Ending the greatest spoof on ’60s Hanna-Barbara cartoons, and one of the funniest series on Adult Swim, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Vol 3 has arrived. For those familiar with the show, you either love it because the twisted takes on your favorite childhood characters, or at least like it due to the innuendo and running gags similar to other Adult Swim fair. Either way, it’s win/win for fans of Adult Swim.

Often times, when a show is coming to the end of its run, creators try some wacky stuff to fill the time slot (aka “jumping the shark”) and the overall quality suffers, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fans. Fortunately, Harvey Birdman continues to be fresh and funny until the end. While this set of episodes may not be quite as strong as the previous sets, it’s still essential Adult Swim viewing. Retaining the book-like packaging of the previous two volumes also helps maintain the consistency of the set, and fans have probably already picked this up. So what about the uninitiated?

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio (not yet known as Harvey) was a late 1960s Hanna-Barbara cartoon similar to other other Alex Toth creations such as Space Ghost and The Herculoids. Birdman was a straight-up superhero show for kids that featured the title character and side-kicks facing enemies such as Mentok the Mindtaker. This series has also been released on DVD for those who may be interested.

Fast forward about 40 years (I’ll admit, I watched the original as re-runs) and the minds behind the hit show Space Ghost: Coast-to-Coast have taken ideas from that show along with The Brak Show and expanded them quite a bit, creating an all new series staring “Harvey” Birdman (voiced by an inspired Gary Cole) as superhero turned lawyer. The genius behind the concept is that the plaintiffs and defendants (and really about all of the characters on the show) are taken from every nook and cranny of Hanna-Barbara’s history and put into sometimes provocative and generally very funny situations. Now former villain Mentok (voiced by John Michael Higgins) is a judge, former character Factor 7 is now Phil Ken Sebben (Stephen Colbert!) of Sebben & Sebben law firm, and no characters seem to be off limits. Some notable episodes in this volume are “Turner Classic Birdman” in which original 1967 Birdman footage is re-dubbed to tell the story of why Harvey left the superhero business. Also is “Free Magilla” in which Magilla Gorilla is freed by animal rights activists and Harvey has to help locate him. Don’t miss “Incredible Hippo” either (think Incredible Hulk with Potamus). A total of 13 episodes are included in this set. Viewing previous volumes is not necessary for enjoyment of the show, however some running gags may be missed.

Video

Frankly, the show looks great on DVD as it should given there isn’t generally a lot of movement going as the show has a static feel to it, mimicking the original series style of animation. Color reproduction is excellent and lines are crisp. Compression is good without much artifacting. The visual style, aside from the animation itself, is extremely bright and colorful. Black levels hold up well and no macroblocking was perceived.

Audio

The show is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo, and that’s just fine. Dialog was clear and audible as were sound effects. No disappointments or complaints. Sound is as crisp as the picture.

Special Features

Here is the only disappointing area of the vol 3 set. In the past volumes we got plenty of commentaries with our episodes. Here we get nada. The features we do get are just OK. The “Joke Timeline” is the one to watch for longtime fans as it gives a timeline of the running gags from the entire series. Also included are:

• Birdman Characters
• Final record
• Comic Book: The Origin of X The Eliminator: A Users Guide
• Deleted Scenes: Too Not for TV

Basically it’s deleted scenes, behind the scenes, and a look at the characters in Birdman. Not bad stuff, just not as much as we’ve gotten before.

Overall

If you’ve read this review, you can see that I enjoy this show. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out. You can’t go wrong with this set, but newcomers might get a little more by starting with Vol 1. Otherwise, it’s still highly recommended.