“An enjoyable, humorous and highly entertaining second season of the top sitcom of 2007-2008. ‘Samantha WHO?’ was an entertaining series that shocked everyone due to its cancellation but for those looking for a quality sitcom on DVD, you can’t go wrong with this release! Definitely recommended!”
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TITLE: Samantha WHO? – The Complete Second and Final Season
DURATION: 430 minutes (2o episodes)
DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, Widescreen (1:78:1), NTSC, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish and French subtitles
RATED: TV PG DSLV
COMPANY: abc studios
RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2009
Created by Cecelia Ahern and Donald Todd
Directed by Lee Shallat Chernel, Paul Lazarus, Beth McCarthy-Miller
Written by Donald Todd, Â Cecilia Ahern, bob Kushell, Jim Reynolds, Alex Reid, Pamela Ribon, Marco Pennette, Dawn DeKeyser
Supervising Producer : John Amodeo, Daw DeKeyser
Executive Producer: Donald Todd, Peter Traugott, Matthew Carlson,
Producer: Cecilia Ahern, Christina Applegate
Associate Producer: Christopher J. Connolly
Co-Executive Producer: Bob Kushell, Alex Reid
Co-Producer: Leslie Waldman, Andy Bobrow, Jim Reynolds
Consulting Producer: Marco Pennette, Tad Quill
Music by Jan Stevens
Cinematography: Blake T. Evans
Edited by Richard Candib, Skip Collector
Casting by Alexis Frank Koczara, Christine L. Smith
Production Design by Joseph P. Lucky
Set Decoration by Cherie Day Ledwith
Costume Design by Susan Michalek
Starring:
Christina Applegate as Samantha
Jennifer Esposito as Andrea Belladonna
Jean Smart as Regina Newly
Kevin Dunn as Howard
Melissa McCarthy as Dena
Tim Russ as Frank
Barry Watson as Todd
Rick Hoffman as Chase Chapman
Stephen Rannazzisi as Seth
Billy Zane as Winston Funk
McKinley Freeman as tony Dane
Adam DeVine as Tyler
Samantha Newly (Christina Applegate) awakens from an eight-day coma with no memory of her previous life. Unnerved by the discovery that she was a shallow, vain, nonstop partier, Sam vows to reinvent a better self. In Season Two of Samantha Who?, reformed party girl Sam acquires a new beau (James Tupper of “Men in Treesâ€) and a new job (working with her formerly estranged mom, played by Jean Smart). As she continues to find out just what a bad girl she’s been, Sam is working hard to put together a life with a purpose. What that purpose is, she’s still trying to figure out.
In 2007-2008, the first season of “Samantha WHO?” debuted after ABC”s “Dancing with the Stars” and the show immediately was a big hit and received praise from many reviewers and viewers. And eventually, the show was successful and was the highest rated sitcom for that year.
Unfortunately, the second season had a new schedule and no successful lead-in show and put up against other successful shows and the ratings dropped. Although not a significant drop in viewership, ABC opted not to renew the show due to economic reasons (the network wanted producers to cut $500,000 from the budget per episode).
Despite the shocking cancellation of the series, fortunately “Samantha WHO? – The Complete Second and Final Season” is released on DVD and those who missed the final seven episodes can now catch it with this final release.
“Samantha WHO?” is a sitcom created by Cecelia Ahern (writer of the 2007 novel “P.S. I Love You”) and Donald Todd (writer for “Ugly Betty”, “Life As We Know It” and “Caroline in the City”).
The series is about a woman named Samantha (Christina Applegate, “Married with Children”, “Jesse”) who was a rude and not so kind person. But after being a hit by a car, she has amnesia and doesn’t remember too much about how she was in her past but with a few memories and what she learns about herself, she wants to make herself a better person.
Because she forgot so much, she is unable to work and is trying to piece together her life and thus she depends on her parents Howard (Kevin Dunn, “Transformers” films, “Gridiron Gang”, “7th Heaven”) and Regina (Jean Smart, “24”, “Frasier” and “Designing Women”) for their assistance.
And to help her through life are her two best friends and former co-workers such as the bad/party girl Andrea Belladonna (Jennifer Esposito, “Rescue Me”, “Related” and “Conspiracy”) and the chirpy Dena (Melissa McCarthy, “Gilmore Girls”), her ex-boyfriend Todd (Barry Watson, “What About Brian” and “7th Heaven”) and her apartment doorman Frank (Tim Russ, “Star Trek: Voyager”, “Life Free and Die Hard” and “iCarly”).
But as she has her memories of the way she was back then, she does have occasional memories of Todd and when they were a couple and how badly she treated him and even being proposed by him. The problem is that once she has these memories, she forgets them. Nevertheless, with friends and family she starts to get her life all situated.
For “Samantha WHO? – The Complete Second and Final Season”, 17 episodes are featured on three discs. Here is a listing of the episodes on each disc (note: the following are spoiler-less summaries):
DISC 1:
- EPISODE 16 – So I Think I Can Dance – Regina’s rival (played by Cybil Shepherd) challenges her to a dance competition and wants Samantha to be her partner. Problem is, Samantha doesn’t remember how to dance.
- EPISODE 17 – Out of Africa – Samantha tells her parents that she is going to Africa but doesn’t go. Due to civil war in Africa, her parents are freaking out and think she’s dead.
- EPISODE 18 – The Pill – Samantha’s doctor gives her experimental pills that helps her regain her memory. Meanwhile, Andrea tries to prove to Dena that she can attract women.
- EPISODE 19 – The Building – Samantha and Regina try to sell a building but Samantha doesn’t want to use anything sexual by any means to get the building sold (like she used to back then).
- EPISODE 20 – Help! – Samantha tries to help a girl (played by Mary-Kate Olsen)Â who tends to get in trouble.
- EPISODE 21 – The Ex-Girlfriend – Samantha tells Owen that her ex-boyfriend lives with her and Owen tells Samantha that his best friend is his ex-girlfriend. What happens when all four get together.
- EPISODE 22 – The Farm – Samantha brings Owen home to meet her parents.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 23 – The Park – Samantha tries to become an environmentalist to make Owen happy.
- EPISODE 24 – The Family Vacation – Samantha and her parents go on a vacation at a lodge (with her best friends).
- EPISODE 25 – My Best Friend’s Boyfriend – Samantha and Todd go out on a double date with Andrea and her pro basketball player date, Tony Dane. But Todd learn’s the basketball player’s secret.
- EPISODE 26 – The Dog – Samantha feels that she wants to have a child, so for practice, she decides to take care of Dena’s dog.
- EPISODE 27 – The Amazing Racist – After being accused of being racist, Samantha tries to become good friends with Frank.
- EPISODE 28 – The Debt – Samantha and her parents go to Vegas.
DISC 3:
- EPISODE 29 – The Rock Star – Samantha goes out with a rockstar and stops hanging out with her friends.
- EPISODE 30 – Todd’s Job – Samantha tries to help Todd get a job, while Regina puts Dena’s house on the market without letting her know.
- EPISODE 31 – The Sister – Samantha finds out that she has an aunt and grandmother.
- EPISODE 32 – The Dream Job – Samantha is hired to run a charity foundation. Meanwhile, Dena hopes that Andrea will select her as a bridesmaid.
- EPISODE 33 – The First Date – Samantha wants to balance her time at work and with Todd. Meanwhile, Regina is not so thrilled about Howard’s retirement.
- EPISODE 34 – The Other Woman – The women make a major step towards the men in their lives but Regina gets caught up in a love triangle.
- EPISODE 35 – With This Ring – Andrea is to marry Tony Dane while Samantha must make a choice… Todd or Winston.
NOTE: On Disc 3, “The Rock Star”, “Todd’s Job” and “The Sister” are not part of the “Samantha WHO?” 17-episode listing and are in a section called “More Sam…”.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Samantha WHO?” is a sitcom presented in Widescreen (with an aspect ratio of 1:78:1) that is shot via a single camera and not the typical multiple camera setup. So, one thing that people will realize about the series is that it looks more like a drama series and although shot on set, there are many scenes where the show is shot outdoors and the picture quality on DVD is very good. For the most part, the series is well-lit and doesn’t have the problems of excessive low-noise or high compression.
As for the audio, “Samantha WHO?” is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.  The series is primarily dialogue driven, so it’s primarily front and center channel-driven. I was hoping to hear an episode such as “The Rock Star” which takes place in a small concert stage with the audience cheering utilizing the surround channels, but I didn’t really hear anything.
So, pretty much the series is front and channel driven but if you have a receiver capable of stereo on all channels. Personally, I found that setting the best for watching the show.
Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish and French.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Samantha WHO? – The Complete Second and Final Season” comes with the following special features:
DISC 1:
Not necessarily a special feature but if you select “play all” instead of individual episodes, you will be treated with the “Samantha WHO? – Season One” starter kit which is a recap of season 1.
DISC 2:
- Deleted Scenes – Seven deleted scenes with an intro for each scene by Executive Producer Donald Todd. Scenes deleted due to time conflicts.
- Bloopers – (:53) Blooper reel
- Set Tour With Christina Applegate – (4:42) Christina Applegate takes the viewers on a tour of “Samantha WHO?” and why there are chickens everywhere on the set of her family’s home and more.
- Christina Dance Moment – (3:11) Executive Producer Donald Todd talks about how Christina Applegate wanted to do an episode that involved dancing and how she had to dance badly and how difficult it was to film Christina and Jean doing bad dance choreography.
- Girl Chat – (2:24) Christina Applegate, Jennifer Esposito and Melissa McCarthy answer questions about their character and relating to the show.
I have to admit that I was shocked that ABC canceled “Samantha WHO?”. After all, the series was the top rated sitcom for its first season, Christina Applegate was nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in 2008 and how courageous Applegate was by doing the show even though he had to face a mastectomy.
Needless to say, the show’s viewership may have went down due to not having “Dancing with the Stars” as a lead in show but still, the show had millions of viewers and truthfully, many viewers and even entertainment magazine editors felt the show didn’t deserve to be canceled.
But here we are with “Samantha WHO? – The Complete Second and Final Season” and fortunately, now people who missed the final seven episodes, can catch the second season in its entirety on DVD. And for those who are wondering about how the series ended, fortunately the creators of the show managed to create a satisfying conclusion to the series. Also, a bit open ended just in case another network wanted to pick it up.
The characters are just enjoyable to watch. There are many episodes featuring Samantha remembering her past life and trying to start over with her new life despite not having any past memories. Her mother Regina is actually quite interesting and to see the mother and daughter dynamics at work is quite hilarious. Especially since Regine and Samantha have drifted apart since Samantha was a much different and crude person in the past.
Jennifer Esposito as Andrea Belladonna was very enjoyable to watch. As Kim Cattrall’s character of Samantha was for Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex & The City”, Andrea is that sexy vixen who also has that crude/party girl humor that she brings into the friendship between her and Samantha. And Melissa McCarthy as Dena is also quite interesting because she is so different from Samantha and Dena but she’s still part of that circle and brings that perky ditsyness but also logical thinking at times. So, for the most part, what makes “Samantha WHO?” so enjoyable is its characters and the wackiness that ensues in each episode.
Overall, “Samantha WHO?” was an enjoyable sitcom with plenty of comedy and every character was fun to watch.  In fact, there wasn’t any episode that seemed boring at all. Again, I think it was a wrong decision by ABC to cancel the series but for those who were curious about the sitcom or fans who enjoyed the series, definitely pick up both seasons of “Samantha WHO?” on DVD. You definitely won’t be disappointed!