The Corner Penthouse

Whether you like it or not, the holidays are upon us. Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look at several new releases that would make great gifts for your friends and family. If you know someone who loves classic 1990s American sitcoms, Mill Creek recently re-released The King of Queens: The Complete Series (1998-2007) in a budget-priced 22-DVD box set. Read on to find out more...


Set in the working-class suburb of Queens, New York, The King of Queens follows Doug Heffernan (Kevin James), an amiable deliveryman with an adoring wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), and a frustrating father-in-law (Jerry Stiller) living under his roof. Packed with a crazy cast of characters, hilarious situations and plenty of great guest stars, this is one show that brings the goods!


The King of Queens has always been one of my favorite sitcoms. It's a nice twist on The Honeymooners, with Kevin James being extremely likeable, and Leah Remini looking fine. I've liked her since her days in the short-lived (and long forgotten) Who's The Boss? spin-off Living Dolls. The King of Queens features lots of wacky supporting characters, and appearances by Lou Ferrigno, Anne Meara, Ricki Lake, Rachel Dratch, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Sullivan, Ray Romano, and more!


This box set contains all 9 seasons of the show, consisting of a total of 206 episodes. The first five seasons are 25 episodes each on 3 discs each. Season 6 is 24 episodes on 2 discs, Season 7 is 22 episodes on 2 discs, Season 8 is 23 episodes on 2 discs, and Season 9 is 12 episodes on 1 disc. The Season 9 disc is labelled "Disc One", even though there is only one disc for that season. Episodes are roughly 22:30 each for the first five seasons, and roughly 21:30 each for the last four seasons.


The King of Queens is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (seasons 1-6) and 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio (seasons 7-9). On the audio side, there is only an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio track for all episodes. The bottom of the box says Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, but that is not true. As is the case with most Mill Creek Entertainment releases, there are no bonus features.


The 22 discs are stored in 11 tall two-disc paperboard sleeves packed inside a hard paperboard box with a top flap. This isn't packaging that I like, though it's a HUGE improvement over Mill Creek's similarly-designed box sets with the same tall sleeves in flimsy boxes that were easily crushed just by grabbing them. As much as I don't like these tall sleeves, though I understand why Mill Creek uses them, they are also a SUPER HUGE improvement over the stacked spindles in Sony's Complete Series box set.


The King of Queens: The Complete Series is available in a 22-disc box set from Mill Creek. Supposedly, Sony's original 27-disc box set contained several commentaries and featurettes, but I can not confirm that. It's also in some really crappy packaging, so I would avoid that release. Sony did initially release their set in a delivery truck box, but it's out-of-print and will likely cost a lot of money. The Mill Creek set is the best value if you just want the episodes.


All images were taken from the IMDB gallery of the show. This item has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.