Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Stand-up comedy, good sitcoms
Likes: Dane Cook, pilots
Dislikes: Lame sitcoms
Hates: That weird amorphous guy at work

The Shows
I love pilots. I love to see the insane concepts ego-maniacal producers come up with and the quality material that gets sacrificed because it failed with a test audience. I think there should be a network that only airs pilots. I think networks should show pilots during the summer, in a kind of round-robin tournament, with the winner getting a time slot opposite CSI and Lost. In short, I heart pilots.

That's why I love DVDs, since they bring us pilots, like Prometheus bringing us fire from Olympus. Though they are normally only found as extras on box sets, or as part of Trio's fantastic "Brilliant But Cancelled" series, thanks to Dane Cook's overwhelming popularity, we are treated to two of his failed pilots in this DVD release. Sure, it means the disc has just 47 minutes of main content, but it's 42-minutes of Cook, so that's got to be worthwhile, right?

First up is Humor Me, which has been, for some reason, renamed on this DVD as Cooked. In a huge stretch, Cook plays a stand-up comic named Dane, who is on top of his game, with an upcoming role on a new TV show and a hot girlfriend. But when he gets cold feet about commitment and gets fired from the show, he quickly finds himself crashing with his brother (Pat Finn) and his less-than-understanding wife (Justine Bateman, Family Ties). Sadly, hilarity does not ensue, as the show shoehorns some of Cook's act into the story via impromptu stand-up performances (including his riffs on Nesquik, superpowers and love), while casting Bateman as the cold-fish wife with no sense of humor. You've seen the houseguest from hell concept before, but this time, it's flavored with a bit of Cook (as well as a guest appearance by guaranteed laugh-bait Tony Cox.)

The second pilot, which has been named Cooked from the beginning, and features an actual opening sequence, is more befitting Cook's high-energy comedy. Cook is, incredibly enough, playing Dane, a man with no apparent job, who hangs out with his hot friend Dakota (Liz Vassey) and his goofy pal Mike (Joel Moore.) His day is spent attempting to acquire a weapon-wielding monkey, aided by his friends, in a plan that eventually forces his to host a fake party for afictitious animal-rights group. On a whole, the show makes very little sense, with no real plot, but the oddball construction allows the characters to do what they please, including the hottest/silliest love scene ever shot for TV. Taking advantage of these opportunities is a talented cast, including Vassey (who moved on to a regular role on CSI) and Moore (best known for his part in Dodgeball, and the great Sam MacMurray, who guests as Dakota's philanthropic father.

It's doubtful that either show could have lasted long on the air, one because of its unfunny nature, the other because of its oddity, but just two scenes in Cooked made me laugh more than most recent sitcoms have in entire seasons. In fact, Cooked probably would have better off as a fun short film. Look at it that way, and it's practically a success.

The DVD
Packaged in a standard keepcase, this disc features a static anamorphic widescreen main menu, with options to watch both shows, select episodes, check out special features or watch previews. There are no audio options and no subtitles, though the episodes do have closed captioning.

The Quality
The two episodes' full-frame transfers look good for standard TV presentation, though there's nothing to compare them to, since this is the first time they've appeared for general consumption. The second episode, which is the newer one, is the sharper looking episode, with a higher level of detail and more vivid color. The older one is a bit fuzzier, and a bit grittier, but still serviceable for a three-year-old TV pilot.

The audio is presented as a pair of Dolby Digital stereo tracks that are just what you'd expect from a TV comedy, with clean dialogue and nothing at all dynamic.

The Extras
First up is almost an hour of screw-ups, ad-libs and outtakes from the two shows. There's actually more material in these extras (which can be watchedseparately or together) than there is in the actual two episodes, and some of it is genuinely funny. The only waste of space is Cook's playtime with the Nesquik powder, which is so excessively torturous, it could be a Warhol film.

A selection of deleted scenes, five minutes in all, actually is better than some of what's in the shows. It's funny to see how some of Cook's material was repeated between the two pilots, including his obsession with fighting monkeys. One scene, which sees the Cooked trio waiting on a line, shows just what surreal direction the show probably would have went in, while the scene titled "Benjamin" may be the funniest thing I've ever seen done in a grocery store.

The disc wraps with four previews.

The Bottom Line
It's funny to think that essentially, this is a DVD that has already been judged as not worthy of watching. After all, if these pilots were any "good," they would have become full-fledged series. On the other hand, that really doesn't matter, as the disc is also a historical document, illustrating the evolution of Cook's comedy, and his inability to integrate with the traditional sitcom format. While one concept is just unfunny and unoriginal, the other contains some real laughs and would have been interesting to see more of. The DVD delivers the two shows in optimal quality, for what they are, and even throws in enough extra quality material to fill out the price tag. Big fans of Dane Cook will probably want to check this disc out, though there's nothing too new, with the exception of some hilarious moments in Cooked.

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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.