Fat Actress: The Complete First Season

Multiple Emmy winner Kirstie Alley breaks one of the last taboos in Hollywood: she's fat, and she's on TV, in a delicious guilty-pleasure-series that's all about how fat she is, and how Hollywood wants nothing to do with her as a result. Hilariously catty and vicious, this 2005 hybrid reality show/sitcom is based on Alley's real-life experiences as a large woman in a town that values skinny, with dialogue mostly improvised on the fly by the talented and very funny cast. Hollywood's obsessions with weight, sex, and social climbing suffer relentless prodding, and a slew of big-name guest stars--including John Travolta, Kid Rock, Carmen Electra, and others--poke fun at their own public personas. Alley, of course, is the biggest butt of the mean-spirited humor--pun intended--but it's not her weight that's the joke, but rather her fictional alter ego's self-centeredness. And that's the most refreshing thing about these seven wonderful episodes: they're a wakeup call to an industry that thinks its most unpleasant quality--stupendous narcissism--is its best feature... not that anyone who needs the reminder will actually recognize or appreciate it. DVD extras include cast commentaries, behind-the-scene featurettes, and deleted scenes. Highly recommended. (M. Johanson)