game and check some facts, Grant.
ED GRANT REPLIES:
Thanks for the feedback, folks. I’d be very interested to read a direct quote from Elliott (or Resnick), *not* Mirkin, confirming that he didn’t want to participate. A reason for that choice would be even more interesting, since the show was his brainchild, along with Resnick and, of course, Mirkin.
As mentioned in my review, I was present at a screening of CABIN BOY at the Anthology Film Archives in July 2005, when he and Resnick did a lengthy Q&A after the film and noted that they were doing a set of audio commentaries for the DVD box set (I believe they had already started doing them by that point), so it would appear that both men DID definitely want to be part of the proposed DVD box. Why do numerous audio commentaries if you plan on scrapping them?
Chris even specified that the commentary for “The Prettiest Week of My Life” episode had him, Resnick, and the members of the “Handsome Boy Modeling School” hip hop duo discussing the episode, so he was QUITE buzzed about contributing to the box in 2005. It was brought up by Elliott that Mirkin had also been doing a series of commentaries — this remark was made with a kind of scoffing laughter (take from that what you will).
I did look for any comments Elliott might’ve made online concerning the “GAL” the series or the DVD box before I wrote this piece. There is an interview on the Suicide Girls website in which Chris says “Yeah, well you’ll get nothing out of David Mirkin from me [laughs]. I won’t comment on him [laughs].” On the topic of whether Mirkin’s work on “The Simpsons” drew on his work for “GAL,” Chris responded: “Well he’ll spin it in some way but I won’t even go towards him. That has nothing to do with the Simpsons, my experience with David has totally to do with just Get a Life.” The interview can be found here: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/1713/Chris-Elliott/
To further enforce the Mirkin-centric nature of the box, I need only point you to two items: the fact that the Paley Center presentation was indeed edited down, as I indicated above, to focus primarily on Mirkin’s telling of stories that are found elsewhere on the box (several stories are repeated by Mirkin in different supplements). Also, please do consult the credits for the box. The only one you need concern yourself with is the Executive Producer credit. The EP was none other than Mr. Mirkin.
Hi Ed,
I head up production at Shout Factory and can easily clear up this savage mystery. Much like our previous deluxe boxsets (Larry Sanders, Freaks and Geaks, Barney Miller, The Sarah Silverman Program, Steve Martin The Television Stuff, the list goes on) we reached out to the primary creative forces of Get A Life to produce as much stellar bonus content as possible. So you will find it as no surprise when I tell you that yes we did speak with Chris and Adam on several occasions and yes David was in on many of these calls. It was friendly and exciting. We just couldn’t make it work in time. It happens all the time. That’s production for you.
Glad to clear this up.
On with the fun.
Grant, I hope you read the comment from Shout! above. You were dead wrong again. But with your journalistic methods I’m sure this happens to you many times a day. Again maybe taking 5 minutes calling or emailing Shout and asking instead of implying Mirkin is a liar would have been a better way to go but you continue to have an aversion for checking actual facts. But since you seem to want to go the name calling route which would you prefer – incompetent or libelous? Elliott was asked to participate – now confirmed by 2 sources who were actually there and not just making things up in their heads.
Also you seem to be completely ignorant of the business. The executive producer of a series often executive produces the extras on the DVD (and Mirkin was the sole exec producer of the series). It’s hardly a revelation. You know it’s kind of good to have one of the people around who made the show great to begin with make the extras great too. That seems to be Shout’s philosophy. And again the overwhelming majority of extremely positive reviews for the extras seems to back up their process.
Finally, in regards to the Paley Center piece, the DVD clearly states you can see the entire interview at the center and so, last week, I did just that and the only things cut from the longer piece were all David Mirkin NOT from other speakers. (except for a very short audience question that had nothing to do with Get a Life) So to say that it was edited down to focus on Mirkin is a blatant lie. It was edited so there was LESS of him. So again, you make an accusation, do no research and are dead wrong. And also again, the word ‘libelous’ comes to mind.
This is not the way a professional interested in even a basic level of quality would work. I realize this is the internet and it is ‘fun’ to cause trouble and attack people but at least try and have some tiny basis in fact.
ED GRANT REPLIES:
Willy,
I fail to see how expressing an opinion in a review and citing facts is “libelous.” You appear to be taking this review and my subsequent response very personally. I’m not sure why that is.
Brian from S!F should have the last word on the subject. I am perfectly willing to accept Brian’s statement, and do thank him for his feedback. Shout! Factory does a great job of putting classic TV on disc, and I will accept that Elliott and Resnick were contacted and chose not to appear on the box set because of scheduling problems.
I stand by my review: the shows are wonderful, and thus the box is valuable, but the supplements are predominated by one person. Though that one person was intimately tied up in the production of the show, he is not the individual that the show’s fans are clamoring to hear from. If I had concealed that very obvious fact from readers, I’d be lying, wouldn’t I?
As for the research side of things, I have already supplied my own recollection and one outside link to confirm that Elliott was very excited to participate (at one time) in the DVD box of “GAL.” Here are two more instances in which he mentioned the then already-finished commentaries that he and Resnick were doing. In this interview
http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2004028288_chriselliott25.html
published two years (2007) after I saw him announce that he and Resnick were working on commentaries (in 2005), he states “I’ve done commentary on the whole first season. So’s Adam Resnick. It’s being held up…. There’s some legal snafu that’s keeping it from the fans…”
In another article
http://www.avclub.com/articles/chris-elliott,13956/
published in 2005, Chris notes, “Adam and I actually did some commentary on the first season. Sony was supposed to be putting it out, but somebody else who will remain unnamed is halting the process.”
I have no idea what was done with these audio commentaries. As a fan of the show and of Elliott’s work, I thought it was very interesting to mention this fact, since the fans, again, would very much like to hear Elliott and Resnick’s own stories about the show’s production.
Nothing I’ve written constitutes an “attack” on anyone, merely a statement of opinion and some facts about a “missing” set of supplements that the fans would’ve most surely enjoyed.
As always, less is more. What is it that Mr. Mirkin says onscreen in one of the featurettes? “Everything I’m saying to you is total navel-gazing bullshit… Anything that’s deeper about it is just patting ourselves on the back in a ridiculous way. It’s crap, just crap….”
I agree with you thoroughly, David.
Ed
Grant, your ‘review’ and responses are filled with much more than opinion and facts. You were clearly attacking someone personally with completely fabricated, dead wrong lies that put them in a bad light and you are trying, still, to claim them as ‘facts’. I believe when that happens people should be held accountable.
Please try and comprehend the difference between opinion and lying and maybe you will no longer “fail to see” what you have done wrong. You said “Mirkin decided that he should be the one to hold forth”. That is a complete lie and a clear attack on Mirkin (that’s what libel is by the way in case you are still confused). Understand – a lie. It was in no way an opinion. It is in no way a fact. It is an attack.
When it was pointed out to you with a direct quote that Mirkin said that Elliott had been asked to participate, therefore NOT making it Mirkin’s decision, you then implied that Mirkin must surely be lying (that is libel again by the way). That is another attack. Apparently your personal dislike of this person is so great that you assume he stupidly would lie about something that is so easily confirmed. Finally you only acknowledge it must be true when someone else (Brian from Shout) confirms it instead of saying what an honest gentleman would say “I was wrong about my assumptions – first that Mirkin decided to do the DVDs alone and second that he wasn’t lying that Elliott was asked”. Instead you once again imply that the exec producer’s statement can’t be trusted. How is that not yet another attack, Grant? Can’t you see how ridiculously biased this continues to make you look. Like you have some personal vendetta. Every time you respond you seem to take the opportunity to try and denigrate Mirkin again.
The other example of a lie instead of an opinion is when you ‘hold forth’ with the pronouncement that Mirkin edited the Paley center footage to feature himself. This is another lie – not an opinion. You again make a negative accusation against someone without the slightest true knowledge of the situation, presenting it as a ‘fact’ which, again, is the definition of libel. Again, an attack.
You wonder why I keep coming back to discuss this? It is because, in all these cases, you continue to refuse to acknowledge what you did (and continue doing). You haven’t responded directly to my clear examples of your lies. You just call them opinions and facts but they are lies and it concerns me greatly that you continue to seem unable to understand the difference.
You also keep pointing out that Elliott recorded tracks in 2005. No one is arguing that. There are many possible reasons these have not seen the light of day. According to your quote, Elliott said Sony was going to put that out – this is a Shout release so there could be rights issues. But why not just say in your ‘review’: “It’s clear Elliott wanted too much money for his commentary track and probably another $100,000 just to appear on the extras.”? That would be the same kind of character assassinating lie you made about Mirkin – or does that just seem like an opinion to you too.
Saying you did not enjoy Mirkin’s contribution to the supplements is an opinion (and a very small minority one I might add – the fan reviews seem to be very happy with the supplements). That is completely your right. I do agree with you that it is unfortunate that Elliott is not on there too and that, of course, fans wish he were. (He’s brilliant!) It’s fine to say that. But where did anyone suggest you should conceal that? By the way simply concealing something is not a lie, Grant. Again you don’t seem to understand what a lie is. A lie is making things up out of thin air. Like making up lies as to how the Paley center footage was edited and why Mirkin was on the DVD and not Elliott. And writing things like that is more than just being incompetent or a person of poor character – it is illegal.
I remain concerned that you have not acknowledged your multiple mistakes and misrepresentations and apologized to your readers (and maybe even to Mirkin for implying he is a liar who edited footage to more prominently feature himself but I’m sure you dislike him too much for that). You admitting to those errors is what should be the last word here.
Funny…I think Willy needs to “get a life.”
The editors of DiscDish have decided to close down the comments section for the Get A Life: The Complete Series review.
Of course, we support the use of the comments forum and a healthy exchange of thoughts and ideas among our readers. But in this case, a number of the posts have been written with what we perceive to be a mean-spirited and abusive tone which we don’t wish to encourage or endorse by allowing the forum to remain open.
As this comment will be the final post on the subject, the editors of DiscDish stand behind contributor Ed Grant’s review on Get A Life: The Complete Series. Like all the reviews that are posted on DiscDish, we find Ed’s piece to be informative and fair, and his opinions are presented in a manner that is both constructive and respectful.
Finally, we’d like to thank Brian at Shout! Factory for his informed and helpful contribution to the discussion!