Becker: The First Season
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2008-06-04
Oddly enough, my first exposure to the television series "Becker" came from an in-flight promo video back sometime between 1998 to 2004. I don't recall which particular airline it was, but CBS had provided them with a preview video showcasing their news programs as well as several of their hit series, mostly sitcoms, like "Becker." All I remember was that the show was outrageously funny. And that was that. I never saw it again or never bothered to look for "Becker" until this DVD set of the first season surfaced. All I have to say is that I'm sorry I took so long to finally sit down and watch this series because it is quite possibly one of the funniest shows of the last ten years. With its inventive and unique cast of characters, it seems that "Becker" is one of those shows that always gets overlooked.
"Becker" follows the day-to-day life of John Becker (Ted Danson), a pessimistic and overly cranky doctor who runs his own private practice in the Bronx. He's always ready to chime in with his two cents about the matters of the day or pressing social conditions. There are only three major places that we might encounter John Becker: his apartment, his office, or the local cafe run by the charming Reggie Kostas (Terry Farrell, hot off "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") and always occupied by the blind newsstand owner Jake Malinak (Alex Desert). At the office, we meet the mother figure of Becker's world, a woman who takes care of running the day-to-day operations of the office, Margaret Wyborn (Hattie Winston) and the ditzy new personal assistant Linda (Shawnee Smith in her pre-"Saw" days).
It's the dynamic qualities possessed by the characters that make "Becker" work and each of the stories play off all of them in one way or another. Becker, of course, is the main attraction and he's always ready with a quip or a smart remark to answer anybody's comments or anything at all that might tick him off, even in the slightest. Whether he's yelling at the foreign people in the building next door or flipping people off in traffic, it's never a bore with Becker. As for the other characters, all of them get at least a few chances to shine over the course of the season. The character of Jake, however, felt the least developed and he barely gets any spotlight. But that's probably because he's the least interesting of the characters. He's just the lovable blind-guy, in his own words. And blind jokes can only go so far. I enjoyed the scenes involving the office a bit more than the diner because of Margaret and Linda. When they're alone without Becker, it can be a riot, but throw Becker into the equation and you can't stop laughing. Together the three of them work perfectly.
The only thing that "Becker" really has working against it is a character by the name of Bob. Bob is an all-around loser and a former high school classmate of Reggie's. In high school, Reggie was in with the popular crowd and Bob was, well, a loser. Now, after all these years, Reggie's back working at her father's diner and Bob is living it up. Except, he still likes Reggie and wants to go out with her. I think it worked for the first few times he showed up, but his incessant reference to himself in the third person as well as his general presence just makes the scenes he's in painful. And he shows up way too much. He'll crack an occasional funny joke, but I felt as if most of his fell flat.
In this first season collection, three particular episodes caught my attention the most and I felt exemplified the heart of the show and the characters. In "Becker the Elder," Becker's father Fred Becker (special guest star Dick Van Dyke) comes to town to try and make peace with his son. Besides being a extremely funny episode, it's heartwarming, and Van Dyke is charming in the role of the nice-guy dad. It sheds some light on Becker's past and his attitude towards people. Also, Becker's softer, more caring side is explored in "Saving Harvey Cohen," when he decides to take care of an alley cat who wanders into the office. It's episodes like these that cause you to actually like the character, and let you see a different side of him. He's not just a rude loudmouth. He really does care about people and even about this poor cat. Finally, "P.C. World" is by far the best of the bunch. Becker is overheard by a local newspaper columnist during one of his daily rants, but the columnist, trying to make it bigger than it is, accuses Becker of being a racist. It all leads down to a showdown on talk radio between Becker and the columnist, insults flying, with hilarity ensuing.
Shame on you, Paramount for treating your television series this way on DVD. There isn't a single special feature to speak of on the DVD of "Becker: The First Season." Nothing. What's the deal? Couldn't they just put something on there? An interview with the cast and crew, maybe. Is that so much to ask for? Anyway, I do like the way that they're doing the season sets now by putting them in standard DVD cases. I just find it so much more efficient and logical, and more uniform.
"Becker" deserves better than it was dealt over its tenure on the air and now on DVD. I don't think enough people realize how great "Becker" truly is. I mean, I sure didn't. And I'm so glad that I finally got to see the whole first season and you can't stop watching them. Episodes of "Becker" are like candy, maybe just one more, and then you realize you finished the entire season and now you have to wait for the next DVD release, which CBS and Paramount better get around to. The first season of "Becker" is well worth checking out and here's hoping for the rest of this spectacular comedy series.
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