Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Have you never been trashy?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2011

There has been a cultural clash of sorts over the past several years as African Americans have taken to using the “N”-word as a term of joking and brotherhood. None other than the always tactful and restrained Dr. Laura Schlessinger found herself in hot water after repeating that once despised epithet over and over as she decried the fact that if black people can use it, why can’t others? Strangely, there’s been no similar backlash against Caucasians who term their mobile home residing neighbors as “white trash.” Laughing at the destitute and often morally bankrupt “trashers” (for wont of a better term), usually deep fried Southern types, has long been a staple of films and television. But no one has quite taken it to the extremes Texas playwright Del Shores did in his off kilter play Sordid Lives, which was later filmed with a lot of its original cast intact. “Del Shores” might sound like one of those low rent “vacation” spots in the backwoods of some southern clime, the kind with a dilapidated, scum filled lake and a gift shop consisting of a rundown shack with tacky tchotchkes. But Del Shores is actually the Boswell of such low rent Johnsonian places, and his fictionalized (at least we hope so) account of his own family is like entering a no holds barred audition for The Jerry Springer Show.

Sordid Lives: The Series lasted for 12 episodes on the gay-centric Logo network three or so years ago and actually attracted what was a sizable audience for that niche network. The series acts as a sort of prequel for the play and film, giving us some backstories of the various lunatic members of the Ingram family. The play and film dealt with the aftereffects from the death of the Ingram matriarch, but the series still has “Nana” Peggy Ingram (Rue McClanahan) alive and kicking, at least until the cliffhanging series finale. The rest of the Ingram clan, as well as assorted hangers on, are a motley crew of ne’er-do-wells who could easily get together for a Springer All Stars telethon. The “objective” point of view of Sordid Lives comes from Peggy’s grandson, Ty Williamson (Jason Dottley, Shores’ real-life husband), a struggling actor in Los Angeles who is coming to grips both with his incipient gayness as well as his self-confessed “sordid” family history. But back in Texas, we have a baker’s dozen or so of assorted crazy characters who repeatedly show that Ty’s need for therapy isn’t misplaced.

Peggy’s daughter and Ty’s mother is Latrelle, an ultra-bouffantized woman whose sole purpose in life seems to be making sure the neighbors don’t find out about any of her family’s shenanigans, a trait she shares with her Aunt Sissy (Beth Grant), Peggy’s younger sister. Latrelle has a sister, LaVonda (Peggy Walker), but her most “colorful” (literally and figuratively) sibling is her institutionalized brother Earl, nicknamed “Brother Boy” (Leslie Jordan) who is a gay transvestite who fancies himself a Tammy Wynette impersonator. “Brother Boy” spends most of the series clad in a pink-orange spandex jumpsuit with “disco” heels. Strangely, he seems one of the most normal people in the show.

A number of tangential characters flit by on the outskirts of the Ingram family’s escapdes, notably bar singer Bitsy Mae Harling (Olivia Newton-John—yes, Olivia Newton-John), who has just been released from prison on a trumped up arson charge which provides some grist for the series’ soap operatic twists. Also on hand is Sissy’s neighbor, sexually frustrated Noleta (Caroline Rhea), who breaks out her little “vibrating friend” to gratify herself because she can’t stand the thought of making love with her amputee husband, G.W. (David Steen).

As might be divined from that actually brief character list, Sordid Lives: The Series is a completely over the top enterprise that doesn’t shirk from portraying virtually everyone within its bounds as slightly, and sometimes much more than merely slightly, off balance. In fact one of the series’ problems is that the putative “normal” character, Ty, is removed from the insanity, frequently shown trying to rid his familial demons in a round robin of therapy sessions (with some great cameos appearances by “guest therapists” like Margaret Cho). But that distance comes at a cost, as the Ingram insanity is sequestered and doesn’t seem overtly related to Ty’s continuing quest to be a successful actor. Another issue that some may have with Sordid Lives is its insistence that only the straight characters are ostensibly crazier than hell. The gay characters in this series tend to be well meaning, if sometimes distraught, folks who by and large have few if any of the major tics their hetero counterparts display.

Shores has a great feel for the tackiness of small town southern life, and there’s no arguing that these characters are a carnival ride of whimsy and an at times surprising amount of heart. Shores has also attracted a top flight assemblage of actors, all of whom invest their roles with a suitably hyperbolic style. Obviously this is an ensemble that believes in the project, and that helps give Sordid Lives a certain ring of truth, despite its obviously parodistic elements. While one might expect the sort of lowbrow antics we get here from actors like Rhea and McClanahan especially, the real surprise throughout Sordid Lives: The Series is the wonderfully bizarre turn by Newton-John, reprising her role from the film. While she’s not exactly master of the Southern accent, she brings Bitsy’s character fully to life, and she belts out a number of self-written tunes with an appropriate Wynette-esque twang. (Shores managed to get Wynette’s own daughter, Georgette Jones, to portray the ghost of her mother in a number of funny scenes with Brother Boy, who believes he has been specially chosen to carry on the Wynette legacy).

Sordid Lives: The Series is probably not going to have wide appeal for any number of reasons. Its gay hero, a sweet, unassuming, if somewhat addled, man has obvious built in appeal for those who flocked to Logo’s (ahem) shores to find entertainment suited to their own particular sensibility. More liberal leaning audiences, those who are willing to look past the series’ unabashed satirical bias against Southerners in general and straights in particular, will also find a lot to like in this odd, but oddly endearing series.

Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sordid Lives: The Series premieres on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a decently sharp looking series that nonetheless never quite rises to the heights of other, mainstream broadcast network series Blu-rays. Colors are lifelike and well saturated and fine detail is pleasing if not overwhelming. The series often has a slightly soft look to it and contrast can be less than ideal, especially in some of the outdoor location shots. While there's nothing egregiously horrible about this transfer, it doesn't totally bristle with clarity the way it should. If you can get past that overall slight softness, the image here is acceptable and certainly above average.

Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sordid Lives: The Series features a nicely detailed lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is surprisingly immersive at times. While a lot of the series plays out in smaller ensemble moments of two or three characters, there's a wealth of outdoor shots as well as the bar scenes featuring Newton-John, and these all have nice usage of the surrounds, especially with regard to the bar band. Several explosive gunshots ring out throughout the series, providing a potent dose of LFE. Dialogue is well positioned and always clear, and sound effects are similarly very well mixed here. While the majority of this mix is front heavy, for a smaller budgeted niche cable series, there's some fine attention paid to detail here that will probably pleasantly surprise a lot of listeners.

Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (SD; 46:55) has some great stuff, including some nice bits with the psychiatrist who is trying to "dehomosexualize" Brother Boy, as well as some extended scenes with Ty and his revolving door of analysts. Some of the clips have timecode captions running in the lower right side of the image.
• Olivia Newton-John Performances (SD; 7:30) features the songstress in two country-western tunes.
• Music Videos (SD; 8:35). Why these are labeled "music videos" is anyone's guess, as they are simply long form promos for the series which include some Newton-John warbling intercut with scenes from the series.
• Bloopers (SD; 13:30) features typical blown lines and an astounding number of "F"-bombs.

Sordid Lives: The Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sordid Lives: The Series may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's surprisingly tender and heartfelt, if also more than a bit raucous. Anyone who's suffered through their own family's dysfunctions will probably find at least a little bit to relate to here, although the Ingram clan certainly ups the dysfunctionality ante in about every way imaginable. The performances here are top notch, even when their almost uniformly pitched to the figurative rafters. The series suffers somewhat from having its one ostensibly "sane" character, Ty, removed from the Texas tumult, but taken as a whole, Sordid Lives has some solid laughs at regular intervals. Recommended.