Amazon.com: Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Vol. 2 : Various, Various: Movies & TV

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• 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Show, Better Than Vol. 1

  Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2007

  First off, I'd like to say that Attorney at Law is one of my favorite cartoons ever. The timing and absurd humor are almost always spot-on. Gary Cole (Birdman), Stephen Colbert (Reducto, Phil Ken Sebben), Paget Brewster (Birdgirl) and John Michael Higgins (Mentok) provide hilarious voice overs, as do all the other actors. I didn't really grow up with the original Hanna-Barbera cartoons that the show is based on, but I can say you don't really need to know who the characters are, seeing as how they're generally so different from the original characters, and sometimes so obscure, that it doesn't matter. You shouldn't be worried about "not getting it" if you've never seen a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. In terms of "getting it," you probably will if you're between 16 and 40. Younger or older and you'll proably either miss a lot of the jokes or think the jokes are too weird or "vulgar" (older people sure do love that word, don't they?).

  The episodes of volume 2 are better than volume 1 in terms of the plot and humor, in my opinion. The writers and actors have clearly hit their stride by the second set of episodes, and each episode has some memorable, oddball moment. Unfortunately, there are only 13 episodes, which is normal for an [adult swim] "season." Also, the show is meant to fit into a 15-minute time slot, so the episodes are pretty short, but that's not to say nothing happens; they pack a lot into the time they're given.

  The DVD itself is pretty good for an [adult swim] set. Most of the time their DVDs are fairly weak in terms of extras, but this one is actually fairly good. While it doesn't match the likes of Futurama in the way its DVD sets are piled with extras, this one does have a respectable amount. The commentaries with the main voice actors are nice, especially Stephen Colbert's. However, it's only one actor at a time for select episodes, each actor only doing one episode, despite how the various descriptions make it sound (I was hoping it would be everyone in one room for all the episodes). There are also a few extra little segments to watch, which are good for a few chuckles.

  More of a 4.5 overall, but I'll give it a full 5 given the rating limitation.

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• 5.0 out of 5 stars a strong candidate for best animated comedy!

  Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2007

  Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming lineup is a Hit & Miss collection of shows ranging from the bizzare to the hilarious to the creepy to the worthless and crappy; many shows in fact combine several of these aspects. And although it is ultimately a matter of personal taste (or lack thereof in the cases of Squidbillies or Boondocks or Assey McGee or 12 oz. Mouse or anything those guys from Tom Goes to the Mayor are involved with) for which shows will appeal to which segments of the demography, one would indeed be hard-pressed to come up with valid or convincing criticism against Harvey Birdman.

  The show is an exercise in brilliance and simplicity, using characters that already existed (at least in their physical appearance) from various low-tier Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and injecting outstanding dialogue and characterization into an amusing premise (superhero becomes a middling, ineffectual lawyer at a firm run by a clinically insane demagogue). Fantastic job by Gary Cole and Steven Colbert, respectively, in the roles. The cases are very clever, but even moreso is the way that other "classic" H-B characters make appearances as clientele.

  After the first hilarious season, the Mrs. and I were jonesing pretty hard for more episodes. Thankfully, they came back with another season, as well as a box set of the first season. Although we are having minor withdrawals until the next season is available, we are indeed glad we can own this season in the meanwhile. This series may not win over every fan among the mish-mash of freaks and goofballs that is the Adult Swim target audience, but for those who have an affinity for good comedy/quality humor and the capacity to appreciate it, Harvey Birdman is a must-see!

• 5.0 out of 5 stars Another volume of insane hilarity

  Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2006

  THe episodes contained in this second volume of Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, are another injection of insane animated hilarity featuring the bird-winged superhero turned lawyer and his insane cast of supporting characters. Gary Cole once again supplies the voice of Harvey as he tackles cases involving steroids ("Grape Juiced"), Droopy the Dog and botched plastic surgery ("Droopy Botox"), his sidekick Peanut hitting puberty ("Peanut Puberty"), and even the debut of female would-be sidekick Birdgirl ("Birdgirl of Guantanamole") who is secretly the daughter of Harvey's insane, one eyed boss Phil (the always excellent Stephen Colbert). There's a handful of episodes here that are instant classics as well, including "Blackwatch Plaid" which spoofs the patriot act and Bush administration when Phil goes on a rampage following a heist of his office (sort of), "Gone Efficien...t" in which the law firm attempts to go more efficient by saving time in the craziest of ways, the gun law spoofing "Guitar Control", and "X Gets the Crest" in which X the Eliminator (voiced by Peter MacNicol) finally gets Birdman's crest which sends Harvey in a downward spiral, for a while anyway. There's a nice assortment of extras here as well including commentary tracks from Cole, Colbert, MacNicol, John Michael Higgins (Mentok the Mindtaker), and Paget Brewster (Birdgirl) which is worth the price of admission alone. All in all, if you're even a casual fan of the series, you've got to have this.
  

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