The Series:

Urban Legends has been slowly but surely developing a loyal following since it debuted on A&E's sister Biography Channel back in 2007, and now it makes the leap to DVD courtesy of Urban Legends - The Complete First Season, a two-disc set containing all fifteen of the first batch of the series' episodes.

So what is the series all about? Well, obviously each episode is different but they all follow a fun formula. The episodes begin by talking about three different 'urban legends' - all of which are similar in nature - before talking us through each story one at a time. Two of the vignettes are myths, and one of them is true. The series asks the viewers 'can you separate fact from fiction?' as the episodes play out and at the end, the true story is revealed. In between each of the three stories, we're treated to a 'mini myth' which is essentially a quick, thirty second or so, story that asks us to guess as to its validity before confirming it for us.

Ever wonder if that story you heard about the old lady down the street who tried to dry her dog off in the microwave was true? You've heard the one about the lady who got sick, then had to deal with her cat, who got the exact same ailment, right? Is it real? Did the guy a few towns over really die dressed as Santa Claus when he got stuck in the chimney trying to deliver presents to his family one chilly winter night? You heard all sorts of stuff like this when you were a kid. If you've carried that stuff with you into adulthood and ever really wanted to know how much of it was fact and how much of it was fiction, then this is the series for you.

Urban Legends may feel a little bit like Believe It Or Not at times, but it's definitely a fun series that's as darkly humorous at times as it is genuinely interesting. Part of the appeal of the show lies with the fact that you essentially get to play along at home, making it a good series to watch with at least one other person. Going back and forth and debating which one of the three episodes you think is the true story and, often times more interesting, why you think that gives the series a nice social aspect that a lot of other TV doesn't really have. Granted, you can still try and figure out which vignette is the real one on your own and still have a good time with it, but it's not as interesting when you don't get someone else's point of view on the material.

That said, as fun as the series is, it isn't perfect. As is almost always the case with a series involving re-enactments of specific events, the actors, sets and scenarios don't always feel one hundred percent accurate. Add to that the noticeably Canadian accents that some of the performers sport (not normally much of a problem, but when a guy from Toronto is supposed to be playing a man from the Southern United States and the accents don't match, it stands out!) and you're sometimes not quite able to suspend your disbelief. Thankfully, these little slips are the exception and not the rule, and most of the time the bits are pulled off with enough conviction that we can get into the stories.

The other main flaw with the series is that the episodes are just barely over twenty minutes in length so by the time you figure in the opening and closing credits as well as the 'mini myths' each one of the three stories that comprise the episodes has really only got about five minutes or so to do its thing. If more time were spent explaining things and more details were elaborated on, it might be trickier for viewers to guess which of the three stories was the real one.

The episodes that make up the first season of Urban Legends are spread out over the two discs in this set as follows:

Disc One: It Seemed Like A Clever Idea / When Animals Think / What A Way To Go / Mixed Up In Crime / Cheating Death / No Excuses For Stupidity / Fickle Finger Of Fate / Neighbors

Disc Two: The Stuff Of Nightmares / Good And Evil / Mail Mix Ups / Marriage And Affairs / The Dark Side / The Human Body / Weird Woundings

Generally, flawed or not, Urban Legends is always worth a watch. Unfortunately, as is generally the case with shows like this, there isn't a ton of replay value. Once you know which of the three stories is true, the mystery is gone and so you won't really find that you need to re-watch this material. As such, this DVD is probably really only going to appeal to a limited audience of really devout viewers or those who can't catch the series when it's shown on cable.

The Video:

The series is presented in fullframe when it's shown on the Biography Channel so it makes perfect sense to see that same aspect ratio used for the DVD release. There are some mild mpeg compression artifacts noticeable in a few of the darker scenes but they're not too annoying or distracting. Aside from that, this looks as good, if not slightly better, than the broadcast quality episodes that still show on television. The series is shot on digital video, not film, but the quality is pretty good. Color reproduction is quite nice and pretty lifelike and skin tones look realistic enough. Detail levels are decidedly average but by and large the material looks just fine here.

The Audio:

The show is presented on DVD just as it appears in its broadcast version, in an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. No alternate language dubs or subtitles are provided, though English closed captioning is available for each one of the fifteen episodes in this collection.

As far as the audio quality goes, it's fine for what it is. There's really not much to these fairly simple music, mainly just some narration, interview bits and a bit of background music. This isn't an effects intensive show in any way so the two channel mixes get the job done nicely. Levels are properly balanced throughout and the dialogue and narration is always easy to understand. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion to complain about and generally, the audio quality is pretty good.

The Extras:

The only real extra feature in this collection is a selection of forty-five bonus 'Mini Myths' that can be found on the second disc. These are done in the same vein as the fun little bits that appear in between the three main chunks that make up each episode and they're worth watching. There's about forty minutes worth of material here. Aside from that, look for episode selection and some nifty menu screens.

Overall:

Urban Legends is an interesting and entertaining series, but it's unlikely that you're going to wind up going back to it again and again. Die hard fans of the series will be pleased that the episodes look and sound good here even if the supplements are fairly limited, but everyone else can consider this set a solid rental.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.