'The King of Queens' CS DVD: Neo-Modern 'The Honeymooners'

Mill Creek Entertainment awesomely makes November 19, 2019 a date that will live in infinity as to releasing well-produced home-video sets of "TV Land" shows. Our subject du jour is the 1998-2007 Kevin James/Leah Remini/Jerry Stiller sitcom "The King of Queens."

An upcoming post is on the November 19, 2019 Mill Creek Blu-ray CS (including the 2011 series) of the '70stastic Aaron Spelling classic sexploitation series "Charles Angels" that makes Farrah Fawcett a household name and her pinup poster a staple of bedroom walls of adolescent and post-adolescent males. One spoiler is that both "Queens" and "Angels" OS more than pass the test of times. 

One note on both sets is that MCE does a solid by packing them well to the extent of separating each disc in its own slot and making them accessible in a manner that prevents scratching. 

Like this site, the underlying  concept of "Queens" performs the public service of helping to keep Ralph Kramden of the classic '50scom "The Honeymooner" in the public consciousness. "Queens" does this by basing much of the "com" around "sits" that develop due to dim-witted titular monarch Doug Heffernan (James) being an overweight driver for UPS-clone IPS.

Prettier, thinner, more intelligent and ambitious spouse Carrie (Remini) is the practical brains of the operation. But for the '90s being much more PC than the '50s, it is highly probable that Doug (ala Ralph) would regularly threaten to send Carrie "to the moon." Doug also has his "Norton" in the form of not-so-bright friends with whom he spends much of his free time. Carrie has her "Trixie" in the form of Kelly, who is the spouse of Doug pal/co-worker Deacon. 

The "sit" in the pilot episode rounds out the concept that drives much of the "com" in all nine seasons. Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller of "Seinfeld") is the very recently widowed father of Carrie. Arthur is destined to move into a nursing home when his first of many comically reckless acts leads to a reversal of fortune that lands him the basement/former man cave of Chez Heffernan. This, in turn, leads to hilarity as to neither him nor Doug being the adult in their relationship.

The quality of this series stems from keeping things relatable and largely realistic. The "snob" often ends up with the "slob," most actual marriages are more like Dan and Roseanne Conner than Ward and June Cleaver, and we all face regular challenges in our work and personal lives. 

The nearly impossible task of watching all 207 "Queen" episodes and still posting a timely review is behind only watching the entire first and ninth seasons. The first good news as to this is that the quality remains strong. The second good news is that the series has not resorted to a major retooling (such as the Hefferans winning the lottery and effectively being Beverly Hillbillies living in a wealthy community) or resorting to stunt casting either by bringing in a "Cousin Oliver" or adding Heather Locklear or another household name to the ensemble. It is fair to say the "Queens" NEVER jumps the shark. 

An especially strong S1 outing has good-guy Doug emotionally trapped with Veronica (real-life Stiller spouse/comedy partner Anne Meara), the mother of comically extreme failure-to-launch buddy Spence (Patton Oswalt) on Valentine's Day. This follows a highly amusing Thanksgiving Day episode in which the Heffernans and Arthur have separate adventures while grocery shopping on the night before that holiday and a Christmas episode that has Doug and Carrie valuing the thought but not the gift as to Arthur buying them a clunker that makes a Mini Cooper look like an SUV.

We also get a couple of classic cross-overs in the form of sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano) of fellow CBS Monday night sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" having a chance meeting with Doug in the first appearance of Barone and taking him golfing in his second outing. Both "sits" provide plenty of classic "com." 

An interesting aspect of watching the beginning and the end of "Queens" is how the writers "recycle" a few plots while keeping things fresh. A twofer regarding this one is an S1 episode having a "before he was a star" Bryan Cranston guesting as a new neighbor. The typical spousal conflict as to one person wanting to accept an actionable nuisance and the other insisting on acting leads to the Heffernans adopting the dog of the new couple next door.

Fast forwarding nine years, the Heffernans (ala the Wilkerson clan of Cranston sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle") return home to discover a block party to which they are not invited. The effort of Doug to prove that he is a good person leads to a dog joining the family. The ensuing "com" relates to the "sit" in the form of covert efforts to ditch the hound. 

A first-season episode in which Doug and Carrie sign up for a class on Victorian literature has Doug shamefully exploiting Spence. In the ninth season, Carrie tries the same tactic after an off-hand remark to her boss commits her to reading a slow-paced 1,100-page novel. 

Both seasons also have episodes in which a desire to please Carrie prompts happy wage-slave Doug to accept offers to become the shift supervisor. The predictable outcome relates to sacrifices almost never ending well.

An amusing ninth-season outing has Adam Sandler playing the former delinquent classmate of Doug., The two reconnect for the first time at a class reunion, and Doug encouraging his buddy to drift back to the darkside leads to the opening of floodgates. 

The final episodes of "Queens" follow the '80s-'90s sitcom pattern of leading up to a momentous event that involves life-changing developments in the lives of several major characters. 

Like "Raymond," "Queens" works because it largely tells believable stories about real people. No one is a caricature of a stereotype, and most stories are within the ream of possibility. A classic "Raymond"{ example of this is both Ray and his wife stubbornly refusing to bring a suitcase from their stairway land to their bedroom after a trip.