James Belushi (
Wild Palms, Underdog film), Courtney Thorne-Smith (
Melrose Place, Ally McBeal), Larry Joe Campbell (
The Trouble With Normal, Wedding Crashers) and Kimberly Williams-Paisley (
Father of the Bride, We Are Marshall) star in ABC's long-running sitcom
According to Jim (returning in 2008-2009 for it's 8th season!).
Rumors late last year about an early '08 release never panned out, and fans were naturally upset. But now Lionsgate Entertertainment has announced that they are finally bringing the show to DVD, with their
September 9th release of
According to Jim - Season 1:
In this earthy family comedy, Jim (Jim Belushi) is the macho Everyman who challenges his gorgeous and feisty wife, Cheryl (Courtney Thorne-Smith), with his stubborn manliness but contagious charm. Tagging along with this duo of happily married opposites are their three precocious kids. A success at his construction business and the family breadwinner at home, Jim feeds his other passion - blues music - playing with his six-man garage band. He keeps Cheryl in turmoil with his boyish bravado and ever willful antics, but their underlying love guarantees that they are in this marriage for keeps.
Lionsgate's info to retailers this morning mentions that consumers should be told to "Start your collection with all 22 episodes of Season One on DVD"...wording which makes it sound like further season sets are already in the planning stages. The Emmy-nominated show ("Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series") will come to DVD with approximately 500 minutes of episodes, plus bonus material ("cool extras") which has not yet been detailed by the studio. Video is full screen, audio is English Stereo 2.0, and it will be closed captioned for the hearing impaired.
Guest stars in the first season include Garrett Morris (who was on
Saturday Night Live together with Belushi's late older brother, John, years before Jim was a cast member on the show himself), Nicole Sullivan, Dweezil Zappa, Robert Belushi (Jim' s real-life son), and Dan Aykroyd (another famous former
SNL-er who paired with John, and later Jim Belushi, as the act "The Blues Brothers", which has spawned two films and a chain of restaurants).
Package art and pricing isn't available yet, but stay tuned for updates!
