With his wife attending school in London, and his daughter Raven Baxter (Raven) at design school, chef Victor Baxter (Rondell Sheridan) feels free to accept a position as White House Chef, taking along his teenage son, Cory (Kyle Massey). Naturally, it wouldn't be much of a show if Cory followed all the rules of the White House and stayed out of trouble, so each episode revolves around one of Cory's harebrained schemes (usually to make money), and the resulting mess they cause when they inevitably fail. Helping Cory out with his plans are school friends Newt Livingston (Jason Dolley), a not-too-bright surfer dude, and overly enthusiastic Meena Paroom (Majara Walsh). Keeping an eye on Cory is Samantha Samuels (Lisa Kushell), an assistant to the President, while young Sophie Martinez (Madison Pettis), the young daughter of President Richard Martinez (John D'Aquino), keeps getting the better of Cory and his schemes.

Cory in the House wasn't as bad as I feared it might be, primarily because it plays the farce angles of the stories at about mid-level. Sure, there are a lot of wild muggings and frenzied physical shtick from time to time, but for the most part, Cory in the House comes off a tad more grounded in traditional sitcom conventions than other similar shows (such as the awful The Suite Life of Zack and Cody). Combining several sitcom conventions that are as old as the hills (the fast-buck con artist, the "single" father raising a child, the hip fish out of water, with the White House serving as the ultimate Establishment symbol), Cory in the House at least is respectful to those conventions, giving the audience some fairly decent writing from time to time, while the actors keep things moving along at a good clip.

Here are the 4, twenty-two-minute episodes included in Cory in the House: All Star Edition:

Never the Dwayne Shall Meet
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson comes to the White House, and Cory has a fool-proof plan on how to make money with a exercise vending machine.

That's So In The House
Cory's sister Raven makes an appearance when the President decides to overhaul the uniforms of the tour guides for the White House. Cory is sure Raven can design them, but he may have to go in drag to convince everyone else.

Air Force One Too Many
When a Russian diplomat accepts an exclusive Air Force One jacket from the President, it's up to Cory to get back the original deed to Alaska, which he put in the pocket of the jacket.

Just Desserts
Meena's Bahavian national dessert, the nakishka, may be the perfect solution for Victor's troublesome menu for an important ceremony - that is, until Cory gets the recipes mixed up.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen video image for Cory in the House: All Star Edition is okay, but I did notice some compression issues and some blurring during the faster action scenes. Move it to the kid's room TV, and they won't notice a bit.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround Sound mix is way more system for this relatively inert soundtrack, but at least you won't have any trouble hearing the catchy theme song.

The Extras:
There are two short behind-the-scenes featurettes on both "The Rock" and Raven's visit to the show. Most little kids won't care about these kinds of extras.

Final Thoughts:
While certainly not original, Cory in the House: All Star Edition manages to be entertaining nonetheless, with a good sense of fun to the slightly more grounded and realistic proceedings (only slightly, mind you). Still, it's tough to recommend this particular DVD of the show, because after all, it's not a complete season box set or anything like that. Just four episodes to the disc, you can catch these particular shows anytime you want on your basic cable (my kids had already caught all of them before I put the disc in). And the bonuses certainly aren't enough of a draw to make you run out and get the disc. While the show is fine, the Cory in the House: All Star Edition disc should be a rental.