Overview: 'Girlfriends' is a sophisticated comedy series that invites viewers into the lives of four professional African American women living in Los Angeles who are struggling with the weighty issues of life - men, love, money - and more men. As they search for happiness in all its elusive forms, the four girlfriends rely on each other for support, reality checks, advice and for the laughter that everyone needs to make it in this crazy place we call the modern world.

DVD Verdict: For years now I've been out of touch with the "Girlfriends" TV show. For one, they kept moving it from Monday to some other day, then from one time to another, so I'd never know when to set the VCR. Whenever I could finally catch it, I'd never know what was going on, since "Girlfriends", like another show I'd like to see, "Providence", was serial in nature, in that it had a running story line. I finally gave up trying to watch it on TV, in fact, I've given up watching TV, period. However, I never really gave up wanting to just start over with the show, either through syndication or other means. I'm very happy then, that the DVD of the second season (let alone the first season) of "Girlfriends" is here at last!

The first season ended with quite the cliffhanger, giving me the feeling that things weren't going to be quite the same between the four women from here out. [Note: I won't give away how this second season opens, so don't worry!] The writing for this show is great. It's about the lives of four black women of varying socioeconomic and marital status who have managed to forge a great relationship with each other: Attorney Joan, her best friend from childhood, Toni; their friend from college, Lynn; Joan's secretary Maya, and Joan's colleague William is there to offer the male perspective.

Tracee Ellis Ross, as Joan, is a fantastic comic actress; I love those segments where she thinks out loud to the audience! That she's the daughter of a show business legend makes for a good Jeopardy question, however the younger Ms. Ross has carved out a niche of her own as one of the new queens of comedy! And don't we all know people like Joan, the peacemaker who's always trying to fix someone's problems, with the best of intentions. Golden Brooks, as Maya, is a beautiful actress who gives her character a spiritual groundedness as the thus-far only married character. Maya may be lower on the totem pole socially than her boss and Toni, but she brings to the table a pride and intelligence that's not often considered from a secretary, and I like that about this character. On the other hand, Jill Marie Jones' Toni Childs brings all sorts of issues to the table, from skin color to the fact that the way to her heart is through her wallet; and haven't we all known, either personally or otherwise, someone whose sheer gall gets them into trouble and whom we feel obligated to rescue because we've know them so long? Persia White plays the striking young drifter who can't seem to reconcile with life outside of college. Lynn seems to be the flower child who is a couple of decades too late.

I wish I had a posse like this...without the drama, of course! Seriously, the writers have created four very believable women and put them in very believable situations, some of which are very serious, and still there's room for humor. I don't think there's another show like it, and it doesn't hurt that the executive producer of the show is Frasier's Kelsey Grammar! This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

We All Fall Down: A Closer look At "Trick Or Truth?"
Creating The Show
Getting The Girls Together
Episode Guide