The Royle Family - DVD

The Royle Family - The Complete First Season

Amazon Price: $19.99 List Price: $24.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: WARDE2797D Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $18.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent series, poor quality DVD 4 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I've een waiting for this show to become available in the US for a long time (it aired once on BBCAmerica). It's a great show with kind, realistic (i.e., not slapstick) humor about a lower-class family in England. It was very popular in the UK. I was so desperate for it that I even pre-ordered. That's how good the show is.

But I'm sorry to say I was sorely disappointed with the quality of the DVD transfer. First, it's not widescreen (letterbox). This is a recent show, so I'm fairly certain it was shot in the wider aspect ratio that's the UK adopted much earlier than the US. (I could be wrong about this. There's no easy way to tell.)

Second, the quality of the image is surprisingly bad. There's far too much noise to be considered DVD quality. Happily, it isn't compression artifacts, but it still is a very noisy image -- lots of graininess in the darker areas. I shudder to think what this DVD would look like on a hi-def television. On my old-school TV it's noticably bad. The bad image quality brings it down to 4 stars.

Still, this is the only way to legitimately get this series in the US. I was really looking forward to the second and third seasons, but I won't buy them unless the picture quality is better. There's simply no excuse for this poor quality.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/16/2007 Rating: Nr

The Royle Family - The Complete Second Season

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Brit Series! but where is 3?? 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My husband suggested I watch these and they are great! Even though the series takes place in Manchester England I still see things that I think, OMG!! my family does that! lol
What I want to know is where is series 3??? And the Christmas special??

The Royle Family Vol 2 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Earthy, vulgar and thoroughly authentic, here is our favorite vulgar totally functional family, the Royles in 7 more episodes. You don't have to be an Anglophyle to appreciate the familial interactions of this working class family from the industrial north of England.

The Best of British Comedy 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have been a fan of British comedy for years, and I believe this is one of the best. This comedy has successed in doing what American television rarely does---making real people. These people are neither all pretty nor rich. I have purchased seasons 1 and 2, but I cannot figure out why number 3 has not been offered. This is a big disappointment.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/15/2008