Most people know I’m a sucker for cartoons and I am willing to give any new toon a try. Often in this day and age I might be let down as a lot of newer cartoons do not always hold up against many of the well defined classics of my childhood. However, I rarely get jaded and I am always eager for the next new show to come chomping down the block. The title for us today to review is Regular Show and 16 of the best episodes that a single disc can buy. Let’s take a look.
As mentioned above, this is a best of disc. These episodes come from the second and third season and are presented in Dolby Digital Stereo and 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. None of the episodes are repeats from the first compilation disc entitled Regular Show: Slack Pack. Somebody really needs to get on the horn and start making season sets for this, but more on that later.
Basically the plot of the show is centered around two main characters, Mordecai and Rigby. Mordecai is a blue jay and Rigby is a raccoon. The work as groundskeepers at a park, but spend more time playing video games and getting into mischief. Their boss is Benson, a living gumball machine. Then there are a multitude of other characters including Skips, a yeti (also a groundskeeper), Pops, a lollipop shaped man and Muscle Man, another groundskeeper who resembles a overweight dwarf green-skinned man. These gives the show a lot to work off of. Here are a few episodes included in this collection.
Slam Dunk: Mordecai has been charged with making Margaret (the girl coon he has a crush on) a web site. So he goes to use the community computer but unfortunately finds out that Muscle Man has it checked out for the day. The problem is that Muscle Man is not using the computer and instead outside playing basketball. However, whenever Mordecai goes near the computer, Muscle Man is there to tell him to back off. Soon it escalates into a 2 on 2 matchup with Mordecai and Rigby against Muscle Man and High Five Ghost. Who will win it all?
Best Burger in the World: The Grill Em Up Food Truck has the best burgers ever made. The Ulti-Meatum. From what I gather, it is a burger stuffed inside another burger and then burgers for buns topped with Himalayan ketchup. Oh its deep fried too. The problem is that these suckers are so fantastic that they are only made once every one hundred years. Luckily for Mordecai and Rigby is that they are coming to the park. Unlucky for Mordecai and Rigby, they have a ton of chores they need to do. Furthermore, Benson will not allow them to go get any burgers until they are done. Will the pair ever get those tasty treats before its gone for another century?
Video Game Wizards: Mordecai and Rigby are playing a video game together when they see a commercial for a video game tournament called the Game Inferno Tournament and held at the Ferguson Convention Center. Rigby wants to enter with Mordecai but the blue jay has some bad news for the raccoon. Mordecai plans to enter with Skips rather than his best friend. (Because Skips is a better player). However, Mordecai convinces Rigby to come along. Rigby hopes that he can convince Mordecai to push Skips aside as they both hope to win the awesome Maximum Glove, the greatest video game controller ever.
Fists of Justice: This is Mordecai and Rigby’s day off and they plan to just sit around and play video games. However, Skips decides to use his Happy Birthday Do my Chores coupon that he got from Mordecai and Rigby. Skips needs the day to prepare for something very important that could destroy the world if not taken care of. The two best friends reluctantly do the chores and do pretty darn well until they get to moving Pop’s harpsichord. When they are forced to call Skips, his crucial preparation is interrupted and soon the world’s fate is hanging in the balance.
This snapshot was an excellent start to a great culmination of episodes in this delightful dvd package. The characters are really a lot of fun and the jokes are actually really fun and smart and not just silly or juvenile. This show really is made a little more for adults than it is for kids (but I wouldn’t have much issue showing it to kids from the episodes I saw). That and it also regularly features spoofs or jokes centered around video games which is something near and dear to my heart.
The only minus really to this show which you get over fairly quickly is that the show is really crudely drawn. I am a bit spoiled I admit, but also as I mentioned after a couple of episodes, you really will not care. It has so many good bits and the episodes hit home for me personally. A great example is in Video Game Wizards where they spoof the Power Glove, an old Nintendo contraption. All the jokes, all the bad memories are perfectly emulated into this episode as if they ripped directly from my experience growing up. That’s one example, and there are plenty more to be found.
Final Thoughts
Believe it or not, this show has been around since 2010 and is still going strong with 120 episodes (82 of which have aired to this point) in its fourth season. It is a darn shame that all we have to show for it at this point is a couple of best of dvds and no full season sets. It really is a wonderful show and somewhere along the way I have to think that we will start getting the season sets that this show deserves. It has been nominated for Annie Awards, Emmy Awards, etc and has even won an Emmy for the episode “Eggscellent” (included in this package) but also won a voice acting award from PAAFTJ Television Awards for the same episode.
The video and audio are pretty good (once you get over some of the crudeness) and there is even a feature here included that will introduce the characters to those seeing the show for the first time. For fans of the Regular Show, this might be the best dvd in the world at this moment in time but let’s hope in the future that we get something resembling a more reasonable release. A strong recommendation is in order for people of all ages. I think people especially in their 20’s and 30’s will find a lot to love and keep coming back for me. Be sure to check it out on Cartoon Network as well.
Episodes
Slam Dunk
Cool Bikes
The Best Burger in the World
More Smarter
Rap it Up
Weekend at Benson’s
Camping Can Be Cool
Trash Boat
Butt Dial
Think Positive
Video Game Wizards
Skips vs. Technology
Eggscellent
Muscle Mentor
Fists of Justice
Trucker Hall of Fame
