For the past 8 years Dean Sanderson (Rob Lowe) has been in the spotlight playing popular TV lawyer The Grinder, but with his show coming to an end, he’s trying to figure out what to do with his life. Meanwhile, his brother Stewart (Fred Savage) has been an actual lawyer in real-life working in their father Dean Sr.’s (William Devane) law firm in Idaho. After inserting himself into Stewart’s case, Dean decides to move in with his brother and his family—wife Debbie (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) and children Lizzie (Hana Hayes) and Ethan (Connor Kalopsis)—and join the family business. Stewart is appalled that his brother thinks pretending to play a lawyer has properly trained him for the courtroom, but everywhere he goes, Dean is adored by his fans, and his over-the-top courtroom theatrics actually seem to work.
If these brothers can learn to stop arguing, they could actually learn from one another. In his short stay, Dean has been a help to his niece and nephew, and he even got Stewart to loosen up a bit. And Dean could learn a thing or two about family and responsibility from his brother Stewart. At the family firm The Grinder super-fan Todd (Steve Little) is super-excited to have Dean aboard. Meanwhile, Dean falls for new lawyer Claire Lacoste (Natalie Morales), who seems to be the only person who didn’t love his show. Other recurring characters include Dean’s manager Cliff Bemis (Jason Alexander) and Timothy Olyphant playing himself in a hilarious arc involving a The Grinder spin-off series.
The Grinder was literally one of my favorite shows of 2015, and I was really disappointed when FOX didn’t renew it. However, what we ended up with is one perfect season of television. Over the course of the season we see these characters and relationships grow and build to a perfect ending point in the season/series finale.
The series is expertly cast. Rob Lowe is hilarious playing his usual self-centered/oblivious character. He delivers Dean’s ridiculous, melodramatic lines with perfect timing. It is also a delight seeing Fred Savage back in front of the camera playing that same kind of nervous, flustered character that was his signature in the ’80s. The series has this really fun meta, self-aware quality. Life imitates art as elements of episodes of Dean’s show-within-the-show mirror the characters’ real-life antics. The writers have done an excellent job of poking fun of common TV show tropes and working in fun self-referential elements of the business of TV production and ratings. I thoroughly enjoyed this series all over again while binging the episodes via DVD.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has released the first/only season of the series on DVD via MoD (Manufacture on Demand). This means you won’t be able to find the title in stores, but it can be ordered online at places like Amazon.com. The discs aren’t pressed discs like a standard DVD release, but rather DVD-Rs. However, the discs do have professional-looking glossy labels and come packed in a multi-disc DVD case with full color artwork. The 22 episodes of the season are split across 3 dual-layer discs, each containing 7-8 episodes. Each disc offers a menu with a list of episodes and a Play All option. The DVD picture looks crisp and detailed, while the audio track provides clear dialogue and score, but I didn’t notice much use of the surround or stereo channels. Unfortunately there are absolutely no bonus materials included—it would have been nice if they had at least throw on the show’s original promotional featurettes and interviews.
What’s Included:
Episodes: (484 min)
- All 22 episodes of the series
“Pilot”, “A Hero Has Fallen”, “The Curious Disappearance of Mr. Donovan”, “Little Mitchard No More”, “A Bittersweet Grind (Une Mouture Amer)”, “Dedicating This One to the Crew”, “Buckingham Malice”, “Giving Thanks, Getting Justice”, “Grinder Rests in Peace”, “The Olyphant in the Room”, “The Exodus (Part 1)”, “Blood is Thicker than Justice (Part 2)”, “Grinder vs. Grinder”, “The Retooling of Dean Sanderson”, “The Ties That Grind”, “Delusions of Grinder”, “From the Ashes”, “Genesis”, “A System on Trial”, “For the People”, “Divergence”, “Full Circle” - 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: None
- Media Format: DVD-R
Extras:
-
There is no bonus material included.
Final Thoughts:
The Grinder is a delightful show that was cancelled too soon. However, the 22 episodes presented here make for a perfect season that tell one complete story by the end. While I would have preferred an HD Blu-ray release, I’m thrilled that this show even got a DVD release at all. While this MoD release provides solid sound and picture quality, it contains absolutely no bonus material. Despite the lack of bonus material, I’m still rating this a Highly Recommended based on the episodes alone—everyone needs to check out this hilarious show as it’s easily bingeable and highly rewatchable!
