Product Details

• Actors: Corin Nemec, Billy Jayne, Troy W. Slaten, Melanie Chartoff, Abraham Benrubi
• Directors: Bryan Spicer
• 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: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: June 30, 2009
• Run Time: 900 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001STTRTC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,238 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Launched by Fox in 1990, Parker Lewis Can't Lose exploded onto the scene like a 1980s flashback. Witness the Ducky-style pompadours, retina-searing shirts, and reggae-goes-new wave theme song. As with Ferris Bueller before him, Parker (Corin Nemec) is the kind of quick-thinking teenager who can charm his peers with ease. He even has a bratty kid sister, Shelly (Maia Brewton), and two “best buds,” guitar-slinging Mikey (William Jayne) and calculator-sporting Jerry (Troy Slaten). Principal Grace Musso (Melanie Chartoff), however, doesn't find Parker's antics--most revolving around his expertise with electronics--quite so endearing.

With the aid of her black-clad henchman, er, special obedience helper Frank Lemmer (Taj Johnson), Parker's pranks rarely go undetected, but due to his ingenuity and friendship with six-foot-seven-inch football player Larry Kubiac (ER's Abraham Benrubi), Lewis rarely does more than detention (and as for that ever-present camcorder: his parents run a video store). During the first season, Parker and buds battle a slick rival, a Heathers-like girl gang, and devious substitute principal-turned-teacher Dr. Norman Pankow (Gerrit Graham). Cartoon sound effects, extreme close-ups, fast-cutting, and film parodies, from Casablanca to The Karate Kid, add considerable zap and pow to their Santo Domingo High misadventures.

Some of the guests to contribute to the first year include Milla Jovovich, Josh Lucas, and Ziggy Marley. Cast, crew, and creators Lon Diamond and Dexter’s Clyde Phillips comment on seven episodes. The other extra, "The History of Coolness," features interviews with most of the main players, including X-Files director Rob Bowman. Though Diamond and Phillips acknowledge the influence of ‘80s icon John Hughes and though Parker debuted the same year as his Ferris Bueller spin-off, the duo beat the odds when their competitor quickly bit the dust, while their show ran for two more seasons. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 06/30/2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best show never released on dvd...IS BEING RELEASED ON DVD!!!, February 20, 2009

By 

Daniel Sweeney (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season (DVD)

I have fond memories of watching Parker Lewis Can't Lose with my family on Sunday evenings on Fox back in 1990 when it first aired, and we all enjoyed it. Where I lived in San Francisco it was on at 7:30 right before The Simpsons and lasted for three seasons.

It may be nearly 20 years after the fact, but even now it holds up as a high-quality show of uncommon intelligence and humor, and is notable for being one of the Fox Network's early hits. Besides inventive storylines and a light, humorous touch, Parker and his buds are memorable characters, and the casting is pitch-perfect. The editing and camera movements are creative, enhancing the whimsical and quirky nature of the show.

And I, for one, appreciate the fact that this show is somewhat of a time capsule of early-90s clothing and styles. I was in high school when this show was on, and it reminds me of those days more than a little bit.

The 26 Season One episodes are hands-down the best in my opinion, and hopefully this set will sell like hotcakes thus necessitating a Season Two release. The abbreviated Season Three (only 22 episodes) is a different story, however. It is notorious in tv history as being a classic "shark-jumper"--at the behest of the producer, it changed its name to "Parker Lewis" (losing the "Can't Lose" moniker) and became more of a vanilla after-school-special type program no longer resembling the irreverent show of the first two seasons.

Here are the 26 Season One episodes in broadcast order:

1. Pilot (9/2/90)
2. Operation Kubiak (9/9/90)
3. Power Play (9/16/90)
4. Parker Lewis Must Lose (9/23/90)
5. Close, But No Guitar (9/30/90)
6. G.A.G. Dance (10/7/90)
7. Love's a Beast (10/14/90)
8. Saving Grace (10/21/90)
9. Musso & Frank (10/28/90)
10. Deja Dudes (11/4/90)
11. Radio Free Flamingo (11/15/90)
12. Science Fair (11/18/90)
13. Teacher, Teacher (12/2/90)
14. Rent-a-Kube (12/16/90)
15. Heather the Class (1/13/91)
16. Jerry: Portrait of a Video Junkie (2/3/91)
17. Splendor in the Class (2/10/91)
18. The Human Grace (2/17/91)
19. Citizen Kube (2/24/91)
20. Randall Without a Cause (3/10/91)
21. Jerry's First Date (3/24/91)
22. Against the Norm (4/7/91)
23. King Kube (4/28/91)
24. Teens from a Mall (5/5/91)
25. My Fair Shelly (5/12/91)
26. Parker Lewis Can't Win (5/19/91)

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At long last!!!, February 19, 2009

By 

Degrassirules "degrassidaria" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season (DVD)

At long last, Parker Lewis is finally coming to DVD! This truly is one of the best shows ever broadcast on TV and it's one of the mysteries (and injustices) of the universe that Screech from Saved by the Bell gets a DVD release but quality like Parker Lewis (and Midnight Caller) have to endure fan petitions to get a well-deserved DVD release. Now let's keep the pressure on for seasons 2 and 3 to be on DVD!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AS GOOD AS IT GETS, February 26, 2009

By 

Barrington HOLIDAY (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season (DVD)

I gotta say, AT LAST!!! This is the premier and best sitcom of American Television along with Malcolm in the Middle. If you've not seen it yet, prepare to get hooked - this show is extremely addictive. Parker Lewis - a High School genius, not by books; but by creativity has a way out of every situation he gets himself into thanks to the "Musso excuse files" kept safely hidden on a football sized rolodex in Steiner overcoat. Meanwhile Mikey, has the knack for finding trouble, actually they all do; the 3 Tenors of high school sheningans and pranks. The principle Grace Musso, and her able assistant Frank Lemmer - who's official title as Special Obedience Helper steal nearly every scene. This is the show to escape into non-reality and just enjoy yourself. No big message here, just straight up entertainment. The cast is classic casting, everyone here belongs on this show and you will learn all about everyone important to the cast in the very first episode. And you will immediately be hooked. But the biggest star of this comedy series wasn't the cast, it was the special affects. This show was so ahead of it's time, the sounds and visuals, strange camara angles, Musso's "unopposeable thumb," the sound of Kubiaks 300 pounds walking thru the hallways of Santo Domingo High; nothing I write here will do justice for the genius of creativity this show had. But don't take my word for it, see it for yourself, and like so many of us who have waited long overdue, you will be hooked, and you too will realize this is as good as it gets.