Human Giant - The Complete First Season

Buy This Item Human Giant - The Complete First Season by MTV  Available from Amazon  $19.99  on 11-28-2008     Sketch comedy troupe Human Giant aim for a sweet spot somewhere between the freewheeling absurdity of <I>Mr. Show</I> and the slacker/frat boy comedy of Dane Cook. The trio of Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer create sketches ranging from recurring bits like Shutterbugs (a hard-driving talent agency for child actors) and the Illusionators (two magicians who can do real magic but have such low-self esteem that they only raise the dead to make their card tricks truly impressive) to stand-alone bits like a drug-addicted genie or an attack-dog service designed to gain sympathy for the victims. Some satirical targets--like extreme sports or <I>The Exorcist</I>--are pretty tired, but others sketches have a true spark; for example, Space Lords, in which a super-powered alien intent on taking over the Earth falls in love with a terrestrial girl (Mary Lynn Rajskub of <I>24</I>) and falls over himself to make her happy. Human Giant don't compare well to their idols--there's something formulaic and lazy about most of their humor--but they've clearly found an audience. <I>Human Giant: The Complete First Season</I> contains eight 20-minute episodes. But for true fans of the show, the glories of this dvd set may be on the second disc, which contains excerpts from the marathon when Human Giant was given free reign over MTV for 24 hours and did pretty much anything that came into their heads, occasionally punctuated by musical acts like the National. Other bonus features include rambling commentaries (some episodes have two), footage from early live performances, a few deleted scenes, and some oddball things like phony dedications to dead crew members and the repeated takes from a child actor who had to say one short line in an early sketch. <I>--Bret Fetzer</I> Reader Reviews Human Giant is a sketch comedy series that premiered on MTV in the Spring of 2007. Directed by Jason Woliner and starring Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, the show was an immediate success. Nearly a year after the premier, the popularity hasn't diminished - due in no small part to the actors on the show having a unique style all their own. Season one has finished airing, and is featured in its 8-episode entirety in this set. A second season is set to begin airing on MTV in March. Remember back when they used to have music on MTV? Yeah, so can I. Questionable network choice aside, Human Giant won't fail to entertain if you're a fan of sketch comedy. There are plenty of sketch comedy shows out there to day (more than enough, actually), but every now and then one will come along that will catch you completely off-guard and have you laughing nonstop. Human Giant is one of those shows. Not since Monty Python's Flying Circus and the early years of Saturday Night Live has sketch comedy been so intelligent, so sharp-edged, and above all, so entertaining. The trio of Ansari, Huebel, and Scheer know how to make their audiences laugh, and the humor never lets up. A gaggle of guest stars only add to the value. Granted, it may be a bit too "out there" for some, and it may take a while to grow on you. But give it a chance, and you'll agree - it's one of the best shows of its kind out there today. The set features all 8 episodes from its first season run. The episodes included are Mind Explosion, Let's Go, Little 9/11, Mosh Pit, Ice Cream Party, Kneel Before Zerg, Hello Susan, and Ta Da. The set consists of two discs. To put it simply, this is about what you'd expect a sketch comedy show to look like on DVD. Picture quality is not outstanding, but it's not excessively flawed either. The same can be said of the audio, which isn't of the highest quality, but is free from any major problems. The season's episodes alone would have justified the price of admission, but Paramount goes overboard with the extra features here and creates a truly worthwhile set. Extra features included in the set are as follows: -Commentary: Every episode has cast and crew commentary, plus select episodes have an additional commentary track, sometimes featuring the guest stars. If you're a fan of the show, you'll want to check these out - it's always interesting to hear what the cast and crew, and in some cases their guests, have to say. -Unaired Material: The set features a ton of material that didn't hit the airwaves, including a number of alternate takes of scenes, extended versions, and even deleted scenes. Any fan of the series will want to check out what didn't make it to the airwaves. -Highlights From The 24 Hour Marathon: During the show's heyday, MTV held a day-long marathon celebrating the show. While the entire marathon didn't get included here (that probably would have required another disc or two!), this extra feature takes the best moments. -Early Live Footage: Another one of the great extras here, this feature lets you see some early-recorded material from the cast members, shot well before the first season. It's interesting to see the performers in their infancy, as well as how they would evolve over time. -Season 2 Preview: With the success of the first season, it's no surprised that a second is slated to air very soon. This bonus feature lets you see what's to come for the cast in the forthcoming extras. And from what I can tell here, it looks like it's going to be yet another entertaining season. Finally, a sketch comedy show to end all sketch comedy shows. Human Giant is ingenious and hits you when you least expect it - and you won't stop laughing. It's well worth owning if you're a fan of the series or the genre, and the extras packed into the DVD set only further sweeten the deal.

Human Giant - The Complete First Season Available from Amazon Price: $19.99 Updated on 11-28-2008.

SPONSORED LINKS