Customer Reviews

California Dreams - Seasons 1 & 2

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Bucking the trend for cheaply made, poorly sourced, musically replaced, or even incomplete ("Smother's Brothers") treatments of TV series, Shout Factory has an umitigated winner here.

All the Season 1-2 episodes are present and they look great. Thanks to Steve Tyrell, all the original music appears as well. No rights issues here as the music was composed for and one supposes owned by the show.

Extras are sparse - outside of the ability to jump directly to the songs and a winning cast reunion - sans Jay Anthony Franke, Heidi Noelle Lenhart and William James Jones. They are missed, especially since Ms. Lenhart and Mr. Franke are referred to more than once as having conflicts with those present. Given the close relationship between the "Tiffani" and "Jake" characters, it would have been interesting to hear Mr. Franke's take on the relationship - both onscreen and off.

Given challenging economic times, this is one expenditure that is well worth dipping into whatever disposable income fans of the show have left. One can't help but hope sales are brisk enough for Shout Factory to release the remaining 3 seasons.

Speaking of - here's a pre-emptive request for Shout Factory. If season 5 is released - cast commentaries from the principals for the final episode are a must!

As for content - I tend to disagree with most here. I believe the introduction of the romance of the "Jake" and "Tiffani" characters midway through season 2 really propelled the show, though it curiously disappeared for episodes 16 and 17 - the "Jake" character openly chasing after other girls while the "Tiffani" character watched with disinterest - only to reappear in the Season 2 ending cliffhanger (NBC clearly originally aired these epsiodes out of order). There can be no denying, however, that Mr. Franke and Ms. Packard brought considerable chemistry to the compelling romantic escapades of these two characters.

I believe the loss of the "Jenny" character was significant, as I found Ms. Lenhart to be the most talented singer of the group, evidenced by her performance on Mr. Tyrell's compelling pop efforts, "Castles on Quicksand" and "This Time". Her performance as a "head banging mosh pit reject" was hysterical. As for the "Mark Winkle" and "Lorena Costa" characters - I thought Aaron Jackson was an unfortunate choice to replace Brent Gore in the vocal mix, and that their characters never really achieved the magical on-screen dynamic of the others.

THANKS to Tony Soltis - one the show's principal writers - for visiting with us here and affording us a brief snapshot into the writer's room. While one must always listen with skepticism as all those associated with a project rant on, predictably proclaiming "this is best thing I've ever worked on!", it does appear that those involved here are actually speaking from the heart!

For the last year I have been watching YouTube videos of the California Dreams (much to the chagrin of my friends, family & co-workers) and secretly hoping that they would release the series on DVD. I even signed a petition online. I pre-ordered Seasons 1 and 2 the day I found out they were being released on DVD and counted down the days until March 31.

Though I love every episode, I agree that the later seasons are better, so I hope that Shout releases seasons 3-5. California Dreams is every bit as good as I remember it from my childhood, I still dream about being in a garage band, and I am pretty sure I will always be in love with Jake Sommers.

Growing up in the early '90s, teen sitcoms were always a pleasure to watch. But never did i expect to get laughs and good music at the same time. That is the case with CD. It's a great show with likable characters and very, very good music from Steve Tyrell. Knowing that a DVD set is finally being released, i'm going to purchase it asap. Can't wait to watch season 1 to 2, on DVD quality, after years on crappy VHS format. I can't wait to see the special features as well, especially the reunion.... Please buy this DVD set, maybe that way they'll also release seasons 3 to 5. Go Dreams!

Now that I've seen the dvds, there are a few complaints:
- as one might know already, the episode is out of order. One episode Jake is with Tiff, the other he's not.
- though not a big problem, there weren't any subtitles, i could have enjoyed subtitles.
- seeing this dvd on a flat screen is pretty bad cause it's all stretched out. unless you see it on its aspect ratio with the black bars left and right.

other than that, this is a pretty decent boxset with a nice package.

Thumbs up to Shout!

Go buy this if you're a CD fan..

I am a huge fan of California Dreams and have been ever since it aired. I waited forever for it to come out on DVD! I started watching it the minute I got it. However, I noticed on the last disc, which is disc 5, that the episodes seem somewhat out of order or something. In the episode 21 Jake Street, he starts to date this undercover cop but then the disc ends with him and Tiffani breaking up at the prom. There were also other episodes before the prom episode where they weren't dating. Obviously something got screwed up. Didn't anyone else notice that?

Been waiting so so long for this to come out. Used to watch it everyday with my sister when it was on in the nineties. Used to tape them all, never quite got every episode and the sound and picture quality got really bad over the years. Been on forumns for a long time with lots of others trying to spread the word to get this to come out. I can safely say me and my sister are going to be rekindling some great memories. Stunning DVD, lets hope they bring out all the series....everyone please buy this DVD and show your support for an amazing show.

I have waited soo long for this show to finally come out on DVD. It was so worth the wait, I still love it! I just hope that the rest of the seasons are released.

Its about time, they put California Dreams out on DVD. I know they had issues and I'm hoping they are all figured out. The later seasons were better in my opinion, but nontheless this will make a great collection.