Customer Reviews

Titus - Seasons 1 & 2

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It truly is a shame that FOX's Titus only lasted three seasons, although, in retrospect, it's amazing that it even did last that long. The material is probably the darkest stuff I've seen on television (and this is a comedy, remember), the budget must have been tiny (there were only three main sets, and everything else looked recycled). The show survived on its merit, but fortunately, it deserved all the acclaim it got, plus much more.
The show Titus is based off of comedian Christopher Titus' one man stage show entitled Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding, which in turn was based on his real life. In fact, the members of Titus' family had to sign release forms, as the show was so close to real life. Titus plays himself, a custom car shop owner who comes from a very dysfunctional family. His father Ken Titus (Stacey Keach) is a womanizing alcoholic who takes the term "tough love" to a whole new level. His mother Juanita (Julie Wagner/Frances Fisher) is a manic-depressive schizophrenic who, on many occasions, tried to kill Ken. Half-brother Dave (Zack Ward) is a marijuana-smoking, unintelligent man-boy. Titus' "normal" friend Tommy Shafter (David Shatraw) is sensitive and effeminante, which leads to him being at the butt of a lot of Ken's jokes. Erin Fitzpatrick (Cynthia Watros) is Titus' loving (but equally screwed up) girlfriend. She also comes from a dysfunctional family, but she does everything she can to forget about it.
The stories are told in a very interesting way; as everything is going on, there are frequent asides from Titus in a black and white "neutral space" where he narrates, comments, and sets up jokes. A lot of the dialogue in the neutral space comes directly from Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding. The plot of the episodes range from the group fearing that Ken is dead because he hasn't left his room in four days... not even to get a beer, to Titus and Erin breaking up, and having both of them hook up with other people within 10 minutes, only to want to get back together.
As you can see, this isn't Ozzie and Harriet. The plots are extremely dark and twisted. One episode deals with the group having an intervention so that Ken can START drinking again. In the featurette Hard Laughs on the DVD, Titus confirms what I had pretty much known since I had seen the show; many of the plots barely got network approval. Chris had to coax them into the episodes by explaining how funny they could be, and believe me, this is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Very few shows on network television have ventured this far in terms of the kinds of stories they do (sure, there's Family Guy, but that's a different kind of edgy). The people in this show are dysfunctional and real. There is no weekly reconcilliation at the end of each episode. In fact, it's lucky if the characters' situations aren't worse off by the end than they were at the beginning.
As I said earlier, this show had a tiny budget. Aside from the three main sets (Titus' house, Ken's house, and the Titus High Performance garage), most of the others were definitely recycled, and it doesn't take too much of a trained eye to see old sets refurbished to look like something new (I'm pretty sure that the police station and the hospital were the same set). Furthermore, it seemed like they just couldn't hold on to the actors who played recurring characters. One character was in three episodes, and was played by someone new each time. Juanita Titus was played by a different actress in each season (although they go into that in Hard Laughs, and it does make a kind of sense if you watch the show). I'm surprised that they were able to get guest stars like David Hyde Pierce and Jay Leno to appear (although I'm guessing that they enjoyed the material and were willing to take a cut in their normal pay, just like Gary Oldman on Greg the Bunny). A good number of the episodes dealt only with the main five characters, and didn't have guests at all.
As I said earlier, even though this show deserved more than just three seasons, I'm surprised that it got that many. This is not a show with a big middle ground; most people either love it or hate it, and I'm guessing that there are more people who hate it than love it (although I'm guessing that most people haven't even seen it). In Hard Laughs, Titus was saying how FOX got numerous angry letters protesting the show, and that a lot of people came up to him to insult him (although, he also said that people come up to him and are angry that the show was cancelled). Despite everything that this show had going against it though, it did a great job with what it had. It was hilarious and it was able to remain on the air for three great years. It really is too bad that it wasn't on longer, with it on DVD now, I hope that more people will appreciate the genius behind this amazing show.

I do not watch much television, probably less than an hour a week on average. One of the extremely rare series that I sought out was "Titus," a masterwork which was cancelled before its time, after three short, but brilliant, years. Most good comedy comes out of tragedy, and certainly Christopher Titus has had more than his share. His father was serially divorced, his mother was insane and later committed suicide, yet he was able to take that personal pain and turn it into a darkly funny stand-up act, and later this show.

This show broke new ground, and Fox was brave to let the show explore taboo areas such as divorce, abuse, insanity, and general familial dysfunction. The writing, direction, cinematography (it was the first show in High Definition), and most of all acting are perfect. Christopher Titus plays himself, the beautiful Cynthia Watros plays Erin, his girlfriend, and best of all Stacey Keach plays his dad. For my money Keach as Ken Titus is one of the greatest performances ever in prime time. The remaining cast is equally brilliant, and the guest stars (David Hyde Pierce, Jay Leno, etc.) are delightful.

The show is unique in its construction, and the black and white narrated segments are some of the best scenes ever filmed. Most are very funny, though some are powerful social commentary (a trend that became even more pronounced in season three.)

This show is truly unique: it takes situation comedy to a totally new level, and while it sometimes makes the viewer uncomfortable, it also challenges the viewer to look at themselves, their own fears, biases, and prejudices, and in the final analysis that's a good thing.

I can't recommend "Titus" highly enough. Yes it's very funny, but it's a lot more than that.

Titus was a bitterly funny, viciously dark comedy done wrong by the infamously moronic people who run Fox. This show should have stayed on the air until all the actors and writers died of old age--it was good enough to merit a much, much longer run than it actually had. Titus features one of the funniest, most dysfunctional families to ever grace the small screen. Even better, there was a deadly serious undercurrent to the humor, as comedian Christopher Titus examined the deep dysfunction of families and life in general. This DVD belongs in the collection of every person with a sense of humor and a brain (and there are a lot fewer of these people running around than you might think--just look at the folks who run Fox, for example. Nary a sense of humor or a shred of brain matter between them.).

It's about time this made it to DVD! I can never imagine why Fox pulled it after season 3, but I do know that I've been awaiting this for years. This show is a comedy about a dysfunctional family (so it relates to a lot of our own families) involving two brothers played by Christopher Titus and Zack Ward, and their friends dealing with a crude alcoholic father. Essentially, the father has ruined their lives and his own. The show utilizes flashbacks and current day situations but all from the mind of Chris Titus and how he remembered it. I love that we see his mind as a drab room with what looks like an electrocution chair for him to sit in occasionally. To sum it up in one word, hilarious!

If you've seen Titus I know you'll be purchasing this DVD. If you haven't seen Titus this is a DVD we all should own. Either way you will not be let down by the nonstop laughs.


Stacey Keach and Chris Titus

Fox Television proves that wild dysfunctional families deliver big laughs in the hilarious comedy series "Titus". If you though that the people in your life are pretty outrageous, then let Christopher Titus truly enlightened you. The half-hour comedy focuses on the wacky world of Christopher Titus (Himself) and his messed-up family including his supportive girlfriend Erin (Cynthia Watros), his clueless brother Dave (Zack Ward), his emotional friend Tommy (David Shatraw) and his drunken father Ken (Stacy Keach). Based on comedian Christopher Titus' stand-up routine, "Titus" is the most outrageously funny Fox comedy since "Married with Children". Each episode is narrated by Titus from his "neutral space" who offers some side-splitting comments and humorous flashbacks from his childhood and teenage years. The comedy series features some great humor, well developed interaction, memorable situations and good comic performances. The amusing interplay between Christopher and his father is one of the show's biggest highlights. This fine box set includes such amusing episodes like "The Break-up", "Intervention", "The Perfect Thanksgiving", "Red Asphalt" and much more.

If you've followed this wildly entertaining Fox series, then you're definitely going to enjoy "Titus: Seasons 1 & 2". All 31 episodes are presented in their original full screen format. This 6-Disc box set contains a clear picture quality and a good Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. Its special features include audio commentaries with series creators on two episodes, some behind-the-scenes footage, series promos, production notes and the "Hard Laughs" interview with Christopher Titus. Despite its few supplemental extras, "Titus" is a fun comedy series and obtains satisfying "B+".

I had got this DVD for my boyfriend as a gift and I personally had never seen this show. When we started watching it I found it to be interesting. It's about a guy who was raised with his brother by a father who cannot maintain relationships with woman very well. The main character is Christopher Titus who does these narrations between certain scenes to explain what is going on. He has a girlfriend that puts up with him and stays with him through good times and bad times. He has a business that he runs with his friend and his younger brother. His younger brother has a few screws lose but he is pretty funny. I loved the show after I watched the first episode. I only wish it was still on FOX now.

Every so often, a TV comedy comes along that is truly edgy and different, where you find yourself wincing and thinking "did he really just say that," right before you laugh. Being edgy and different is not the same thing as being gratuitously offensive and crude, but rather is a function of diving deep into our psyche and our socialization and bringing up the nuggets of comedy hiding there. For example, "Titus" is perhaps the only show in television history where an episode deals with the domestic abuse of a man by his old girlfriend - and it's comedy gold, without being a "very special episode of Titus"! "Titus" manages to walk the fine line of making light of the emotions and reactions that surround the horrific, without making light of the horrific itself. Indeed, part of why "Titus" is so good is that we get nuggets of dramatic honesty from the characters that make us care about them, and in turn that makes the comedy even funnier.

The special features describe how "Titus" came to be, and the commentary tracks, unusual for a comedy show, are interesting and informative.

The first few episodes are taken directly from Christopher Titus' excellent "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding" comedy show, which is still broadcast from time to time on Comedy Central. It's well worth watching if you have a chance. If you like that, you will love this box set.

In my opinion, the first two seasons are the best, so this is the box set to get if you're going to get just one. Although after you buy this, you will buy Season 3 anyway. Season 3 is still funny, and better than most things on TV today, but the addition of Erin's niece to the cast in season 3 was a less-than-inspired idea that drags down some of those episodes.

if you enjoy comedy clubs and comedians in general, then you're sure to enjoy this show. Titus manages to turn his real-life family tragedies into comedic material in this t.v. series. I guarantee you, you have never been exposed to this kind of comedy before (or since). Like many reviewers have pointed out, this is truly 'dark comedy'.....if the 'Cosby Show' is at one end of the spectrum, then 'Titus' is at the other end. What makes the show effective, (and funny) is how many viewers can relate to the trials that Titus goes through, in regard to family dysfunction. Also enjoy season 3 on dvd as well. A comedy classic.

Nobody does Character driven sitcoms anymore. Lots of comedies these days get their laughs by referencing things the viewer might be familiar with (See: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, Frasier, Murphy Brown) or by relying on cliche's about people (Home Improvements, Everybody Loves Raymond).

Titus was a throwback-- a character driven sitcom in the mold of The Honeymooners or the Drew Carey Show. Their world is smallish-- it revolves around a handful of people (Christopher and his girlfriend, half brother, best friend and father). The characters are exaggerated just enough to highlight life's foibles, but not enough to be completely ridiculous ("Soup Nazi" anyone?)

Beyond that, the writing is tight, sharp, and clever. But it's not a self-aware cleverness-- not one that pokes you in the ribs and says "SEE HOW SMART OUR WRITERS ARE?"

That was probably it's undoing.

As Philip J Frie said of television in Futurama: "Clever things make people feel stupid." He's right on the money. TV shows that are smart AND subtle about it don't make the cut-- just ask Barry Sonnenfeld about The Tick.


But enough soapboxing. The show is extremely well paced. The key to comedy, as many have said before, is timing. And the timing is absolutely superb in Titus. Just watch "Dad's Dead" if you want to see comic timing done well. It's so good, you won't notice it. You'll just laugh.

Titus is a bang-up comedy. I recommend it to anyone.

One of my FAVORITE shows on FOX is finally coming out on DVD! I looked forward to hearing Christopher Titus's unique views on life as he, his idiot brother Dave, nancy-boy friend Tommy, girlfriend/fiancee Erin, and his boosing, chain-smoking, womanizing father Ken Titus plow through their screwed-up low-class lives, with hilarious results! Stacy Keach delivers a wickedly gleeful performance as Ken, while Zach Ward makes you think he really is an idiot as Dave. Cynthia Watros, who's quite attractive, IMO, provides a voice of sanity to the otherwise crazy stars of the show. The one good thing from Titus's cancellation, was Cynthia's moving over to 'The Drew Carey Show', as Kellie. So when will that show be released on DVD?!

The show only lasted a lousy three years, before falling victim, like almost every good show these days, to these awful reality shows, like 'Survivor', the 'Apprentice', and 'The Real Gilligan's Island', but it's dark humor also examines serious issues through the eyes of the 'screwed-up' person (and there are a lot more in this world than anyone would like to admit) and in many cases makes you consider . . . who exactly is the screwed-up person?

Tell the networks to STOP MAKING THESE STUPID REALITY SHOWS!!