I've never been on a skateboard in my life, but I can't help but respect and appreciate the optimism that skateboarder Rob Dyrdek puts into his craft and into life in general. He tries to make this feeling as infectious as possible, and that's been one of the reasons why I watch him on MTV. His first show, Rob and Big, was symbolic of this feeling and sadly departed prematurely, as the "Big" portion of the pairing (Christopher "Big Black" Boykin) left to become a first-time father. Now, Dyrdek returns for a new MTV reality show called Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.

The concept behind the show is simple; Dyrdek has obtained a 25,000 square foot warehouse in Los Angeles to house his business and to try and make dreams come true, in some manner or fashion. His cousin Chris, a.k.a. "Drama," has come with him to be part of the show, and they have brought along Chris' brother Scott, or as he's known in the show, "Big Cat." Dyrdek's management, including his manager Jeremy, is in a section of the warehouse as well, identified by Rob as "Corpo," (or corporate) and the Factory's receptionist is Chanel. Their adventures are shown in this 10-episode run, which split over two discs of goodness.

The goal of fulfilling dreams is sometimes lost in what goes on in the show, since a lot of what happens is silly. But it's silly in a mindless fun, neat to look at kind of way. Dyrdek spends a large portion of the season equipping this Factory with all kinds of toys. He gets a tennis ball cannon, the same one used in American Gladiators, in fact. He buys a bulldog puppy named Beefy to go along with his several-year old bulldog Meaty. He has a high-powered, three-wheeled, low-riding car dubbed a "T-Rex." And there are basketball hoops at random locations and heights to shoot crazy shots. Essentially, all of this stuff adds to the fun.

However, the "realizing fantasies" portion of the show isn't bad either, it's just that they focus on themselves a little too much. Dyrdek and Drama cruise around in a rally car and complete a huge jump, thanks to DC Shoes boss/rally car driver Ken Block. In another episode, Dyrdek drives fellow DC skater Danny Way to a new land speed record on a skateboard. He helps build a recording studio to help Drama in his musical aspirations. But there are a couple that do stand out; the first is when Rob flies out a kid from Colorado to shoot what he intends to be the world's greatest dance video. This fulfills the kid's wish of entertaining a wide audience with his dancing. The other being when Dyrdek (through the help of some businessmen) gets the city of Los Angeles to transform a little used portion of a city park to a skate park. Things like this really help make Fantasy Factory a little different than most reality shows.

For its differences, there remains a component that is lacking in the show, which is a need for a counterbalance to some of what Dyrdek does. In Rob and Big, Dyrdek could find himself easing up on the adrenaline throttle every so often because co-star Boykin would be willing to do some of what Dyrdek was up for and helped serve as a comedic foil for Dyrdek. Here, we just get Rob and some related family who, let's face it, aren't the most lively people. So they're at his beck and call sometimes, and their cynicism about doing something Rob wants to do is annoying and predictable at times. To be fair, Big Cat suffers a fractured vertebra when attempting to skate into a foam pit, so he's got an excuse. But Drama's got to stop being perpetually boring because after awhile, it gets old.

I like what Dyrdek does on the whole, but I consider the Fantasy Factory perhaps a work in progress, where some of the fellow Factory inhabitants need some time to find their place and grow into it. I hope they find it soon, lest they run into becoming every other silly gimmick-driven reality show.

The Tremaine-produced shows always look a bit weird on television and DVD from an aspect ratio perspective. The introduction of each episode is in full frame, but the events in the episodes appear to be in non-anamorphic video. The shows look solid each episode, though film grain appears a little more prevalent in some scenes. Compression issues spring up occasionally (notably during the hotel visits), but considering how recent these episodes were aired, this looks like it was accurately reproduced from broadcast.

The creators of Fantasy Factory have incorporated a lot of music into the show, with songs by the Stiff Little Fingers, Whitney Houston and a whole host of others. Sadly, most (but not all) of the original music has been excised from the DVDs, and the glam metal introduction to the show is included only on the first episode. Regardless, the two-channel Dolby stereo mix is straightforward with clarity and balance, and the subwoofer gets to rumble in every so often on the D-D-D-D-rama beats. You also get your choice of censored and uncensored audio tracks. For the television show, it sounds fine.

Paramount and MTV put a fair amount of content into the two-disc set, but the worthwhile portion of said content is a little underwhelming. Dyrdek, Drama and producers Jeff Tremaine and Shane Nickerson provide commentaries for the episodes and are joined occasionally by Chanel, Big Cat and Jeremy for their own contribution. They recall some of the season's memorable scenes and quotes and tease a couple of things about Season Two. There's a few behind-the- scenes anecdotes tossed in occasionally. Tremaine is usually a good commentary participant and keeps things moving, but he's a little on the periphery for the commentaries here. The tracks are fun and there is some information to be gained from them, but they're ultimately tracks that you won't lose any sleep over by missing.

Next is "Factory Clips" (20:10), which was an episode that aired on the network hosted by the Factory staff. It comprises the stuff that didn't make the show and while lots of it is random, most is funny. "Best of and Behind the Scenes" (20:11) is what the title says and was also aired as an episode on MTV. Dyrdek and Drama show off some of the nooks and crannies of the Factory, but it's basically a clip show. The deleted scenes (14, 22:33) are surprisingly boring, considering how much film is here, and there was a party at the Factory (4:05), footage of which was originally aired on the jackassworld.com website.

Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory is worth checking out, if for nothing else to see how much fun a skater in his mid-30's can get away with. It captures a little of what made Dyrdek's last show enjoyable, but there's still some room to regain the mojo. I'd take a look at them about if you're curious about his new project, but without all of the original music and lackluster supplements, you might be better off watching the ample MTV reruns before deciding to buy it.