Remember the good 'ol days when MTV actually played music videos instead of devolving into a 24-hour soap opera channel filled with mindless crap like "The Real World," "Newlyweds" and "The Osbournes?" Yeah, I barely remember 'em either. One of the channel's (likely unexpected) breakout hits, "Pimp My Ride" has a simple premise: a C-grade rapper (Xzibit) picks some lucky Cali schlub to have his or her ghetto wheels made over and tricked out - which usually results in profanity, lots of excited jumping around and Xzibit shooting the camera a look - "Crazy (insert ethnicity here) kids."

It was with not much enthusiasm that I sat through this same scenario 15 different times during the course of the three-disc MTV's Pimp My Ride: The Complete First Season. Less a verite reality series and closer in spirit to a drinking game ("OK ... take a shot every time someone yells when Xzibit knocks on their door!"), "Pimp My Ride" gets really, really old fast when watching episodes back-to-back. Thankfully, the occasionally jaw-dropping work of the fellas at West Coast Customs distract from the mind-numbing repetition.

Split across two discs, the 15-episode first season covers a wide variety of vehicular sob stories. The third disc features the supplemental material and the whole set is packaged in slimline cases which are stored in a cardboard slipcase. Maybe for the second season, MTV will offer some product options and let consumers pimp their own packaging - just an idea.

The Video:

MTV's Pimp My Ride: The Complete First Season is offered up as broadcast - full screen 1.33 in a clean, crisp transfer. There's no real defects with the image - it stays sharp and bright throughout; those pimped-out rides certainly do sparkle.

Nothing special about the audio side of things, as the show is presented in Dolby 2.0 stereo. Music and dialogue (all that overjoyed screaming) comes through loud and clear.

As previously mentioned, the third disc is home to the bonus goodies: a handful of deleted scenes (helpfully organized by episode); some mildly amusing outtakes; a featurette titled "West Coast Customs: What We Drive," which details precisely that; Blink 182's Travis Barker walks viewers through the modification of his '54 Caddy and of course, living as we do in a glorious age of synergy, an Xzibit music video and a handful of Paramount trailers (for the likes of Wildboyz and Viva La Bam) are included.

MTV's Pimp My Ride: The Complete First Season is mindless, guilty fun in the vein of, say, American Chopper or Dog: The Bounty Hunter. Unless you're itching to tackle a career in rebuilding/refurbishing hunks of junk, Xzibit's samaritan-on-wheels act is strictly Saturday night drinkin' material.