Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Frasier: Season 4

 



The 24-episode fourth season of Frasier aired during the 1996/1997 TV season. All of the main cast members returned for the fourth season, with Dan Butler (who played Bulldog) being promoted to a series regular. The guest and recurring cast this season included Robert Prosky, Marsha Mason, James Earl Jones, Linda Hamilton, Jane Lynch, Zeljko Ivanek, Lisa Darr, Megan Mullally, Pauley Perrette, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bobby Sherman. Bebe Neuwirth made another appearance as Lilith, and Harriet Sansom Harris made another appearance as Frasier's agent, Bebe. The guest callers this season included Marv Albert, Dr. J., Bob Costas, Kieran Culkin, John Cusack, Patty Duke, and Eric Roberts. The show remained a story-of-the-week procedural, with longer story arcs mixed in. The longer storylines this season included the "will-they-or-won't-they" get-together between Niles and Daphnie (including teasing that Niles would get back together with Maris) and a new love interest for Martin. The season ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with Frasier making an impulsive decision to head off to Mexico with a woman he meets in the airport.

As of this writing, the blu-rays are only available in the complete series box set. The individual seasons are available on DVD. In the blu-ray set, the fourth season is a three-disc set that is included in its own keep case. The DVD set is a four-disc set. There is no bonus material included on the fourth season discs, just the episodes that can be played with or without English captions. The A/V quality of the blu-rays is mostly very good, and a significant upgrade from the DVDs. 

By the fourth season, the show had found the format that worked and stuck to it. Some of the jokes are definitely more adult-oriented, but the sex jokes were toned way down from what was on Cheers, especially in the early seasons. The writing and acting continued to be great, and while some things about the show are a bit dated thirty-plus years later, it holds up fairly well. In one eerie bit of coincidence, in the season finale, there is a reference to American Flight 11, which is a flight that series creator David Angell often took when he flew back to Los Angeles, including on September 11th 2001. Of course, that was the first plane hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center that day. Ultimately, if you liked the first three seasons, you will like this one, and it is worth watching. 

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