![]() Of course, those who hold Charles in Charge in higher esteem than I do should be quite pleased with this three-disc season 1 collection. And while it truly was a little bit of fun to revisit with Charles after two decades away, it only took those 10-12 episodes for me to say "Well, that's about enough see you in another 20 years, Charles." But fans of the series aren't picking up the S1 set because they're expecting huge peals of laughter they'll be buying it because when you love a show as a kid, you revisit that show for sheer, comfy nostalgia value. (Actually I think I laughed only once, and that was at an Animal House reference). The adventures in the Pembroke house range in flavor from vanilla to diet vanilla, and I'd be lying if I said the 10-12 episodes I watched were laden with serious laughs. On the Charles side of the spectrum we have a goofy best buddy named Buddy (Willie Aames) and a stunningly hot girlfriend called Gwendolyn (Jennifer Runyon). Said kiddies are: 14-year-old Lila (April Lerman), geeky pre-teen Douglas (Jonathan Ward) and 10-year-old Jason (Michael Pearlman). The parents (as played by James "Animal House" Widdoes and Julie "Former Playboy Model" Cobb) exist mainly to toss a few quips into the equation before they head out for a night of dancing or a board meeting or something else that requires Charles to stay home with the kiddies. Basically, that's all there is: Charles, a goody-goody nice guy, is the live-in man-nanny to three precocious kids. I've been sitting here for about five minutes since typing the word "stay," trying to come up with a way to offer a more thorough plot synopsis than the one offered above. But since I never saw Charles in Charge during its healthy syndication run, and since I'm presently reviewing the Season 1 collection, the first year is where we'll stay. The following season(s) saw the return of Charles on first-run syndication, only there he had an entirely different family to contend with. ![]() Starring Scott Baio as a college student who's also a live-in babysitter for a trio of loud-but-sweet kids, Charles in Charge played for one full season (22 episodes) on CBS before it was dropped from the network. ![]() Personally, I've got a pretty low tolerance for sitcom treacle, but if you're someone who grew up in love with Charles, then you'll be happy to know that his first season exploits are now available through the pop-culture time machine known as DVD. I can see how a series like this would be the eye-candy equivalent of a comfort food or a warm pair of slippers. and I suppose that's probably why the thing has its fair share of fans, even more than two decades after the thing first hit the airwaves. Sitcoms don't get much more generic, fluffy, and innocuous than Charles in Charge.
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