The King of Queens is a sitcom about the daily interactions of married New York couple, Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leah Remini) Heffernan, whose lives were disrupted when Carrie's father Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller) moved in with them. The series follows a basic format where Doug, Carrie, and Arthur manage to turn some everyday thing into some kind of sticky situation that is a bundle of laughs. Joining them for the ride are a variety of supporting characters, Danny Heffernan (Gary Valentine), Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt), Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), and Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams). For more details about this series refer to my reviews of season one, season two, season three, and season four.

The season begins with a goofy and absurd episode that borderlines weird. In "Arthur, Spooner", Carrie is put in charge of her first big project at work. She is assigned three underlings to work overnighters and prepare documents for a big case. Since she is working through the night, it means she and Doug won't see each other. Unfortunately for Doug, he can't sleep without Carrie next to him. And on one of those sleepless nights, he and Arthur accidentally fall asleep together while watching television. Soon Doug embarks on a variety of plots to get Arthur to sleep with him. The situation itself is weird, but the story is played out in a ridiculous manner. How Doug and Arthur treat their newfound relationship is a blast. In "Window Pain", the Heffernan's crazy neighbors, the Sacksky's, move out of the neighborhood. The new neighbors are the Ross's, a well-to-do couple who Carrie really wants to make a good impression with. Unfortunately, the natural dynamic between the Heffernan's leave an awful first impression. And Carrie is convinced she and Doug will make a good impression on the new couple. Of course, nothing works out as planned and her overzealous attempts only make it worse.

"Holy Mackerel" is an episode where the Heffernan's return to church. At the fish market, Doug and Carrie run into Father McAndrew (Joe Flaherty) and one thing leads to another and Doug promises they will attend church next Sunday. In church, Carrie prays her pay raise will be approved and miraculously, after praying the request is granted. This simple coincidence leads to Doug and Carrie praying for selfish, personal matters that generates a tidal wave of guilt. They overreact to the situation and it makes for some laughs. Arthur also puts the house up for sale. "Mammary Lane" is a serious, yet silly episode about sexual harassment. At the workplace, Carrie tries to get on the good side of Mr. Kaplan, one of the firm's partners, by babysitting his son for a few days. It turns out the little boy is a handful. He enjoys grabbing women's breasts. Sexual harassment. Doug, on the other hand, acts as the harasser. While at the bowling alley, Doug gives the new shoe girl a "mercy" flirt since she isn't getting the same attention as the previous girl. Unfortunately, she is not too excited by Doug's attention and his innocent, friendly flirtation turns into harassment. It is a silly episode with a fairly serious subject matter.

In "Flash Photography", Doug does something wild and crazy, yet very stupid. While at the wedding of Carrie's friend, Doug is bored to tears. Deacon tells him about his wedding pictures and how someone took a picture of their butt. Doug decides to spice the joke up and he takes a picture of his front side. The plan backfires when the newlywed couple decides to look at the pictures during the brunch Carrie hosted the following day. After seeing the picture of little Doug, the groom accuses a disgruntled boyfriend for the act (who happens to be cousin Danny). The situation gets pretty sticky because Doug fails to admit to his mistake. It is a nasty ride for him as he finds the strength to come forward and tell the truth. "Loaner Car" is the Thanksgiving holiday episode. In it, Deacon frets over the complications of life at home without Kelly. Since the divorce, he has been spread pretty thin working and caring for his two sons. Doug gets the ingenious idea to "loan" Carrie to Deacon to help out for the holidays. She agrees to help around the house, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the boys. At first Deacon is more than happy to accept Carrie's help, but he soon finds out she isn't great with the kids and her cooking could use some work. When Thanksgiving Day arrives, Deacon commissions Holly to help him with the feast. The special day turns out bad for Deacon when Holly and Carrie find out about each other.

"Jung Frankenstein" guests Dave Foley as Dr. Warner. In this episode, Carrie convinces Doug to see a therapist about his eating habits. After the first meeting, the results are positive and Doug sincerely is tries to eat better. Carrie then gets the idea to have Dr. Warner convince Doug to improve on other areas. It is a fun episode with Doug being pushed to the limit! In "Prints Charming", the Heffernan's are accidentally given the Hoferman's pictures when they go to pick up theirs. When they look at the pictures, they are astonished to see the lives the Hoferman's lead. It inspires Doug and Carrie to embark on more things in life like scuba diving. It is a goofy attempt to be someone else that ends with a nice laugh. This episode also marks Arthur's first cell phone, which is a riot in itself. "Animal Attraction" is a lovely Valentine's Day episode with a twist. In it, the cast find themselves in unexpected situations and predicaments. While Carrie has a lovely and romantic evening planned, it is ruined when Doug learns he has to take charge of a special delivery of penguins with Deacon. Oddly enough, Doug and Deacon get locked in the back of the truck. Holly's boyfriend dumps her and Carrie takes her out to a martini bar, where she falls for Carrie's boss. The real comedy in this episode deals with Arthur and Spence. Arthur manages to convince Spence to join him on a double date with two senior citizens. It is an absolute riot when Spence and the old lady hit it off.

In "Golden Moldy", the Heffernan's new neighbors the Ross's invite them out for a weekend in St. Croix. Despite the high price of the vacation, they decide to do it. As they are leaving, Arthur and Doug learn there is a mold infestation in the house. Doug wanting to enjoy his vacation ignores it. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a big twelve thousand dollar problem and the Heffernan's have to spend their St. Croix weekend the cheap way. "Bed Spread" is the season finale and it is one of the funniest episodes of the season. In the beginning of the episode, Doug and Carrie's bed collapses (on Doug's side). When they go to buy a new bed, they learn it is going to take a few days to arrive. Fortunately, Deacon just bought new beds for his kids and Doug and Carrie get to use the old ones until the new bed arrives. Sleeping in separate beds make them realize they do not have to do everything together. Soon they start acting on their own, such as going to separate movies and eating in different places. It is a funny development that makes the married couple more like roommates.

Overall, season five of The King of Queens presents twenty-five very fun and hilarious episodes with the cast getting into a variety of situations that any fan of the series will want to see. With strong episodes like the season premiere "Arthur, Spooner" and season finale "Bed Spread", you won't want to miss this season.

Episode Guide
1. Arthur, Spooner
2. Window Pain
3. Holy Mackerel
4. Kirbed Enthusiasm
5. Mammary Lane
6. Business Affairs
7. Flame Resistant
8. Flash Photography
9. Connect Four
10. Loaner Car
11. Mentalo Case
12. Jung Frankenstein
13. Attention Deficit
14. Prints Charming
15. Animal Attraction
16. Golden Moldy
17. S'Poor House
18. Steve Moscow
19. Cowardly Lyin'
20. Driving Reign
21. Clothes Encounter
22. Queens'bro Bridge
23. Dog Shelter
24. Taste Buds
25. Bed Spread

The DVD

Video:
This presentation is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. Like previous season DVD release the video quality could have been better. The problem is that the episodes are distributed over three dual layered DVDs. The result, the picture has a distinct grain and noticeable compression artifacts. However despite its imperfections, it is still more than viewable.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is given in English Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio sounds pretty clean and is very flat. It is as basic as TV on DVD releases get. This release also supports closed captioning.

Extras:
There are no extras included in this release.

Final Thoughts:
Season five of The King of Queens offers twenty-five fun-filled episodes of laughter and joy. The season episodes are all written very well and produce some great jokes as this all-star cast continues to work great together. There isn't a minute you will want to miss as Doug, Carrie, and Arthur get mixed up in a lot of crazy situations.