Suburgatory: Season 1

“Suburgatory” proves that you can take the girl out of the city but you can never take the city out of the girl … or can you?

The DVD release of this hit show comes packed with laughs and special features that will keep you laughing long after the show ends.

The story begins with George Altman and his daughter, Tessa, moving from the Big Apple out to the suburbs, and the two couldn’t be any more out of place. Tessa does everything she can to blend in, but Dalia Royce, the queen of the school, does everything she can to make sure Tessa knows she doesn’t belong. Of course, these two girls are in for a surprise when George and Dalia’s larger-than-life mother, Dallas, begin to form a friendship that could be more.

“Suburgatory” is an excellent show and an interesting on with the fish-out-of-water scenario. Normally you have the rich girl thrown into a rural setting, but this show does the exact opposite. Jane Levy’s performance of Tessa is pitch perfect and definitely carries a heavy portion of the show. I think the most interesting part of the show is that while Tessa tries so hard to hold on to her gritty city roots, the suburbs make a bigger impression on her than she can see. Jeremy Sisto is great as her clueless — yeah, I know, I said it — father; normally I’m not a huge fan of Sisto, but he has an authenticity to him that makes him likable.

The rest of the cast does a great job of rounding out this show and complements each other nicely. Alan Tudyk, as George’s college friend Noah Werner, is hilarious. He’s the epitome of suburban vanity and greed. Cheryl Hines is great as Dallas. She brings sweetness to the role and definitely gives the character more dimensions. Carly Chaikin is also perfect as Tessa’s archnemesis, Dalia, who is as ruthless as she is clueless.

Among the classic episodes, "Poetic Injustice" is hilarious because Tessa is perplexed at the notion that her poetry teacher favors Dalia’s work over Tessa’s. "The Casino Trip" is also another classic episode. The best way to describe it would be “The Hangover” meets “Revenge of the Nerds.”

With the second-season premiere looming, this is the perfect time to get caught up because the season finale is definitely a doozy.

The special features are slim but are still chock full of laughs. There is a featurette called "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell: Life in Suburgatory" that gives an in depth look at the cast and crew at work and a hilarious gag reel that will leave you in stitches.

Season: 4 Yaps Extras: 3.5 Yaps