Greek Season 1 Part 1 [DVD]

Like many reviewers I was shocked upon my first visit to Cyprus Rhodes University. Having been almost attacked with promos all spring in 2007 the series just seemed over the top, stereotypical and bland so I passed when the series initially aired. But then a friend insisted that I watched the series. And to my pleasant surprise I discovered a wonderfully entertaining and funny story of a group of kids just trying to survive the college experience.In the pilot many of the characters are presented as 2-Dimensional stereotypes. You have the preppy boys, the hot/only-mildly-smart girl, the religious Texan, the nerd with the insane GPA and on and on. But not thirty minutes into the series the writers start to peal back the layers of the characters showing the audience their true aspirations, fears, and heartache. Within several episodes the characters have evolved from archetypes to people you very well could have gone to college with. The people who you ate with in the dinning hall, the people you crammed with before finals, your friends.But I don't want to give the wrong impression of the show. First and foremost this is a quirky soap-comedy. Straying away from territory put forth by the perma-depressing "Felicity" or the too literal realm of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek," the college presented in "Greek" is a understandably a fantasy college. Money is never an issue, while the characters are seen in class they seem to have as much free time in the world (especially since not one of them have a part-time job). But it is in the characters that you feel hooked into the series.Put into a satirical almost fantasy-like world of the ultimate view of college (complete with 300 sq ft dorm rooms), these characters are the heart of the show. I know that for myself while I was entertained immensely from the amusing weekly shenanigans (which range from a depression-era speak-easy party, to a quest to make it rain beer, and having to run from an escaped mental patient) but it was the dynamic between the characters, the relationships, that brought me back episode after episode."Greek" is not a perfect show. It is cheaply made and obviously first-and-foremost aimed at those not yet in college. But for those who enjoy great character structure there is enough poignancy in this return trip to college to definitely make up for the price of admission. Highly Recommended.The Special Features on the DVD include: a selection of deleted scenes, a sneak peak at "Chapter 2" (which is already available on DVD with `Chapter 3' as well), the featurette "Greek: The Initiation" (which is a behind-the-scenes look at the conception of the show, casting, and the initial several days of filming, and three commentaries (Creator Shawn Piller and cast talk over the "Pilot," while members of the cast discuss "Friday Night Frights" and "Separation Anxiety."

I've only recently gotten into the show "Greek", but I'm so glad I found it. When I first saw promos for the show I dismissed it, because, um...it's on ABC Family. I thought it would be a lame - heavy on the PG side of things - comedy series that wouldn't even be close to the college life I've experienced. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when I finally caught an episode a few weeks ago, and then promptly ordered the DVD set."Greek" is such a witty, fun show. It doesn't sidestep the racier elements of college, but it also doesn't make it it's primary focus either. The characters are awesome (I heart Dale. Outside of infomercials, you don't see many Christian rock loving characters on TV) and the relationships are complex, realistic, and inspire many a chant of 'OMG. Just get back together already!'. Cappie and Casey, I'm looking at you. And I look menacing.As for the DVD set, there isn't a whole lot on there. But I enjoyed finding out what roles certain actors tried out for in the beginning (Scott Michael Foster/'Cappie' was originally going to be Calvin? What?), only later to get another role instead. Also, some of the guys in the cast do commentary for one episode and much hilarity ensues.

The show starts off with Rusty Cartwright, a nerdy poly-sci major, who wants a full college experience. His main desire is to find himself a place in the Greek system, and 'Rush' a Fraternity. His sister being on the other end of the spectrum, she is unsure of her major, but is likely going to be the next president of her Sorority ZBZ. Rusty looking to his big sister for help gets torn between joining two Fraternities, Kappa Tau, and Omega Chi.This chapter includes the 1st 10 episodes which equals a semester of collage leading to winter break. The next chapter starts with all the students returning from there visits home. While it is technically just volume one of season one, it is a great breaking point in a dvd-tv-series for once.This was one of the best shows I had ever seen, and it was hidden on ABC Family. Unless you like to watch 'pregnant teen american' or 'who's pretending to be our dead friend', I'd say its the best thing on that channel. Tho I do enjoy some PLL. ;p

I assume you have already seen this show and are just buying it on disc to keep because you liked it so I won't describe the show itself. This set has the first 10 episodes from season 1. To see the remaining 12 episodes from season 1 you have to buy the next set which on Amazon is called Greek Chapter Two instead of Greek Season 1 Part 2.The included extras are nice but I wish they would have just made it a 6 disc set like they did for Season 3 and released the HD version on disc instead of a the 480P version in this DVD set. If you want to see it in HD it should be available on whichever streaming site has the rights to it at time you are reading this review.

Note: The show itself: 5 Stars-great show, funny, very smart, diverse set of characters, lots of pop culture references-pretty much can't say enough good things about it. However, I admit the picture quality is not good. This isn't the seller's fault, though. It's just when the show was transferred to DVD it was obviously not a priority for the production company. The packaging was fine, the discs weren't scratched or anything, just don't expect a crisp, HD looking picture. Expect it to look how it would watching on streaming site like N*tflix or SD when the show originally aired. Still totally worth getting, because the show's so good.