For every enduring television sitcom (the Seinfeld, Fraiser, or I Love Lucy of a generation) there are a host of others that either stumble out of the gate or trip up somewhere along the way. Thanks to the now ubiquitous nature of DVD, television shows that had faded into the dim recesses of TV syndication or late night cable reruns on Nickelodeon are resurfacing at an amazing (some might say alarming) rate. Among the most recent of such releases is the masterpiece of '80s kitsch that is Charles in Charge.

Starring Scott Baio, who was once listed among the top 25 teen heartthrobs (apparently, he was #16), the show's premise is simple. Charles (Baio) is a college kid making ends meet as a male nanny for the three precocious Pembroke kids: Lila (14), Douglas (12), and Jason (10). Parents Stan and Jill are your basic '80s upscale yuppies, but audiences were spared any real gender role issues (or discussion of the purported oddity of Charles working as a nanny) because the pilot opens with Charles already firmly ensconced in the Pembroke home.

The show's humor stems from Charles' efforts to balance his full-time job with his college activities (most of which involve girls rather than homework). His attempts to mediate the frequent fights between the children while simultaneously entertaining a guest is the basic conflict arc of several episodes.

Willie Aames (of Eight is Enough fame) plays Charles' friend Buddy, whose visions of college revolve around joining the swim team so that he can hang out with girls in bikinis. The pilot episode also introduced the recurring character of Gwendolyn Pierce (Jennifer Runyon), who served as the quasi-love interest for Charles, although he also dated several other women.

The first season of the show also featured guest spots by Meg Ryan and Matthew Perry before either was a star. In fact, given the similarity in ages between Ryan and Baio (IMDb indicates both were born in 1961), it was interesting to note the opposing progression of their respective careers. Baio's roles in Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi made him a star early, but Charles in Charge may well illustrate the beginning of his career decline.

Today he still acts (for example, he most recently had a recurring role in Arrested Development), but the career of the then-unknown Ryan has clearly blossomed since her brief role as a would-be nanny with a crush on Charles.

This DVD set includes all 22 episodes of the show's only season on network television (after its run on CBS, it resurfaced a couple of years later in first-run syndication, with only Baio and Aames returning). It also offers a "bonus episode" from the second season (in which Charles is tasked with supervising a whole new family). The discs are not double-sided (a nice touch) and each comes in its own plastic slipcase. This alone makes the Charles in Charge DVD set an improvement over many classic TV reissues, which often feature episodes crammed onto both sides of a single disc and stuffed inside one expandable folder. The treatment here is more akin to that given more recent shows, such as Battlestar Galactica, and it is nice to see the studio make the effort.