Review-”Becker: The Second Season”

• Release Date: February 3, 2009
• Publisher: Paramount
• Price: $24.99 on Amazon.com (Buy It)
• Rating: Not Rated
• Run Time: 526 minutes
• Special Features: None
• Starring: Ted Danson, Shawnee Smith, Hattie Winston, Alex Desert, Terry Farrell
• Genre: Comedy

Before Gregory House, Dr. John Becker was TV’s crankiest doctor. For six seasons, Ted Danson played the very angry Becker, who constantly complained about just about everything. Overall, I would say the second season was just slightly above average. It certainly isn’t bad by any means but it doesn’t really distinguish itself from other sitcoms.

About the only difference between “Becker” and other sitcoms is that each show spends a significant amount of time in two locations. In addition to Becker’s time at his office, he also spends a lot of time at a diner. Time is pretty much evenly distributed between the two locales but I greatly prefer the diner scenes. They are much funnier than the ones in the doctor’s office, which tend to be a bit more dramatic at times. Overall, I’d rate the comedy as slightly above average. Some episodes are standouts while others have little to no humor. Such is the life of a sitcom.

Other than Ted Danson, I had never seen any of the other actors before (and never even heard of them). Still, for a relatively unknown cast they do a pretty decent job. Writing is a bit weak but the actors do what they can with the material. Danson may actually be the weak link in the cast since he is a bit over the top and even a little obnoxious at times.

“Becker” is a relatively new sitcom (season two aired during the 1999-2000 season) so video quality is pretty good. The quality isn’t spectacular by any means but comedies never really look all that great anyway. Audio quality is also good, though hardly spectacular.

Unfortunately, no extras are included and I am a bit disappointed since it really isn’t that old of a show. Since the season aired in 99-00, I’m sure there are some deleted scenes or interviews in the CBS vault that could have been included. The good news is that the set is only listed at $24.99, a very good price for 24 episodes. At that price, I can somewhat forgive Paramount for not including any extras.

“Becker” is basically your average sitcom, some episodes are great while others are stinkers. The decision on whether to purchase or not should come down to one thing, do you love traditional sitcoms? If you do, I’m sure you’ll get more than enough laughs out of “Becker” to justify a purchase. If you don’t, you probably won’t really enjoy “Becker” all that much.