TV Land's hit show Hot in Cleveland hands four female sitcom veterans a bevy of double entendres with the whole shebang staged in front of a live studio audience. As in Designing Women and The Golden Girls, each woman represents a different type: Wendie Malick plays vain soap star Victoria; Jane Leeves is cynical aesthetician Joy; and Valerie Bertinelli is sunny author Melanie. Due to plane trouble, the trio of single L.A. ladies end up in Cleveland while en route to Paris, and with nothing better going on back home, decide to stay. But the house they end up in comes with a caretaker: Betty White's track-suit-sporting widow, Elka. Setting aside the somewhat implausible scenario, the entertaining storylines here mostly revolve around the friendships and love lives of women over 40 (and except for Joy, who gave a son up for adoption, all have been married). During the first season, the women's romantic interests include John Schneider, Huey Lewis, and Tim Conway. Other guest stars include Hal Linden as Victoria's father, Shirley Knight as Mel's mother and Joe Jonas as her son, Carl Reiner as Elka's fiancé, and Susan Lucci as herself. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2010 debut run, DVD extras include three featurettes, bloopers, Victoria's Japanese TV commercial, and the original version of the first episode. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)
Hot in Cleveland: Season One
eOne, 2 discs, 215 min., not rated, DVD: $26.98 Volume 26, Issue 2
Hot in Cleveland: Season One
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