Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: animation, surreal comedy, Harvey Birdman, Stephen Colbert
Likes: [adult swim], Paget Brewster, John Michael Higgins, Gary Cole
Dislikes: anime (because it is teh suck)
Hates: Blue Falcon

The Story So Far...
Taking one of Hanna-Barbara's lame '60s superheroes and casting him and his cast of villains in a courtroom comedy that explores the legal problems that face Saturday morning's favorites, this series formed part of the foundation for the successful adult swim programming block. With his sidekick/paralegal Peanut, Harvey Birdman navigates a river of oddness as part of the law firm of Sebben and Sebben, defending plenty of accused cartoon criminals. The first volume of episodes was released back in April of 2005. DVDTalk has a review here.

The Show
Watching these episodes of "Harvey Birdman" reminds me of the days when [adult swim] was all about bizarre little cartoons born from access to the vaults of Cartoon Network. We all knew it couldn't last forever, but it doesn't make the sub-channel's current line-up of network rejects and edgy scribbles any more acceptable.

Thankfully, these episodes still hold up extremely well, no matter how slowly the WB decides to grace our homes with them. (With about eight episode left to release, maybe we'll be able to complete our collections by 2008.)

Though there's a lot to like about the cartoons included in this set, including a Greek restaurant's worth of insanity in "Gone Efficien...t" and the simply over-the-top Reducto tale "Booty Noir," the standout has to be the introduction of Judy Ken Sebben, daughter of Birdman's mental boss Phil. Voiced with huge energy by Paget Brewster ("Huff"), Judy adores Birdman, so much so, she adopts the costumed identity of Birdgirl, adding to the show's ridiculousness, especially since Phil takes a liking to her.

Adding Brewster to the roster was like Donald Trump hitting the lottery: the rich just get richer. Starting with Gary Cole, whose voice was made to fit a superhero, behind the cowl, there probably isn't a cartoon that's aired with a better cast. Stephen Colbert's dual starring role as the twisted one-eyed maniac Phil and the shrink-obsessed attorney Reducto brings out the parodist's unhinged side, while Maurice Lamarche provides the range of excellent voices that only a great veteran like he can.

Though all these talents help make the show the good time it is, John Michael Higgins' mystic judge Mentok the Mindtaker ties it all together, bringing the great comedic delivery that's made him so memorable in Christopher Guest's films. Every time Mentok presides over a case you know some gems are coming from Higgins, and thankfully, he gets a spotlight episode, "Harvey's Civvy," in which he battles evil attorney Shado the Mind Thief, and in the end, we all win because of it.

There's some interesting things happening in this volume, as a political side starts creeping out in the stories, starting with "Blackwatch Plaid," an obvious parody of the American War on Terror, as Phil takes away the rights of the employees in response to a lack of security at the firm. The theme continued in the gun control/lobbying allegory in "Guitar Control," the Guantanamo Bay references of "Birdgirl of "Guantanamole," and Mentok's rather blunt answer to creationists in "Evolutionary War." Even "Grape Juiced," about steroid use in the Laff-a-Lympics, has a subtle edge to it, as the Laff-a-Lympics committee runs roughshod over the city in a wave of corruption that's a mildly veiled jab at how cities win the Olympic hosting rights. It's a testimony to the show's potential as a cultural touchstone, and proof that the series is more than just cutting and pasting together silly stories about old cartoons.

The DVD
The design geniuses behind the great [adult swim] DVD packages actually maintained a consistent look for the first time with this series, continuing the hardcover legal book theme with a textured slipcase. Pull out the two-tray digipak, which is designed to look like a correspondence law school guide, published by Reducto. The packaging is filled with gags, as well as episode descriptions done as course descriptions.

The DVDs have static anamorphic widescreen main menus, with options to play all the episodes on each disc, select shows and adjust the set-up, along with special features. Some of the extras are scattered among the episodes in the menus, while commentaries are available only when selecting individual shows. Subtitles (in English, Spanish and French) and closed captioning are available, but there are no audio options.

The Quality
The full-frame transfers look fantastic, as most flash animated shows tend to look when transferred to DVD. Colors are bright, outlines are solid and there's not a spot of dirt or damage, at least amongst the new footage. The old footage looks its age, though not awful in any case. If it was as clean as the rest of the show, it might not have the same feel.

Though certainly not dynamic or intense, the audio, delivered as Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks, is clear and clean, pushing forward the jokes and making sure the music sounds nice. This kind of simple, low-tech show doesn't rely on technical advancements, and the sound lives up to that.

The Extras
The extras start with a selection of episode-length audio commentaries with creators Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter and an array of guests from the show's cast and crew, including Colbert, Higgins and Brewster. Though Colbert is naturally the funniest and Brewster's true enthusiasm for the show makes her track very enjoyable, Higgins takes the award for most entertaining track, though not by choice. The choice of commentator and episode is well-done, as each episode gives the speakers plenty for them to personally ruminate on.

Here's the breakdown of the participants (Ouweleen and Richter are on each track, except the final one):
"Blackwatch Plaid": Stephen Colbert
"Peanut Puberty": Thomas Allen
"Guitar Control": Maurice Lamarche
"Booty Noir": Stephen Colbert
"Harvey's Civvy": John Michael Higgins
"X Gets the Crest": Gary Cole, Peter MacNichols
"Birdgirl of Guantanamole": Paget Brewster
"Beyond the Valley of the Dinosaurs": Chris Edgerly
"Evolutionary War": Several of the animators

Disc One has some cute text screens that explore "superty," while Disc Two has three delete scenes from "X Gets the Crest" tucked among the episodes, presented in storyboard form. They aren't much to watch truly. Things get better among the extras proper, starting with "Naked Scene," a stage of animation before clothes are added. It's ridiculous and funny.

A look behind the scenes is provided by "Record of Records," a 4:30 featurette that puts voice-recording video into a inset window on top of the final animation, showing how Brewster, Cole, Higgins and Thomas Allen record their lines, the 6:30 "Behind the Scenes," which gets a bit meta, combining a look at the commentary sessions with crew interviews, in-office footage and a presentation by the creators, "CGI Clip," which explores one of the most complex scenes from the show, and "Bluetube Moments," a featurette about the show's sound design.

A bunch of found materials fill out the disc, including photos of a fan in a Birdman costume....stripping, "Mr. Passerby," a music video using clips from the show, and 12 promos for the show. The Bottom Line
The work on this series is truly inspired, with the the creators raising the bar in terms of the surreal laughs generated, thanks in large part to the great cast of supporting characters and the fantastic voice cast, both of which were enhanced by the addition of Brewster as Birdgirl. This DVD set, though sadly short, looks and sounds nice, with a heaping helping of extras to enhance and extend your viewing enjoyment. It's been a while since some of these aired, which makes this a nice return to those innocent times, and a cartoon any fan of animation needs to check 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.