Product Details

• Actors: Kelly Packard, William James Jones, Michael Cade, Jay Anthony Franke, Jennie Kwan
• Directors: Don Barnhart
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Shout Factory
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Run Time: 690 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001NPK5C4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,154 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "California Dreams - Seasons 1 & 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Everyone who grew up in the early 1990s can rejoice: California Dreams has finally come out on DVD! In the first season of this Saturday morning sitcom, teenage brother and sister Matt and Jenny Garrison (Brent Gore and Heidi Noelle Lenhart) bounced between their family and their soft-rock band. Their bandmates/best friends included blond surfer girl Tiffany (Kelly Packard, later on Baywatch), would-be smoothie Tony (William James Jones), and their greedy, scheming manager Sly (Michael Cade). Matt was an all-around nice guy, while Jenny had a feminist streak and stood up for herself in the face of casual chauvinism from the boys. But early in the second season Jenny left to study music in Rome and was replaced by Sam (Jennie Kwan), a chatty exchange student from Hong Kong, and a black-leather-jacketed bad boy with a sensitive side named Jake (Jay Anthony Franke) became Matt’s new songwriting partner. The Garrison family receded and the band became the show’s enduring focus. Though it launched in 1992, the first two seasons of California Dreams suffered from a 1980s hangover of baggy jackets, patterns not found in nature, and over-produced pop that would have made Debbie Gibson blush with shame. The plots were usually contrived (when the band gets their first gig, Matt and Jenny’s dad had gotten the whole family plane tickets for a trip to the Grand Canyon on the same day) or resolved way, way too quickly (Tiffany is reunited with the mother who abandoned her years earlier--in 20 minutes, they’re pals!). But such is the stuff of sitcoms; California Dreams can be commended for attempting any emotional depth at all, as well as making some gesture towards girl power. Perhaps most radical of all, the teenagers were mostly portrayed by actual teenagers (at least when the show began). The series may have been prefabricated and woefully square in its attempts to be hip, but that’s part of its appeal: It’s a freshly scrubbed pre-teen fantasy of glamorous high-school life. No wonder the pre-teens who watched continue to hold California Dreams dear. This box set of seasons 1 & 2 includes a brief interview with the grown-up Gore, Packard, Cade, and Kwan, who of course gush with enthusiasm about the show--but the interplay between them shows both affection and exasperation and feels pleasantly genuine. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 03/31/2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you think the actors had fun, shoulda seen the writers room, April 1, 2009

By 

Tony Soltis (Studio City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: California Dreams - Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD)

It's interesting to see how much people liked the later seasons more than the first two, but speaking as a writer who worked on every episode along with Ron Solomon and Brett Dewey, it was the last few shows of the second season when Dreams hit its stride, finding its bizarre, broad tone. I'm not sure any episode is better than the second season's western musical. Admittedly, it's only after the Garrisons depart that we get to see Gary Beach sell used cars or that PCH's transie principal and monomaniacal vice principal appear. I loved the actors, I loved their characters, and the shows are a reflection of the writers room's tomato fights, water guns, and barefoot dance contests late-night atop Hollywood's Gower Studios. There were a lot of NBC-Peter Engel sitcoms going on at the time, but we were the only ones sticking Kick Me tags on Peter Engel's back at run-thrus.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last the sister series of Saved by the Bell, January 17, 2009

By 

Kenith Anthony Gulick (Rising Sun, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: California Dreams - Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD)

Its been a long time coming for this series mostly because of musical rights issues. And guessing Shout Factorys record we can only pray that this is put out in its original form. If you are looking for that same comedy as Saved by the Bell this is basically the same thing (in my opinion not as great as bell though), a 90s teen series in a tropical setting. The first two seasons were pretty formulaic ending with a song from the band and having the parents more involved with the kids hijinks. But as later seasons progressed it hit is stride with teen romance abound that only Peter Engel could dream up. Here's hoping Shout Factory follows the formula and puts out seasons 3, 4, and 5 out with in a reasonable time frame. I am very greatful they took the effort to release this series.
JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW, SEASON 3 IS AVALIABLE FROM THE SHOUT FACTORY WEBSITE. SO ORDER NOW SO THE REMAINING TWO SEASONS WILL BE RELEASED!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great show but not its best seasons, February 24, 2009

By 

Milhouse (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: California Dreams - Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD)

I am a HUGE FAN the California Dreams but seasons 1-2 are not its best material. Don't get me wrong, this 90's style high school sitcom formula is still great to watch, and the songs which this show eventually became known for were always an amazing complement to the emotions of an episode. But I really didn't enjoy anyone in the Garrison family, who were the initial focus of the show in seasons 1-2. In addition to not really relating to the parents or the little brother, I didn't particularly enjoy Matt or Jenny's singing voices either. I went on to grow fondest of the show in the seasons 3-5 when the Garrisons were written out and replaced by Lorena, Mark, and Sam, and the focus of the show was more on the band itself.

The "California Dreams Reunited" bonus feature sounds nice on paper but turns out to be a big dud, only "reuniting" Brent Gore (Matt), Jennie Kwon (Sam), Kelly Packard (Tiffani), and Michael Cade (Sly). I appreciate the effort though. These kinds of special features are really lacking from a lot of DVD's of cancelled TV shows.