The First Season

The Robinsons is a sitcom about a neurotic run of the mill family from the British Broadcasting Corporation. The show aired in the United States on the BBC America channel. In the show's first (and currently only) season, six thirty minute episodes were put together. The content focuses on Ed as his life falls to shambles and he tires to find the meaning of life. Along the way, his neurotic family joins him and they deal with common daily life issues in relationships, family, the workplace, and other such things. Overall, The Robinsons is not a tremendously good show, but it has enough entertainment value to make watching it worth your time.

The Robinsons' cast is led by Martin Freeman, who had a starring role in The Office and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Freeman plays Ed, a not so common guy without much in life. He has no job, no girlfriend, and no place to live. He is considered to be the black sheep of the family. Only thirty-two years of age, Ed is recently divorced after a six month marriage with woman named Polly Parker. He worked as an actuary for a large reinsurance company, which ended when his co-worker/lover was promoted over him and then fired him.

Ed's older brother is George (Hugh Bonneville). He is married to Maggie (Amanda Root) with a six year old son Albert. He is a time management consultant and he offers advice to people to utilize their time effectively and efficiently. More often than not, George's obsessive compulsive need to organize everything to the littlest detail is a source of comedy. Ed's other sibling is his sister Vicky (Abigail Cruttenden). She is an interior designer with no significant other. Her perfectionist attitude makes it hard for her to find the perfect mate. Their parents Pam (Anna Massey) and Hector (Richard Johnson) are always bickering with each other.

The series begins with "Episode 1", a very creative title, don't you think? The story starts with a long narration to introduce the entire main cast, which includes Ed's parents, his brother George and his family, his sister Vicky, and lastly himself. It is a creative introduction that uses details from their youth and ties it into the people they are today. The episode's plotline covers the three siblings as they go through their daily lives.

Ed has been involved with his co-worker Nora, who oddly enough becomes the new boss and fires him immediately after the promotion. This leaves Ed without a girlfriend, job, or a place of his own (he's staying in his aunt's apartment) as he ponders the meaning of life, or rather the meaning of his life. George and Maggie plan for Albert's upcoming birthday party, which would be an easy task except that George has to have every detail planned to the minute. Vicky tries to find the perfect man. She meets someone who she believes could be the one, but she quickly learns she is not compatible with all of his quirks.

As for the other five episodes, the plotlines are fairly common to each other with Vicky dating one guy after the other, only to find him less suitable than the last, George dealing with issues related to work and his family, and of course Ed trying to get ahead in life by finding out what he wants from life, new girlfriends, etc. The episodes also use archive footage and flashbacks to explain certain details about the Robinsons and their history.

Overall, The Robinsons makes for entertaining television, but it is also at the same time a slightly limited sitcom. What works for the show are the leading characters, Freeman and Bonneville especially. The cast fits into their roles with clear expertise as they carry their eccentric and neurotic personalities and deliver dialogue without a hitch. At the same time, while the actors and actresses are what make the show strong, their characters are part of what limits the show. With the exception of Ed, the characters are very generic and follow very specific avenues.

For instance, both characters George and Vicky follow have specific personality traits and their characters do not deviate from them. George is obsessively organized while Vicky is an obsessive perfectionist. Besides their specific traits, little is seen about their characters. The comedy that plays off of their neurotic behaviors is fun for a while, but grows tiresome. In short, some of the characters are too simplistic.

On a similar note to the characters, the storylines are also somewhat repetitive and the dialogue is not always outright funny. In some cases, the comedy would leave me with a smile and others a light hearted chuckle. In the end, The Robinsons is an enjoyable television and with some strong performances from Freeman and Bonneville. And despite the series' limited characters and stories, the first season episodes are enjoyable enough to watch at least once.

Episode Guide
1. Episode 1
2. Episode 2
3. Episode 3
4. Episode 4
5. Episode 5
6. Episode 6

The DVD

Video:
The video in this release is given in an anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color format. The picture quality is quite good. It suffers from a slight grain, but detail remains to be sharp and clear. However, there are moments when the picture suffers compression artifacts and other minor visual distortions.

Audio:
The audio in this release is in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo. The quality is quite good. The audio is fairly flat, which is due the show being dialogue driven. The release also comes with optional English subtitles.

Extras:
The Robinsons: The Complete Series One includes special features, a behind the scenes featurette, an out takes reel, and two episode commentaries. The behind the scenes featurette features candid footage of filming with cast/crew interviews and dialogue from the producers/directors/writers. It runs for approximately fifteen and a half minutes. The out takes reel is shy of five minutes and features goofs while filming. Both of these extras have English subtitles.

The commentaries cover "Episode 1" with producers/directors/writers Justin Sbresni and Mark Bussell and "Episode 6" with Sbresni, Bussell, and actors Martin Freeman and Hugh Bonneville. The first commentary with the directors/writers tends to be dry, but has a couple interesting facts about the episode and show. The other commentary proves to be livelier with the two actors spicing things up. Also note on the DVD cover lists Commentary (Episodes 1 - 6) as one of the extras. The 1 - 6 refers to only episodes 1 and 6, not episodes 1 through 6. I was slightly confused at first when there were only two commentaries.

Final Thoughts:
The Robinsons is not the sitcom I usually find myself watching. The majority of the sitcoms I have come to love, such as Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, and 3rd Rock From the Sun, rely on a comical approach that imbues slapstick and physical comedy. The Robinsons, however, uses a much different style of comedy. The humor is somewhat dark, yet witty at the same time. I am not a huge fan of this kind of humor. It has never really appealed to me nearly as much as slapstick. Despite, this show turned to be pretty fun. I enjoyed seeing Freeman and Bonneville in their respective roles. Those looking for a somewhat dark and witty comedy should enjoy this first season release the most. I recommended trying it out as a rental. There is enough content to enjoy, but I would not say it has very high replay value.