The Good

A funny show that examines the differences with our friends from across the pond.

The Bad

No real extra features… and in a Complete Collection no less!

They describe this film on the DVD box as “the American Revolution and the battle of the sexes all rolled into one,” and that is truly the best way I think one could talk about, Two’s Company: The Complete Collection. You’ve got the quick tongued American Elaine Stritch as Dorothy. She’s a writer living in London who needs a butler. So she decides to meet with the very British butler Robert (Donald Sinden), and after one of the most invasive and rude interviews known to the modern workforce, she ends up putting him in her employ. As you can guess this makes for a lot of comedy and most of it plays itself out in Stritch’s Chelsea townhouse. While it might seem that Dorothy would run roughshod over Robert, he has a way about him that matches her outbursts tit for tat.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

With 29 episodes comprising Two’s Company: The Complete Collection, fans of this show will certainly be happy to find the comedy and wit of this release all in one place.

Features

Stritch and Sinden Biographies and Cast Filmographies

Sadly, this is all that Acorn Media put in this four disc set. If you’ve read any of my other reviews of their titles then you know full well how I feel about them.

Video

4:3 - Full Screen. This show is from from the mid-1970s and I was all ready to read Acorn Media the riot act for not cleaning the episodes up better. I noticed dirt and some other hits in the picture that I usually don’t see with TV on DVD releases. Then, as I looked at the DVD box I saw a disclaimer that read: Due to the age of these programs and the improved resolution that DVD provides, you may notice occasional flaws in the image and audio on this DVD presentation that were beyond our ability to correct from the original materials. So now how can I complain?

Audio

Dolby Digital. I didn’t notice any real problems with this. It wasn’t like the sound jumped back and forth or I even had a hard time hearing what the characters were saying. In fact, I don’t recall even having to turn the audio in my set up that loud. When one considers that there is a lot of content spread across multiple discs in this collection, I think that concessions can be made if things don’t always sound that pristine. Afterall, people are getting this entire show in one shot, right?

Package

With Elaine Stritch in front of an American flag and Donald Sinden standing tall in front of a Union Jack, those images should tell you all you need to know about this slipcase packaging. The back cover has four images on the back, two of which are promo shots. All the pictures are laid out around the show description, some technical specs and the Special Features listing. They have stored all four discs in this collection inside separate amaray cases which are all multicolored.

Final Word

I didn’t know what to think of this show at first but then as I waded through Two’s Company: The Complete Collection, very early on I realized that this was going to be one to own. Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden are so good here, I felt like I was seeing two masters of their craft go toe to toe. There was such an easy, comedic way that both of these characters had, I couldn’t wait to hear what was going to come out of their mouths. First, Stritch would make a rude comment. Sinden would be polite but respond smartly and this drove Stritch’s character absolutely crazy. Back and forth this would go and eventually either the characters would go about their business or the episode would end.

Now, over the course of watching the episodes that I did, I never got tired of what Stritch and Sindell were doing. Considering I had never heard of these characters before, I had no idea who they were or where they were from, I think that is the greatest thing I can say about Two’s Company: The Complete Collection.

Two’s Company was released .