Product Details

• Actors: Mayim Bialik, Joseph Lawrence, Jenna von Oy, Ted Wass
• Directors: Don Reo
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout Factory
• DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009
• Run Time: 840 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001GP5TMW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,943 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Television > Funny Families > Blossom

• For more information about "Blossom: Seasons 1 & 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"A very special episode of Blossom" is an easy punchline along the lines of how the French adore Jerry Lewis, but Blossom really is something special. Along with Clarissa Explains It All, this 1991 coming-of-age series ushered in a new generation of empathetic and empowering teen and tween queens. Fifteen-year-old Blossom (the enormously appealing Mayim Bialik, who portrayed the young C.C. in Beaches) is the only girl in a house that includes her session musician father (Ted Wass), her curmudgeonly grandfather (Barnard Hughes), and two brothers, recovering addict Anthony (Michael Stoyanov) and jock Joey (Joseph Lawrence in his teen idol-making role), who is a few yards short of a first down. Mom has abandoned the family to pursue a singing career in Paris. Bialik’s high-spirited dance during the opening credits instantly draws viewers in with its exuberant girls-just-want-to-have-fun spunk, and within the first 40 seconds of the first episode, in which Blossom attempts to buy her first box of tampons, the series broke the primetime mold. Blossom would deal with age-relevant issues other series did not, including puberty, sex, substance abuse, and hurtful gossip. Blossom was totally relatable; not quite a beauty, but neither completely a geek (her participation in marching band notwithstanding). She was smart and reasonably popular. Unlike Clarissa, Blossom did not break the fourth wall to confide in the audience. She had a rich fantasy life that illustrated her feelings. In the first episode, with no mother to talk to about the changes she is going through, she dreams of a sitcom fantasy mother, embodied by The Cosby Show’s Phylicia Rashad. In "Rockumentary," a series benchmark, a flu-stricken Blossom imagines herself as a pampered, self absorbed rock star in her own version of Madonna’s Truth or Dare. Not that she really needs to embellish her real life. In "I’m With the Band," she finds herself in an elevator with the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. Meanwhile, in episode after very special episode, she and her chatty best friend, Six, (Jenna von Oy)--perhaps the best girl buddy team since Patty and Lauren on Square Pegs--navigate the hazards of adolescence. And what exactly is a Very Special Episode? At heart, it’s the Will She or Won’t She moral dilemma. Will Blossom lie to her father about attending her first makeout party? Will she smoke a joint she finds on the bus? Will she go to "second base" with her new boyfriend? Refreshingly, Blossom leaves some episodes open-ended, providing families with something to talk about. There are some (last time, I promise) very special bonus features, including convivial cast commentaries, the original pilot, and segments about the development of the series and Blossom and Six’s friendship. Adding to the fun are glimpses of future stars, including Neil Patrick Harris, Johnny Galecki, and Giovanni Ribisi. Some dated references aside (Hammer pants?), Blossom’s quirky spell is undimmed. To quote the theme song, in my opinionation, it’s gonna surely shine on DVD. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

In 1991 NBC changed the face of prime-time sitcoms by introducing young audiences to an eccentric teenaged girl from a broken home on the mend. A video blogger predating the Internet, Blossom Russo (Mayim Bialik) chronicled the events of her teenage life in full, hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking detail, providing inspiration to youngsters and their families for five very special seasons.
Now the groundbreaking Emmy nominated series first two seasons, 37 episodes, are available for the first time in one deluxe DVD box set. Starring: Mayim Bialik (Beaches, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jenna von Oÿ (The Parkers), Ted Wass (Soap), Michael Stoyanov and Joey Lawrence in the role that made him an international heartthrob!

Bonus Features:

* Original Pilot

* Blossom Trivia

* A Very Special Show: A retrospective look at the series creation and impact on television, including brand-new interviews with creator Don Reo and stars Mayim Bialik, Jenna von Oÿ, Joseph Lawrence and Ted Wass.

* A Very Special Friendship: An examination of the onscreen friendship of Blossom Russo and Six LeMeure, as well as the off-screen relationship between actresses Mayim Bialik and Jenna von Oÿ.

* Audio Cast & Creator Commentaries

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In my opinionation, DVD sales will surely shine..., February 3, 2009

By	MollyRK (Chicago) - See all my reviews

Maybe it's just that ultra-catchy theme song or the refreshingly real title character, but in any case, I was thrilled to learn that these DVD's were arriving in January 2009. It's been long overdue, especially since it hasn't even been shown on TV since I was a kid, so the timing is great to finally have it immortalized through the DVD's!

For those who grew up with the show and remember it as a blast from their 1990's past, this has been a great way to kick off the new year! I was very happy to purchase this over the weekend (at a very good price, too), and it brings back fond memories of those good old '90's classics that will never again be matched by anything. Of course, considering all the reality TV and other "the way teens really are" junk that airs these days, it doesn't seem like most screenwriters are challenging themselves to meet the original standard that was set by television shows from decades past.

Just in case you aren't familiar with show's basic premise, Blossom Russo was a young teenager in a house full of men after her mother Madolyn (interesting spelling, huh?) took off, leaving her entire family behind, to pursue a singing career in Paris. Four years have already passed since this stressful family event occurred, meaning that the writers were able to bypass the deserted husband and youngsters' initial shock and anger, but there was still plenty to explore with how the four of them were coping a few years down the road. It was no easy task for Nick Russo to finish raising three kids on his own, especially since he was dealing with one son who was a recovering drug addict, another underachieving teenage son who acted more like a kid than most kindergarteners, and an impressionable young daughter who was right in the wings of adolescence (one of the scariest things in the world for most dads, especially when boys start coming into the picture).

The series started out fairly low-key, focusing mainly on Blossom and featuring her father and brothers as supporting characters in her life. It was indicated that Madolyn still had telephone and postcard contact with her children, although this was not at all central to the rest of the story, at least not at this point in the series, and the attention was placed largely on Nick and the kids, not their mother/ex-wife's whereabouts. Also, once the second season started, the writing became somewhat more quirky, complete with various dream/fantasy sequences (watch for the infamous "Rockumentary" episode, filmed almost entirely in black and white, which established a more exaggerated form of the unorthodox style that the show gradually took on). The script also began juggling more subplots and characters at a time, including the kids' maternal grandfather Buzz, whose thick sarcasm makes it easy likening him to Frank Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond." Exploring the relationship between a divorced man and his ex-wife's father is something that most family sitcom writers wouldn't even bother to attempt, let alone develop over more than just a few episodes. In typical "Blossom" fashion, though, the challenging and the controversial were unveiled, and the audience got a refreshingly honest look at how Nick had to set aside his own bitter resentments in order to let his children have their grandfather in their lives.

Things were tough for the Russos after Madolyn split, but their home life wasn't exactly worthy of complaint, either. The household was run by a strong and loving father, and the older brothers were two decent, caring guys who would do anything for their younger sister. Blossom was forced to enter those rough teen years without a mom to talk to or ask questions, but again, her dad and siblings were always there when it really mattered. The first two seasons watched them slowly adjust to their new situation and begin feeling like a family again. That much about the series is pretty clear, but now that it has come to DVD about 13 years since the final episode aired, the intended audience is a little trickier to identify. Also, as I've already mentioned, the show has not aired in reruns on TV for years, so adults who don't remember much about it may be tempted to think that it's appropriate for their children to watch, much like "Full House" and "Punky Brewster," both of which have attracted whole new audiences through their DVD releases. One thing is for sure, though: "Blossom" is much edgier TV entertainment, experimenting with some controversial storylines that include drugs, alcohol, sex, messy divorces, recovering addicts who fall off the wagon, and all those things that you wouldn't necessarily expect from a family-oriented show of its time. I was pretty shocked at some of the sexual innuendos, including a scene where the Russo kids wondered if Nick's attractive new girlfriend would eventually become their stepmother, and Joey showed no shame in saying, "You think we could get her to spank us?" Needless to say, you probably wouldn't want to plop your elementary-aged child in front of the screen with dialogue like that in one episode after another (and trust me, some plot material and visual images got pretty racy).

It's actually fascinating that the show got away with some of the things that it did, but then again, the face of family sitcoms was changing rapidly at the time, and writers began deciding that completely squeaky-clean scripts should be "humanized" with funnier, slightly more permiscuous material. "Blossom" was one of the first family series to do this, and now that more risque shows like "Two and a Half Men" are so widely successful, it's interesting to note how the sitcom world started turning in the early 1990's. Getting back to my original point, though...in my opinion, I'd have to say that these DVD's are primarily geared toward the original fans, and while there are other younger generations who may enjoy it (it's ultimately up to the parents to decide if they think their children can handle it), you almost have to have experienced it previously in order to really appreciate it.

Again, in terms of the more mature plot threads, oldest brother Anthony was a former alcohol and substance abuser, which represented one of the most heartbreaking stories in the series. He had been clean for over a year when the show started and was finally beginning to thrive again (despite being somewhat reluctant to admit that he was actually ready to take the next step in life), but those former skeletons returned to haunt him when it came to rekindling old friendships and looking for work. The writers obviously trusted the audience to understand and respect some more grown-up, "real-world" material in these storylines, and Anthony's issues represented what several shows were too scared to expose. Blossom was portrayed as the show's moral compass, but even she slipped on more than one occasion, including an episode where she and her best pal Six considered drinking in their hotel room during a school trip, and another episode where they brought home some marijuana that they found on the bus. Russo patriarch Nick was a generally good man who worked hard to take care of his family and cope as a single father, but he was constantly forced to make difficult decisions, many of which were undermined by his children (and sometimes even the audience) over a succession of episodes.

Of course, there is plenty to love and respect about the series as a whole, and while the writers did touch on more serious social topics, most of the situations were idealized to accommodate the show's generally "family friendly" label. Despite the abandonment of her mother during her formative years, Blossom was remarkably well-adjusted, with acts of rebellion that were only occasional and short lived, then quickly forgiven and forgotten. Her relationship with her father was also one of those quieter, yet magical assets to the show, and come to think of it, it's one of the only things I remember vividly from the show's original run. Even when I was younger, I was able to sense that special bond that existed between them and was completely separate from the relationship that Nick had with his sons. Seeing as Blossom was his only daughter, she represented the little girl that he adored and desperately wanted to protect. Terms such as "practically a saint" and "a gift from God" were the descriptions that Nick had on hand for his daughter during these early seasons, while Blossom referred to him as "inspiring" and "one of the cool guys that everybody admires". Sure, it's little cheesy, but it also happened to be the heart of the show in many ways, so I'm willing to take it.

The cast is solid, with each individual actor meshing well with the rest of the group. Leading lady Blossom was scripted to be somewhere in-between the Queen Bees and the nerds, and Mayim Bialik was perfect in projecting that image. Maybe she was slightly more on the dorky side, but she was always comfortable with herself, and she earned a lot of points for setting that example. Her style was quirky yet lovable (the opening credits let you know, right off the bat, that the next thirty minutes are going to be a lighthearted retreat), and her overall character managed to be admirable without being too overdrawn or sappy. Joey Lawrence pulled off the "teen hunk" status for younger female viewers without having to even exert much effort (most of his one-liners make me crack up no matter how often I watch it), and Michael Stoyanov succeeded with his much different, yet equally likable character. Anyone who has ever had to accept and conquer the mistakes of their past will easy identify with his story. Ted Wass was also well cast in what ended up being his final acting gig before he switched to directing, and while maintaining a fine balance between hip and responsible, he was as much of a respectable TV... Read more ›

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!!, October 7, 2008

By	Thiago Sardenberg (Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everytime I think of 'Blossom', I remember myself watching it, at the age of 8 or 9, while eating lunch, getting ready to go to school (I used to see it on its morning reruns) and having great fun. It was probably one of the very first TV series I actually cared about.

I grew up watching this show and it's been a long , long time since I saw it for the last time. I can't even remember the show precisely! I do remember some moments, some situations and of course, those delightful characters that always made me laugh so hard. So, I guess it'll be simply great to revisit the series after so long; I bet it'll be like having a whole new experience.

Well, it's been virtually a decade that I've waited for these DVD's, so I'm really looking forward to this pack with Season 1-2. I'm glad there are extras in the pack, such as commentaries from the director and cast, and interviews with Mayim, Joey and the others!!

Thank you 'Shout!' for bringing these DVDs, and I truly hope it doesn't take long for the other seasons to come!! I'm sure this will be a sucess on DVD.


EDIT (February 22, 2009):

So here I am, finally through with the complete seasons 1 and 2. And I couldn't be happier! As a matter of fact, there was little I actually remembered about 'Blossom' - moments, a few lines, few storylines. I just knew I had loved it. But I was very surprised to realize that I still think, over 10 years later, that this is a good, well-written, funny show.

The actors did a wonderful job and the plots were interesting. The teenagers were never underestimated, very believable. I realize I appreciate the show now on a whole new level, taking into account aspects I sure didn't years before.

And the special features are great! We get to see all the actors nowadays reflecting back on their experiences on the show. There are a couple of featurettes on their friendship, the style of the show etc. and also commentaries on the episodes; not to mention the original pilot, quite different from the show itself. Very nice.

Overall, it was worth the wait. Bring on Season 3!!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blossom on DVD... Finally!, January 2, 2009

By	D. Bell (Wappapello, MO USA) - See all my reviews

What can I say except it's about damn time! I grew up watching this show like so many others did, and like so many others I have waited year after year after year to for this show to be released onto DVD! I'm so thankful Shout! are the one's behind this release too. They really care for their DVD sets (I also have My So-Called Life)! I just hope Shout will continue to release the remaining seasons!