The Wayans Brothers: The Complete Series - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

The Wayans Brothers: The Complete Series



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.


​

Movie
When it comes to comedy legends, very few can deny the POWER that was Lorne Michaels and the kingmakers that he basically became in regards to comedy with SNL. It was just a known fact that if you got onto that show you were basically guaranteed a shot at becoming much more successful than you were right then. It was sort of the springboard situation where Michaels and the crew would scout out fresh new talent and mold them into star material, then let them go when they wanted bigger and better things. But the one “hidden” or sometimes forgotten powerhouse family was the Wayans Brothers and their influence on not only black comedy but comedy in general. While not as popular as SNL, In Living Color was Keenan Ivory and Damon Wayan’s attempt at the same thing SNL had done for so long. A sketch comedy show that pushed boundaries, and introduced new comedians to the limelight. Heck, the Wayans family introduced us to Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, and even Jennifer Lopez in ways that catapulted those people to superstars down the road.

The Wayans family legacy is more than just In Living Color, though. Keenan Ivory, Damon, Marlon, and even younger brother Shawn, became some of the best A- A-level comedians out there. Giving us things like White Chicks, Scary Movie (and most of the sequels), Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (seriously, if you haven’t seen this spoof on black urban movies, then you’re missing out), and both Damon and Marlon gaining some serious notoriety as actors in Hollywood in their own rights. You can’t shake a stick at any period during the 90s and 2000s where you couldn’t see their influence SOMEWHERE on screen.

Now, without toooooo much aggrandizing, let's move on to one of the Wayans Brothers lesser-known TV shows. Unlike In Living Color, My Wife and Kids, and several other Wayans family endeavors, The Wayans Brothers was started by Keenan Ivory, but pretty much starring the youngest of the 4 brothers, Marlon and Shawn. The series follows the everyday lives of close, yet VERY noticeably different, brothers Marlon and Shawn Williams while they live in New York City as young men during the mid-90s. Most of the show focuses on Shawn as the owner of a New Stand, while being “helped” by his brother Marlon (and we all know how things work out when Marlon Wayans tries to “help” in a movie/show), all the while trying to deal with their father Pops (the iconic John Witherspoon) who is constantly on them to do something with their lives.

As is the case with most of these 1990s comedy shows, Marlon and Shawn try their hand at dating, love, get-rich schemes, and basically anything they can do in order to get the upper hand. But like you can expect, things rarely go as planned for the brothers. Hijinks occur, and plans get pulled out from under them, but no matter the situation absolute hilarity is bound to follow.

I VAGUELY remember watching sporadic episodes of the show when I was a teenager growing up in the 1990s, but I didn’t remember much at all besides Marlon acting like Marlon Wayans always did. Burning through the entire 5 seasons I got a good blast of 1990s nostalgia back. It wasn’t as polished or funny as My Wife and Kids, or as insane as In Living Color, but it was a solid entry much like Martin was back in the day. However, Martin probably took the upper hand when comparing the two. Probably the most sad facet of the entire situation was that there was no ending to the show. Season 5 leaves us hanging as the show was unceremoniously cancelled, and pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. Marlon and Shawn do a great job as usual, but I’m still a HUGE believer that when it comes in front of the camera talent, Marlon and Damon are the best of the best. Keenan is a master businessman and is the “patriarch” of the 4 brothers' creative workings for a reason, and while Shawn is a funny dude, he’s just not up there with his middle brothers when it comes to being laugh-out-loud funny. As such, the show is a solid mid-range Wayans Brothers entry, but still not going to be a GREAT piece of 90s TV.



Rating:

Rated TV-PG by the MPAA




Video:

All 5 seasons of the show have been released in the distant past, but it was a fractured release schedule for sure. Warner Brothers released the first two seasons on regular DVD YEARS ago, but seasons 3 – 5 were released by Warner Archive collection (Warner’s Manufactured on Demand sub studio) and were released not as DVD-Roms, but burned DVDs of the show. Luckily for us, the same masters and pressings were used for this 14 DVD set, but this time all 14 discs are pressed DVD-ROMs instead of burned discs. The show itself looks as good as you would expect a 1990s TV show to look, complete with some over-burnished 90s colors, weak clarity thanks to being mastered on tape back in the day, and plenty of artifacts. They’re mostly solid for what they were, but I wouldn’t exactly say the picture quality was stellar, and I really doubt we’re going to see a remaster for the show any time soon, if ever.







Audio:

All 14 discs sport the same 192 kbps Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track that was on the previous releases, and like back then, they’re solid enough. The back of the case lists 5.1 for the first season, but I confirmed with each disc that there is only the same 2.0 track on said season (I can’t remember if there WAS a 5.1 mix for the standalone release of the first series so I’m guessing it was just a misprint and not a dropped track). The stereo effects offer clean and crisp vocals, although the balance is a bit on the thin side. The sound effects are solid enough but aren’t that great, and the music is perfect. It’s a made for a 1990s TV audience mixing, and that means the dynamics are not going to blow anyone away.









Extras:

•

Final Score: ​

The Wayans Brothers was a blast from the past and filled with more talented black comedians than you could shake a stick at (with several sadly no longer with us). While it isn’t the crème de la crème of the Wayans family efforts, The Wayans Brothers ran a healthy 5 seasons, pulling in some very solid ratings until the last 2 years. Warner Brothers did a good, albeit bare bones, release for us today, with video quality what you would expect for a “shot on tape” low-budget TV show, and literally zero extras. My only complaint that has nothing to do with the show itself is the packaging. Warner and Paramount both have released multiple full-season TV shows in the infamous overlapping disc clamshell cases that are so INCREDIBLY annoying to deal with. But to make matters worse, this set is not only overlapping but stacked discs as well. It isn’t the end of the world, but I personally find that this setup is a nightmare for loose discs in transit, and stacked discs makes one's eyelid twitch. Again, It’s just a frustration that I’ve had with low-priced complete series box sets for the better part of 15 years (the Mill Creek King of Queens box set still gives me PTSD) and something I REALLY wish Studios would lean away from. Other than that, this is a solid barebones release of a TV show I NEVER thought would see the light of day on physical media again after the final 3 seasons were relegated to MOD releases.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, John Witherspoon, Anna Maria Horsford, Phill Lewis
Created by: Leslie Ray, David Steven Simon, Marlon Wayans
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 MPEG2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-PG
Runtime: 3050 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 4th, 2025

Recommendation: Awesome Watch

​

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I did enjoy this series when it was on the air. Will have to revisit it.