The First Season

Girlfriends is a television sitcom about the daily lives and relationships of four African American women and their male friend. The series first aired on UPN in the fall of 2000 and it was very successful. Since, the show has continued to be well-received by viewers and even had a spin-off series The Game in 2006. It was created by Mara Brock Akil and has Kelsey Grammar (Frasier, Cheers) as an executive producer. Overall, the show is quite strong. The first season feels very similar to Living Single, but the comedy is more genuine with stronger dialogue and better writing. In the end, it makes for a solid sitcom.

The general premise of Girlfriends is nothing new, as the show is pretty much about a group of friends and their adventures in life with a strong emphasis on relationship. However, what really sets the show apart are the characters and how well they interact with each other. In addition, the dialogue and writing tend to be rich and offer a lot of great laughs.

The friends have a diverse set of personalities. Joan Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross) is the main character. The majority of the stories revolve around her life. She also provides narratives to the camera (an aspect that provides a closer look into Joan's mind, which is usually a riot). She is a successful lawyer about to become a junior partner. Her secretary is Maya Wilkes (Golden Brooks). The two have only known each other for a year, but they have become fast friends.

Lynn Searcy (Persia White) is Joan's friend from their college days at UCLA. She spends her days in school, holds five degrees, and have has no ambition to get out in the real world. This character has the smallest part on the show and usually gets laughs because she is of a mixed race, half Caucasian and half African American. While the issue itself is not funny, how the show carries it, is fun. Toni Childs (Jill Marie Jones) is Joan's self-centered, beautiful friend. She works in real estate and hopes to marry a rich man. The last of the friends is William Dent (Reggie Hayes). He also works at the law firm with Joan. He provides a goofy, slapstick character to offset all of the women.

What is great about the characters is how well they work together. Their personalities are pretty diverse and very cliched, but they still fit nicely with each other. I really appreciated the chemistry Ross and Hayes had. These two were really what drove the first season and gave it a fun quality. The other characters fit in as nice offsets to the hilarious leads. Brooks and Jones also had a good repertoire, a love/hate relationship similar to Frasier's Niles and Roz.

For the early portion of the season, the storylines tend to be episodic and very comical. However, as the show progresses, story arcs about relationships start to surface, as well the "serious" drama increases. Personally, I was not a huge fan of the dramatic aspects and I felt the second half of the season was weaker than the first. The outright comical episodes, with the cast just acting goofy were really fun. Still, I still had a lot of fun with the entire season.

Some of the more enjoyable episodes included "Toe Sucking", which was a solid introduction to the general premise and cast in story about a toe sucking boyfriend, "Fried Turkey", a lonely Thanksgiving episode with Kelsey Grammar making a cameo, "They've Gotta Have It", Joan learns about her boyfriend's secret, which seemed a little over-the-top, but worked, and "Hip-ocracy", an over-the-top episode about dangers of Internet dating. Fun storylines like these ones gave Girlfriends a fun momentum that any sitcom-goer will love.

In the end, the first season of Girlfriends is a great collection of episodes. It was a surprise to me, because I have had little experience with it. I recall seeing an episode or two, but the show never did it for me. However, getting to see the show's first season, start to finish, I can say that I am a fan. I loved the characters and how well they worked together. The comedy was rich and plentiful. Overall, it is a solid sitcom with a fun cast.

Episode Guide

1. Toe Sucking: Toni goes on a date with Joan's ex-boyfriend.
2. One Night Stand?: After a rather long dry spell, Joan gets persuaded by her girlfriends to have a one-night stand.
3. Girlfrenzy: Toni questions Joan's friendship after she gets into a fight at a bar and Joan doesn't jump in.
4. Hip-ocracy: Joan meets a guy via the Internet that happens to be proportionally challenged. Toni has issues with dating a very dark-skinned man.
5. I Pity the Fool: Joan has all the girls help her break up with her new boyfriend.
6. The Remains of the Date: Joan has to find a way to get back at William for scaring her to death with practical jokes every Halloween.
7. Everything Fishy Ain't Fish: Joan has to decide what to do when she sees Maya's husband Darnell in what looks like a compromising position with another woman.
8. Pregnant Pause: After experiencing symptoms of pregnancy, Joan freaks out about the very real possibility that she could soon be having a baby. Meanwhile, Lynn relives her puberty as a "white girl" when her Mom sends her a box of childhood memorabilia.
9. Fried Turkey: Joan decides not to handle all of the Thanksgiving preparations this year, only to discover that it leaves her with nothing to do when all of her friends make other plans.
10. Never a Bridesmaid: Joan agrees to help Maya have her dream wedding in Joan's house, but their personal styles clash and cause major problems in their friendship.
11. The Importance of Being Frank: Joan finds the man she is dating is married. Then finds out he isn't. Then that he really is.
12. The List: Each of the girls makes a list of the qualities her perfect man would have and sleeps with it under her pillow. Each has different results.
13. They've Gotta Have It: Joan is perplexed by her boyfriend's apparent disinterest in sex until she learns a secret about him. Toni reconnects with Greg.
14. Bad Timing: Joan has to decide between Sean, the man who may be "The One", and Davis, all on Valentine's Day.
15. Old Dog: Joan is worried that she will be too inexperienced for Sean, but learns quickly that he only has quantity, not quality. Maya learns she has a fibroid tumor.
16. Friends, Colleagues, Brothers: Joan and William clash when Joan believes William stole her ideas in a meeting with the partners. AS the two black attorneys with the firm, Joan believes William should support her, and is shocked to learn that his allegiances lie with his gender rather than his race.
17. The Declaration of Lynndependence: Toni and Joan are furious when they learn that Lynn has signed up for yet another Master's Degree program. When they stage an intervention, however, they learn that they are guilty of being enablers.
18. Diss-regard: The girls get upset when Joan starts spending all of her time with Sean. Maya goes in for her fibroid surgery.
19. A Kiss Before Lying: Sean is uncomfortable with Joan's relationship with Davis and tells her that she can't spend any more time at 847. She has to decide what is more important to her.
20. The Burning Vagina Monologues: Joan is stressing because Sean hasn't told her that he loves her. Toni has to juggle Greg and Clay, and it gets more diffuclt when she contracts chlamydia.
21. Loose Lips Sink Relationships: Joan accidentally lets slip to Greg that Toni is seeing another man and plans to dump him. Unfortunately, when Toni decides that she really wants Greg, he dumps her instead.
22. Jamaic-Up?: Joan is forced to come clean with Toni when she finds out that Toni is going to marry another man. When Toni finds out that Joan is responsible for her losing Greg, she is furious and leaves Jamaica immediately.

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality is generally good providing a clear picture with a slight grain, minor color distortions, and compression artifacts. However, there are some periods when the picture looks a little rough.

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.

Please note that the box cover claims that some music may have been replaced.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this season set.

Final Thoughts:
Girlfriends is a television sitcom about a four girls and a guy and their daily lives. The show focuses on the quirky aspects of their friendship, as well as their romantic lives. It is similar to the sitcom Living Single, but much richer in content. In the end, Girlfriends is an enjoyable sitcom that will keep one laughing and smiling. It comes recommended.