SEX AND THE CITY: THE COMPLETE 4TH SEASON - DVD review

On television, situation comedies or better known as sitcoms, are a dime a dozen. Many come and go without anyone noticing, causing hardly a ripple in TV-land. Only those with the staying power to continue generating laughs for weeks on end throughout an entire season are remembered. Anyone can identify powerhouse sitcoms like "Seinfeld", "Friends", "Frasier" and "Cheers" in a minute but who remembers the bad ones? Can you name one? Exactly! It was like they never even existed. Every fall season, the major networks bring a slate of new sitcoms to our living rooms but chronic low ratings leave most of them by the wayside by mid-season. With its sixth season starting next month (June 22nd), HBO's phenomenal sitcom, "Sex and the City" possesses both the staying power of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani plus the freshness of spring flowers in Central Park. So what is the secret to its success? If you guessed sex, you are only partly right. Sex definitely sells but "SatC" brings more substance to its comedic elements than the usual sitcom does. While the major TV networks scrutinize language and content carefully because of federal restrictions, HBO is fortunate not to be constrained by such limitations to the creativity of its programs. Therefore, "SatC"'s main advantage is its comedic content, which can be pushed into forbidden areas where the other major networks are not able to tread.

"Sex and the City", the brainchild of long-time television writer/director/creator Darren Star, has been a Sunday night staple at HBO for the past five years. Star, the creator of such TV hits as "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place", has definitely found his niche on the pay-channel network.

In season four, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her friends Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) meet new guys, get caught in more hilarious situations and have to deal with their previous and present relationships. All the usual suspects make a return, including Carrie's on-again-off-again beau Mr. Big (Chris Noth), Carrie's ex-boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett), whom she cheated on with Big, Charlotte's husband Trey (Kyle MacLachlan), Miranda's ex, Steve (David Eigenberg) and Carrie's old friend Stanford (Willie Garson).

Several major story arcs develop during season four. Biggest of all is Miranda?s unplanned pregnancy after an equally unplanned afternoon with Steve, who just had a testicle removed because of cancer. Carrie and Aidan get back together after a chance meeting at Steve's bar opening. Due to Carrie's past transgressions, their new relationship hits several bumps along the way. Charlotte quits her job at the gallery and chooses domestication over a career as she and Trey tries to rebuild their marriage and also have a baby. Unfortunately, with Miranda getting impregnated by Steve, the "uni-ball"(!) guy, Charlotte finds it hard to cope with her own difficulty in getting pregnant. Samantha, for all her hilarious sexual escapades, seems to be the odd one out among the quartet without any meaningful character development. I totally enjoy Samantha's time on screen, as I know she will always have something kinky or risqué to say and do. However, I feel that it is such a mistake for the series to keep Samantha's role from becoming more than a nymphomaniac and a comic relief.

The four main cast members are so comfortable with their roles, it is a delight to watch them interact with each other on the screen. Although Sarah Jessica Parker has been rewarded with several comedy acting awards for this show, it is Kim Cattrall that steals the show with her comedic rendition of the sex-crazed Samantha.

Season four did not get off to a good start. In the first episode, the series' singles theme got tiresome very fast. The characters' constant obsession about being a thirtysomething single woman and asking the perennial question, "Will I ever find my soul mate?" just comes across as whiny and old. Thankfully, the stories get more interesting in after that when each character is embroiled in their own multi-episode storylines. Much like David E. Kelley's "Ally McBeal" which just faded off into never-never-land when the same theme keeps getting recycled from one season to another, hopefully "Sex and the City" will keep its stories fresh and imaginative for many more seasons to come.

This Season Four release comes in a 3-disc set containing 18 30-minute episodes plus a sliver of DVD extra features. Here is a list of the episodes on each disc:

Disc 1: "The Agony and the 'Ex'-tacy", "The Real Me", "Defining Moments", "What's Sex Got To Do With It?", "Ghost Town", "Baby, Talk is Cheap"
Disc 2: "Time and Punishment", "My Motherboard, My Self", "Sex and the Country", "Belles of the Balls", "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda", "Just Say Yes"
Disc 3: "The Good Fight", "All That Glitters....", "Change of a Dress", "Ring a Ding Ding", "A 'Vogue' Idea", "I Heart NY"

Video:
"Sex and the City: The Complete Fourth Season" is presented in its original fullscreen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. For such a recent production, the video doesn't look terribly attractive. Unlike all the attractive people featured on the show, the video quality just comes across as rather ordinary-looking. Knowing that HBO is capable of better video transfers (see "Band of Brothers"), it is a mystery why "Sex and the City" did not get the same detailed treatment.

Audio:
I used to get turned off by DVDs that did not have the words "Dolby Digital 5.1" or "DTS 5.1" printed on its cover. Call me spoilt but when such technologies are available, why not take advantage of them. However, I've come to realize that not all films need or demand such a treatment. As expected, action films are in the forefront of delivering discrete channel audio to enhance the auditory experience. For dialogue-heavy films, channel separation is not as important. With its Dolby Surround 2.0 audio mix, "SatC" delivers enough to satisfy even the most demanding audiophiles.

Extras:
Like the previous three season releases of "Sex and the City", season four is rather thin on DVD extras. Featuring just three audio commentaries by executive producer Michael Patrick King, there doesn't seem to be any extra effort on the part of HBO to include more meaningful extras. As for the commentaries themselves, King tries hard to let the viewers know that they work just as hard on this series as in any other movies. As interesting as it may be, it is very hard to imagine anyone who purchases this DVD set, will listen to the commentaries even once.

--Miscellaneous--
A very nice transparent and foldable DVD case holds the three discs in place.

Entertainment Value:
Grouped together with a few of the most successful comedy series of the decade, "Sex and the City" is small screen comedy at its finest. It is smart, stylish and most important of all, funny. Its continued success and staying power is great testament to the caliber of its writers and actors. Season Four is made up of a solid slate of 30-minute episodes, full of brilliant comedic moments and touching storylines that goes beyond the usual sitcom fare.