Here we are. The “classic” era of Adult Swim is over. The current black-and-white “card” bumpers started on this tape, ushering in the modern era of Adult Swim. Now I begin my search for the first official instance of me jumping off Adult Swim. Sure, I tuned in for specific shows, but there is a point somewhere in here where I stopped tuning in at the beginning of the block every Sunday and watching all the reruns and whatnot. Weather it happens on this tape or not remains to be seen. Because I wrote this intro before I finished the tape. Yeah, I’m only about half-way through it right now. We’ll see, though.
Donny wasn’t SO nuts that he recorded ALL the black-and-white bumpers, but he did capture slivers of them here and there. But did you know there are websites dedicated to archiving the bumpers? Go find them! I’d link to it right now, but I really don’t feel like it.
Adult Swim Black and White Bumpers (May 25, 2003)
Woah this is a big deal! Adult Swim ditches the god awful Handbook and serves up some 'tude with this brand new look and brand new tude!!! The white-text-on-black bumpers! Everyone loved these, at first. I am pretty sure it only took a week for most of us to hate them. I think Kon was the first one to actually go "hey wait, these stink." I actually like the idea of them. But I guess the format of COOL MUSIC AND MINIMALIST COMMUNICATION USING A SUCCESSION OF TEXT kinda only lends itself to one thing: pompous douchery.
I don't know if I hate them anymore. I've kinda accepted them. After 5 years you kinda have to. I like when the bumpers deliver information I did not know (Like, "Space Ghost is gonna be on DVD!" "Oh, but we edited the shit out of them for air, sorry"). I actually find myself sometimes repeating the random factoids a bumper might drop during the block (one recently: many of the laugh tracks still being used today were recorded in the fifties and contain dead people's laughter - sorry, friends I repeated that to).
I can't blame Adult Swim for going this route. It's different, it's new, and it's easy. You sit at the computer and type out crap. Occasionally you make a graphic. I sort of like that it gives a feeling that Adult Swim is this living breathing thing that begins and ends and has shows in it, even if it's mostly lame. But man, you just know the people who write them aren't cool. They are dorks, and you know how much I hate dorks. They are Steve Urkel, and I am Laura Winslow, and the only reason I put up with them is because they are "WEARIN' (ME) DOWN!" and you only watch them hoping that a Stephan Urkél will show up some day and ask me to marry him at Disneyland. On second thought, go fuck yourself, black and white bumpers. You propose to me at Disneyworld or it's fucking nothing.
SYNOPSIS: Brendon’s dad and his new wife have a kid. McGuirk has a heart attack almost getting boned. And also, it’s Halloween.
This episode always rubbed me weird! I guess because I always associate it with it airing in May even though it's a Halloween episode. It's a funny episode, but it really does feel like a HALLOWEEN SPECIAL. It's all special eventy and stuff. Does the baby that is born in this episode show up at all in Season 4? I'm not complaining, babies suck and I want them off my TV (it's why I hate those HANNA BARBARA BABIES things so much, goo goo ga ga get out of here!) The best part is Ron Lynch being a cat and saying meow in more and more convoluted ways ("a candy wrapper on the meow?"). Uh I get uncomfortable when the sexy stuff happens. Lets not talk about this anymore.
SYNOPSIS: The writers of birdman find Spanish accents to be hilarious.
Joke I've seen before. Joke I've seen before. Joke I've seen before. Joke I've seen before. Joke I've seen before. Joke I've seen before recurs. Man there are only so many ways I can say this shit. Birdman sucks my dick, and my dick is huge, so you know Birdman is REALLY gay to be sucking such a huge dick. This episode is so flagrantly boring and unmemorable. Birdman doesn't make partner, but instead a funny accent man does. Blue Falconé keeps saying "and now we make party." I think I figured out why, because back there when I just typed "make partner?" I typoed MAKE PARTY. It would be one thing if the Birdman jerks decided it was funny to use a typo, but they disguised it as a joke. Space Ghost would just keep the typo in without creating a "funny" context for it. I am only thinking of one specific example (Branford the Branford). But still. It's a thing, right? Somebody, please back me up on this being a thing!
The best part of this episode is the end where it's all NEXT TIME ON HARVEY BIRDMAN and it shows two clips: A guy on the jury finding Birdman not guilty followed by Birdman in an electric chair. I genuinely like that joke!
SYNOPSIS: Shake buys a snake to torture Meatwad with. Frylock blows everyone up.
Ahhhhhh!!! There's a terrifying snake in this scareing me to death!! I'd be screaming all through this episode if it weren't for the laughs I had! This is a pretty funny episode with some real laughs! Meatwad thinks he's getting a bunny, but instead he's getting more than he bargained for, a snake! The first laugh is when Shake is brining in the long snake box and he's all "It's a long bunny, huh!" and then when it starts biting Meatwad he's all "He's kissing you!" Frylock's rude Meatwad impression is comparable to Tom Scharpling's impression of Get Off My Bone (I love when Frylock is short with Meatwad haha) and when Meatwad says "but I crave brain!" man just taking the s off BRAINS in that dumb zombie jerk context makes it so much funnier (also because we all know BRAIN means nutsack). A+ would watch again!
SYNOPSIS: Stormy and Quinn get hurt while on a mission, putting Quinn in a coma and everyone believing somehow Stormy and Quinn switched brains.
I like when Stormy says "Man I hate being your apprentice!" I like the pairing of Stormy and Murphy who both think they are smarties doing smart things but really they are just getting in to trouble! I don't know, this one isn't so bad. It isn't so good, either. It's close to being good. I do like the premise of characters thinking two people got their brains switched even though all they have to go on is Stormy just repeating some big words he remembered from before the explosion. A bad episode that could've been better! It has so much POTENTIAL. Man I just realized only black dudes get to be serious on Adult Swim shows. Quinn, Frylock, Thundercleese, Boondocks people, the list goes on. Actually it doesn’t. We’re talking about Adult Swim here.
SYNOPSIS: Birdman is in jail for killing that robot dog I guess.
Man this sucks. You know all the stuff that sucks about Birdman? Apply it to this too. In this episode, Birdman goes to prison for being a stupid asshole. It winds up being a surprise party. Where have we seen that before? SEALAB MAYBE? Man, did the people who write Birdman actually have some grand vision? It's almost like they were just assigned to write this show and they put zero effort into making it anything unique whatsoever and just coast on lame simple-minded gags that anybody could think of. What a fucking waste.
SYNOPSIS: Shake tries to become a super hero using toxic waste and worms.
I remember this episode vaguely being a big fat hairy deal. Adult Swim promoted this all over the website with the mysterious WHO IS THE DRIZZLE posters and everything. They just went wild! This episode is okay, I never really got into it too much. I guess I don't like that they are spoofing toxic waste since I heard a rumor that my brains are made out of it.
SYNOPSIS: Murphy announces that no one is to leave Sealab just as Quinn’s vacation time comes up.
This episode is not nearly as horrible as I remembered. The actual cohesive parts of the episode with Murphy and the hologram aren't terrible. The Uh-oh part isn't as terrible as I remembered either. There are actually a couple of moments in that sequence that make me laugh. Like the second time they use the footage of the guy running into the control room and Hesh goes "UH AAAOOHH" in that screechy voice. The gag where the space monkey pushes the WAR Button (he has to choose between war and peace) and gets three peanuts, that's funny. Maybe I don't hate this episode? At least, not as much as I thought I did.
SYNOPSIS: A dorky villian tries to steal Birdman’s crest, then he gets hid dick zapped and it makes him powerful? Something like that.
Man this show is just a drag. I was about to call it a faggot, but that's rude. I'm not a bigot! I just love the word faggot! I'm SORRY. This show is such a drag because it's the same shit to complain about every time. The characters just aren't characters. They are wackiness vehicles. The jokes are the ultimate in "who gives a shit" television. This one ends with a dick joke followed immediately by a shit joke. Its all "My dick is glowing! I need to go take a shit!" Goddammit, that sounds hilarious now that I'm saying it out loud, but I promise you it sucks.
There is ONE thing I liked in it (I honestly look for stuff to like in these! It's true!), where Birdman can't shit when somebody else is in the bathroom (uh shouldn't he be in the air shitting on someone's car, sheesh!) and that dumb Hippo comes in with his "did you get that thing I sent ya" catchphrase bullshit (don't get me started on that, ugh) and birdman leaves with blue bowels, and then some other fatso walks in and the Hippo goes "HEY-EY, THERE HE IS!" before the scene ends. I thought that was funny!
SYNOPSIS: Meatwad wins Super Bowl tickets while Carl and Shake vie for the opportunity to go with.
Man this episode made me wanna eat some Doritos real bad. I love the idea of ruining dinner with a bag of Doritos. It's such a kid thing to do, but adults can do it pretty easily also! I know this from experience! My friend made a forum dedicated to a club I started a while back called THE HAVING FUN CLUB, and we had a forum called DORITOS FOR DINNER inspired by this phenomenon, and we meant it as a euphemism for having fun by yourself. I don’t know, it just made sense to us at the time.
I relate to Frylock in this episode because he doesn't care about the Super Bowl, and neither do I. I hate all sports, pretty much! Last year’s Super Bowl (2008) me and my roommate had a Puppy Bowl party, and it was an amazing success. We had Karaoke, and snacks, and competitive games, and all kinds of fun! There was one guy who didn't really get the spirit of the party and announced "Just so you know, I brought enough hash for everyone." And I had to tell him winners don't use drugs, but other than that it was a good time. Another thing: I liked when Meatwad pushed the football into his own face.
Watching these I realize my perspective has changed. At the time, it was pretty terrible and disappointing how bad Sealab was getting. But then it got horribly horribly horrible. So now these episodes seem good in comparison. This episode probably sucks, but compared to what's coming it's one of the "good ones."
My friend and colleague London Arbuckle made a great point once that episodes of Sealab don't really seem like inspired episode ideas as much as they are just writing exercises that somehow became TV episodes. This episode is that. 90% of it is just a shot of Sealab with all the lights out. The Sealab crew shout at each other from dark rooms in Sealab. There's a joke about Wally Gator in this, where they reveal him standing with the rest of Sealab, but it's like a crappy re-drawn version of him that fucking sucks. Fuck you Sealab. You could've just lifted a perfectly good already-drawn Wally Gator but you didn't. It's like you don't know how ugly your own drawings are. Fuck.
Adult Swim's Webcam Party (June 15, 2003)
Adult Swim had a webcam party. If the black-and-white bumpers didn't already usher in the age of "hey we people at the network wanna be personalities too" then this really drove that point home! I apologize for my cynicism. This is a fun idea. Don't let me shit on it. Sometimes I just have nothing to say, and in the search for insight I come up with a reason to shit on something. It's a character flaw. Anyway, I don't think I really participated in the viewing of this so much, but a few images from it exist to this day. Here they are! They came from The ASMB, my main Adult Swim HAUNT.
Anime is teh s uck (June 15, 2003)
June 15, 2003. The day the phrase "anime is the s uck" was born. On TV, anyway. It was used in a bumper. I guess it was a thing somebody said on their horrible "official" message board. "anime is teh s uck" took on a life of it's own, eventually becoming a t-shirt (that was dangled in front of Kon with the promise of a Space Ghost bootleg) and a call-back in an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. "s uck" comes from how their message board doesn't allow the word "suck," so to circumvent the profanity filter you had to add spaces or something like that to get the word out.
Can I just RANT for a minute here? I don't think it happens so much anymore, but boy oh boy, do I hate the intentional/comical use of the word "teh" so much so that now if I make a genuine mistake and type "teh" instead of "the" I feel ashamed only because I don't want people to see it and think it was on purpose to be funny. I'd rather be sloppy than an internet hack comedian. But what really grinds my gears is when people go SO FAR out of their way to put TEH in sentences that wouldn't even make sense with THE in them. "anime is the suck"? Sure, okay I understand that THAT'S comically wrong as well, but going so far out the norm to make a "teh" joke is just so convoluted and stupid I find it revolting. How did the English language mutate to such a hideous display of being a jerk?? If you are doing this, stop. You are teh worst.
SYNOPSIS: Frylock creates a super-computer that travels back in time to cave man days, where it teaches a lone cave-man survival into the 21st century.
I remember really loving this episode when I first saw it. There's a lot to love. You got Meatwad taking a shower. You got Meatwad wanting to call the super computer "snoopy" (I love anytime somebody wants to name a thing SNOOPY), You got Jon Glaser, you got the hip hop fly that lands on Meatwad then dances and then flies away for a scene transition, you got the first appearance of the cool commercial dudes. Oh yeah, did I mention that this episode has to do with PIZZA? Well, it does! Master Shake is waiting for Pizza to come, and when the cave dude rings the doorbell Shake thinks its pizza so he hops to the door and yells "PIZZA TIME PIZZA TIME PIZZA TIME PIZZA TIME." I can relate.
SYNOPSIS: Everyone except Quinn exploits an affirmative action law that lets them become captain.
Here is another episode of Sealab where I thought to myself "I wish this was the last Sealab." For some reason I can remember specifically watching this episode with that mindset; I guess because it was the last episode of the run of new episodes. Like "It would be awesome if they ended Sealab after this" and then it just so happened this was a decent episode and kinda felt like it woulda been a decent ending for the series. Now it's not SO hot. There's some really funny stuff in it, though. Qunn's flashback where his grandmother dies and then instantly the evil landlord evicts them, and a robber steals their faucet: Funny. Cutting to dolphin boy in a flooded pod six surrounded by sharks while he tries to float on a jar of "huney": Funny. Stormy being a skeleton: Funny. I think I was enjoying the completely made-up idea that Sealab would end after this episode, and that's what made me like this episode so much. Oh well.
This episode never really did it for me so much! Not that I think it's horrible. There are some interesting things in it. I just never laughed at it much. I do not regret that this episode exists. Shake goes nuts and gets a bunch of ugly plastic surgery because Meatwad eggs him on. Frylock shaves off his goatee and manages to look grosser than Shake.
My one enduring memory of this episode was watching at a friend's birthday party. It was a weird day. First of all, I hung out with him and a couple of his nerdy friends during the afternoon. They wanted to play x-box, which I just hate. They are all a bunch of halo heads and I think that shit is mad snoozey. I attempted to play and one of the more caricature-ish nerds cackled because I just couldn't play, and I gave up on it and stopped caring that I was dying. He even laughed at me boastfully when I was flagrantly dying on purpose. I was getting flashbacks of my high school friend's boring-as-sin 007 Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 obsession. I opted out of being mean to the nerd. He was my friend's friend, it was my friend’s birthday, and this is probably the closest to a victory this nerdy guy will ever have in a social situation.
Once evening rolled around, my friend's COOL friends started coming over, and you could see the nerds get scared. They quickly left. Basically I didn't know any of them so well, so I was especially frustrated when my friend spent the next two hours on the phone with his then-girlfriend, trying to get her to come over, on his birthday. This was shortly before she'd go nuts and leave Redding without telling anyone, effectively dumping my poor friend. It was a real shame, because she really was a catch, but she couldn't help herself from becoming a filthy San Francisco bohemian. You know how sometimes a person is really good, but they just have something inside them that makes them be gross hipsters that you just can't fight? To be fair, I'm completely filling in the blanks here with this stuff. For all I know she went to San Francisco to become a doctor and find the cure for hipsters. So anyway, he was probably busy getting heartbroken over the phone while I had to suffer with an awkward hang-out session with friends-of-friends. I was too self-absorbed to realize what actually going on so I think I remember loudly complaining to my friend that he needed to get off the phone and hang out with us. I'm a dick.
To kill time we popped in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 2 on DVD. This would be the Summer of 2004, for those of you keeping score at home. I actually think I put it in specifically to show off the great easter eggs on it. When that was done I asked which episode they wanted to watch. Somebody said Super Model. So I put it on. This memory might not be accurate, but I remember a lot of silence. Like everyone-already-had-seen-it silence (they were all pretty much big fans and have probably watched this same DVD at my friend's house many times already), not this-is-not-funny silence. But then at the end one of them turned to me and said "that was a weird episode."
At midnight my friend's girlfriend finally came over. Somebody brought some weed, and when everybody got all quiet and watched it get passed around I left. I can't stand watching people get high.
Brak Does the News (June 22, 2003)
There is no real way for me to review these individually. It would be redundant, and I don't have them. I used actually tape them all. But I for some reason gave up on it. And not only did I give up on it, but I taped over the ones I had. Because that's me. If I can't have all of something, I don't want any of it. What an asshole. So anyway, Brak would brief everyone on the goings on of Adult Swim's programming schedule, and shill for the Big O. Brak shilling for anime. I think this was the point where people really started to hate Adult Swim.
I thought some of these were okay. Occasionally they were just nonsense, like Brak doing a chicken impression. I did like him delivering topical thoughts about recently dead celebrities. They were all like "wah wah wah wah wah wah." But yeah, these more damaged the character of Brak than did it good.
SYNOPSIS: An outer-space monster uses Shake as a pod to speak through while looking for a job in retail.
This is a great episode! An unsung episode! I love the character of the spore-dude. He is a great character that I wish would somehow come back. Maybe. Him throwing acid on pancakes like a jerk is hysterical. I think we also watched this episode at my friend's birthday party. There are some funny lines in this. Here's two of them, out of context:
"Don't be such a bitch, I'm a lawyer"
"Motion Pictures are ten dollars."
Anyway, this is an all-time great classic episode top episodes of all time of everything great episode. Just kidding, it isn't, but I like it.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force #21: "Super Bowl" (July 20, 2003 - 11:45 PM)
This second-run Showcase is something I completely forgot about. For a couple weekends, Adult Swim actually dabbled in PROMOTIONAL VOICE-OVERS OVER CREDITS: A thing that NOBODY in their right mind appreciates. Adult Swim is a network that I really admire in that it doesn't fuck with their shows. It doesn't put annoying bugs and banners at the bottom of the screen. There's only a tiny, unobtrusive "[adult swim]" in the bottom right-hand corner and that's it. But for a moment, it looked like adult swim was headed down the wrong path. And it was Hot Topic advertising that they have Adult Swim products, so that's an even wronger path.
I really hope Adult Swim understands how much it's appreciated that they don't do bullshit like this. The fact that they treat their shows with the respect to not mess with them is not only ideal but inspirational. It represents a network that won't ruin your show. Every other network on earth will. But Adult Swim won't. Even if it's a show that deserves to get ruined (Robot Chicken? Minoriteam?), Adult Swim holds back, unless it's a gag. And even then, they only mess with reruns. I salute you, Adult Swim.
Venture Bros. #1: "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay" (Director's Cut) (July 27, 2003 - 11:00 PM)
Was Brock Patrick Warburton or the guy who does McGuirk? Ihad a hard time decidig (that and my ded kept telling me to turn the TV down). Whoops, sorry everyone. I was just channeling toonzone for a second there.
Venture Bros. re-aired with two extra minutes, reminding me why I didn't like it in the first place. Does anybody know the difference between the two showings? I sure don't!
Commercial: Dr. Pepper (Space Ghost Sings) (July 27, 2003 - 11:12ish PM)
Commercial: Dr. Pepper (Moltar and Space Ghost) (July 27, 2003 - 12:13ish AM)
Commercial: 1-800-CALL-ATT (Harvey Birdman/Reducto) (August 6, 2003)
I managed to dig up the first one online, but the others I don’t got. If you got ‘em, put it on youtube and send me a PM!
Commercial: Brak Show Viewers Choice (August 24, 2003)
Clarence tells you to vote for your favorite Brak Show episodes! And then they get shown! And then Dad shows up, dressed like Napoleon!
Commercial: Adult Swim Box of Style (August 31, 2003)
So, a long time ago Adult Swim sold the "Box of Style." For only $29.99 (plus shipping and handling) you got a Master Shake air-freshener, an Aqua Teen Hunger Force T-shirt, A Harvey Birdman Hat, and a Brak wristband. The commercial is pretty generic and lame, in a way I can't even describe really. But it just showed Adult Swim's LACK of Style. Isn't that funny? Their BOX OF STYLE commercial showed a LACK OF STYLE? Do you get that?
The sequel to MC Pee Pants. I really don't care for MC Chris' music much. Maybe he's great. I'm just saying I don't care for it. I'm not impressed by rude rap or sass or Star Wars references. But I have friends who love him. It's just not for me, I guess. This is not a slam on the person MC Chris; all of his non-rap-musical work point to him being a smart, funny dude. Not that his rap songs don't do that either, I guess they do that even though I don't like them. But whatever. I just had to say it, because nearly everyone I know in real life eats his music up. I'm just bored by it. But I'm bored by most music.
There is a scene in this where Carl hocks a loogie. As I get older, I've become a soft-touch when it comes to gross stuff. I winced when it happened, and I was so glad that the actual spit was off-screen. One time, I was watching "NEXT" on MTV and some gross asshole hocked a loogie in the air and caught it with his mouth and it made me gag. I actually ran to my kitchen sink to vomit. The 13-year-old me would be ashamed.
There was this Dodge commercial where two dudes are in a truck. The guy in the passenger seat starts to choke on beef jerky. The guy behind the wheel then peels out in the truck, drives around super duper fast, and then brakes suddenly, which gives his friend esophagus whiplash and causes the chewed up meat to dislodge from his throat and splatter on the windshield. Well, they took that commercial and super-imposed Meatwad over the meat chunk on the windshield. It was clever and surprising.
Harry Goz dies (September 6, 2003)
Harry Goz, the voice of Captain Murphy on Sealab 2021, died on September 6, 2003. Nobody really expected it; I don't think it was well known he had cancer. I honestly don't have much to say about Harry Goz outside of his work on Sealab. I actually attempted to look at his other acting work: I have burned DVD-R copies of "Bill" and "Bill on his Own," the movie where Mickey Rooney plays retarded. Surprisingly, it wasn't THAT that stole focus from me. It was LARGO WOODRUFF, a beautiful lady who's picture is not on the internet very much. Speaking of Mickey Rooney: who woulda thought that he would still, as of this writing, be alive? And Harry Goz WOULDN'T? He looked ready to die 30 years ago while Harry looked like a virile young man.
Anyway, this is not a very good tribute to Harry Goz. I'm sorry. Harry seemed like a great, likeable dude. It's sad he's gone.
This was an episode I had no idea what it was before watching it. Why? Because of the formulaic nature of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I spent the entire time trying to picture the monster that was in it. There isn't one. Sure, you can point to other episodes that don't have monsters, but they still have SOME kind of obvious visual to remember it by that sort of IS the monster: Super Model for example has plastic-surgeried Shake. There's your monster minus monster there, pal.
Anyway, this is a funny episode! Shake doesn't pay the bills, so they loose their utilities. Shake goes over to Carl's house where he shoots himself in the foot. I shot myself in the foot once. I mistook it for my mouth.
Anyway, shake doesn't do anything to help. That's pretty much the episode, really! I remember the clip from comic-con (I wasn't AT comic con, but they put their comic-con video on the website I think?) where Meatwad is about to put a hot dog through the blades of a propped-up lawnmower and Frylock goes "MEATWAD NO" and Shake goes "MEATWAD YES!" It was a really great place to end a clip! Also the last line in this kills me. Stop reading here if you haven't seen the episode, because 1) there's no way it'll be that funny to you, and 2) it sorta spoils it if you haven't seen it. "There's some ants!" Huh? "There's some ants!" what a great line, right?
Bumpers from DVD! (September 7, 2003 - 12:45ish AM)
Okay, this is completely self-indulgent. But there were some random bumpers from 2003 that I put on my DVD of old Adult Swim bumpers. I figured out the exact date and approximate time from looking through toonzone! That's it.
No, that's not it. I can make this informative, watch! When the black-and-white card bumpers started they used to make new bumps every Sunday, and then they'd have different bumpers on Monday, different bumpers on Tuesday, different bumpers on Wednesday, and different bumpers on Thursday. They would keep the same weekday bumpers for a few weeks. Thursday was at one point dedicated to viewer bumps, where they would showcase the idiots from their message board and reply to their dumb posts live on television.
I don't have much to say about the bumpers from this era. I didn't care about them much, and I didn't watch weekday adult swim since 70% of it is was anime. I can say this, the font was a little bigger. The music was less "cool" and much more needle-droppy. I can recall a cheesy midi-orchestration here and there.
Woah another episode without a monster! This is a pretty good episode; it's got Meatwad thinkin' he can see the future! It's either a parody of “The Dead Zone” or it's a parody of that "Amazing Stories" episode with Gregory Hines as a psychic. I can't decide. If only there was a way to figure this out. Meatwad shoots his mouth off about his powers and it causes all the trouble in the world! Carl and Shake get doused in shit. There's that. That's good. There's other good stuff. Like when Shake almost wins the lottery. That's also funny. More stuff is funny. Okay, I'm moving on. I'm sorry I made this episode sound bad because it isn't.
Adult Swim Reviews the Message Boards/Kon Name-checked (September 14, 2003)
Hey we're famous! Adult Swim reviews the message boards! First they review us (the ASMB) with one word: "Youngsters." I remember us disputing the accuracy of that at the time, and there is an old post where one of us says "youngsters? The average age here is 19!" Now? Looking back? Eh, they aren't really wrong. We're immature, and younger than they are. Just because we're self-consciously immature doesn't mean we aren't immature. Shit, we're still youngsters.
But then they called toonzone a gated community. And they took it as a compliment. Which makes sense. If you used an anti-gated-community slur at a person from a gated community they'd likely take it as a compliment too. They'd puff up their chest, readjust their ascot, and say "yes, thank you." Un-entitled pride is a gater's Modus operandi.
It's sort of a brush with fame. They did mention a message board I post on. And it was a small community at that! I was one of what? 20 regular-ish posters? Easily one of the 5 more super regular ones? It's not so absurd to take a little pride in that. Jesus, when David Cross referenced Shasta College in his fake Mr. Show bio on the Mr. Show DVDs I felt a little famous. Now THAT is absurd. But when Kon, Video Jerk, ASMB creator and fan-site BIG WIG was specifically mentioned, we went bananas! Well, we went as bananas as we'd let ourselves get. We played it a little cool.
Basically, via bumpers, Kon was offered a rough-cut of the Shatner episode of Space Ghost if he bought an "cus anime is teh s uck" t-shirt. To Kon's credit, he stuck to his guns. It would be neat to have a Space Ghost rarity like that. But Kon didn't want the rough-cut! He wasn't some Harry Knowles creepo watching a bootleg workprint of "Star Wars: The Movie" before it came out in theaters. Kon still wanted to experience the magic of Space Ghost without the rough cut tempting him.
Hindsight is 20/20, but imagine if Kon bit? He coulda taken some kind of measure to keep the tape out of his reach, so he wouldn't have to have Space Ghost spoiled for him. AND, he'd have a super-rare "cus anime is teh suck" t-shirt he could easily auction off on ebay and have some adult swimster bone-head pay top dollar for. Well, he'd break even at least. Or you know... make some of that money back. But he'd have the Space Ghost rough cut! You know. It'd be like the episode, but with the lip-sync unfixed. And you know... a time code. And unfinished credit sequence.
SYNOPSIS: A dude with a big brain is a jerk; good at trivia.
This is kind of a middling episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The dudes mostly hang out at a bar for trivia night and are constantly beaten by a big-brained dork with grass for hair. Seth MacFarlane voices said dork. Turns out he created the bar and trivia night with his brains, it's all an illusion that he created to make himself look good as a constant winner of trivia night. Shake yells at him, and he goes away. That's pretty much it. They can't all be winners. Not that this is a loser, necessarily, it's just... not a winner.
SYNOPSIS: Plutonians steal cable from the Aqua Teens.
This is an all-time classic Aqua Teens with the Plutonians being real jerks! They use a mad device to steal cable from the Aqua dudes, while a little cutie pie monster made of remote controls sneaks into the Aqua Guys house and changes their channels, against their will. There's also this grand-slam joke of where one of the Plutionians showing off their t-shirt design of the Universal Remonster and it features a Powerpuff Girl but with a mohawk and in a wheelchair. God damn I fucking love that. This is the episode featuring all the puppet TV channels. The scene where Meatwad enjoys the left/right song is an all-time classic scene in this, which is an all-time classic episode! I said that already that it was an all-time classic episode, whoops! I love watching that little guy get all happy when he gets his lefts and rights all figured out. Too bad Shake has to ruin Meatwad's good time by using the Universal Remonster to terrorize Meatwad, an unfortunate character trait that tends to turn me off of this show. Come on Matt and Trey not cool leave Meatwad alone he's a good little guy!
Hey, the last season of Brak begins now. I have strong memories of anticipating this episode because clips were featured at comic-con earlier this year. I didn't go to comic-con, mind you, I think they posted the video of the intro on adultswim.com. I do remember the clip from this episode, the final fight between Brak and Zorak, in which they both cut each other's heads off. The clip actually shows them both losing their heads and ends immediately after that! It was very funny at the time. Adult Swim seems to have pretty good timing with ending their preview clips. You may remember I lauded Comic-Con 2002 for the ending of it's Aqua Teen clip. Oh, you don't remember? Okay, I don't blame you.
There's some good stuff in this episode, like when Thundercleese says he was "flyin' around, looking at girls from the air!" another one of those jokes that I seem to notice happen a lot in the Brak Show: It's a joke that could be inserted into any episode. I honestly don't know if it's a good thing to criticize the Brak Show for, but I notice it and feel the need to bring it up. So sue me.
There is also a scene where Brak shows Zorak a home-made movie that mirrors the recent events of Zorak murdering Dad, and there's a part where a goofy bear shows up. Zorator, the stand-in for Zorak in Brak's movie, delivers the line "Zorator Hate Bears!" and blasts him away. I remember getting really bummed because in late 2001 some friends and I had an idea for a weird sitcom about a Yemenite man-child who lived in Yemen with his American wife and went on surreal adventures while whining a lot. Our main character had a character trait that he considered most animals his enemy and accused them of plotting against him, and at the top of his animal-enemy were bears. He also spoke in the third person a lot, AS WELL AS broken English. So "Zorator Hate Bears" was basically a line I'm sure we'd spoken MANY TIMES, if not written into a script or outline while coming up with ideas, replacing Zorator's name with our character's name of course. So that kind of just bummed me out. Steven Colbert would later become the master of hating Bears in 2005, so I guess I'm fucked even more now. Shit.
Anyway, that's what I take away from this episode. It ruined my high-school spec-script for a sitcom that nobody would ever read or see produced. How about it?
It's time for another. In this episode Frylock kills a dude with a toilet, my #1 fantasy. Unfortunately for him, it's Carl, the rude neighbor. So the premise is Frylock has invented a toilet that doesn't use water, and he forces Carl into using it by locking him out of his house and feeding him fiber tablets and stool softener. But for some reason I was waiting for some twist where we find out that it's not a toilet at all, or that Frylock has to collect Carl's stool so he can clone his shit. But no, it's just a toilet. The toilet winds up obliterating Carl, except for his head. The rest of the episode is Frylock keeping Carl's head alive using science and then looking for replacement bodies to "do the trick" (my favorite line of the whole series).
The one memory I have of this episode is the grossest part of all: They make a body of just eyeballs. Could you imagine such a thing? If you can't, just peel some grapes and put them into a bowl. Blindfold yourself, and put your dick in it. That's what it would be like to have sex with a person with just grapes for a body. I mean, eyeballs. Fuck.
SYNOPSIS: Dad buys a vacuum cleaner and Thundercleese falls in love with it.
This episode is called "Coma" because it must've been written in one. What a stinker! Maybe the worst episode of Brak of all. I had no idea what this episode was until I started it and slowly realized what I'd gotten into. What makes this episode so bad? Well, it was clearly written in some crazy stream-of-conscious state that must've been brought on by a bet or dare or at least lack of caring.* Honestly, study this episode. Every moment is a crazy, stupid, non-clever impulse that most people would disregard on their path to a better joke. I think the bet here was to try and write an episode in 11 minutes. That's the only reason I can think to explain the way it is: especially the 2 minute "bonus" episode that comes at the end to fill time.
Anyway, I'd give examples, but ideally you're following along by watching the episodes, then reading my recap, and then watching the episode again. So you already know what I'm talking about. It’s kind of like watching Fahrenheit 9/11, then FahrenHYPE 9/11, then Fahrenheit 9/11 again.
*originally this read “lake of caring,” a typo so great I almost left it in. Somebody actually teased me about it many months ago, and I didn’t even get he was referring to me. “an entire lake of caring?” he said. I’m now co-opting this into my own speech. Lets make this a thing, people!
SYNOPSIS: Shake and Carl go to tree-court for crimes against trees.
Wow, this is a pretty funny episode that I don't think I've made a single effort to watch since it aired. Shake and Carl are up to their old tricks again, this time they dump a bunch of oil from a giant deep-fryer in the woods, and some alive-trees get pissed and kidnap the both of them and put Shake on trial at tree court.
I have two big memories of this episode: The opening where Shake deep-fries a cheese-injected cow (which he got "at a farm" with a great line-reading by Dana Snyder) and later Kon saying that it looked good and he wanted to eat it (on the message board, not on the episode. Kon did not play himself on Aqua Teen Hunger Force). That is big memory #1. Big memory #2 is the part where the trees rip off Carl's flesh to use as paper, a disgusting notion that kept me from ever seeking this episode out to watch ever again. It's actually not that explicit and not much worse than simply hearing about it, but still enough to keep me away.
This episode also has a Dr. Weird opening that is fucked up because of the episodes airing out of order (and unfortunately being on the DVD out of order as well). Steve is seen mocking Dr. Weird to the cleaning guy (who apparently toonzone idiots mistook for Asian even though his name is Javier and is mumbling Spanish according to an ancient post on the ASMB). Steve assumes the role of Dr. Weird saying "Fill me up with Barbeque Sauce, because I'm dumb as hell!" which is actually a reference to a botched Dr. Weird experiment that happened in "Broodwich" which was produced first, but aired after this.
So this is a little one minute short featuring a little Brak Doll hosting a party that's being attended by other Hanna-Barbera dolls/puppets. The material isn't great; Basically each doll has some kind of ironically adult problem. Yogi has hemorrhoids, Hardy Har Har is suicidal because his wife left him, and Peter Potamus's high cholesterol is killing him, but Brak maintains his positive outlook on life and his party, cheering his guests on to have fun despite their problems. But the short has a feel of it just being thrown together for fun, and I think that's really all it's meant to be. Extra stuff they can put on the network where commercials would usually go. I think there was another one of these, but I forget.
This can be found on the second disc of The Brak Show - Volume 1 on DVD.
Silly espionage-related stuff that kinda feel like it was written in that same stream-of-consciousnessy fashion that I BLASTED previously. But this has more focus, so I liked it much more. Not that memorable, but it's a little more simple in its absurdity, thus making it easier to take. It doesn't add up to much, but there are moments in it that are actually fun, like when Dad is on the phone and it zooms out from his face and there's a dramatic sting and Brak is in a weird running-style pose. Also when they are both sitting on the table for a few seconds, I liked that. Man, none of that sounds really funny at all.
SYNOPSIS: Shake has Zakk Wylde and Geddy Lee compose a new birthday song and becomes heavily in debt because of it.
Man, I remember not particularly liking this episode, but I wonder if I'm just in a mood to watch 2003-era Adult Swim because I had this weird feeling of joy while watching this. This isn't a particularly ground-breaking Aqua Teen episode, and in fact one could cynically dismiss this as being QUOTE "THE SAME OLD SHIT" UNQUOTE, but I like it, goddamn it. I kinda just want to have an Aqua Teen marathon. Hey, Adult Swim should do that. Tonight. Just have an Aqua Teen marathon. No reason, except I feel like it. That would be boss as fuck. I know I have them all on DVD, but I like having reasons to watch broadcast television.
Good stuff in the episode: No one being sure how old Meatwad is (it's his birthday) and them just kinda going with 55. Shake describing their phone to a potential house-buyer as "highly-cordless." Meatwad hits his inexplicably fish-shaped cake with the piñata stick.
A real Halloween dream come true, A bloody good episode of the Brak Show (haha!). Zorak gets fucking killed and everyone has to deal with it. They spend most of the episode eating his guts. Then a wizard dude tries to bring him back to life. Brak's mom is also acting strange, I wonder why??? This is a fun episode and it even ends pretty good! I don't have much to say about it, but I do like how on the Halloween bumpers Dad is still in his Zorak costume, as if he performed this live and then ran back to do more hosting. Fun!
SYNOPSIS: Shake teaches a monster how to be a monster.
One of my all-time favorite episodes! This episode has it all. It has a nice Halloween feel to it, but you know, that kind of mundane suburban Halloween feel that for some reason I really like. There is something really beautiful about putting on crappy costumes and having this weird social activity going on in a dumb neighborhood. This episode features a lot of Meatwad and Carl bonding which again make for some of my favorite moments in the series.
The monster Willie Nelson is voiced by radio program host Tom Scharpling, who I didn't know anything about back when this premiered. Now I've listened to every episode of the Best Show on WFMU and host Monk parties every week. It's probably good that I saw this episode before my Tom Scharpling fandom kicked in, since the voice probably would've distracted me or I might've been accused of liking it just for his participation. But actually, it's a pretty good voice performance. It's not too SCHARPLING-ESQUE. I mean, he doesn't GOMP Milkshake or anything like that. So it probably wouldn't have distracted me. Man I am just talking in circles. Fuck this recap, it sucks.
SYNOPSIS: Dad gets bit by a radioactive camel, then some radioactive bats, and becomes a super hero called "THE HUMP."
I seem to recall this episode being PANNED by the Adult Swim community, but I like it! Brak dad becomes a superhero for hire, but doesn't really do a whole lot except sit around. Also Space Ghost shows up for a cameo! How can you not like that? The only thing I don't like is the ending, where a big redneck dude bites Dad and gets his powers and takes over his house, because that doesn't make sense. Dad got bitten to get his powers, so now he's getting bitten to lose them? I know, it's a ridiculous quibble to have. But I'm having it.
SYNOPSIS: Shake eats a sandwich which sends him to an evil dimension in which he is in danger of getting axed.
This is a terrific episode! It features Jon Benjamin and Jon Glaser as two demon dudes (I guess) who talk at length about their bitchy wives in one scene. It features Meatwad throwing azalea bushes down a scary hole. It features a dynamite ending where Shake gets surgery. I love this episode!
This episode was TOO HOT for Fox, so it remained unseen until it was released on DVD. But it made its television premiere on Adult Swim! And you know what? I kinda don't give a shit about this at all. I'm sure it was a big deal for Adult Swim, but I owned this on DVD, so why should I care? Lets move the fuck on.
SYNOPSIS: A Japanese corporation exploits Brak's family while priming them to become television stars.
So this episode basically lampoons Japanese commercial culture, which is a fairly easy target to shoot for when you want justified wackiness. You can be crazy and absurd but you're lampooning something that actually is crazy and absurd, so you're golden. This episode also demonstrates one thing I appreciate about the Brak Show: It's not grotesque. In this episode we have people getting eye transplants and people getting machine-gunned down but none of it is gratuitously gory like it would be on other Adult Swim shows. In fact, there's no gore at all. That's just my personal preference, but I wish there were more Adult Swim shows on nowadays that made a choice to not go for shock value violence laughs. I feel like I've harped on that too much. Let’s move on.
SYNOPSIS: Brendon begins writing movie reviews; Coach McGurk takes advantage of Mr. Lynch's reign as interim principal.
Here's a stealth premiere of Home Movies that I actually missed the first time it aired; I didn't see it till the real-life premiere of season four. I'm a little frightened of this write-up, because I'm sure it'll make me sound like a douchebag or send me into a depressive tail-spin. A lot of this season deals with Brendon kinda becoming disillusioned with making movies. In this one he gets focused on reviewing movies. And as I sit here on a website about reviewing other people's work with my own aspirations of making stuff, it kinda hits home. It kinda makes me want to stop doing this all together and finish that stupid screen play I've been working on. It's a show about a guy who works in a video store, and reviews things on their website.
But you know what? I'm gonna cut the self-reflexive bullshit short on this one and just tell you what you need to know: this is a very funny episode. I remember there was a general consensus that Season 4 was the weakest season yet, but I really don't think it is at all. McGurk is a scream and Lynch and Brendon and the Gang really take things to the next level with-- Ah fuck it, changing gears didn't work, I'm still depressed. Goodbye cruel world *KILLS SELF*
SYNOPSIS: Carl donates his totaled car to a foundation that in turn donates it to Meatwad.
Looking back, you can start seeing Adult Swim going through growing pains at this point. I'm not saying that it's affecting the humor quotient of the actual episodes... This is a fine episode as any. I'm having a tough time articulating what I'm meaning, so I'll just plainly point out the examples... The last Brak Show included a reference to American-voiced Mom, the last Home Movies was the first-aired episode of a Final season and the beginning of the end of the characters’ movie-making, and this episode actually addresses the fact that the Aqua Teens kinda aren't detectives anymore. Truthfully, they kinda abandoned that whole concept within the first 5 episodes, but them acknowledging it kinda gives me a bit of a restless vibe. Adult Swim as we know it is heading to an end.
Right? Or am I reaching here? I'm reaching. Fine. Fuck you. Let me have this. Don't you know I'm dying of cancer?
So onto the actual episode: It's a perfectly funny episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force that begins and ends very strongly. I actually laughed out loud at the opening gag with genuinely surprising Dr. Weird gag and a great non-sequitur ending featuring Carl at the end of his rope and a killer line by Shake.
SYNOPSIS: A sequel to "LIVING IN OBLIVION" where a network executive decides to shut down Sealab 2021 (The TV Show)
I remember hating this episode pretty much, and I don't think much has changed. There's not a clever gag to be found in this entire episode, just a lot of self-referential hogwash and running jokes about the cast of Sealab being nasty/incompetent people. In doing these reviews it is not uncommon for me to take notes during the shows, and nothing in this episode inspired me to do write anything down. It doesn't add up to really anything at all, so in a way you can say it's just a metaphor for life. PS: Life fucking blows.
An unspectacular episode of the Brak Show dishes out typical Brak bullshit while making sport of soap operas: a Target as old as television itself. I'm not against the idea of making fun of soap operas, but this doesn't really break any new ground in that arena. It also doesn't break new ground in the Brak bullshit arena. Not to say this episode is particularly bad, but I'm in such a bad mood from that Sealab episode that I watched before this one that this episode has to suffer shrapnel from my last review. Oh, one last thing: Mom's face markings look like a Hitler mustache when she has the bandages over her eyes. Check it out, you’ll get a nice charge out of it.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Volume One (DVD - November 18, 2003)
The first official Adult Swim DVD release is here! On this date “Aqua Teen Hunger Force – Volume One” came out on DVD, along with “Space Ghost Coast to Coast – Volume One.” I originally was going to write-up Space Ghost Coast to Coast on DVD first, but I realized there’s a bonafide objective way to see which one truly came first despite being released on the same date: The Warner Brothers DVD product sequence code. Usually you find that on the spine of a DVD box. I’m not certain if that’s actually where you’d find it on these sets because... uh... I made a custom covers for my Adult Swim DVDs. Yes, I’m mentally ill. But on the actual DVD discs I saw Aqua Teen Hunger Forced bared a code of T6708 while Space Ghost’s was T6709. So Aqua Teen is technically the first Adult Swim DVD release.
And now a disc-by-disc break down of everything that’s on these DVDs. I’ll only highlight extras and alternate versions of episodes. I’ll go over everything as you’d encounter it on the DVD, listing Easter Eggs last.
Presented here is an awful and awkward 15 minute long rough cut of the pilot episode. It’s pretty hard to watch. All the stuff they cut out and changed is for good reason. I actually watched this thinking this was the same version that aired as a stealth pilot back in 2000, but I was sorely mistaken. What actually aired was a version somewhere between this and the “final” series version that we’ve all come to know and like okay. Originally I wrote this:
I'm watching the "original cut" and dear oh dear, is this thing a chore to get through. It's so slow and distractingly ugly. Everyone's voice is a little off. Carl talks a little bit like an old man. This version stinks! I hate it! I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THIS FOR ANOTHER SECOND, GET IT AWAY FROM ME
It still holds true today. The interiors on the Aqua Teen’s house are especially hideous, and I think the creators recognized this and did good by cutting out every scene that took place inside the house (minus the scene in Meatwad’s room). Luckily they got the house situation squared away in time for the series. I contend the show would’ve been cancelled outright if the house looked as ugly as it did in this pilot presentation. It is truly dogshit.
Audio Commentary: Rabbot – The Original Cut
The commentary features Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis, and Jay Edwards. They mostly walk you through the pilot episode, pointing out more baffling bits where there are unfinished effects, but most of these rough moments in the episode explain themselves if you’ve seen the regular series episode. It’s a low-key commentary and pretty dry, but there are some nuggets of information in there. For example, they touch on the whole detective angle for the series; how it was mostly just a way to pitch the show, since “food products hang out and stuff happens to them” didn’t sound like much of a sell. I wonder if that sparked them to out-right comment on it in the last episode that aired before this DVD came out (one might assume they were in production around the time of this recording). They talk about being lucky to find Dana Snyder, and how he’s “the star” of the show, to which Dave Willis pipes in with something along the lines of “Meatwad’s pretty good too.” This got me thinking; those two plus Carl really do make this one hell of a great show as far as memorable characters go. Like, maybe this and “The Young Ones,” or even “Seinfeld.” But shit, Frylock might be the most interesting straight man ever. I mean, I know it’s all relative, but if you put Frylock in a contest with Mike TheCoolPerson and Jerry Seinfeld, Frylock wins no contest. But you could put Mike TheCoolPerson and Jerry Seinfeld in a contest with a piece of shit and the piece of shit would win, so that’s not saying too much. But still, it’s something to think about.
Audio Commentary: Mayhem of the Mooninites
Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro take this one. They start off by improvising a song using cool rock and roll guitars. I’m guessing they didn’t have a lot to say about this episode, and wanted to fill time somehow. They touch on the origin of the Aqua Teens, how it all stemmed from an unproduced episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and how they produced said episode years later using the original character concepts of the Aqua Teens... an idea that still confuses me to this day (if you read my review of Baffler Meal, I’m still not sure what the case is, despite probably having heard this commentary more than once). They tie it in to the episode by pointing out that Ignignokt and Err’s voices are similar to the original voices of Shake and Frylock’s respectively. Then they plug “Spacecataz,” the future failed pilot which replaced the Dr. Weird segments in a future season of the show. Again, it’s pretty low-key stuff, and not an especially fun listen, but there was a time when this information was new to me, and I really felt like I was in the know hearing it on a DVD commentary. Oh, to feel that way again.
Audio Commentary: Space Conflict From Beyond Pluto
Another low-key commentary, this time it’s more of a cast commentary; it features Dana Snyder, Andy Merrill, Dave Willis, and Carey Means. Dave and Andy talk about their past working together on Space Ghost/Cartoon Planet, and the fact that Andy actually hired Dave based on a letter of recommendation written by a kindergartener in crayon, which is one of my favorite ideas of all time. I’ve wanted to steal that idea to get a job somewhere but haven’t found the place to do it. The last interview I had was at Best Buy and the woman scowled at me when I jokingly suggested she covered up her name-tag on purpose. She’d probably track me down and kill me in my sleep if I pulled a stunt like funny-fake-letter-of-recommendation. Also referenced are some behind-the-scenes tidbits, like the fact that Ol’ Drippy was originally to be part of this episode, so the original script actually spawned two episodes. Then there’s a long silence, and then it devolves into the commentators wondering aloud if people actually listen to commentaries (or “these things”). We should hold an election and criminalize that. There are literally of dozens of people in this country who would vote for that.
I don’t remember if this already got covered when it happened in 2002, but I remember sighing a sigh of relief when this wound up on the DVD. I heard about this little number back when Comic-Con happened in 2002 and I remember being jealous, and hoping it wound up on a DVD. I hate when things like this are created for something really specific and perhaps one-time, and just disappears into the ether. This is basically Shake screaming at you to watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force episodes that were set to debut in October 2002, while telling funny fibs about Meatwad and Frylock being dead.
He also insists Van Halen is moving in next door (I’m assuming the footage on the DVD of Dave Willis’ Colonial rock band from Baffler Meal is new for the DVD, replacing actual footage of Van Halen), and that he has a new sidekick: Boxy Brown. This is actually the debut of Boxy Brown in the Aqua Teen universe. BOXY BROWN: A MASTER SHAKE CREATION! WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT? So don’t get caught on Jeopardy answering “Meatwad.” First of all, it’s the wrong answer. And second, you’re supposed to answer in the form of a question.
Easter Eggs: Escape from Leprechaupolis Deleted Scenes
Throughout the volume you’ll find deleted bits from “Escape from Leprechaupolis.” They are pretty reminiscent of the Rabbot rough cut in technical quality; unfinished effects and all that. Here’s how you find them:
Scene 1 (Title 12): From the Main Menu, go to the Special Features Menu. Move the cursor to “Episode Commentaries,” then press right. Carl’s necklace will be selected. Hit Enter.
Scene 2 (Title 18): From the Special Features Menu. Move the cursor down to “Features” at the very bottom, then press left. Meatwad’s igloo hole will be selected. Hit enter.
The scenes themselves don’t really deserve much of a write-up; they deal with a lot of gags about Frylock trying to woo a lady over the internet, which turns out to be the Leprechauns in the episode. They suck, which is why they were deleted. But it’s mildly interesting to see how they patched together an episode by eliminating what probably seemed like an important part of the episode.
That actually does it for Tape Four. Shame to break up a DVD review like that. But things will eventually resume on Tape Five. Get ready for that.
