Titus - Season 3
The comedic chronicles of Christopher Titus's profoundly dysfunctional family came to an end withTitus's third season (2001-2002), and while it's not known if Titus and his co-producers knew that the bell was tolling for their risky show, the go-for-broke tone of these episodes certainly suggests that they weren't going to leave the airwaves without raising a ruckus. How else to explain such hit-the-brakes storylines as "The Trial," which has Titus's mother (played in this season by Connie Stevens) facing a jury for the murder of her abusive husband (with former spouse Ken Titus, played by the consistently uproarious Stacey Keach, itching to testify against her), or the verboten romance between Tommy (David Shawtraw) and Titus's pregnant sister (Elizabeth Berkely) in "Tommy's Crush," or the two-parter "Insanity Genetic," where Titus's fears that his family's instability might threaten his relationship with Erin (Lost's Cynthia Watros) land him in jail. The episodes compiled in this set are raw, occasionally taboo, and definitely not TV Family Night material (although maybe they should be), but series fans and those looking for comedy with some emotional bite will appreciate that this underappreciated series has finally made it to DVD. The set includes commentary by Titus and co-producers Brian Hargrove and Jack Kenney, and interviews with Keach, Watros, and Zack Ward, who played Titus's brother Dave.--Paul Gaita