The Royle Family: The Complete 1st Season

A BBC-produced cross between All in the Family and Married with Children, this irreverent and often scabrously funny sitcom deals with a blue-collar British family of couch potatoes. Patriarch Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson) is a tight-fisted slob who'd much rather park himself in front of the TV than listen to his long-suffering wife Barbara (Sue Johnston). Daughter Denise (Caroline Aherne) constantly worries about her upcoming marriage to fiancé Dave Best (Craig Cash), and her younger brother Anthony (Ralf Little) spends much of his time buying cigarettes for the rest of the family and figuring out ways to chisel the old man. This DVD collects the six first season episodes that aired during the fall of 1998, the best of which are “Making Ends Meet,” which finds Jim fretting over the cost of Denise's wedding, and the season finale “Wedding Day,” which chronicles the big event in hilarious detail. Recommended. (E. Hulse)