When it arrived in the spring of 1999, EDtv received many inevitable comparisons to the previous summer’s Truman Show. EDtv got called a rip-off of the older film.

On the surface, that accusation seemed appropriate. After all, both movies featured main characters who lived their lives on TV.

However, I think the two pictures take pretty different approaches to the subject and become really dissimilar enough to negate the “plagiarism factor”. Truman features a protagonist who lived his whole life on TV but never knew it.

EDtv takes on the topic in the opposite manner. It views an average dude who thinks being on TV day and night will be a hoot but finds out otherwise when he learns he has virtually no privacy.

Truman never enjoyed a moment alone either, but he never knew that, so his mindset felt completely different. EDtv really focuses on the pressures and problems that come with fame.

In that regard, it doesn’t succeed as a deep and penetrating examination of the trials and tribulations attached with being well-known. However, it does provide a fairly enjoyable ride.

As the film starts, we see representatives from “Reality TV”, a foundering cable network. Spearheaded by programmer Cynthia Topping (Ellen DeGeneres), a new show will broadcast the life of one “lucky” goof on his own TV program. Cameras will follow him everywhere and display every facet of his life.

After he pops up in the audition for his brother Ray (Woody Harrelson), Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey) gets chosen as the subject of the channel. Initially he thinks this seems like a lot of fun, but eventually, the life begins to become a strain, especially as Ed learns how invasive the press and the public can be when he pursues a relationship with Shari (Jenna Elfman).

Despite the similarities to The Truman Show, EDtv actually adapted a 1994 French Canadian flick called Louis 19, le roi des ondes. Unlike Truman, Ed tries harder to play the situation for laughs.

If you learn a little lesson along the way, that’s great. However, Ed seems clear that the movie mainly intends to entertain.

In that regard, it does a fairly good job, largely thanks to the very solid cast. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of the actors come from a TV background; DeGeneres, Elfman, Harrelson, Martin Landau, and Rob Reiner all spent years on TV.

Let’s not forget director Ron Howard’s supreme pedigree in tubeology. Hey, he even managed to slide old co-worker Donny “Ralph Malph” Most into the project!

The TV background of so many cast members does them good since Howard plays on that aspect of his career throughout EDtv. Really, the movie resembles little more than a very good sitcom much of the time.

That may sound like faint praise, but I don’t mean it that way. As a whole, the film offers an entertaining experience.

Frankly, I cannot find much else to say about EDtv. As a biting, incisive commentary on the nature of fame, it doesn’t do much.

As a fun little piece of comedy, it feels fairly amusing and compelling. No one will mistake it for a classic, but as a light piece of entertainment, you could do much worse.

EDtv appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a catastrophe, the image seemed dated and problematic.

Sharpness looked decent but inconsistent. General delineation appeared adequate but the film never came across as especially concise.

Jagged edges and moiré effects failed to materialize, but some light edge haloes popped up along the way. Grain reduction left the presentation a bit mushy and occasional specks cropped up along the way.

With a natural palette, the colors of EDtv seemed adequate, although they could lean a little heavy. While not bad, the hues lacked pizzazz.

Blacks felt acceptable, and shadows offered decent clarity. Again, nothing here flopped terribly, but this one strongly felt like an old DVD scan slapped onto a Blu-ray.

Expect a pretty standard comedy mix from the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. EDtv isn’t a film that lends itself to loud, overwhelming sound, so the quietly immersive track found here seemed solid.

Not surprisingly, the soundfield presented a strong emphasis on the forward channels, which offered a reasonably broad and engaging spectrum of audio. The front speakers showed nicely localized effects and a little dialogue, and the music displayed good stereo separation, all of which blended together well.

The surrounds lacked much activity, but they added positive ambiance and worked especially nicely during louder scenes such as those at the club and at the hockey game. This was a modest soundfield, but it complemented the material.

Audio quality seemed excellent. Dialogue consistently appeared natural and distinct, with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility.

Effects were clean and realistic, and they displayed good dynamic range as well. Music worked best of all, as the score seemed bright and vivid, and it offered nice, tight bass. Ultimately, the soundtrack appeared clear and warm and it was a solid piece.

When we shift to extras, we find two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Ron Howard, as he provides a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, editing, music, sets and locations, and related topics.

Howard offers a nicely chatty and informative track here, as he relates the many improvisational moments in the movie and differentiates between the scripted incidents. Howard also covers the basics of making the film and generally becomes engaging and useful.

For the second commentary, we hear from screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. They sit together for their own running, screen-specific view of filmmaking from the writers’ perspective

The piece starts out very slowly and suffers from an inordinate number of empty spots, but if you stick with it you’ll get a good look at tge subjects. These two spent many years in the business for many years and it becomes enjoyable to hear their wit and wisdom, especially when they discuss the “math of comedy”.

The gaps and the generally slow pacing of the commentary mean that it’s not a great track. Nonetheless, it deserves a listen.

Video features follow. Called Caught In the Camera’s Eye, a 31-minute, 24-second program mixes interviews with Howard, Ganz, Mandel, producer Brian Grazer and actors Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Elizabeth Hurley, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland, Clint Howard, and Robert Pastoriza.

The documentary looks at fame in modern society as well as reality TV, the source and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, shooting the TV elements, and Howard's style as director. The show mixes some fluff with decent insights.

Including an extremely brief intro from Howard, approximately 54 Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 40 minutes, 45 seconds. I say "approximately" because the disc presents them as one continuous reel that can make it tough to tell where some end.

Although clearly not all of this stuff should have remained, there’s quite a lot of interesting material found here. We see a lot more of the abuses Ed suffers due to his fame, and there are a couple of totally excised subplots.

For example, we learn of a competing “real-life” show that pops up after ED makes it big. Many times deleted scenes are pretty dull, but that wasn’t the case here, as most of these snippets feel pretty compelling.

Note that the presentation seems less than user friendly. Chapter stops just mark random points and don’t separate individual scenes.

As noted, the clips blend together in a manner that can make it tough to discern one from the next. This clumsy execution doesn’t doom the compilation but a little more care would’ve been nice.

Additional unused material appears in the Outtakes section. Here we find seven minutes, 55 seconds of the usual flubs and mistakes.

Some of these seem moderately interesting, such as when Woody Harrelson starts to melt down. However, for the most part, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.

The disc concludes with the movie’s trailer. The BD drops some text materials from the DVD as well as some previews for other films.

EDtv won’t ever be considered a great film, but not many flicks will achieve that status. Nonetheless, it offers a fun little experience that should keep you interested and entertained throughout most of the movie. The Blu-ray delivers decent audio and a nice array of bonus materials but visuals seem dated and blah. The movie could really use a remaster.

Note that this 2025 Blu-ray reissues the movie’s prior release in 2017. The 2025 BD simply reproduces the same disc from eight years earlier.