Release Date: September 20, 2011
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 506 minutes

Life at the Chance’s will never be the same when Jimmy comes home with an unexpected gift. Follow one ill-equipped family as they navigate through the pleasures and annoyances of raising a baby. The Emmy Award® nominated** series, RAISING HOPE Season 1 comes to DVD on September 20th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment packed with exclusive featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, commentaries and the un-aired pilot never shown on television.

Created by Emmy Award® winner Greg Garcia, Raising Hope stars Lucas Neff, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt and Shannon Woodward. Cloris Leachman guest-stars as Maw Maw.

A one night stand becomes a life-long commitment when 23-year-old Jimmy Chance inadvertently impregnates a wanted felon and decides to raise Hope (aka Princess Beyonce) on his own. Jimmy, together with his family – his Maw Maw (Cloris Leachman), his mother Virginia (Martha Plimpton), and his father Burt (Garret Dillahunt) – face play dates, amusing family photo shoots, rock star dreams, vasectomies and much more in this uproariously irreverent, critically acclaimed first season of Raising Hope.

In case you missed “The Best Comedy On Television That You’re Not Watching” post (read here) back in April… I think that Raising Hope is the comedy on television today that everyone should tune into faithfully each and every week. Raising Hope will result in you being in stitches from laughing so much. Talk about an hysterical show that also has direction, heart, great acting, and a outlandish yet incredibly grounded stories to tell.

This series has the best team of comedy writers hands down. My favorite episodes are easily “Romeo and Romeo,” “A Germ of a Story,” “Snip Snip,” all of which are episodes I could watch everyday for the rest of my life and still laugh as if its a first viewing. The casting also could not have been any more perfect. Martha Plimpton shines and the father/son relationship between Jimmy and Burt is crafted and acted just as wonderfully! And the guest stars, some of which include Bijou Phillips, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Tichina Arnold, Amy Sedaris, and Phill Lewis were also a delight to see throughout the season.

Really, everyone involved in the show deserves a round of applause because their work is truly outstanding. It’s easy to forget that this series is just in its first season because its just that good and such comfortable ground already, quirky as it is. So as I have encouraged you to do before, take a chance on the Chance Family! Get your copy of Raising Hope The Complete First Season and watch Season 2 Tuesday nights on Fox.

Bonus Features:
Pilot Commentary – The commentary is conducted by Lucas Neff, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, and Greg Garcia. Since the entire main cast and Garcia are participating in the Pilot, I was anticipating a very entertaining commentary. The cast and Garcia did not disappoint. Throughout the 23 minute long episode, there is discussion about the casting of Hope, the changes made from the original script and unaired Pilot to the airing, Martha’s singing and audition scene, and the laughs ensued from certain scenes. This is a fun commentary that will keep you on your toes wanting more. Too bad there is only one commentary. Perhaps there will be at least two more on the next DVD but until then, this will suffice!

Unaired Network Pilot (22:20 minutes) – If you viewed the Pilot with the commentary, you’ll find out about a scene involving Jimmy Bottle Hands. The entire opening scene revolves around this in the unaired Pilot and brings for great laughs. The remainder of the unaired Pilot is just as hysterical and also a reminder of why I fell in love with the show in the first place. There are so many aspects to Virginia that we haven’t seen since the first few episodes of the series and the unaired Pilot gives us even more of a reason to anticipate more ol’ school Virginia in the current season. There’s plenty to appreciate and love here so be sure to check out the unaired Pilot for some of the greatest laughs you’ll ever have.

Season Finale Extended Cut (26 minutes) – Every extra moment of the Season Finale extended cut is worth watching, especially if you are a fan of back story, comedy, and as much Raising Hope as you can get. Between the unaired Pilot and the extended cut of the finale, I’d have to say that I actually really enjoyed this more because it was a flashback episode and I am a sucker for going into the past (or future) in any medium. This episode has “win” written all over it, extended cut or not.

Adorable Stars: Meet the Hopes (6:26 minutes) – This feature introduces viewers to twins, Rylie and Baylie Cregut. It is great to finally be able to meet the girls that play the star of the show along with the twins’ Mother, Pamela Cregut. Garcia’s joke about the pumpkin light was also hilarious. The spotlight is given to the twins for this short feature and will be a delight to watch in a few years down the road when the the girls are older and hopefully still on Raising Hope.

Appearing in this Feature:
Creator/Writer/Director, Greg Garcia
First AD, Susan Hellman
Cast Members, Lucas Neff, Shannon Woodward, Garret Dillahunt, Martha Plimpton, Gregg Binkley

Moments with Mrs. Chance (4:31 minutes) – A feature dedicated to the best moments from the lovely and oh so talented Martha Plimpton is what makes the special features complete. No need to create a compilation of your favorite Virginia moments to post on YouTube because that compilation is right here!

Taking Chance: Shooting the Season Finale (11:29 minutes) – The entire cast and Greg Garcia took some time out on the set of the finale to talk about the first season finale, which takes place five years in the past. The interviews showcase the visual gags, surprises, and working on a flashback episode with an abundance of scenes to shoot well into the early hours of the morning. I would recommend someone who is watching the show for the first time to watch this feature right before the finale (if they don’t mind being spoiled about a thing or two) because it really feels like more of a peak into the finale more than the nitty gritty details of putting the episode together. Garcia does talk about expanding this world in season two, so that is a treat since the second season has just begun on Fox. There’s so much to appreciate on this show, especially the outlandish dialogue that as Plimpton mentions, is grounded in its own reality. Season one is a clear example of a comedy done right. It’s not just about the jokes but as Garcia mentioned, being invested in these characters’ lives and that’s what makes the finale so special and this feature worth watching.

Gag Reel (5:41 minutes) – The gag reel comes full circle as it begins with one of the twins giving a crew member the death stare after her prop toy was lowered from her mouth… and the last montage of the reel is of the adorable twins from different episodes. In between, it is evident that the set of Raising Hope is one of the most joyful sets on the lot today. Surely this gag reel could have been longer but with the length that it is, it greatly displays the positive chemistry on set and will leave you grinning from ear to ear.

Deleted and Extended Scenes (19:40 minutes) – There are about a little more than dozen extra scenes from half of the episodes this season shown here and the scene in which Sabrina tells Jimmy to “take it easy on the exclams” is definitely the most hysterical. Check out these scenes if you want more Raising Hope!

Own Raising Hope The Complete First Season on DVD today.