Some excellent animated television starts us off this week...
Animaniacs, Vol. 1
After the far-better-than-expected Tiny Toons, Spielberg and Warners struck again with actual Warner Brothers - Yakko, Wacko and their sister Dot, along with a crazy supporting cast (including Pinky and the Brain, whose spin-off also drops this week), spawning such priceless episodes as a take-off on Apocalypse Now and a Who's On First routine at Woodstock involving The Who, The Band and Yes. "Anvilania" may be my favorite. No idea which 25 episodes are in this five-disc set, but you can pretty much randomly sample the show and come up with good things.
The Boondocks - The Complete First Season
One of the funniest shows on television - and one of the most politically charged. Keep an ear out for Sam Jackson voicing a white guy. Extras include commentary by series/strip creator Aaron McGruder; commentary by Uncle Ruckus, one of the greatest characters in Adult Swim's history; deleted scenes; behind-the-scenes; unaired promos and, perhaps the most boring extra on any cartoon DVD, animatics.
Final Destination 3 (Widescreen 2-Disc Special Edition)
Because it really does take two discs to truly appreciate the third installment of a series in which teens are stalked by freak accidents. This includes filmmakers' commentary, an interactive feature that allows you to decide the fate of the characters (I vote for "They all die on the roller coaster at the beginning."), extra scenes, alternate endings, a ten part documentary (let me repeat that: a ten part documentary for Final Destination 3, not Ben Hur, Final Destination 3), a featurette on the "sub-genre" known as the teen horror flick (I tend to think of that as the main vein of horror, but whatever), an animated short and, because there wasn't room for it in the ten part documentary, a documentary on the making of the roller coaster.
Chappelle's Show - The Lost Episodes (Uncensored)
This is sort of depressing. First of all, Dave didn't want this stuff aired in the first place, so I almost feel guilty watching it. What's more, it's just not as funny as the more polished sketches of the, you know, finished seasons that had his full involvement. Still, Charlie Murphy and Ashy Larry do a decent job of introducing the sketches, which are very funny. But at only three episodes, I can only imagine this leaving you wanting more.
Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story
This fake documentary about a disgraced paintball champion played by Rob Corddry is proof that straight-to-DVD is no guarantee of suckage. It's actually very funny and boasts a strong supporting cast, including fellow Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms. It's probably more deserving of a theatrical release than, say, The Benchwarmers, which also comes out this week. Extras include commentary by Corddry and co-stars, a separate commentary track by the filmmakers, outtakes, deleted scenes and Bobby Duke's Video Diary, which looks to be the best extra in the bunch.
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