|
Currentfilm.com Review: An amusing (but utterly bizarre) animated series from Comedy Central, "Drawn Together" is the first animated reality series, bringing together animated characters from different genres together to live in one house. In other words, think of an animated "Real World" or "Surreal Life", where a Pokemon-like creature lives with an evil B & W 20's cartoon sex symbol named Toot Braunstein. There's also Spanky Ham (an internet character), a superhero, a racist and snobby Princess, a foxy black crime solver/musician, a Superhero, a Spongebob clone and a video game warrior who's on a neverending quest to save his girlfriend. The series is raunchy, totally politically incorrect and lowbrow, yet rather witty and funny in its own way. The show smartly parodies many staples of the "reality" genre quite well, adding its own oddball tweaks to them instead of merely redoing them with animated characters. The show is rather disturbing at times, but it throws everything out there in the hope that it sticks and, sure enough, I found the laughs hit considerably more often than not. Some of the highlights this season include: "Spelling Applebees" (Foxxy refuses to participate in a house spelling bee to win a gift certificate to Applebee's, but Spanky convinces her to enter), "Freaks and Greeks" (Captain Hero is thrilled to discover that Greeks have moved in next door but remains oblivious to the fact that they are a family of Greek immigrants and not a frat), "Charlotte's Web of Lies" (Spanky seduces web-spinner Charlotte, who promptly starts stalking him), "Lost in Parking Space" (a 2-parter that starts with Clara preaching about the rapture and sees the other roommates headed to the mall - which results in Clara mistakenly believing they've been taken to heaven) and "The Elimination Special" (the series finale, hosted by Brian Dunkleman.) The episodes are uncensored. 23. 3- 1 301 5 Oct 06 Freaks & Greeks 24. 3- 2 302 12 Oct 06 Wooldoor Sockbat's Giggle-Wiggle Funny Tickle Non-Traditional Progressive Multicultural Roundtable! 25. 3- 3 303 19 Oct 06 Spelling Applebee's 26. 3- 4 304 25 Oct 06 Unrestrainable Trainable 27. 3- 5 305 1 Nov 06 N.R.A.y RAY 28. 3- 6 307 8 Nov 06 Mexican't Buy Me Love 29. 3- 7 306 15 Nov 06 Lost in Parking Space (1) 30. 3- 8 308 4 Oct 07 Lost in Parking Space (2) 31. 3- 9 313 11 Oct 07 Charlotte's Web of Lies 32. 3-10 312 18 Oct 07 Breakfast Food Killer 33. 3-11 309 25 Oct 07 Drawn Together Babies 34. 3-12 310 1 Nov 07 Nipple Ring-Ring Goes to Foster Care 35. 3-13 311 8 Nov 07 Foxxy & the Gang Bang 36. 3-14 314 14 Nov 07 The Elimination Special: The Elimination The DVD VIDEO: "Drawn Together" is presented by Paramount in the show's original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. The picture quality is perfectly fine, with the animation looking crisp and clear throughout. No noticable pixelation or other issues are spotted, and colors appeared bright and vivid throughout, with no smearing or other issues. SOUND: The 2.0 soundtrack is pretty basic, but quality is perfectly acceptable, with clear dialogue, score and sound effects. EXTRAS: Karaoke sing-along on all episodes, network promos and audio commentary on "Drawn Together Babies", "Lost in Parking Garage Pt. 1", "Greeks and Freaks" and "Breakfast Food Killer" by the creators. We also get a "Karaoke Sing-Along" and promos. Final Thoughts: "Drawn Together" is a twisted and often hysterical parody of reality shows as well as several cartoons. The third season of the series continues to deliver, offering some hysterical plots and situations for the characters. The DVD set provides very good audio/video quality, as well as a pretty good set of extra features. Recommended. |