Everybody Hates Chris: The First Season

Coming off many years as a regular on Saturday Night Live and an occasional star of big-budget movies, standup comedian Chris Rock made an unusual career choice, submerging himself in a TV sitcom inspired by his own childhood—a show in which he provides narration as his adult self, but never appears onscreen. Everybody Hates Chris take places in Brooklyn during the early ‘80s, when young Chris (Tyler James Williams) struggles to find his place in a predominantly white junior high school while simultaneously keeping siblings Drew (Tequan Richmond) and Tanya (Imani Hakim) in line and his parents (Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold) at bay. Chris is an enormously appealing character; he thinks, talks, or runs his way out of trouble with dizzying speed, with a mind that's just as fast as his feet. Rock's narration is consistently funny, and he occasionally manages to inject some subtle, sly bits of social commentary into the humorous situations. This four-disc boxed set collects the 22 episodes of the 2005-06 season, and features DVD extras including five cast and crew audio commentaries, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a blooper reel. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)