The Story So Far...
"Home Movies" started in 1999 as a series on UPN, but it made it through just five episodes before getting the boot, only to resurface on cable and find an audience as a part of Cartoon Network's [adult swim] lineup. A show about kids that's certainly not for kids, it follows a trio of young friends: Brendon, Melissa and Jason, who make hundreds of bad films with their camcorder. Without much in the way of supervision from their parents or teachers, they get to do basically whatever they want.

Shout! Factory released Season One in November of 2004, and followed it up with Season Two in May 2005, and Season Three a few months later in October. DVDTalk has reviews of all three: Season One | Season Two | Season Three.

The Show
I fully remember standing on the subway and looking at this poster on the wall for a new animated show on UPN called "Home Movies." What I remember most about the experience was thinking "Wow...that looks like crap." I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking that, since the show was off the air soon after that. In fact, it's possible the show was already off the air.

Then, like many of those same nay sayers, I caught the show as part of the [ adult swim ] lineup. Perhaps the late hour was an influence, giving me a pair of bleary eyes through which the squiggly animation didn't look so bad, but I found myself truly enjoying the show. Here in this expectation-less spot, the show found it's cult niche and grew in confidence and quality, becoming one of the most consistent half-hours of animated comedy on TV. It's amazing how first impressions can be so wrong.

Because of the show's growth, it is disappointing that this set represents the end of the road for the show. There are no new adventures for Brendon and company. Coach McGuirk's been on his last drunken bender. Paula Small has made her last bad judgment call. And worst of all, Walter and Perry can no longer cause confusion with their unusually close and likely homoerotic relationship. So for fans, these final episodes are a chance to say good-bye to characters they have grown to love. What better way is there to do that then to watch McGuirk's pectoral muscles explode into large, lovely lady lumps?

Though he was ever-present in previous seasons, the episodes in this season have a definite focus on the drunken man-child who coaches the kids' soccer team. Thankfully, they benefit from this direction, as his experiences in the woods with a cult of crying, hugging men, his attempts to cheat on his driving test and his pathetic attempt to pick-up a diner waitress make for some of the best episodes this season offers.

The circle draws a bit tighter in this run, with the number of characters reduced to a small handful, keeping the spotlight firmly on the most popular characters. For example, while Brendon's grandfather does make a hilarious appearance, he's only a small part of the episode, whereas previous seasons have spent entire shows on such plots. Here, the kids are the show's raison d'etre, especially Brendon. In fact, I'm tempted to say that Jason got cheated this season, only truly shining in small bits, unlike showcases such as "Bad Influences" or "Four's Company."

If asked to pick the best of the bunch, the choice is not very easy. Though "Curses" has a lot of fun with the idea of swearing and bleeping, and "Those Bitches Tried to Cheat Me" features wonderful runs with Walter and Perry and Coach and Melissa, the best of the series is probably "Camp" which is equally ridiculous and funny, and has an excellent subplot with McGuirk that might be the most memorably one in the series.

The DVDs
The 13 fourth-season episodes of "Home Movies" come on three DVDs, with four episodes on the first two discs and five on the final DVD. Also included in the package is a fourth bonus disc. The main menu features the same full-frame design as the previous sets, with a "Play All" option, episode selections and a special features choice. All of the menus have animated transitions when selections are made, with each option activating a different action. When selecting episodes, any available commentary tracks or episode-specific bonus features are displayed, along with the episode's original airdate. The discs come packaged in three clear ThinPaks with double-sided covers, housed in a cardboard slipcase. Thankfully, the complete series will look nice on your shelf.

The Quality
Nothing has really changed since the previous season, which means this set's full-frame transfers look great. The color is solid and everything is clean and stable, though some pixilization is evident in places, as is often the case with traditional black-outline animation. It's interesting to see when in "Focus Grill," Brendon looks over the movies the trio has created, which includes some of the original squigglevision scenes. It's incredible how far the series came in four short seasons in terms of the quality.

Like the video, the audio, presented as Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks, is nice and clean, with distortion-free dialogue and properly deployed music. This set recreates the TV experience as you remember it, which is all one could really ask for.

The Extras
There's a rather extensive collection of supplementary material here, mostly in the form of an incredible 24 audio commentaries, from a wide variety of sources. The best part is the outreach made to include not just the cast and crew but fans, including the bands Modest Mouse and The Shins, the staff of The Onion and a "SuperFan."

The commentaries can be divided into four types: the creators (Loren Bouchard and Small and guests), the supporting cast (Jon Benjamin, Melissa Galsky and friends), the executives (Bill Braudis, Jack Ferraiolo and Keith Law) and the special guests. Of the four, the creators tracks provide the best balance between entertainment and information, while the supporting cast is the most fun, and the executives provides the most insight, thanks in part to the SuperFan's questions.

Unfortunately, the special guest tracks are the least enjoyable. As they didn't work on the show, they don't have anything to share, and for the most part, they are watching the show with you. Of the selections, The Shins' commentary is the best, as they are actually into it, and aren't trying too hard, unlike some other commentators.

Disc One
The first four episodes of Season Four are accompanied by nine episode-length audio commentaries:

"Camp"