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Product Description ------------------- Becker centers on the life of Dr. John Becker, a cantankerous, yet dedicated and talented physician, who, in spite of his constant rants, has a decent heart underneath the sarcasm. Becker will continue to unleash his views at the local diner, even in Reggie's continuing absense. Jake (Alex Desert), the blind proprietor of the local newsstand continues to turn a deaf ear to John. Bob, Becker's b, obnoxious apartment super (Saverio Guerra), persists in annoying virtually everyone. At the office, Becker's head nurse Margaret (Hattie Winston) continues to make order out of chaos, keeping John and his space-cadet nurses-aid Linda (Shawnee Smith) in line. New to the neighborhood is Chris Konnors (Nancy Travis), Becker's new neighbor, with whom he must contend on a daily basis. Although her positive attitude is a major annoyance to Becker, he slowly begins to have feelings for her. .com ---- Having conducted our seasonal check-up, the prognosis is positive for Becker, which, following a y first season, showed a steady improvement with sharper writing, funnier jokes, and a more at ease ensemble. Dr. John Becker (Ted Danson in his Golden Globe-nominated role), who operates out of a Bronx neighborhood clinic, is pretty strong medicine, and this season, the writers upped his dosage with more potent misanthropic rants against "a world that sucks." Prone to losing his temper and alienating everyone, Becker is "not good on the phone, not good in person, you’re just not good," his much more likeable chief of staff Margaret (Hattie Wilson) tells him. Whether fighting the phone company over a call he insists he didn’t make or, dismissed for jury duty, railing against a justice system that doesn’t "value my intelligence and want my talents," Becker sees conspiracies and stupidity everywhere. He is invariably his own worst enemy, as in the season opener in which he saves a grateful woman’s life and repays her acts of gratitude toward him by accusing her of being a stalker (spoiler alert: she’s really a nun). Becker is an equal rtunity offender with an unkind word for all, including blind newspaper vendor Jake (Alex Desert), and "Reggie" (Terry Farrell), owner of the struggling diner where Becker holds court and slings insults. But we do get to see his more vulnerable side after he is accidentally during a street altercation. He even gets a girlfriend this season, the doctor (Frances Fisher) who treats him (surprise; he’s even a bigger pain in the ior as a patient). But no a of pathos can redeem two of the most annoying and obnoxious characters in prime time, flaky and "hardcore unemployable" nurse’s assistant, Linda (Shawnee Smith) and loser Bob (Saverio Guerra). Becker does have a heart, but it also has a brain. One of the best episodes this season is "Crosstalk," in which atheist Becker and a priest (Frasier’s John Mahoney) anxiously await the results of a patient’s operation and debate the nature of faith. Becker wasn’t exactly a water-cooler show, but it’s solid, dependable, and worth checking out if you missed it the first time around. --Donald Liebenson