The Show
I watched the first episode of "Stripperella" when it was first on Spike TV, and I was definitely not impressed. The show just seemed to be trying to walk a line between superhero cartoon and T&A diversion, without giving either side a real try. So I dismissed the show as just another of Spike TV's half-baked efforts and waited for one of their better productions, "MXC" to come on. If only we could get some DVDs of that show.

Now I've got the DVDs for "Stripperella," and I realize what the problem was: the first episode sucked. It was too wrapped up in setting the story and establishing characters to actually be fun. Apparently, the creators realized this too late, because on this DVD set the first episode, now expanded into two episodes, is tucked later into the series, as episodes five and six. These two episodes introduce stripper Erotica Jones (Pam Anderson) and her crimefighting persona, Stripperella. Erotica works at The Tender Loins, where she has a crew of stripper friends, a gay bartender and a straitlaced boss. She's got a lame lovelife, thanks to her work as Stripperella, a love of animals and more intelligence than you might think. She's also got a rogues gallery that's pretty damn good.

Instead of starting the way it did on TV, the DVDs begin with the episode "Crime Doesn't Pay...Seriously. It Really Doesn't," which is an example of a perfect "Stripperella" episode. It's got a completely ridiculous villain in Cheapo (voiced by Jon Lovitz, "The Critic"), who is too cheap to get his henchmen a new gun and only robs low-budget targets like the 89-cent store. It also has the secret-agent spoofing that makes the show fun and the strip-club hi-jinks that make the show different. The best part of the show is the almost Zucker Brothers-way that jokes are fired non-stop throughout each episode. There are jokes in the background, jokes that are subtle, jokes that smack you across the face and plenty of jokes that are just simply absurd, especially in scenes involving Chief Stroganoff, Stripperella's boss at F.U.G.G., the secret organization she works for. The jokes centering around Stroganoff are some of the best in each episode.

Stroganoff is one of several running jokes in the series, and almost all of them are funny. Among the ongoing themes are Erotica's inability to keep her secret identity a secret, Striperella's inability to ad-lib a fake name (see her nun costume name, Sister Mary Hadalamb) and one of the stripper's, Persephone Cliche, inability to maintain an accent, switching from Russian to English to Scottish to none and back again. Frequently characters will break the fourth wall (or seem to) and ask about the motivation for actions that would only happen in a cartoon.

The voice cast for this show is quite fantastic, considering it's from a basic cable network. Among the cast members are some of the biggest names in cartoons, including Tom Kenny ("Spongebob Squarepants"), Mark Hamill ("Batman: TAS") and Maurice LaMarche ("Futurama"), as well as some interesting names like Lovitz, Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), Kid Rock, Jill Talley ("Mr. Show"), Greg Proops ("Whose Line is it Anyway?"), Kathy Griffin, Chris Kirkpatrick (*Nsync), Vince McMahon and Andy Dick. They all do a great job with their characters, most of which play off their own personas.

Worth noting are changes that seem to have been made to the show. Songs that reportedly originally appeared in the series, including songs by Methods of Mayhem, Kid Rock and Rob Zombie seem to have been left off this release, while the theme song also seems to have changed. I remember the theme being done by Anderson's ex, Kid Rock, which is not the case here. There's no notice on the packaging that these songs have been replaced, (normally Paramount will make note of this), but as I don't have tapes of the original broadcasts, I can't confirm these possibly changes. What I can confirm are changes during the season, which are a bit annoying. The Tender Loins' Paul Lynde-ish bartender changes personalities and voices halfway through the set, while the animation changes quite a bit, with Stripperella's eyes actually showing deeper into the season, instead of white holes. One wonders how much better this show would have been if the evolution was allowed to continue.

The DVDs
Paramount has released "Stripperella: Season One" under their Spike DVD banner, in a two-disc set. The discs are packaged in two clear ThinPak cases, housed in a cardboard slipcase. Each ThinPak has a two-sided cover, with episode listings and descriptions, along with some art of Stripperella and her alter ego, Erotica. The main menus are simply animated and full-screen, with an option to play all episodes or select an individual one from well-designed static full-screen menus. The first disc also have a choice to view DVD previews for "Ren & Stimpy," "The Joe Schmoe Show," and "South Park." These previews are inescapable at the beginning of the DVD, though you can chapter-skip through them.

The Quality
This is a really well done show (at least for the first true run of six episodes), mixing the style of "Batman: The Animated Series" with anime, to create something unique. The discs capture that quality and detail, with the exception o fine lines, which become pixelated often during any action, a problem seen in many animated DVDs. The video is presented in letterboxed widescreen, a questionable choice for DVD. Why not just make it anamorphic and drop the black bars for those with widescreen TVs? Either way, the video looks good, without any noise or dirt to speak of and bright, vivid color. Most cartoons outside of Japanese animation don't have the type of detail seen in "Stripperella," from the painted backgrounds to the motion of the strippers. Easily, this is one of the best looking non-CGI cartoon series seen in recent years.

The audio is presented in Dolby 2.0, which is all this show really needs. There's some driving rock music that forms the audio backgrounds, but for the most part, the show is all about the dialogue, which is really a hoot. The production is excellent, as the treatments done on the recording make the dialogue work well with the animation, giving texture and direction to the voices.

The Extras
Aside from the three previews on Disc One, there are no extras, (unless you count the uncensored breasts.)

The Bottom Line
The series made it through just one season, which was probably as far as the joke could go. The episodes that exist aren't as bad as one might think, based on the concept, because, like "Son of the Beach," "Stripperella" hardly took itself seriously. The level of T&A probably didn't satisfy those looking for cartoon boobs, while the comedy was definitely under appreciated. Though the shows are pretty good, the DVDs are a real disappointment, with a letterboxed presentation and a complete lack of extras. Word of warning: Uncensored means a few unpixelated nipples, so anyone looking for some cheap thrills, this is not the right choice. If you're looking for a goofy good time, check it out.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.