THE SHOW:

Martin Lawrence's self-titled sitcom, Martin, is best remembered as one of the strongest entries in the early days of the Fox Network. Debuting in 1992, Martin helped solidify the bawdy reputation the network had been earning since its debut in 1987, as well as continuing to blaze a trail for more opportunities for African Americans on network television (In Living Color started a few years prior, and Living Single would join Martin in the following season). Martin Lawrence had begun to create a name for himself with supporting parts in the House Party movies and Boomerang, but this was his first real showcase and would kickstart a successful film career that would continue on through the 1990s.

Structurally, Martin didn't break any new ground. A young professional in the city hangs out with his friends and his girlfriend and gets into trouble--that pretty much sums up the premise for any number of TV comedies. Individual plots weren't overly creative, either, falling back on standard situation comedy lines like a group of friends all winning a car and having to share it (episode 26), a man getting sick and acting like a baby (episode 21), and even putting on a variety show (episode 25). What made Martin work back then and keeps it funny even now was the style of writing and performing that the mostly unknown ensemble cast brought to the stage.

Martin Lawrence starred as Martin Payne, a talk radio host on WZUP, tossing out his trademark "Wasssssup" to callers while discussing the issue of the day. Most of his subjects directly related to the plot of the episode, like male sensitivity or what kind of gifts to give on Valentine's Day. These discussions would usually get Martin into trouble with his girlfriend, Gina (Tisha Campbell, now on "My Wife and Kids"), either because he would say something rude about her or because he'd unload a secret she had told him in confidence. Martin and Gina were the core of the show, and the excellent chemistry the two performers had together made their romance all the more involving. They maintained a spontaneity in their interactions that gave the audience the feeling that they were breaking from acting and genuinely enjoying each other's company. Campbell's laughter is so free and unencumbered, I often got the sense that Lawrence was lobbing her an improvisational curve ball and she was really cracking up. It's because of this perceived bond that the highlight of Martin - The Complete First Season is the three-part "Break Up" (episode #s 18-20). After a knockdown, drag-out fight, the couple calls it quits. They each try to date other people (Martin hooks up with Lark Voorhies from Saved by the Bell, and Gina dates In Living Color's David Alan Grier), but eventually end up back together, prompted by some advice from Billy Dee Williams, who plays himself as a guest on Martin's show. By three-quarters into the season, we care enough about this couple that this kind of drama can really get us caught up in the narrative.

The show's supporting cast is just as strong as its main stars. Martin's "partners" both fuel his antics and question his insanity. Cole, played by Carl Anthony Payne II (Cockroach from The Cosby Show), is the deadbeat who lives with his mom and so is usually willing to slide down whatever slippery slope Martin has them on; whereas Tommy (Thomas Mikal Ford) provides a more stoic sensibility. He likes to goof around, but more often than not, he will be the voice of reason. Adding a louder dissent is Gina's friend, Pam (Tichina Arnold, recently seen on "Everybody Hates Chris"), who has more than enough attitude to go around.

Rounding out the cast is Martin's workplace pals. His engineer, Shawn (Jon Gries, known best as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite), is the one recurring white face in the cast, and he provides comic relief as the dull-witted stoner in service to their cheapskate boss. Stan is played by original SNL member Garrett Morris, and he is hilarious. His presence provides a link between the new school of African American comedy and the old school, and they dress him in garish pimp suits to fit the part. Morris gets some of the raunchiest jokes, usually involving strippers and some revolting way to save money.

The rest of the support team is filled out by Lawrence himself. Like Eddie Murphy, Lawrence enjoys dressing up in elaborate costumes and getting lost in a different identity, a formula that would lead him to box office gold in Big Momma's House. On Martin - The Complete First Season, he plays at least eight other characters, including one-offs like Bob the white office worker and Dragonfly Jones, the con man/personal trainer. Some of the characters show up in several episodes, including the skeevy Jerome, action star King Beef, snot-nosed kid Roscoe, Otis the security guard, and Mrs. Payne, Martin's mother. The most enduring of these characters, however, has to be Martin's next door neighbor, Sheneneh. Decked out in gold jewelry and stretch pants, Sheneneh harasses Martin and his friends as they come and go from his apartment, sometimes putting them in their place and sometimes getting shot down herself. Being a gifted physical comedian, Lawrence gives each of his characters a specific physical presence that goes beyond mere costume. In fact, most of these personas allow him to really cut loose, be it going into Otis' strutting and dancing or the karate moves employed by Dragonfly Jones.

As I said, the plots run a pretty standard course, and Martin is the kind of sitcom that stands alone from episode to episode, rather than having a running story line through a whole season. Of all 27 episodes on these four DVDs, my favorite was probably #5, "Dead Men Don't Flush." In it, Martin is having trouble with his plumbing, and when the lazy white plumber (Michael G. Hagerty, the landlord on Friends) chokes on some food in his bathroom, everyone thinks he is dead. Convinced a black man can only get into trouble having a dead white man in his bathroom, Martin and his friends go through a variety of scenarios to figure out what to do with the body. Martin and Cole trying to restart the fat man's heart with a plunger is pure genius, as is Martin attempting to get 911 to respond by impersonating a white man, having to go through a pop culture quiz to prove he's really Caucasian.

A lot of the humor in Martin is race specific, but only in that Fox was letting Lawrence be true to the culture without having to cater to white audiences. This means references to African American pop icons and leaders, as well as more community specific jokes. It was a smart move, as it gave Martin a fresh pizzazz most network sitcoms were lacking back then. Some of it can be a little dated, particularly the often garish clothes, but for the most part, it all still holds up. Given the stale story lines, the entire season can be a bit much to take over one sitting, but watch it a disc at a time, and it won't wear out its welcome.

In addition to Voorhies, Grier, and Williams, Martin - The Complete First Season also has a long string of guest stars of popular performers of the day, some playing themselves and some as characters: Kid from Kid 'n' Play, singer Keith Washington, Richard Moll, Little Richard, Kim Fields, Beverly Johnson, Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys, rapper Yo-Yo, and Kim Coles. Lawanda Page, best known as Esther on Sanford and Son, plays a recurring character as the neighbor lady Mrs. Porter, and Richard Pryor has a quick cameo as a guest on Martin's radio show that was less of an integrated part of the show and more of a chance for Martin Lawrence to pay respect to one of his heroes.

The episodes included in Martin - The Complete First Season are:

Disc 1
Beauty and the Beast
The Gift Rapper
Things I Did For Love
Boyz 'R Us
Dead Men Don't Flush
Forever Sheneneh (guest star: Kid)
The Parents are Coming, the Parents are Coming

Disc 2
A Woman With a Past (guest star: Keith Washington)
Baby, It's Cole'd in Here
The Night He Came Home
The Great Payne Robbery (guest star: Richard Moll)
Three Men and a Mouse (guest star: Little Richard)
Radio Days (guest star: Kim Fields; cameo: Wendy Williams)
I've Got a Secret

Disc 3
I Saw Gina Kissing Santa Claus
Do the Fight Thing
Blackboard Jungle Fever (guest star: Beverly Johnson)
Break Up Part 1 (cameo: Richard Pryor)
Break Up Part 2 (guests: David Alan Grier, Lark Voorhies)
Break Up Part 3 (guests: Lark Voorhies, Billy Dee Williams)
I'm Not Your Superwoman

Disc 4
Credit Card Blues
Jerome's in the House
Your Arms are Too Short to Box with Martin (guest star: Bushwick Bill)
Variety Show (guest star: Yo-Yo)
Baby You Can Drive My Car (guests: Yo-Yo, Kim Coles)
Checks, Lies, and Videotape (guest star: David Alan Grier)

It's been a long time since I have seen the show, but it didn't look like it had been edited from the broadcast version. All the intros are there, including the many where Martin introduces the show with a sort of mini-monologue, as is the music. Any musical number usually involves the cast singing along or performing it outright, so it would have been hard to remove any of the songs. So, from what I can tell, you get to watch Martin - The Complete First Season exactly as it was intended. All of the original laughs are intact.

THE DVD

Video:
Martin - The Complete First Season is a full frame television show with an aspect ration of 4:3. Much love to HBO for the picture quality on this set. The programs didn't look like some tired syndicated version, but all the prints were super clean and looked as fresh as originally broadcast.

Sound:
The audio is mixed in 2.0 and is pretty good all around. There are English, French, and Spanish subtitles, as well.

Extras:
DVD 4 of Martin - The Complete First Season has two bonus features. The first is a blooper reel that runs a little over 9 minutes and is shown uncensored. None of the cursing is bleeped out, and it culminates in a racy prank Martin Lawrence plays on Tisha Campbell that is pretty funny.

The second feature is so-so. It's a 22-minute segment called "Favorite Moments" and features commentary from Martin Lawrence. It's more a general overview of the entire show and cast than a strict commentary of specific scenes, though a few episodes are singled out. Lawrence does share the occassional nugget of trivia with us, but nothing too in-depth.

The set comes in a foldable cardboard sleeve with two double-disc trays. The sleeve then slides into an outer slipcase.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Recommended. Martin - The Complete First Season is a blast from television's past that still mostly holds up. Stale plots are no match for a talented ensemble cast and the pure energy of Martin Lawrence. You'll get caught up in the sheer exuberance of the presentation, and the four-disc set is worth the evenings of laughter it will give you. Just make sure that it's evenings plural, or Martin could wear out its welcome. It's a lot to take all at once.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for his collaborations with Joelle Jones, including the hardboiled crime comic book You Have Killed Me, the challenging romance 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, and the 2007 prose novel Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, for which Jones did the cover. All three were published by Oni Press. His most recent projects include the futuristic romance A Boy and a Girl with Natalie Nourigat; Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks, a loopy crime tale drawn by Dan Christensen; and the horror miniseries Madame Frankenstein, a collaboration with Megan Levens. Follow Rich's blog at Confessions123.com.