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Sealab 2021:
Season One
Click
Picture to order this DVD
As Always, a review of
both The Show, and The DVD (extras)!
The Show:
Every once in a while, a network that was originally intended for
kids-of-all-ages must alter its late night programming, to gather in the teenagers and young adults. How could Cartoon Network do this,
however? For Nickelodeon it was easy; they simply replaced late night
programming with classic sitcoms. What could a cartoon network that was
"all cartoons, all the time" do...? The answer was "Adult
Swim"; a sort of modernized version of MTV's Liquid
Television, with cartoon shorts that were as more daring than
Liquid TV's, as they were more silly. Among the best of these shorts, to
many fans, is Sealab 2021.
The cartoon is a riotous
parody of (and uses the majority of its animated footage from) an
otherwise long forgotten "education-is-fun" series by Hanna
Barbera, Sealab 2020. The joke is that this is the same lab, one
year later, when all the crew has been replaced by total morons. These are
the sort of guys who argue so loudly that when a safety alarm goes off,
they casually shut off the alarm, then go back to what they were arguing
about. Of course, with crewmen this dumb, it helps that this is an
old-school cartoon, where an episode can even end with the entire base
blowing up! Yet much like Wile E. Coyote, they're all back for another go
by the following episode, with no explanation, nor any need for one.
This first season of the
show has, as it is with any good series, the definitive episode
that made the show a classic: "Happycake." In it, the captain
declares a red alert and puts all crewmen on a sea-wide search. The
problem? He's just lost his pride and joy: an Easy Bake Oven. If that
isn't funny enough to you, just wait until this toy oven gets in the hands
of a giant squid, who is suddenly very docile thanks to the yummy
cupcakes. Stupid crewman #1 says with a relief, "Hey...he isn't
attacking [us]. The big guy's just a little curious!" only to have
Stupid crewman #2 go, "Yeah...but let's see what happens when I
do...this!" and quickly throws a rock at it. Whack! As you might
expect, this leads to a much more interesting, um..."adventure"
this episode. Call it a "you have to have been there" joke if
you must, but even thinking of this scene has me wanting to laugh out
loud.
Other episodes are no
less funny, though be warned, parents: the humor is very mature (hence the "Adult
Swim" logo). In "Chickmate," sexy crewmate Debbie wakes up
to her biological clock going off, only to start interviewing all the lead
crewmen as a possible father. The joke here is that these guys are total morons, so Debbie, in her own words, might find a better father for
her baby by "carving it from a mango." Yet it's the way
each man tries to prove he's the perfect dad which makes the episode
a riot. Likewise for one of those so-simple-yet-so-funny episodes,
"In the Closet," where one by one the crew gets stuck in a
closet whose door cannot be opened from the inside. That episode
is often as funny as a Seinfeld ep, being a similar
episode-about-nothing. Then there's the season finale, "Swimming in
Oblivion," where we see the characters as they are "in real
life," with added jabs at modern sci-fi hits like Stargate SG-1.
This is some funny stuff.
The ongoing gag here,
though, is that these were
once characters in an educational cartoon, only to be dubbed to say all
the wrong things. This joke is all the funnier with the riotous voice acting,
which is not only talented; you could
hear this cartoon from another room and still laugh at the jokes, which
are all expertly delivered. Talk about well-cast voices! Note in particular the voice of Marco, who is actually Erik
Estrada.
Of course, no cartoon is
an island. Yep, there are some times the humor goes too far, like when one
of the crew makes an experimental "herbal supplement" drug onto
have the crew get addicted to it while he reeks in the profits. Sure, it's
a tough love sort of anti-drug message, but it isn't very funny, either.
I'd give other examples but I wouldn't want to scare you off from what is,
indeed, a very funny two-disc set. I know it isn't saying much when I say this is the best
new show that Cartoon Network has offered in years --when one of those
shows is Ed, Ed, and Eddy, is this so very hard to do?-- but this is a
great series, with a great first season.
---Techtite
The
DVD: To all the kids who are
so ticked off that this is a two-disc set and how could they warrant a
two-disc set for roughly two and a half hours of cartoons...okay, you got
me there. Still, I'm guessing they used a high quality DVD transfer, which
would definitely explain why everything looks crystal-clear, as well as
the need for two discs. In other words: I don't care. Let's move on.
The extras include the
original "Pitch Pilot." This was the animated short that started
all, which was allegedly sent unsolicited to the network, about a possible
Sealab 2020 parody. It's being kind to say that this pilot isn't very
good; so much so, even a prologue screen asks viewers to "please be
kind," while an epilogue screen confesses that, "Yeah; we can't
believe they bought it either." However; it's an unseen episode, so
why ask why?
Then there are deleted
scenes. The premiere "I, Robot" episode has two alternate
endings: one where Stormy blows up the station by pressing the wrong
button, and another, where the explosion of the station is replaced with
innuendo about robotic Quinn and, of course, Debbie. The second deleted
scene assortment comes from "Little Orphan Angry," where two
scenes were considered too morbid by Cartoon Network, and were pulled. All
I could gather is that one of the orphans kills another orphan. Yeah; that
was a pretty wise deletion. A final deleted scene comes from "Radio
Sealab," where we finally get to hear that bleeped out final credits
joke, without the beeps. Turns out they weren't talking about anything
scandalous at all; as a message from the show's staff confesses, they just
thought the jokes was funnier if you had no idea what they were saying at
all. I'd have to agree with them.
In short: this is a funny
series, with a baker's dozen episodes on DVD. That's all you really need
to know. So...get it! At least rent it, then watch "HappyCake"
and find out the show's a riot and then go buy it. After all; how many
shows frequently end with the stars of the show blowing up?
Click Picture to order this
DVD
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed products, are created by Techtite,
copyright 1999-2002; all rights reserved. Title picture of Birds
of Prey promotional poster taken from the official web site.
Both this photo, and screen captures of the program itself, are used only for the purpose of
review, and by no means represent any affiliation with Techtite
and the distributors of this entertainment product. For further "legalese"
& disclaimers, click here... |
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