Raising Hope Season 1
DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:
I started to watch Raising Hope right after I was notified of an impending layoff at work. I watched the entire first season this week through Netflix- during lunch hour, workout routines and right before bed- on an ipad. I’ve told everybody I know about it and now several family members are hooked and watching the 1st season. I also let them all know when the next show airs so they won’t miss any more episodes. I hadn’t even heard of it until last week (Oct 2011) since we only watch what TV we record to avoid commercials and hadn’t seen any ads for this show.
I laugh out loud not only watching but at memories of the silly things that the characters do and say. I love it that Jimmy is a little naive but with the determination and love that make the most essential parts of a really great parent. He’s always worried that he’s not good enough and trying to do better and better for his little girl. I also love that his parents, Virginis and Bert don’t think much of themselves yet stay entirely true to eachother and love eachother and Jimmy and Hope in such a warm, loving way.
Maw Maw is in a class by herself. She is so fun and so unexpected but yet her actions are probably pretty realistic for an alzheimers/dementia patient. Virginia is a loving patient caregiver and they all do a great job patiently loving Maw Maw through the uncomfortable times even when she comes at them with a shot gun blast which happens more than once.
Anyway, with a layoff coming and a house that I have to fix up and sell pretty quickly it was certainly great to have something to laugh about. Thanks to the writers and the actors for bringing the joy and warmth of this show to the masses!
– Kathy Clayton
Greg Garcia has hit the jackpot twice in a row, first with his now classic, “My Name Is Earl” which took a look at the good heart nehind a man destined to be “trailer park trash” and now with the even more brilliant “Raising Hope.” “Raising Hope” is to Amigos des Garcia as “Frasier” was to Grub Street Productions. Where “Wings” was the middle school training for Angell, Casey and Lee, “My name is Earl” was excellent training for Greg Garcia It has been a long long time since a televisionn show of this quality has aired on television: cable, network or otherwise.
Garcia seems to have the knack of finding the humor in the normalcy of the lower middle class. In this case our protaginist is a twenty year old male who in his van on his way home from buying ice cream is met with a frantic young woman beating on his van windows screaming for help. Jimmy, our protagonist behind the wheel, sees a man chasing this young, lithe woman and she scrambles into the passenger side screaming, “Go Drive! Fast! Please!” After they get way and end up parked in front of the home he shared with his 37 year old parents, Burt who impregnanted his high school girlfriend Virginia, played by the well decorated Martha Plimpton, at a friends Sweet 16 party in high school,and their “Maw Maw”, an 84 year old senile great grandmother of Jimmy expertply played by the living legend, Cloris Leachman. From the passenger seat, in safety, the young girl says to Jimmy, “You saved my life. You’re a hero.” Then the smile; “And you’re cute.” She drags him into the back of his van, which begins to rock. When Jimmy awakens in the van the next morning and joins the family for breakfast, the lively yong girl is charming the family with how Jimmy was her hero. She excuses herself to the bathroom (in a delightful monologue expertly deliegvered by Plimpton on the quirks and personality of the toilet if she “means to do big business.”- how many of our own toilets have a personali8ty like our second cars?) Jimmy says he thinks he has found the reason for life: love. “By the way, does anyone know her name?” Cousin Mike says, “Lucy” as he points to the television behind Jimmy. They all turn and see the news report that this girl is a wanted serial killer; at least two ex-bpoyfriends have been killed. They interview a cop who describes her as sweet but very dangerous and the man who chased her the night before. Breathlessly, he goes into detail about how she tried to kill him, and how she escaped when she jumped into some guys van. He then looks directly into the news camera: Good luck to you, Dude. She was killing me cause I couldn’t remember her birthday. It’s May 12th; better buy a card now.”
Jaws drop around the breakfast table just as we hear the second required flush and Lucy returns to the table looking like a 19 year old dance major. Virgina stubs her Marlboro Light, lifts the telvision and smacks Lucy in the back of the head with it. “Call the cops,” she says.
– David Seaman
DVD Wholesale Main Features:
Actors: Martha Plimpton, Lucas Neff, Cloris Leachman, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward
Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 3
Rated: PG-13 Parents Strongly Cautioned
Studio: Fox
DVD Release Date: September 20, 2011
Run Time: 486 minutes
ASIN: B003UD7JDA
