All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle preferred this sitcom back in the days when it was called The Honeymooners.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of The King Of Queens: The Complete First Season (published December 17th, 2003), The King Of Queens: The Complete Second Season (published August 4th, 2004), The King Of Queens: The Complete Third Season (published June 8th, 2005), The King Of Queens: The Complete Fifth Season (published September 6th, 2006), and The King Of Queens: The Complete Sixth Season (published October 11th, 2006) are also available.

The Charge

He's the king of his castle…when the queen isn't home!

The Case

It's season four for parcel postman Doug Heffernan (Kevin James, Hitch), his beautiful and ever-patient wife, Carrie (Leah Remini, Old School), and her cantankerous, wacky father Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller, Seinfeld). The funny threesome find themselves in such situations as Doug buying Carrie cheap eye surgery as a birthday gift; Carrie telling Doug she married him because she thinks they met as children (even though it was really Doug's cousin); and Doug and Carrie hiring a dog walker to get Arthur out of the house while they attempt to make a baby. Get out your royal scepter and get ready for The King of Queens: The Complete Forth Season!

Included on this three-disc set are the following episodes from the forth season of the show:

• "Walk Man"
• "Sight Gag"
• "Mean Streak"
• "Friender Bender"
• "No Retreat"
• "Ticker Treat"
• "Lyin' Hearted"
• "Life Sentence"
• "Veiled Threat"
• "Oxy Moron"
• "Depo Man"
• "Ovary Action"
• "Food Fight"
• "Double Downer"
• "Dougie Nights"
• "No Orleans"
• "Missing Links"
• "Hero Worship"
• "Screwed Driver"
• "Lush Life"
• "Bun Dummy"
• "Patrons Ain't"
• "Eddie Money"
• "Shrink Wrap"
• "Two-Thirty"

If you can fathom it, The King of Queens has been around for well over half a decade. Say what?!? It's hard to believe that this spin-off of Everybody Loves Raymond (Kevin James and Everybody star Ray Romano are good friends in real life) has seven seasons under it's very tightly buckled belt. While the show isn't close to being a failure, it's never garnered the critical praise or loyal viewership of other long-lasting television shows.

Much like the previous seasons of The King of Queens, I liked it, but I didn't love it. Only a few short weeks ago I sat through the Will Smith comedy Hitch and found Kevin James's supporting role to be one of the best things about the film. James is a likable actor—his beefy frame and hound dog expressions make for some great comic moments. But it's not enough to be likable—you also have to have good writers behind you. My main beef with The King of Queens has been the same from the get go: The writing isn't as sharp as it should be. Take for example an episode in which Carrie and Doug want to conceive a child, and need to get Arthur out of the house for a few hours. Their solution: hire a dog-walker to take care of him during the afternoons. Too innocuous to use as a sitcom storyline, the thin premise is also squandered by the writers. Other episodes—including one in which Doug and Carrie find an expired $1,500 check inside an old wedding gift, and another involving Carrie's discovery of a college acceptance notice she never knew existed—fare slightly better.

Yes, I laughed during each episode, but not enough to catapult the series into the sitcom stratosphere with Frasier or Everybody Loves Raymond. The bulk of the series tends toward mediocrity. Kevin James is likable, and Jerry Stiller (just a few notches down from his role as George's father on Seinfeld) is his usual flustered, know-it-all self. Yet the series never rises above its predictable, standard idea (a working class guy and gal living with her wacky, goofy father). On a Tuesday after work an individual episode is entertaining while having a few beers—but for this reviewer, complete seasons aren't worth owning on DVD.

The transfers on The King of Queens: The Complete Forth Season are all presented in 1.33:1 full frame, their original TV aspect ratios. Once again Sony has delivered a good picture, though it's nothing very exciting. Each individual transfer is a good replica of the original television broadcast. The colors are brightly rendered and the black levels solid and dark.

The soundtracks are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo in English. Much like the video transfers, these are all in good shape and good reproductions of the original TV broadcasts. There is little-to-no distortion in each mix, and the dialogue, music, and effects are clear and clean. No alternate soundtracks or subtitles are included.

Common with most TV releases these days, The King of Queens: Season Four's only extra features are some bonus trailers for other Sony DVD and TV series releases.

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