The show ran for six seasons, first on ABC, and then in syndication, ending only when Knight passed away in 1986. Rhino released the first season on DVD in November of 2004. DVDTalk has reviews of the first set by Matthew Millheiser and myself.

The Show
The series picked up right where it left off in the first season, with the characters essentially in the same spots they were when we last left them. But that wouldn't last very long. Almost immediately, the Rushes are thrown for a loop when 42-year-old Muriel discovers she's pregnant. This situation is mined for everything the show could get out of it, including whole episodes based around the baby.

While the baby held the promise of an annoying and unnecessary addition to the show, the arrival of April, the Rushes' niece from Delaware, delivered on it. A punk rock chick from the East Coast, she seems to exist only to annoy Henry and raise the show's "hip quotient." As a sitcom character, she is high on the "Cousin Oliver Scale," annoying in every way, but especially in terms of her voice, wacky clothes and personality. Thankfully, she only lasted two seasons on the show.

The rest of the season followed traditional sitcom plots, stories you've seen time and again, like a child thinking they are adopted or a bad houseguest. The only thing that makes them stand out is Knight's comedic ability, which remains as good as ever. Once again, his ability to deliver a stammer that makes his blustery character oh-so-human is put to terrific use. Had Henry Rush been played by anyone but Knight, this show might have lasted only a season.

Though established in the first season, the adversarial relationship between Henry and Monroe really came to the fore in this season. Monroe reached new levels of stupidity, which pushed Henry to new heights of aggravation. Once again, this part of the show relies on Knight's ability to boil, as he becomes increasingly frustrated with his daughters' foolish friend. Just listening to him explain why a kangaroo is a good security measure explains his character completely.

It's hard to say that any episode stands out more than any other one in this season, as they tend to follow the same pattern. The only dividing line in story quality is how much April is in any given episode. The less she's there, the better life is for everyone.

The DVDs
The 22 second-season episodes of "Too Close for Comfort" are distributed among three DVDs, which come packed in three ThinPak cases, housed in a slipcase. Featuring nice disc art, with headshots of Knight, Dussault and Bullock, the discs have full-framed animated menus, with options to view the episodes in a block or individually, and check out the special features. After selecting an episode from a text list, a menu featuring animated previews and titles for chapter stops inside each episode is presented. There are no language or subtitle choices and no closed captioning.

The Quality
The full-frame video on these discs is almost 25 years old, but looks pretty good, with only some slight softness marring the picture. Colors are consistent and well recreated, while the level of fine detail is impressive. The show looks its age, but it's held up well over time. Many of the problems seen in the first season DVDs seem resolved here.

The audio for the series is a simple Dolby 2.0 presentation of the original mono soundtrack. The mix is good, but not exactly dynamic, with a standard '80s sitcom sound.

The Extras
In promotional copy for the first season, the set was said to have interviews and more, but in reality, there was nothing in terms of extras. This time around, there actually are some extras and they are pretty good.

Screen-specific audio commentaries are included for four episodes, with Cornell and Van Valkenburgh providing commentary on "Who's Sara Now?" and "A Policeman's Life is Not a Happy One", and Dussault and Bullock chatting over "The Remaking of Monroe" and "My Unfavorite Martin." The pairings are natural, given their characters, and the conversations feature some very natural reminiscing. The actors can be a bit weak on details, asking what season they are watching and such, but they are enjoying talking about the show. Naturally, respects are paid to Knight, but there's quite a bit of behind-the-scenes info and gossip shared.

Disc Three also holds a seven-minute featurette with Bullock, Van Valkenburgh, Cornell and Dussault, shot during a nightclub promotion for the first-season release. Bullock, Van Valkenburg and Cornell have a seat for a reunion interview, covering similar ground to that covered in the commentaries, while Dussault joins the group as they meet the crowd, and watch the show on big screens in the nightclub. Time hasn't been kind to the ladies, though Cornell is still pretty hot.

The Bottom Line
The second season seemed like a nervous one for the creators, as they immediately grabbed for two of the oldest sitcom shake-ups, first, Muriel's pregnancy, and secondly, the introduction of a new family member, the annoying niece April. Neither was needed, and neither worked very well, though the pregnancy gave Muriel more focus in the series. The rest of the show was business as usual, and business was good for such a goofy show. This DVD set is a massive improvement over the first season, if only because of the actual inclusion of bonus material, instead of just the promise of such content. Nostalgia seekers should check this set out, though the curious may find their needs sated by a rental.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.