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Mighty Boosh: The Complete Season 1, The
BBC Worldwide // Unrated // July 21, 2009
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Come with us on a journey through time and space... to the land of the Mighty Boosh."
Nobody does off-the-wall cutting edge humor like the British. From Monty Python to The Young Ones and Absolutely Fabulous, bizarre, hilarious programs are definitely the forte of the English. You can add one more show to that list, The Mighty Boosh. Offbeat, strange, and incredibly funny, the show features a cast of strange characters and even more outlandish plots. The first season has come out of DVD and is well worth watching.
Howard Moon (poet/philosopher/jazz enthusiast/kangaroo fighter) and Vince Noir (who wants to be King of the Mods) work at the Bob Fossil's Zooniverse, a run-down zoo run by a guy who can't remember the names of any of the animals. Working at the Zooniverse is no picnic though. Moon and Noir's jobs include not only feeding the animals, but sometimes dressing up as them, or exploring dangerous sections of the zoo that have been closed off for years.
Surreal and wacky, the show is wonderfully irreverent. One of the highlights of the season is Bollo, where Howard has to dress up as the zoo's ape, Bollo, when he gets sick. Unfortunately, Death takes Howard instead of Bollo. It was an honest mistake, as Death points out. After all, Howard was in the ape enclosure and dressed as an ape... anyone would have done the same thing. He's taken to dispatch where the boss tries to find out what to do with him. Once Moon is dead though, he's dead and the only choices are sending him to Monkey Heaven or Monkey Hell.
Other adventures find the duo searching theArctic for a gem as big as a boy's small head, Vince joining an electro-pop band, Kraftwork Orange, and Howard turning into a writer by only able to compose one sentence.
The program isn't filled with jokes and one-liners as bizarre situations that are outrageously funny. Seeing Vince in his earlier band, a folk/glamour rock fusion duo (they dress up in sweaters with Kiss-like makeup and sing Scarborough Fair) is hilarious, especially the folk version of Judas Priest's Breaking the Law that they perform during the end credits.
There are some shows that just miss the mark however. The second episode where a mad scientist was stealing animals from the zoo and splices them together in odd ways doesn't work. Having a dance number preformed by the newly created creatures (where they incorrectly describe themselves as mutants) was an unusual choice, especially since the costumes were really wretched. It was neither funny nor entertaining, and just failed. Shows like that are in the vast minority however. With such a cutting edge show, you've got to expect some missteps.
Audio:
The show comes with a stereo soundtrack that suits it well. There is some directionality and the dialog is clear. Sometimes the British accents can be a bit hard to understand, but that's mainly for the supporting characters who are adopting silly voices. In any case that happens only infrequently.
Video:
The 1.78:1 widescreen anamorphic picture looks good, especially for a British show that often look a little bit worse for wear by the time the get here across the pond. The colors are bright and the lines are tight. There aren't any digital defects worth noting either. This is a nice solid looking show.
Extras:
This season set has a good amount of bonus material. First off there are commentary tracks by the creators and stars of the show, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding along with supporting actor Rich Fulcher (Bob Fossil) on four episodes. These commentary tracks are a mixed bag. The three guys have a party atmosphere going, joking about and having a great time, but it doesn't really make for an entertaining commentary track. There are sections that are pretty funny but those are sprinkled with in-jokes that I didn't get and lines that fall flat.
There's also a featurette, Inside the Zooniverse which covers these first season episodes. The piece talks to the creators as well as the crew and they cover the animation, the musical numbers, the various characters, etc. It was fun to watch.
More interesting was The History of the Mighty Boosh. This covers the origins of the Julian Barratt/Noel Fielding team and relates how they started the Boosh in clubs and pubs and slowly gained a following. It's less than ten minutes long, but features some footage of them performing in a small club, which was pretty cool.
The extras are wrapped up by an outtake reel (most of the scenes deserved to be cut), a picture gallery, and an option to see the songs performed in the show.
Final Thoughts:
This show is absolutely hilarious. It took a couple of episodes to get the series sense of humor, but after that it was pure gold. Funny, creative, and very bizarre, The Mighty Boosh is a show that any fan of unique humor should pick up. Highly recommended.
The Show:
Nobody does off-the-wall cutting edge humor like the British. From Monty Python to The Young Ones and Absolutely Fabulous, bizarre, hilarious programs are definitely the forte of the English. You can add one more show to that list, The Mighty Boosh. Offbeat, strange, and incredibly funny, the show features a cast of strange characters and even more outlandish plots. The first season has come out of DVD and is well worth watching.
Howard Moon (poet/philosopher/jazz enthusiast/kangaroo fighter) and Vince Noir (who wants to be King of the Mods) work at the Bob Fossil's Zooniverse, a run-down zoo run by a guy who can't remember the names of any of the animals. Working at the Zooniverse is no picnic though. Moon and Noir's jobs include not only feeding the animals, but sometimes dressing up as them, or exploring dangerous sections of the zoo that have been closed off for years.
Surreal and wacky, the show is wonderfully irreverent. One of the highlights of the season is Bollo, where Howard has to dress up as the zoo's ape, Bollo, when he gets sick. Unfortunately, Death takes Howard instead of Bollo. It was an honest mistake, as Death points out. After all, Howard was in the ape enclosure and dressed as an ape... anyone would have done the same thing. He's taken to dispatch where the boss tries to find out what to do with him. Once Moon is dead though, he's dead and the only choices are sending him to Monkey Heaven or Monkey Hell.
Other adventures find the duo searching the
The program isn't filled with jokes and one-liners as bizarre situations that are outrageously funny. Seeing Vince in his earlier band, a folk/glamour rock fusion duo (they dress up in sweaters with Kiss-like makeup and sing Scarborough Fair) is hilarious, especially the folk version of Judas Priest's Breaking the Law that they perform during the end credits.
There are some shows that just miss the mark however. The second episode where a mad scientist was stealing animals from the zoo and splices them together in odd ways doesn't work. Having a dance number preformed by the newly created creatures (where they incorrectly describe themselves as mutants) was an unusual choice, especially since the costumes were really wretched. It was neither funny nor entertaining, and just failed. Shows like that are in the vast minority however. With such a cutting edge show, you've got to expect some missteps.
The DVD:
Audio:
The show comes with a stereo soundtrack that suits it well. There is some directionality and the dialog is clear. Sometimes the British accents can be a bit hard to understand, but that's mainly for the supporting characters who are adopting silly voices. In any case that happens only infrequently.
Video:
The 1.78:1 widescreen anamorphic picture looks good, especially for a British show that often look a little bit worse for wear by the time the get here across the pond. The colors are bright and the lines are tight. There aren't any digital defects worth noting either. This is a nice solid looking show.
Extras:
This season set has a good amount of bonus material. First off there are commentary tracks by the creators and stars of the show, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding along with supporting actor Rich Fulcher (Bob Fossil) on four episodes. These commentary tracks are a mixed bag. The three guys have a party atmosphere going, joking about and having a great time, but it doesn't really make for an entertaining commentary track. There are sections that are pretty funny but those are sprinkled with in-jokes that I didn't get and lines that fall flat.
There's also a featurette, Inside the Zooniverse which covers these first season episodes. The piece talks to the creators as well as the crew and they cover the animation, the musical numbers, the various characters, etc. It was fun to watch.
More interesting was The History of the Mighty Boosh. This covers the origins of the Julian Barratt/Noel Fielding team and relates how they started the Boosh in clubs and pubs and slowly gained a following. It's less than ten minutes long, but features some footage of them performing in a small club, which was pretty cool.
The extras are wrapped up by an outtake reel (most of the scenes deserved to be cut), a picture gallery, and an option to see the songs performed in the show.
Final Thoughts:
This show is absolutely hilarious. It took a couple of episodes to get the series sense of humor, but after that it was pure gold. Funny, creative, and very bizarre, The Mighty Boosh is a show that any fan of unique humor should pick up. Highly recommended.
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