Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Getting On is a wildly hit-or-miss comedy that tries too hard, pushes too far, and rides its dysfunctional nursing home gimmick into the ground. There are laughs to be had, but the biggest reactions come in the form of uncomfortable shifts in the seat and awkward clearings of the throat. Where Scrubs deftly walked a fine line between satire, sitcom formula and sudden bursts of tear-jerking heartache, Getting On stumbles, wobbles from one side to the other, and pitches off the rope. Repeatedly. The doctors and nurses are one-note caricatures, the treatment of the patients (by the staff and the series' writers) is more depressing than the material, and the tone sways from extreme to extreme, never quite sure of whether it wants to linger on medical hijinks or dabble in timely commentary about a very flawed, possibly broken system. Instead of increasing poignance and relevance, we're often offered juvenile bedpan gags by the dozen. In place of compelling characters, we're given irritating eccentrics and sadsack blowhards. Rather than revealing color and life within the most difficult of circumstances, we're forced to endure a bleak, sometimes joyless and mean-spirited farce as crude as it is weirdly compassionate. And if all that paints a confusing picture, I've done my job. Getting On is a confusing series, and only those drawn to erratic, tonally disjointed divisive comedies will find their visits to the Extended Care Unit at Mt. Palms Hospital to be the least bit worthwhile.

Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Though there's very little quote-unquote wrong with HBO's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation, Getting On features some of the most drab, dreary, unremarkable photography on television. Colors have been drained of all life, fleshtones are sickly and perpetually bleached, black levels are dusty and rarely descend below charcoal, contrast is weak, and primaries... what primaries? Detail is decent I suppose, but the show is intentionally shot to convey complete and utter apathy, which doesn't amount to much. In fact, the only notable aspects of the presentation are its consistency and its faithfulness to the series' source. Some macroblocking, noise and banding creep in from time to time, but never so much that they become glaring distractions. But it can't be said enough: while Getting On may look like it's on its last leg, it's meant to resemble death warmed over. Thus the solid score.

Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If you thought Getting On's visuals were bland, don't spend too much time focusing on its sound design. Ugh. HBO's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track follows suit and the results are decidedly forgettable. Dialogue is intelligible and reasonably well-prioritized, directional effects are relatively accurate, and the soundfield does a fine job creating a sense of a cold, sterile environment full of equipment designed to keep the human body from spoiling long past its expiration date. But LFE output is merely serviceable, unfortunately, as is rear speaker activity, and neither make much effort to make their presence known. That said, this is Getting On as it was meant to sound. Set your expectations accordingly.

Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A small, wisely cut collection of deleted scenes (HD, 4 minutes) are joined by a not entirely funny gag reel (HD, 6 minutes). Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sure fans would have appreciated some commentary tracks, but I was happy I didn't have to spend much more time at Mt. Palms Hospital.

Getting On: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tiring and obnoxious, Getting On feigns significance without ever embracing substance. The cast is good, a number of cameo appearances steal the show, and there are laughs to be had. But between the laughs are long, exhausting stretches of uncomfortable, bottom-rung humor posing as a satirical expose of extended care and the US medical system. HBO's Blu-ray release is better, if only because it's AV presentation is faithful (no matter how unremarkable the series' photography and sound design may be). Just don't expect anything in the way of revealing special features. There aren't any.