Watching Season 5 of "The Jeffersons," I am amazed to think it was once an extremely popular show. There's no getting around it, cultural tastes change over time. What was funny and bold in 1978 is lame and generic in 2006, and "The Jeffersons" was the epitome of late-'70s sitcoms: simple, formulaic and trite.

Still, as I noted when I reviewed Season 4, it has a certain nostalgic charm. There is some comfort in knowing every episode will be approximately the same as the last -- George and Louise quarrel; George insults their friends and their maid; people make short jokes about George; George and Louise kiss and make up. The jokes run like this:

WILLIS: (talking about golf) Last week I shot seven birdies!
GEORGE: Don't change the subject. We're talking about golf, not hunting!

Are you laughing yet? Because seriously, that's about as good as it gets.

Actually, there are some good moments in a few episodes. "A Bedtime Story" is notable for addressing the issue of male impotence, which was certainly not common fodder in January 1979 the way it is today. The episode gets laughs out of misunderstandings -- Helen thinks George has insomnia, not erectile dysfunction -- and also some unintended giggles over how WRONG the whole thing is. (In 1979, people apparently treated impotence by taking Vitamin E and seeing a psychiatrist.)

"George's Dream" has George dozing off at work and imagining it's 1996 and he's dead. Everyone is in old-age makeup, which is always good for a laugh, and George's Scrooge-like attempts at interacting with people who can't see him -- he's like a ghost to them -- are amusing.

But overall, the show has not aged well. What was groundbreaking in the late '70s seems quaint today, and the format of the show -- the broad jokes, the obvious punchlines -- was old even then.

Here are the episodes included on this set. The airdates are not provided on the DVD's episode-list insert. I have provided them here because I'm cool like that.

1. LOUISE'S PAINTING (9/20/78) Louise takes an art class, draws a nude male figure, freaks out George.

2. THE HOMECOMING PART 1 (9/27/78) Alan Willis inherits a warehouse, which George tries to wrangle from him.

3. THE HOMECOMING PART 2 (10/4/78) George continues trying to get the warehouse, while Louise and Helen run into trouble with a stubborn landlord.

4. HOW SLOWLY THEY FORGET (10/11/78) George needs the services of a banker who turns out to be an old Navy buddy, one who holds a grudge against George.

5. GEORGE'S DREAM (10/18/78) George dreams it's 1996 and everyone is celebrating the store's 25th anniversary -- except for him.

6. GEORGE'S NEW STOCKBROKER (11/1/78) ... was once in a mental institution.

7. ME AND BILLY DEE (11/4/78) George tries to get Billy Dee Williams to speak at a fundraiser.

8. HALF A BROTHER (11/8/78) Alan becomes friendly with a banker's daughter, which George thinks will jeopardize his own chances of getting on the board of directors.

9. WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? (11/22/78) George's cousin Dusty shows up and, like all relatives of rich people, wants a hand-out. Except in this case, he wants a kidney.

10. GEORGE WHO? (11/29/78) Louise gets amnesia after being mugged, in accordance with the law dictating all sitcoms must include an amnesia plot at some point.

11. HARRY'S HOUSE GUEST (12/13/78) Harry tries to get rid of his annoying house guest, but she interprets it as a marriage proposal. It kind of makes more sense when you watch it, but not really.

12. GEORGE FINDS A FATHER (12/20/78) George learns his old buddy Buddy had an affair with George's mother.

13. LOUISE'S SISTER (1/3/79) George throws Louise a surprise party and is confused by her reaction to her sister Maxine.

14. LOUISE'S REUNION (1/10/79) Louise goes to her class reunion without George, because they had a stupid fight about something stupid.

15. A BEDTIME STORY (1/24/79) George is humiliated when he starts having trouble "movin' on up" in the bedroom.

16. FLORENCE MEETS MR. RIGHT (1/31/79) Florence says yes to a marriage proposal, but Louise fears he's not right for her.

17. LOUISE'S AWARD (2/7/79) Louise is nominated for an award and George stoops to new lows to make sure she gets it.

18. THE OTHER WOMAN (2/21/79) Helen gets suspicious when a beautiful woman travels with Tom on a business trip, as if anyone would want to sleep with Tom.

19. THE HOLD OUT (2/28/79) A development company starts buying up all the property around George's store, but he refuses to sell.

20. THE ONES YOU LOVE (3/7/79) George and Louise are going to be interviewed for a magazine article about happy couples, and wouldn't you know it, they get in a big stupid fight on the night of the interview.

21. EVERY NIGHT FEVER (3/28/79) George gets disco fever.

22. THREE FACES OF FLORENCE (4/4/79) Florence decides to try out multiple personalities, just for fun.

23. LOUISE'S CONVENTION (4/11/79) George is suspiciously un-angry when Louise says she's going to a convention in California on their wedding anniversary.

24. THE FREEZE-IN (4/18/79) The building's heaters quit working, so everyone huddles into the Jeffersons' apartment. Broken heaters? Deluxe apartment, my foot!

THE DVD

All 24 episodes are on three discs, distributed 9-8-7. There are no subtitles or alternate language tracks. Chapter breaks occur after the opening theme, before the closing theme, and at the episode's mid-point (where the commercials used to go).

VIDEO: Shot on video, the show's appearance has not aged any better than its jokes have. Colors are muted and bleed into each other, and the contrast is often off. They've done what they could with the source material, which wasn't much. It is what it is.

AUDIO: A simple 2.0 mix, standard for the time. It's adequate, nothing more.

EXTRAS: Nothin'.

IN SUMMARY

With the dearth of extras, I wonder whether even fans of the show should buy it. It's not the kind of series you gorge yourself on; the occasional TV Land rerun is probably enough to satisfy the average person's "Jeffersons" cravings.