King Of Queens (Series, The) (DVD)

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What can "brown" do for you? Well, that depends. If you're Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini), not much this season. In fact, her IPS delivery truck driver of a husband, the bearish Doug Heffernan (comedian Kevin James), is even less sensitive to her needs than neighbor Lou Ferrigno, the ex-Hulk who returns in an ongoing cameo. And Doug is less able to deliver for friends this season, even botching his traditional Super Bowl party so badly that his guests have to hoof it over to another IPS guy's better Boo-yeah. And if you're the audience who's been following this blue-collar Queens, New York couple over the past four seasons, you can't help but notice that Doug doesn't quite have the balance of loveable and acerbic moments that made his character, ahem, well rounded. He says a surprising number of mean things this season and also whines a lot. What's up with that?

Arthur (comedian Jerry Stiller) gets more air-time this season as Doug's live-in father-in-law, and goes from being a convalescent to one of the boys . . . sort of. Doug's best friend, fellow driver Deacon (Victor Williams) is back again as a divorced dad with visitation rights, as is weaselly friend Spence (Patton Oswalt) and professional dog-walker Holly (Nicole Sullivan), who's hired to walk Arthur and keep him out of Doug and Carrie's hair.

Before "The King of Queens," blue-collar comedies have mostly poked fun of the blue-collars in them. But this show is a throwback to "The Honeymooners," with a rotund and bellicose husband and a longsuffering wife who's cutting wit often cuts the big guy down to size. In other words, this show has been more of a comedy of character throughout its run, rather than a satire of everyday working-class stiffs. Even in an episode where the Heffernans accidentally get another couple's photos at the drug store and decide that their lives are boring by comparison, the humor has a generous sort of empathy attached to it, so that real people whose lives bear a resemblance to Doug and Carrie's can watch and laugh without feeling they're being attacked.

Basically, this is a situation comedy with very few situations. We sometimes see Doug in the locker room at work or at other locations, but mostly he and Carrie and Arthur are just around the house.

1) "Arthur, Spooner"—When Carrie has to work on a project during the graveyard shift, it kills Doug . . . so much so that he can't sleep unless Arthur is in bed with him.

2) "Window Pain"—In a very funny episode, Carrie wants to impress the neighbors but is horrified when they fight and she knows the neighbors heard, and things get only worse when Doug dumps out the scotch the man bought him.

3) "Holy Mackerel"—Doug commits them to go to church when they see the priest at the deli, and it ends up bringing out the very worst in each of them.

4) "Kirbed Enthusiasm"—Doug goes overboard when Deacon asks him to coach his boy's Pee Wee football team.

5) "Mammary Lane"—Funny episode has Carrie having to deal with the precocious son of her boss, whom she's babysitting, while Doug has problems of his own at the bowling alley.

6) "Business Affairs"—Jealousy rears its ugly head when Carrie develops a friendship with a male colleague, and Arthur has to contend with a new dog on his daily walks.

7) "Flame Resistant"—Doug's old high school flame is burning Carrie, but it's not because she's cozying up to Doug. It's because she's got a better relationship with Doug's mom than she does.

8) "Flash Photography"—Doug turns prankster at a ho-hum wedding and decides to take a picture of his Johnson.