Regular Show – The Complete First & Second Seasons (2010 – 2011/Warner Blu-ray)

 

Picture:  A-     Sound: B     Extras: C     Episodes: B+

 

 

In the past I had only seen Regular Show in bits and pieces on television, as well as on a random DVD set (featuring varied episodes).  I must say, however, watching the first two seasons in their entirety makes the series so much better.  It is not as if there is a ton of continuity to follow, but understanding character development and gaining a general appreciation for the style of the series is much easier.

 

Again (As mentioned in a previous review), the series follow Mordecai the Blue Jay and Rigby the Raccoon.  They are ‘caretakers’ of a local park, but in reality do more slacking than caring.  They are joined by a host of interesting characters that propel the shenanigans of the day forward.  There is Benson (a living gumball machine), a groundskeeper named Skips (a Yeti voiced by Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill) a green/grey/’pig faced’ (zombie?) guy named Muscle Man, and a ghost named High Five Ghost.  Needless to say there are countless interesting characters.

 

Mordecai and Rigby generally slack off and get into tussles with Muscle Man and his sidekick High-Five Ghost; though it never takes much to upset Muscle Man, Mordecai and Rigby do plenty to give him reason to go off the deep end.  Skips is usually left to pick up the slack for Mordecai and Rigby, being to gentle of a soul to mind much; but often gets mixed up in the sticky situations himself.  His character is shrouded in mystery as he is seemingly immortal, can fix almost any problem, and (oddly) skips anywhere he goes. Another character is Pops, a 6 foot tall, top hat wearing, Lollipop shaped man whose father owns the park.  Pops is an eccentric whose naivety leaves him blind to Rigby and Mordecai’s misdoings; leaving Pops to fly around in his convertible and hand out lollipops as currency.

 

Needless to say this series is interestingly creative and there is never a dull moment.  It is filled to the brim with imaginative and inspiring stories that are only emblazoned with their own brand of humor and art, but manage to pull in pop culture references and much more.  With pop culture references abound it is undeniable that the kids of the 80’s and 90’s finally are making their own cartoons as we are given series like Adventure Time and in this case Regular Show.  As can be surmised from what I have already said about the series, the show is anything but regular.

 

Interestingly absurd, Regular Show is a must see.  There are the standard cast of characters that setup the framework for Regular Show, but we are consistently introduced to a barrage of other characters that are the icing on the cake for this already delicious series.  We find our series mainstays coming to odds with aliens, alternate universes, monsters, demons, and a host of other oddities that are beyond words.  The series is amazingly entertaining and will have audiences perplexedly as they laugh throughout the bizarrely wonderful Regular Show.

 

The technical features of this 40-episode Blu-ray of Seasons 1 & 2 are quite nice, though not perfect.  The set comes in a 2 disc keepcase with nicely done cardboard slipcase. The 1.78 X 1, 1080p AVC-Encoded MPEG-4 image is the best part of the technical features demonstrating bright colors, inky blacks, and an overall crisp image.  The series doesn’t utilize a ton of fine detail for characters, but is present with the ‘watercolor’ backdrops which are clean and clear.  The sound is a bit disappointing as only a Dolby Digital mix is available here that projects mostly from the front speakers and is not very dynamic.  The dialogue projects clearly, but would say it is off balance with the musical scores and ambient noise.

 

 

Extras are plentiful though I was not all too impressed.  The extras are as follows:

·         Audio Commentaries on all 40 episodes

·         Unaired Pilot Episode

·         Pencil Tests

·         Animatics

·         2010 Comic Con Teaser Trailer

·         CG Test for Hodgepodge Monster

·         “The Naïve man from Lolliland” Student Short

·         ‘Party Tonight’ music video

·         Sam Sings Mystery Karaoke

·         Interview with show creator JG Quintel

·         JG Pitches the episode ‘The Power’

·         Regular Show Commercials

·         UltraViolet Copy of Series

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II