TV on DVD

Divorce is darkly comic, dramatic series for adults

Divorce, Season 1
Divorce, Season 1

What is it? Divorce, Season 1, 10 half-hour episodes on two discs from HBO Home Entertainment

When? Now

How much? $19.98

Who is having marital difficulties? Mainly Frances and Robert DuFresne (Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church).

After many years of married life, Frances is discontent. She's struggling to open an art gallery. Her teenage son (Charlie Kilgore) and preteen daughter (Sterling Jerins) are becoming more distant and surly. But the big problem is in her relationship with her husband, who inspires indifference and annoyance rather than love and desire.

Then, her friend Diane's (Molly Shannon) uncomfortable (and felony-tinted) 50th birthday party serves as a wake-up call. Frances tells Robert she wants a divorce.

He's incredulous and blind-sided. Sure, he's not all that happy in the marriage and had already mentally checked out to some extent, but a separation didn't cross his mind. He does come around to her way of thinking, though. Quickly.

Work and financial woes, how to handle major holidays, the children's reactions and other minefields lie in their path as Robert and Frances basically bumble their way through the world of divorce. "Advice" from divorce lawyers and friends, like the unhinged Diane and more caustic Dallas (Talia Balsam), doesn't exactly help.

There are occasional flashes of hope that they may be able to work things out. But it turns out they're both hiding secrets that could scuttle any chance of a reunion -- or of an amicable divorce.

What's it like? It's a sort of comedy-drama hybrid, really. It does have humor, but a lot of it is fairly dark, and the subject matter can be very adult. The situations the characters find themselves in can be a little wacky, but they're not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Funny or serious, a lot of the series feels very real. Everyone makes mistakes. People say and do stupid things that derail any hope for a happy ending.

That can make it a very frustrating show to watch, and even though the acting is good, the characters don't have a lot of redeeming qualities. So, you might want to keep that in mind.

Are there extras? Just a couple of commentary tracks.

New this week: Call the Midwife, Season 6; Dark Angel, miniseries; Outsiders, Season 2; Power Rangers Mystic Force, complete series; SpongeBob SquarePants, first 100 episodes; Static Shock, Season 2; Teletubbies, 20th anniversary.

Next week: Beauty and the Beast, complete series; Hart to Hart, complete series; The Last Kingdom, Season 2; Speed Racer, complete series; Suits, Season 6.

Style on 05/21/2017

Upcoming Events