Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

January 23, 2010 by Dennis Amith

A fun and hilarious sitcom on television about life after divorce. Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall have great chemistry and overall, a series that is crazy, sexy and fun!

DVD TITLE: Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season

DURATION: 424 Minutes (20 Episodes)

DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish and French Subtitles, Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions

RATED: TV 14 DLS

COMPANY: abc studios

RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2010

Created by Ed Yeager

Directed by James Burrows

Written by Ed yeager, Mark Gross, Julie Bean, Bill Daly, Ira Ungerleider, Ed Brown, Susan McMartin, Scott Parkin, Ric Swartzlander

Executive Producer: James Burrows, Ric Swartzlander, Ed YEager, Dionne Kirschner

Co-Executive Producer: Janae Bakken, Ira Undgerleider

Co-Producer: Mark Nasser

Associate Producer: Jeff Melnick

Consulting Producer: Matt Goldman

Music by Paul Buckley

Cinematography by Gary Howard Baum

Edited by Andrew Chulack

Costume Design by Susan Michalek

Starring:

Jay Mohr as Gary Brooks

Paula Marshall as Allison Brooks

Ryan Malgarini as Tom Brooks

Kathryn Newton as Louise Brooks

Al Madrigal as Dennis Lopez

Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Walter Krandall

Everything seems unfamiliar for suddenly single dad Gary Brooks (Jay Mohr) as he tries to navigate his increasingly complex life. A painting contractor, Gary is doing the best he can to share the upbringing of his 14-year-old son Tom (Ryan Malgarini) and 11-year-old daughter Louise (Kathryn Newton) with ex-wife Allison (Paula Marshall). Just as he’s trying to figure the etiquette involved in informing his ex of his gorgeous new girlfriend Vanessa (Jaime King), Allison drops a major bombshell on him—she’s engaged to their marriage counselor! Kids, romance and his ex-wife’s controlling ways keep Gary guessing as he gets used to his strange and uproarious new world.

Executive producer Ed Yeager (“Grace Under Fire, “Suddenly Susan”, “Dharma & Greg”, “Still Standing”) created a new sitcom titled “Gary Unmarried” which premiered in September 2008 on CBS.

The sitcom stars comedian Jay Mohr (“Ghost Whisperer, “Fastlane”, “Saturday Night Live”) who plays the role of Gary Brooks, a recently divorced father who is trying to get on with his life as single man, while trying to work around the boundaries and rules set by his ex-wife Allison (played by Paula Marshall, “Californication”, “Out of Practice”, “Cursed”). Both are parents to two young children in which they share custody. Louise (played by Kathryn Newton), who is intelligent and enjoys politics and playing music and a son Tom (played by Ran Malgarini), who is 14-years-old and facing puberty.

Meanwhile, both Gary and Allison try to move on with their own lives and have new partners. Gary has started dating single mother Vanessa (played by Jaime King, “Kitchen Confidential”, “The Spirit”, “Fanboys”) while surprisingly, Allison is dating their marriage counselor Dr. Walter Krandall (played by Ed Begley Jr., “Pineapple Express”, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”, “7th Heaven”). But while having new relationships and despite Gary and Allison having major differences with one another, somehow their divorce is bringing them closer.

Will both Gary and Allison find new loves or will they keep finding way to go to one another for comfort?

“Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season” contains 20 episodes on three DVD discs. Include are the following episodes:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – Pilot – Gary meets a new woman in his life while finding out his ex-wife Allison is engaged to their marriage counselor.
EPISODE 2 – Gary Gets Boundaries – Allison establishes boundaries when Gary undresses in front of her (as they were still married).
EPISODE 3 – Gary Marries Off His Ex – Gary imagines how life would be if he didn’t have to pay spousal support, so he wants Allison and Dr. Krandall to get married soon.
EPISODE 4 – Gary Get His Stuff Back – As Gary and Allison are trying to split their belongings, Gary wants his pool table while Allison wants the photo album of their nude photos together.
EPISODE 5 – Gary Breaks Up His Ex-Wife & Girlfriend – Gary is feeling uncomfortable when his ex-wife is becoming friends with his girlfriend.
EPISODE 6 – Gary Meets the Gang – Gary tries to meet Vanessa’s friends after Allison throws a party to get to know Dr. Krandall’s friends.
EPISODE 7 – Gary and Allison’s Restaurant – Gary takes Vanessa out to a restaurant and Vanessa complains that Allison has too much of a presence in their lives.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 8 – Gary and Allison Brooks – Gary and Allison pretend they are married when visiting a friend’s marriage vowal renewal ceremony but a divorcee at the ceremony catches Gary’s eye.
EPISODE 9 – Gary Gives Thanks – Gary and Allison argue of where Thanksgiving will be held.
EPISODE 10 – Gary Goes First – Gary and Allison compete against each other in introducing the children to their first experiences.
EPISODE 11 – Gary Toughens Up Tom – When Dr. Krandall forms a relationship with Tom, Gary then feels he must get closer to his son.
EPISODE 12 – Gary Dates Louise’s Teacher – Gary starts dating Louise’s teacher.
EPISODE 13 – Gary Moves Back In – Allison accidentally floods Gary’s home and thus she has to take Gary back into their house.
EPISODE 14 – Gary and Dennis’ Sister – Dary starts spending more time with Dennis’s sister.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 15 – Gary’s Ex-Brother-in-Law – Gary is audited by the IRS and goes to Allison’s brother for financial support.
EPISODE 16 – Gary Uses His Veto – Both Gary and Allison use their veto against each other when it comes to the children’s extracurricular activities.
EPISODE 17 – Gary Hooks Up Allison – Gary can’t stand how much time he is spending with his ex-wife that he feels obligated in finding her a new boyfriend.
EPISODE 18 – Gary and the Trophy – Gary’s bowling team makes it to the championship but when one of the members quits the team, he needs to find a replacement.
EPISODE 19 – Gary and His Half-Brother – Gary’s half-brother Mitch moves into the house.
EPISODE 20 – Gary Fixes Allison’s Garbage Disposal – Gary goes to Allison’s home to fix her garbage disposal but the two can’t help having sex with each other.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season” is presented in widescreen (1:78:1) – enhanced for 16×9 televisions. For the most part, picture quality is very good and noticed a fine layer of grain and compression artifacts are not so evident. Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Audio is center and front channel driven. Dialogue and music is quite clear and understandable. Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season” contains the following special features:

The Chemistry of Comedy – (15:10) Behind-the-scenes of the making of “Gary Unmarried”, editing of the script and filming in front of a live audience. The producers and talent talk about the show and how the show came about.
Planet Begley – (5:22) Ed Begley Jr. talks about his green life and showcasing his green eco-friendly for his character on the show and how he teaches the talent and crew on the show how to become green friendly. Also, a tour through Ed Begley’s eco-friendly home featuring how its powered by solar and wind turbine, a bike powered oven and his vehicle which is electric/man powered transport and how part of the home is made of recyclable parts. His organic vegetables, rain water being used to water the plants.
Tuesday on the Set with Jay – (5:15) Take a tour on the set of “Gary Unmarried” with Jay Mohr.
Gary Unhinged: Bloopers from Season One - (2:15) “Gary Unmarried” bloopers

“Gary Unmarried” is a hilarious and fun sitcom. When it was created by Eric Yeager, the idea was from how many of his friends were divorced and thus the idea to create a sitcom around it. Although, we have seen divorce covered in television before, not like this. About life after divorce and keeping a close and amicable relationship with your ex for the betterment of the children and ensuring both parents are still in their lives.

But its how both Gary and Allison try to move on with their lives after divorce and find other partners and learning that things are not as easy as they thought. And even though divorced, they still come to each to one another for support.

Overall, “Gary Unmarried” is a very fun sitcom. Although there are children in the series, its a more grown up sitcom as the show features some mature, sexual humor (allowable on television) and the chemistry between Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall works very well. Now, it’s important to note that creator/executive producer Eric Yeager and executive producer Ric Swartzlander have both left the series due to creative differences but CBS is dedicated to a second season which is currently now airing on television. So, it will be interesting to see where season two goes for both the characters of Gary and Allison.

As for the DVD, 20 episodes and you also get a good amount of special features. It would be interesting to have audio commentary included but overall, it was great to see features that show the making of “Gary Unmarried” behind-the-scenes but also the interaction with the live audience, especially the bloopers which show how fun the crew gets during filming. A crazy but atmosphere. Also, its no secret that Ed Begley, Jr. is hardcore into ecology but its great to see a feature on his life and how he lives included on the special features.

If you are a fan of the television series, looking for a fun comedy sitcom or a recent divorcee looking for a series to brighten up your mood, definitely give “Gary Unmarried – The Complete First Season” a try!