DVD Review: GRΣΣK - Chapter One
GRΣΣK - Chapter One was a surprise pleasure for both my wife and I. Neither of us had heard of the series before, and to be quite frank we really had no strong desire to see it. But since there's not really anything on television worth watching at the moment, we decided to give it a shot. Think Animal House meets Revenge of the Nerds, except toned town to be an ABC Family show. The writing is quite well done, making the initially overly stereotyped characters quickly come to life as real people facing easily recognizable moral dilemmas.
The series focuses on a pair of siblings, Rusty and Casey Cartwright. Rusty is a freshman at college who is eager to break out of his comfort zone of geekdom and experience real college life. The best way to do this, he thinks, is to pledge a fraternity. Meanwhile, his big sister, Casey, is already second-in-command of the "best of the best" Zeta Beta Zeta sorority, and is so embarrassed by Rusty that she had never even told anyone that she had a brother. However, the two soon must face each other when a moral dilemma presents itself... and hopefully it will end up bringing them together, though I will let you watch to find out.
Other characters also help bring the series to life and invoke dilemmas. One such is Cappie, Casey's ex-boyfriend, the president of National Lampoon's-style fraternity, Kappa Tau Gamma, to which Rusty gets accepted. Another is Casey's current boyfriend, Evan, who is rich, popular, the head of his Omega Chi Delta fraternity, and who initially seems like a total jerk. Add into this mix Rebecca Logan, the Senator's daughter who is pledging Casey's sorority and quickly becomes her nemesis, Dale, Rusty's uber-religious confederate flag hanging roommate, and Calvin Owens, Rusty's new friend who ends up pledging to a rival fraternity, and it becomes easy to find storylines full of natural conflict.
Of course, all the interesting stories and conflicts in the world wouldn't mean a thing if the actors couldn't pull off their characters, so thankfully whoever cast this series knew what they were doing. From the get-go, each and every cast member was able to deliver, making clear exactly who their character was supposed to be. While this show may not have the punch of something like Jericho, it still provides enough to make it worth watching, and worth adding a TiVo season pass to catch the upcoming second season. I'm glad we took a chance on this show.
Greek - Chapter One, released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, is available starting March 18, 2008.
Press Release: GRΣΣK - Chapter One
The rocky road to campus social success leads a new generation of sorority sweethearts and fraternity brothers into an action-packed semester of side splitting misadventures, hilarious hookups and hard won triumphs in Greek: Season One-Chapter One, coming to DVD on March 18, 2008 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Sexy, funny, and completely cool, Greek: Season One-Chapter One features the first 10 episodes of television’s most entertaining look into the world of contemporary fraternities and sororities. The DVD also features exclusive bonus material including deleted scenes, interviews with the cast and creators, an extended music sequence and a sneak peek of Chapter Two.
Greek: Season One-Chapter One begins with the students of Cyprus-Rhodes University as they navigate the social minefield of college life in the original hilarious series, Greek. Join Casey, a sorority social climber during her quest for President of Zeta Beta Zeta. Casey’s world begins to spin out of control when she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle between her ex-boyfriend Cappie, a fifth year slacker, and Evan, the handsome president of the top fraternity on campus. To top it off, her nerdy little brother Rusty is about to destroy her reputation as he tries to join Evan’s fraternity and finally make the transformation from geek to Greek.
Bonus Features
- Deleted Scenes
- Greek: The Initiation
- Chapter Two Sneak Peek
- Extended Music Sequence
- Audio Commentaries
Pledge with the hippest young cast on TV. Experience every moment of Greek: Chapter One, Get initiated into an entertaining world full of people and relationships that you won't want to miss.
Greek: Season-One Chapter One showcases the talent of a hot young cast of rising stars including Spencer Grammer (“As the World Turns”), Jacob Zachar, Scott Michael Foster, Jake McDormand (Bring It On: All or Nothing), Paul James (Cry Wolf), Clark Duke (Superbad), Amber Stevens (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), Dilshad Vadsaria, Jessica Rose (“Lonely Girl 15”), Tiffany Dupont (One Night with the King) and Aaron Hill (“Lost at Home”) as undergraduates eager to experience the joys and drama of college and build lifelong relationships.
