The Bernie Mac Show - Season 1
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood, Warren Hutcherson, Jamie Babbit, Reginald Hudlin, Lee Shallat Chemel, Robert Berlinger, John Fortenberry, Millicent Shelton, David Grossman (III), Ken Whittingham, Victor Nelli Jr., Ken Kwapis, Michael Spiller, Sam Weisman, Linda MendozaStudio: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Color, NTSC
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Running Time: 506 minutes
DVD Release: May 4th 2004
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DVD Review
The Bernie Mac Show offers some of the funniest parenting on television--and some of the most honest. Stand-up comedian Bernie and his wife, Wanda (Kellita Smith), have taken in his sister's three kids--preschooler Bryana (impish Dee Dee Davis), grade-schooler Jordan (gangly Jeremy Suarez), and teenager Vanessa (deadpan Camille Winbush)--while his sister goes through rehab. Since Wanda is an executive vice-president, Bernie becomes a stay-at-home dad, putting him and the kids in a state of near-constant comic warfare.
The Bernie Mac Show uses parenting issues as a launching pad for stories that start simple but escalate out of control. In one episode, Bernie realizes that Bryana and Jordan rank Vanessa's authority higher than his; after failing to assert himself as top dog of the house, he tries to manipulate the situation and put Vanessa in charge of discipline. When Bryana overhears Bernie using the "N-word" and repeats it at school, Bernie finds his whole personality under the scrutiny of the family's social worker. Regardless of the topic, Bernie finds a way to address problems without knuckling under to sitcom clichés. The Bernie Mac Show finds its humor not simply in these situations, but in all the details that erupt from them; every character is given multiple dimensions, allowing them to be constantly surprising. The show's skilled writing staff knows how to cram an amazing amount of story into each episode. And Bernie himself has crafted a persona that is both absurd in his bravado and self-mythologizing and deeply real in his emotional complexity, flipflopping from childish grandiosity to mature judgment. It's an impressive feat, all the more so because every episode is ingeniously funny. --Bret Fetzer
User Reviews
Watch this show - Rating: 5/5
Perhaps one of FOX's most underrated shows (next to Arrested Development), The Bernie Mac Show is a gem of a comedy series that panders to no one. Using parenting as a background (which comes off more sucessful here than on ABC's My Wife and Kids, but is still a well written comedy), the show goes off in wonderful tangents that make you laugh. The pilot episode started it off with the line "I'm going to beat them in the heads until the white stuff shows." Not a line Ward Cleaver or Bill Cosby would've said, but is none the less a brilliant, and uncomfortable truth for many parents. The kids are three dimensional and don't spout sitcom cliches. Camille Winbush's Vanessa is every teenage girl who suddenly finds her world rocked, and hates every minute she spends with her Uncle, while the talented Jeremy Suarez is a perfect foil for Bernie. Even Dee Dee Davis, playing the youngest sibling, Bryana has more dimensions than most of the cast of Three and Half Men. The show is cleverly written and its great to see a "parent" on a TV show not know all the answers (which is, of course, the reason why Kellita Smith as Bernie's wife Wanda is there. She knows those kids, and knows their problems and knows, eventually, that Bernie will learn his lessons).
Like AD, Bernie Mac is shows what happens when creative freedom is given to a show. FOX may think in demographics, but Bernie Mac is one of those rare shows that crosses over to everyone. And that, I think, confuses them.
can't wait for season two on DVD.
the bernie mac show - Rating: 5/5
this is my fav show on t.v. . i missed season 1 so i was so happy when it came out on dvd. it is such a fresh hip show. my fav was sweet home chicago. buy it you will enjoy.
Hello America - Rating: 5/5
This is a funny show. Bernie Mac is a stand-up comedian living with his beautiful wife Wanda. When Bernie's sister is sent to rehab for drug use her three children: teenage adolescent Vanessa, asthmatic weaseling Jordan, and sweet, innocent Bryana, are taken into Bernie's custody. In each story, Bernie uses a parenting issue for a story.
This first release of The Bernie Mac Show on DVD contains all of the episodes of its first season. All 22 episodes are contained on 4 disks. It is full frame and list at 506 minutes.
1) Pilot - In the pilot, Bernie and Wanda are forced to take care of his sister's 3 children.
2) Now You Got It - Bryana's has a birthday, the kids get sick and Bernie is trying to get to Las Vegas.
3) The Main Event - After Bernie teaches Jordan a few moves, Jordan turns into a monster.
4) Bernie Mac, Ladies Man - Bernie becomes defensive about his masculinity.
5) Saving Bernie Mac - After Bernie takes the children to church, the Bishop and Deacon show up at Bernie's house.
6) Here To Stay - Wanda holds sex from Bernie until he realizes the kids are truly part of the family
7) A Christmas Story - The Mac's get a dog.
8) Starting School - Bernie finds the kids a school.
9) Hot Hot Hot - It's the hottest day of the year and Bernie just had the pool drained.
10) Wanda's Week Off - Wanda is getting a sense of motherhood and drops hints to Bernie about having a baby.
11) The King and I - Bernie lets Vanessa determine the discipline of Jordan and Bryana.
12) Hall of Fame - Jordan wants joining Vanessa and Bryana on the Bernie Mac Hall of Fame awards shelf and joins the football team.
13) Handle Your Business - Bernie is a week-long guest on a morning show.
14) Back in the Day - Bernie has aches, pains and is finding gray hairs and becomes that old age is catching up with him.
15) Lock Down - Bernie's house is broken into.
16) Mac 101 - Bernie tries to get each of the kids to do something with him, but they are all preoccupied with TV.
17) If I Were N-Riched Man - Bernie use inappropriate language at home and Bryana repeats the same at school.
18) Stop Having Sex - With out Bernie's knowledge, Vanessa has a pool party and invites kids of both genders.
19) Secrets and Lies - Bernie takes Jordan to a Clippers' game but tells Wanda they went to the hospital.
20) Kelly's Heroes - Bernie's friend Kelly breaks up with his girlfriend, stays with Bernie and then becomes a burden.
21&22) Sweet Home Chicago (part 1 & 2) - Bernie and the family go to Chicago to deal with his uncle's death
Nobody is funnier... - Rating: 5/5
....this is the greatest tv sitcom ever and it's still goin strong with new episodes...
they didn't wanna get Bernie a show at first...now he got one...and it was the best decision that tha networks made...
The pilot alone is worth tha money..get this DVD collection...you already know it's funny...it's Bernie Mac..."You Don't Understand!"
YAY! - Rating: 5/5
THIS IS THE FIRST SEASON OF THE SHOW. IT IS VERY FUNNY. THERE ARE MANY JOKES AND NO COMMERCIALS. MANY FUNNY EPISODES TO ENJOY.
