“If you love comedies such as ‘The Office’, you definitely have to give ’10 ITEMS OR LESS’ a try. It’s improvised, it’s insanely hilarious and all-out fun!”
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DVD TITLE: 10 ITEMS OR LESS – the complete first and second seasons
DURATION: 288 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Season 1 (English Stereo), Season 2 (English 5.0 Dolby Digital)
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: NOT RATED
RELEASE DATE: January 13, 2009
Created by Nancy Hower, John Lehr and Robert Hickey
Starring:
John Lehr as Leslie Pool
Jennifer Elise Cox as Amy Anderson
Kirsten Gronfield as Ingrid Wakowski
Roberta Valderrama as Yolanda Nelson
Chris Payne Gilbert as Toddy Sykes
Bob Clendenin as Carl Dawson
Christopher Liam Moore as Richard Mednick
Grey Davis Jr. as Buchwald Washington
10% scripted, 90% improve and 100% lunacy.
When I heard that the TBS comedy “10 ITEMS OR LESS” was fully improvised (an outline script is created but there are no major lines the actors rehearse, they all come up with their own dialogue) and it really works. The type of dialogue between the characters is fresh, unique and you literally don’t know what’s coming since things are quite spontaneous. But what an enjoyable and fun series it has become and now the complete first season (five episodes) and second season (eight episodes) are now out on DVD.
From the creators of the mockumentary “Menron”, Nancy Hower, John Lehr and Robert Hickey have definitely created a series that is 10% scripted and 90% improvised titled “10 ITEMS OR LESS”. The series is about a guy named Leslie Pool (John Lehr) who takes over his father’s grocery store after he passes away.
Leslie becomes the new owner and manager of “Greens & Grains” and his management style is pretty much… way out there. He’s a bit absurd, obnoxious and his ideas are sometimes unbelievable.
For Leslie, his father really never believed in him and thought of him as a moron. Before he passed away, Leslie’s father was in the process of finalizing a contract with Amy Anderson (played by Jennifer Elise Cox), manager of the big grocery chain, Super Value Mart.
Amy is a woman that Leslie was in love (or lust) with in high school and she is now trying to get Leslie to finalize the contract of selling “Greens & Grains” to Super Value Mart, who wants to convert the family grocery store to a parking lot for their customers.
Leslie, being the spontaneous person that he is, is always coming up with these wild ideas and despite being naive (think Michael of “The Office”) and having really far out ideas, he does try his best to be a good boss for his six employees. And if there is one thing he admires, it’s that his staff cares about the store and also, they are like his second family to him. So, he does what he can to keep the store afloat and engages in interesting tactics to compete with their neighbor grocery store, Super Value Mart.
The employees of Greens & Grains grocery store are:
Ingrid Wakowski (played by Kirsten Gronfield) is the customer service representative, soft-spoken, into ren-fairs and has a “friends with benefits” relationship with the butcher Todd. Despite not really doing anything with him and not knowing what the term “friends with benefits” is.
Yolanda Nelson (played by Roberta Valderrama) works in the produce area. Very blunt but also quite wild. She had a one night stand with the nerdy, quiet stockboy Carl and raises their child Manuelito.
Todd Sykes (played by Chris Payne Gilbert) is the butcher who romances the ladies and really wants to get together with customer service rep, Ingrid (wants her as a “Friend with Benefits”) but doesn’t want to have a romantic relationship with any woman.
Carl Dawson (played by Bob Clendenin) is a quiet and not really outgoing stockboy (not a boy but a grown up man) who is in love with Yolanda. Has a son with Yolanda but never seen his son, nor can he pronounce his first name.
Richard Mednick (played by Christopher Liam Moore) is a cashier who dreams of becoming a professional ice skater.
Buchwald Washington (played by Greg Davis Jr.) is a checkout bagger and attends night school to become a doctor.
The following episodes included in this set are:
Season 1:
- THE NEW BOSS – In this first episode, Leslie takes on the role as owner/manager. His staff are wondering why Amy of Super Value Mart is at the store and that is because she wants Leslie to sign a contract in order for Super Value Mart to buy his family’s grocery store and convert it to a parking lot. Also, Leslie tries to show his style of management to his staff.
- THE MIRACLE WORKER – In episode 2, a stain on the wall looks like Jesus. Leslie decides that he can use the stain to bring people to his store and make some money by advertising “the miracle” on his coupon fliers.
- HEALTH INSURANCE – In episode 3, Leslie needs to cut costs. So, he has to either keep the employee’s health benefits or fire one staff member. The employees want their health benefits, so Leslie has no choice but to make his staff compete on who will keep their jobs.
- WHAT WOMEN WANT – In episode 4, Leslie wants to join the “Bison Club” but he really needs a date to the club mixer. But he’s not really good at talking with women. Will he be able to find a date in time?
- BAG IT – The last episode of season 1 features a competition between Greens & Gains and Super Value Mart for $5,000 on who can bag the fastest. The problem for Leslie is that their #1 bagger Buchwald has no interest in competing and thus Leslie must train Ingrid and prepare her for the competition.
Season 2:
- DOLLAR DAY – Kicking off the new season of “10 ITEMS OR LESS”, Leslie announces his latest promotion “Free Money” but thieves take the staff hostage and Ingrid has Stockholm Syndrome and assists the thieves.
- FOREVER YOUNG – Buck gets drunk after partying at a club and Leslie thinks he is an alcoholic. But the secret of that night may be a shocker for the staff at “Greens & Grains”.
- TO HEIR IS HUMAN – It’s the anniversary of the death of Leslie’s father and puts his ashes near the bread isle where he passed away. Meanwhile, death makes Leslie wonder who he will pass the store to and chooses Carl, the stock boy.
- FIRST TIME – Ingrid decides its time to lose her virginity and chooses Leslie to be her first. But when Leslie is unable to perform, he thinks that he may be gay.
- THE BROMANCE – Todd wins five cows in a poker game and Leslie comes up with a plan for the two to have a bromance and use the cows as a promotional similar to lobster where they bring live cows and people can select the parts they want and slaughter the cow at the store. But first, they must get approval from the government.
- AMY STRIKES BACK – After a security video of Amy and her security guard having sex is put on the Internet, Amy loses her job as manager at Super Value Mart and is hired by Leslie as an assistant manager. Unfortunately, Leslie makes the workplace like hell for the staff.
- ILLEGAL ALIEN – It’s time for the annual Greens & Grains calendar and Ingrid’s pictorial is chosen as the cover. This makes Amy jealous and discovers that Ingrid is an illegal alien and reports her to INS.
- THE REN FAIR – Leslie decides to have another promotion at Greens & Grain and this time it’s “Ye Olde Renaissance Days” and challenges Super Value Mart for a competitive joust.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The series is shot in 1:78:1 and is presented in anamorphic widescreen. The series looks pretty good and despite being shot in a real supermarket, the lighting is good and clear. As for the audio, the first season of “10 ITEMS OR LESS” was presented in stereo and the second season was featured in English 5.0 (Dolby Digital).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The special features on this box set are:
I have to admit that when I heard of this show, I couldn’t understand how a television series could be shot without the actors reading a script and the majority of it being improvised.
After watching the first and second season of “10 ITEMS OR LESS”, I was having a lot of fun and many times, I swear that I was going to bust a gut from laughing so much.
A big applause to the staff and the actors for this show. The improvisation and the dialogue between the characters is not only funny but it just works.  The fact that the series is shot in a real grocery store in front of actual people doing their groceries and their reactions to the actors is just hilarious. Again, everything just works.
The first season was fun and a few scenes had moments where the improvisation had a few hiccups early on but midway towards the first season and the second season, the staff were just natural with their smooth flow of improvisation towards each other. Also, these actors bring something to their characters that are likeable, fun and believable.
For those wondering about the content of the show, whether or not it is mature or can this series be watched with their young children, the show is a comedy that is shown late at night on TBS. Â There are a few topics that are sexual in nature but there is no profanity, nudity or anything like that.
Overall, “10 ITEMS OR LESS” is a hilariously fun series that I really enjoyed a lot. Fans of series such as “The Office” or even “Seinfeld” will probably enjoy “10 ITEMS OR LESS”. Each episode is absolutely fun and the promotional ideas that Leslie has planned for the Greens & Grains grocery store is just so out of this world but at the end of the day, despite his staff’s unwillingness to follow his absurd and obnoxious ideas, they do it and from that point on, there is just a lot of hilarious situations that transpire. So, I found the series to be quite refreshing and it’s really nice to see something different from other television comedies.
So, definitely give “10 ITEMS OR LESS: the complete first and second seasons” a chance. It’s improvised, it’s insanely hilarious and all-out fun!
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