Saturday, May 31, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: Boondocks: The Complete Second Season (June 3)
The Boondocks: The Complete Second Season (Sony, $49.95) brings fans another season of the television version of Aaron McGruder's former newspaper comic strip. Much like the comic strip, the Adult Swim TV series takes on many controversial issues and handles them in a humorous manner. Except, of course, the TV series takes on the issues in an outlandish, crude, sometimes offensive, and always extremely controversial manner. The second season is no exception to this rule, and is in fact even more crude and offensive than the first season--but that is what makes the show so great.
In this season, we get to see what true jealousy is like when Sarah gets to meet Usher in "Tom, Sarah and Usher." We learn how Granddad reacts when a rapper moves in to the neighborhood in "The Story of Thugnificent." Granddad meets a hot woman that is a little bit (or a lot) crazy in "Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf-Bitch." The house becomes full of some of Granddad's relatives after Hurricane Katrina in "Invasion of the Katrinians." In "The S-Word," Riley gets called the n-word by a teacher and chaos ensues. Additionally, we even get two episodes that were so outrageous and controversial that they couldn't even be aired on cable television. In "The Hunger Strike," Huey takes a stand against BET based upon how he views the network as causing destruction to black people. In "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show," Uncle Ruckus discovers that he really is black after all, and BET decides to make a reality show about it. Obviously Aaron McGruder has a point to make about BET... and it doesn't look like Adult Swim will air that point of view! Additionally, the season contains many guest stars, including Snoop Dogg, Tichina Arnold, Lil' Wayne, Cedric the Entertainer, Fred Williard, Busta Rhymes, and Tavis Smiley.
The episodes are all presented in widescreen and they look and sound great, as one would expect. The episodes are totally uncensored, so don't be surprised to see the unexpected. As if the episodes aren't good enough, there are plenty of bonus features on the set too. There aren't quite as many as there were for the first season, but still plenty. The set contains audio commentaries on four of the episodes, and video introductions on the two banned episodes. There is a "Behind the Boondocks" featurette, which, as it sounds, goes behind the scenes of the series to show what it is like creating the series. In "Trouble in Woodcrest?," we get to see some "behind-the-scenes" trash-talking between cast members. Another special feature--one that I won't even mention the name of--talks about the n-word and the use of it on the show. Actually, it doesn't even talk about it, it is just a bunch of clips of the voice actors saying it while recording the script. You'll hear the n-word in it, a lot, as you do on the TV show. Next, there is a series of special features for the cast members, where we learn more about who they are. They have these for John Witherspoon, Cedric Yarbrough, Regina King, Gary Anthony Williams, Gabby Soleil, and Jill Talley. And what Sony DVD set would be complete without Minisodes? We have two, from Married... with Children and Spiderman.
Overall, this is a great set and fans are sure to enjoy it, as will those that just enjoy humorous and controversial TV. Sony seems to do a great job on this series in regards to quality and bonus features, and the DVDs are much more enjoyable to watch than the episodes as aired on TV.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
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