I have yet to come up with any super-great possible explanation as to why [adult swim] decided to release such an odd mish-mash of DVDs for Adult Swim in a Box. Someone online casually suggested that it may have been because there were too many of certain seasons in a warehouse and [as] just wanted a way to get them out there. I suppose that’s a possibility, but I’m going to go one step further and suggest that there is an actual subliminal link tying all of these DVDs together, and we must decipher a hidden code before we can unlock the secret of [as] and thus become its master.
Somewhere between Metalocalypse season one and Space Ghost season three, the message is there.
The individual DVD sets are pretty straightforward. Venture Bros. is the only original item from the [as] line-up that has any major multi-episode or cross-seasons arcs, and that show isn’t included in the box (though Venture Bros. completists may be pleased to know that there is actually a bonus Comic-Con commentary by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer on the Moral Orel DVD, if you remember anything about that drunken fiasco). It’s nice to have such a scattered selection of short attention span programming, and it’s worth having if you’re just looking for a good deal on DVDs. Also, sitting down and watching a bunch of Metalocalypse episodes in a row really changed my mind about the show. It’s not half bad.
The big highlight for the set is the disc of pilot episodes for shows that never took off, finally available to own. Previously, I was only familiar (and just barely so) with Korgoth of Barbaria, which was still just as funny the second time around. I think Superjail! (terribly underrated, by the way) managed to successfully take a similar super-aggressive and incredibly detailed aesthetic and push it to the limit. Anyone that liked Korgoth for that “look” should check out Superjail!, and vice versa.
Pilots like Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge did less for me, which was kind of surprising. Considering all the notable names on the cast (Kristen Schaal, Neko Case, T-Pain, MC Chris), it kind of bums me out that the series was just crummy 3D work. In terms of quality, it looked like a pink ReBoot. With more boobs. Also, I liked the series’s premise, but the writing was pretty terrible in all other areas. Worth checking out if you like any of the voice actors, and that’s about it.
Oh, the pilot for Perfect Hair Forever is also on the disc. I have never been able to understand the appeal of this show. Perhaps I need to reach a higher plane of enlightenment before I can “get” why people enjoy this and, like, Xavier: Renegade Angel or Wizards of Waverly Place. The pilot for The Best of Totally for Teens didn’t do anything for me either, which wasn’t a problem because I knew if I wanted to watch something similar, I could turn to anything by Tim & Eric.
As for the things that I did like, Welcome to Eltingville came out of nowhere. As much as I cringe when shows randomly spit out pop culture references for no plot-related reason and just nudge the audience in the side and go, “Ehh? Remember that?”, I couldn’t help but enjoy Eltingville. It was the pilot, after all, so I could understand why they would need to share exactly what level of geekiness would be perpetuated through the rest of the series. Plus, the style of animation was fun and would have been a fresh addition to the [as] line-up.
Clacked by Annie Wu 
on Nov 30, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
