Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: "Upright Citizens Brigade," Amy Poehler, sketch comedy
Likes: Matt Besser
Dislikes: Super cool
Hates: Friars, Incomplete DVD series

The Story So Far...
The Upright Citizens Brigade, an improv comedy troupe based in Chicago and then New York, made the leap from stage to small screen in 1998 with a cast featuring Amy Poehler ("SNL"), Matt Besser ("Reno 911!"), Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. The series, featuring surreal, interconnected sketches and public pranks, ran on Comedy Central for three seasons earning a loyal audience, who eventually, in November of 2003, were treated to a box set of the first season. A review is available here.

The Show
There was a time, back in the latter half of the '90s, when Comedy Central was home to interesting out-there comedy, instead of just the same mix of "South Park," "MadTV" repeats and bad movies (though the stand-up presence has improved a bit lately.) It was during this time that the Upright Citizens Brigade series made its TV debut, eschewing clean, defined sketches for a stew of moments of social awkwardness and characters who were more than a catchphrase, and who couldn't simply be tossed into a new situation in order to fill another 5 minutes.

It took a while for Comedy Central to get the first season of the show onto DVD, and it's been a frustrating four years without a follow-up. But finally, season two has arrived, and in checking out these episodes once again, it may just be the show's strongest season (of the three.) The hallmarks of the series, including the special agents of chaos framing device and the "storylines" that give each episode a semblance of structure, are the same as they were in Season One, but the whole package feels tighter and funnier than the earlier collection.

Part of the appeal is the final four episodes of season two, which are easily among the best the show has to offer. Utilizing the series' unique concept, in which the characters from each sketch share the same world and advance the episode, the show could support a sketch that maybe wasn't as strong as the others because of its value to the theme. "Real World" is a perfect example of this strength, as the UCB gathers together various characters for some secret purpose. While some of the bits are classic, others, like the well-shot "Stairpeople" sketch, are mainly a means to an end. But in the final four episodes, that's not really an issue.

Whether its the offend-all-faiths spiritual expo of "Spaghetti Jesus," the odd-couple pairings of "Big City" or the media skewering in "Hurricane," the UCB were always able to come up with something new and hilarious. Admittedly, to enjoy the comedy you have to have a slightly dark and twisted sense of humor, as guys with babyheads for hands and friar-fighting pirates aren't everyone's cup of tea. I don't know if it's "thinking man's sketch comedy," but a college degree might help you enjoy some of the more subversive segments. That's not to say that the show doesn't go for the easy joke sometimes, like the horny psychic, the dildo bomb or... Hell, almost the entire "Bomb Squad" episode, with special guests the Wu Tang Clan. Most of the time though, the gags are pretty smart.

Each season, there's a running theme that culminates in the season finale, and this season's is about a legal drug called Super Cool (which suspiciously looks like pixie sticks.) It's not clear what the point of it all is exactly, beyond a thinly-veiled poke at the war on drugs, but that doesn't really matter, since the finale's Super Cool documentary is a great way to pull it all together, including an appearance by the infamous Titte Brothers.

Though all four of the main cast are fun to watch, Walsh and Roberts tend to play more of the straight men roles, while Poehler and Besser get to cut loose and therefore are more memorable. Poehler especially plays unhinged character like few others can, including the coffee-slinging whore in "Big City," the Latina pop star YaYa, and a girl scout who gets Super Cool in her trick-or-treat bag. Besser's roll call is great as well, as he portrays a master dialectician in the season opener, the legendary Bong Boy, clinging drug dealer Sweet Johnny B and a disturbed young man attempting a school massacre. Incredibly, this sketch actually aired following the Columbine murders. Perhaps it was the show's low profile or the way the concept was handled, but the segment hardly affected the series, showing how edgy a show could be, even it's not a cartoon.

The DVDs
The 10 season-two episodes are split over two DVDs, with six on the first disc and four on the second. The discs are packed in black ThinPaks, with episode descriptions on the back, and held in a cardboard slipcase. Oddly, the episode descriptions are split evenly between the cases, unlike the episodes.

The discs have full-frame animated menus that offer episode selections, a play-all option and extra features. There are no audio options, nor subtitles, though the discs do have closed captioning.

The Quality
The full-frame transfers on this set look rather solid for basic-cable material that's close to eight years old. The colors are bright and vivid, the image is, for the most part, rather crisp and there was no noticeable dirt or damage present. The only real issue is the presence of some rather obvious noise/grain that can get aggravating if you care about that kind of thing.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks that are nice and clean, with solid dialogue and strong music. Check out the Japanese punk music in "Mogomra vs. the Fart Monster" for an example of how good it can sound. Again, considering the source, these sound pretty damn good.

The Extras
Each episode in this collection has a commentary by the UCB, which is an improvement from the first season sets. Trying to not repeat themselves, they focus mainly on the episode at hand, talking about the production experience and sharing bits of trivia about the series, as well as bashing Comedy Central and any other sketch comedy show (give it a listen to understand.) Two episodes, "Spaghetti Jesus" and "Supercool," have live commentary recorded at the UCB Theater in front of an audience. The audio quality on these tracks is a bit rough (audience reaction can drown out the commentators,) and the troupe seems to be entertaining the crowd as much as they are commenting on the episodes, but they deserve praise for trying something different. It's also noteworthy how often they thank those listening for being great fans. There's a great deal of fan service going on here, though the drop-ins from the Titte Brothers could have been skipped. In-character commentaries tend to fail more than they work, though the guest appearances during "Big City" are pretty funny.

In addition to the commentaries, disc one has four pieces of found bonus footage. First up is an appearance on the show "Comic Cabana," in which the UCB smartly deconstructs some comedy staples, followed by a clip from MTV's "Apt. 2F." The MTV clip isn't quite as good as the Cabana material, but it made me want to see more of it, as that show had a pretty amazing guest cast. They are accompanied by a homemade intro to the show, which must predate the series, and a rough version of "Hyperminimalism," which featured an architect working in the woods. Some context for these pieces would have been appreciated, but they are interesting to see anyway.

Disc two holds the rest of the extras, including nine deleted scenes, which run just over seven minutes in length. Seven of the nine scenes are from the season finale, and none of them didn't deserve to be cut. Here, they are in rough form, and they are mildly amusing at best. The other big extra is almost 27 minutes of Q&A from the recording of the live commentaries. It's rather laid back and certainly not structured, thanks in large part to some lame questions. The UCB do a good job of keeping it entertaining though.

The disc wraps with a pair of Comedy Central Quickies from "The Colbert Report" and "Drawn Together."

The Bottom Line
The Upright Citizens Brigade was a rather outstanding comedy troupe that certainly didn't get the respect it deserved when it was on Comedy Central. Hell, it doesn't respect now, considering it took four years to get to Season Two on DVD. At least we finally got it though, as this collection has some terrific episodes, including some of the best sketch comedy shows I've ever seen. The DVDs look and sound quite nice, and the extras are very good as well, with a comprehensive group of commentaries that are fun and enlightening. Fans of the series should start buying now, as it's a long ways from 2011, when the next batch of DVDs should arrive.

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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.