The King of Queens: The Complete Series

Description

The King of Queens consistently delivered laughs for nine
seasons, making it one of the most popular and longest-running comedies in
television history! Kevin James stars as Doug Heffernan, a lovable regular guy
with an adoring wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), and a frustrating father-in-law
(Jerry Stiler) under his roof. Packed with a crazy cast of characters,
hilarious situations and plenty of great guest stars, this is one show that
brings the goods! The King of Queens – The Complete First Season In
the sitcom The King of Queens, comedian Kevin James has created a new
archetype: the sensitive lug. This deceptively simple comedy bounces along
because delivery man Doug Heffernen (James), though completely a guy’s guy,
constantly struggles to keep the world around him in a delicate emotional
balance. Meanwhile, his wife Carrie (Leah Remini), though utterly feminine
(and one of the sexiest women on television), uses the kind of no-nonsense
rational approach that’s usually a man’s province. Add to this mix Carrie’s
father Arthur (Jerry Stiller), whose life as a fussy, self-absorbed retiree
makes him more like their child than an adult, and you’ve got the building
blocks for an excellent and durable show. The first season of The King of
Queens quickly found its voice with stories firmly rooted in the everyday
world, rarely spinning off into absurdity–and why should it, when there’s
such a wealth of humor to be found in petty neuroses (when Doug gets assigned
an attractive young woman as a trainee at work, he gets hurt when Carrie isn’t
remotely jealous), ill-advised scheming (to weasel out of a traffic ticket,
Carrie agrees to go out on a date with the cop who pulled her over), and
juggling obligations to friends and family (just about every episode).
Brilliant comic bits abound; one classic moment features Doug and Carrie
having a furious argument in absolute silence at a cello concert–a scene that
fuses deft physicality, well-developed characters, and sheer silliness. The
King of Queens is a delight. –Bret Fetzer The King of Queens – The Complete
Second Season Like its characters, The King of Queens is a unpretentious but
utterly dependable sitcom. Kevin James and Leah Remini, as blue-collar couple
Doug and Carrie Heffernan, have the kind of chemistry that every sitcom craves
(but far too few have). Layered on top of this solid foundation are the
bizarre flights of Jerry Stiller as Arthur, Carrie’s loud, paranoid, and
combustible father. The second season has no overarching plotlines or
recurring themes; it’s just a compilation of excellent material, including
Doug’s ego inflating when a waitress flirts with him; Doug and Carrie
squirming when their best friends ask them to be godparents; Doug discovering
that Carrie compulsively cheats at games; and a flashback to when they first
met. It’s the attention to emotional detail that makes the show fly; James and
Remini take the most mundane material–say, an argument over where to go for a
vacation or how their marriage lacks romance–and turn the many ways in which
couples cope into a pugnacious duet. Their sparring not only is funny, but
consistently rings true as irrational but oh-so-common human behavior. The
show pulls you in all the more because the Heffernans make up just as often as
they fight, demonstrating one of the most functional marriages on television.
It’s meat-and-potatoes comedy, but sometimes nothing else will hit the spot.
–Bret Fetzer The King of Queens: The Complete Third Season The third season
of The King of Queens upholds the quality of the first two: Smart but
unpretentious comedy based firmly in the daily lives of blue-collar couple
Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James and Leah Remini) as they cope with
their jobs, their friends, and sharing their home with Carrie’s eccentric,
obsessive father Arthur (Jerry Stiller). While dozens of mediocre sitcoms are
built around fat guys implausibly married to sexy women, James and Remini have
such chemistry and their characters are so well-crafted and complex that their
marriage seems not only convenient for sitcom purposes but downright meant to
be. The show only goes astray when it goes for a gimmick. In one episode, Doug
dreams of himself as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners; while it’s
understandable for James to tip his hat to one of his idols, this belabored
concept sucked all the humor out of the show. But when The King of Queens
sticks to small, mundane troubles, the results are unfailingly delightful. For
example, Doug becomes self-conscious about his weight when he discovers that
Carrie buys his clothes at the Big & Tall Shop; Carrie is excited to go to
lunch with some of the women lawyers at her firm, then humiliated when it
turns out they didn’t know she’s a secretary; or Carrie admits she finds
Doug’s best friend Deacon (Victor Williams) hot. These events launch some
wonderful farce, all the funnier because anyone can identify with the
characters’ insecurity and jealousy. This firm psychological grounding lets
the series keep its footing as it dips into some deeper emotions, like the
break-up of Deacon’s marriage or an unexpected pregnancy. Because James and
Remini keep their characters truthful in their most ridiculous moments, they
keep us engaged and even moved as they enter what could be maudlin territory–
plus, the writers never lose the opportunity for a sharp but telling joke
along the way. The King of Queens makes sitcoms look easy, but the show’s
skillful balance of an ordinary world and fine-tuned humor is anything but.
–Bret Fetzer The King of Queens – The Complete Fourth Season The fourth
season of The King of Queens opens with a perfect example of how the show
spins real life into farce: Delivery guy Doug and his sardonic wife Carrie
(Kevin James and Leah Remini) want to get pregnant, but can’t get Carrie’s
cantankerous father Arthur (Jerry Stiller) out of the house; the only solution
their budget will allow is hiring a dog-walker named Holly (Nicole Sullivan)
to take Arthur to the park. A more banal sitcom would conclude with Arthur’s
rage when he discovers the truth, but The King of Queens finds a grace note
with Arthur and Holly beginning a genuine friendship. Which is not to say that
The King of Queens goes for easy sentiment; some of the fourth season’s best
moments walk a distinctly unsentimental line. When Arthur goes into the
hospital for a heart problem, Carrie discovers that he hid a college
acceptance letter from her in order to keep her at home. While Arthur lies
unconscious, Carrie wrestles with anger and grief–and, thanks to smart
writing and Remini’s deft performance, it’s almost uncomfortably funny. James,
Remini, and Stiller form the sitcom equivalent of a rock’n’roll power trio–
it’s astonishing that so much comedy can come out of just three people. The
King of Queens has solid supporting players (and, towards the end of this
season, succumbs to the questionable trend of casting celebrity guest stars),
but the skillful interplay between Doug, Carrie, and Arthur drives the vast
majority of the show’s stories. The fourth season has a handful of episodes
that wallow in typical sitcom schtick, but it’s impressive how many more
episodes remain fresh, lively, and true to these vivid characters. Even an
episode that flashes back to Doug and Carrie’s wedding–a premise that usually
guarantees a saccharine kiss of death–finds a balance of tartness and genuine
warmth. Satisfying and well-crafted. –Bret Fetzer The King of Queens: The
Complete Ninth Season The final season of The King of Queens sends this under-
appreciated sitcom out with a bang. The season begins with several strong
stand-alone episodes, including ones in which Doug (Kevin James) uses a tax
refund to buy an ice cream truck; Carrie (Leah Remini) suspects that their
best friends have managed to buy a vacation home by sponging off of her and
Doug; Doug, after rescuing a chicken from being killed, becomes a vegetarian;
Arthur (Jerry Stiller), eternally resplendent in argyle sweaters, asks Doug
and Carrie for the money to get braces; and Adam Sandler (Punch Drunk Love)
plays a high school friend of Doug’s with a lot of repressed anger. But the
season crescendos in a three-episode story that begins with Arthur preparing
to get married again while Doug and Carrie’s marriage crumbles when Carrie
wants to move to an apartment in Manhattan. From there, the Heffernans’ worst
impulses run comically amok, demonstrating this show’s long-standing
strengths: The cheerful exploitation of all the character’s bad behavior, be
it Doug’s selfishness, Carrie’s envy, or Arthur’s raging egomania; snowballing
storylines that routinely end in entertaining disaster and humiliation; and
the skillfully-honed interplay of the three leads. The supporting cast–
including Doug’s best friend Deacon (Victor Williams), the emotionally
enmeshed roommates Spence (Patton Oswalt) and Danny (Gary Valentine), and
needy dog-walker Holly (Nicole Sullivan)–all have their moments, but James,
Remini, and Stiller are the show’s engine, and it runs like a Maserati. –Bret
Fetzer

Features:

Product Details:

• Genre: Comedy/Television
• Format: NTSC, Box set, Dolby, AC-3, Multiple Formats, Color, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Contributor: Lou Ferrigno, Jerry Stiller, Anthony Powers, Lisa Rieffel, Larry Romano, Kevin James, Nicole Sullivan, Mookie Barker, Gary Valentine, Victor Williams, Dakin Matthews, Merrin Dungey, Leah Remini, Jenny O'Hara, Alex Skuby, Sam McMurray, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Annette Sahakian Davis, Patton Oswalt See more
• Language: English
• Runtime: 75 hours and 55 minutes
• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1, 1.78:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.9 x 5.7 x 7.9 inches; 1.3 Pounds
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 17597971
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Box set, Dolby, AC-3, Multiple Formats, Color, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 75 hours and 55 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2011
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Mary Lynn Rajskub, Lisa Rieffel, Anthony Powers, Kevin James, Leah Remini
• Producers ‏ : ‎ Annette Sahakian Davis