"Twenty-five. I think stuff is starting to count, Nell. We may not notice it, but one day, wham - now we are who we're gonna be." - Eion Bailey on growing older
Significant Others: The Series DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Friendship is hard - just ask the three pals at the heart of Significant Others. Campbell (Band of Brothers' Eion Bailey) is a wannabe entrepreneur who is constantly on the lookout for a get-rich-quick scheme. Nell (Alias' Jennifer Garner) is a flakily idealistic businesswoman who cannot quite commit to any job for fear that she will be stuck with it for the rest of her life. Henry (Scott Bairstow, star of Harsh Realm and Lonesome Dove: The Series) is a struggling writer who finds himself squandering his talents writing porn for a Web site. Now in their mid-20s, the three have been friends since kindergarten. Things are about to become complicated, though, when Campbell discovers that Nell and Henry are secretly having an affair behind his back. Plus Cam's brother (Michael Weatherly) is about to get married to the girlfriend Cam dumped a few months back (Elizabeth Mitchell), Nell's father doesn't pay enough attention to her, and Henry's father.he doesn't feel so well. All three are having trouble deciding what they want to do with their lives. Can their decades-old friendship survive their new, grown-up problems?
Significant Others was created by Amy Lippman and Chris Keyser, who were also responsible for the mid-90s fan favorite Party of Five. Like Po5, this series dares to revel in its characters miseries and heartaches. After all, sometimes watching fictional characters suffer can make viewers feel better about their own lives. It must have seemed like a sure thing when Significant Others took over Po5's timeslot for a scheduled six week run in March of 1998. After three weeks of disappointing ratings, Others was pulled from the schedule, leaving the three final episodes unaired.
In years past, such a series would be sent to studio vaults never to be seen again. With so few episodes, syndication is out of the question, and even cable channels probably would not be interested. The rise of DVD, however, makes it much easier to bring forgotten series like Significant Others back into the spotlight. This is especially true because Garner has become a huge star in the six years since Others premiered, on both the large and small screens. Not surprisingly, the release of the series coincides with the DVD debut of her latest hit film, 13 Going on 30. In theory, this is a terrific idea that should appeal to fans of the star and collectors of TV shows on DVD. There's really only one problem - the show isn't that good.
One flaw is that the series is oddly paced. Each episode is jam-packed with events. There are so many plot points in the pilot episode alone - couplings and uncouplings, job woes, a drama-filled wedding - that it would take pages to list them all. With all of this stuff happening, one would expect a certain level of excitement. Yet many of the plot strands feel superfluous, and the show's momentum is often killed by the excessive use of prolonged blackouts between scenes. Plus the themes and plots become very repetitious, as when two different characters start to date much older people in the same episode.
It doesn't help that the three main characters are so thoroughly unlikable. The three friends are so whiny, obnoxious, and self-centered that you cannot help but wonder who the creators were aiming the show at, since no self-respecting 25 year-old would want to spend more than five minutes with any of these people, much less an entire hour each week. After all, it's sort of a drag to watch immature people get angsty over how mature they are. As a result, none of the three leads deliver very interesting work. Bairstow's Henry starts out tolerably enough in the pilot, but soon enough devolves into the role of brooding beefcake.
The actors in peripheral roles come across best. Gigi Rice infuses her role as Henry's boss and lover with sensuous vulnerability. Elizabeth Mitchell is terrific at portraying the strength and brittleness of Jane, Campbell's new sister-in-law (and old girlfriend). She makes every scene she's in seem interesting. Channon Roe is also a standout as Cam's druggie buddy, Nick. Of course it could be that these actors come across so well because their characters don't get enough screen time for us to hate them.
Occasionally, the writers throw in an absurdist moment or two that tease us with what the series might have been. When a minor character begins to sing the delightfully cheesy "Somewhere That's Green" from Little Shop of Horrors as part of her eulogy for a man who liked yard work, the humor is a welcome relief. The same episode features some dark, funny dialogue from Nick, who is fresh out of rehab. If only similar bits had been included throughout the episodes to help temper the gloom, Significant Others may have soared.
Indeed, Others basically lacks one thing that made Party of Five a success: optimism. In Po5, the Salinger clan often face gloomy situations. In the first season alone, they lose their parents to a drunk driver, have lovers die of drug overdoses, have friends get diagnosed with AIDS, and give shelter to an abused schoolmate. At times it is a bit much, like a modern-day Little House on the Prairie on speed, but the characters are appealing and have a degree of blind optimism that enables viewers to empathize with them. Without this, Others is left with incredibly good-looking characters with whom viewers may have trouble relating.
The six episodes that make up the entire series are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in a keepcase that includes a swinging interior arm to hold the second disc. The menus are exceedingly simple - viewers will have to look at the printed insert (which includes episode numbers, episode titles, plot synopses, and major credits) to even determine the episode order. Chapter stops are included within the episodes.
