Blu-ray Review: Regular Show – The Complete First and Second Season

Created by J. G. Quintel for the Cartoon Network, Regular Show debuted in the fall of 2010 and recently made its Blu-ray debut as a set comprised of the first two seasons of the series. Known for being peculiar, the show centers on the misadventures of two slacker best friends, a Blue Jay named Mordecai (voiced by Quintel) and a raccoon named Rigby (William Salyers), both employed as groundskeepers at a local park. They spend most of their time at work messing up, thus making things more difficult for everyone else.

Each of the stories tend to start out with Mordecai and Rigby dealing with what appears to be a fairly mundane problem, but they end up making a big mess of things. At the same time, the show explores elements of fantasy and the supernatural to the point of shattering any connection to reality. In the first episode, revolves around our two heroes using a magical keyboard named “The Power” to, among other things, request and briefly receive raises, go to the moon, and create and escape from a destructive monster. Funny, out there stuff.

The rest of the characters consist of Pops (Sam Marin) an odd, excitable, man; the park manager Benson (Marin, again), a walking gum-ball machine; Skips (Mark Hamill), a yeti-groundskeeper who helps everyone get out of trouble, and Mitch (Marin, again), nicknamed “Muscle Man” is the jokester of the bunch. There are also several supporting players that appear in various episodes throughout the two seasons, most notably Margaret (Janie Haddad) a red-breasted Robin Mordecai has a crush on. Unfortunately for him, she seems to have a new boyfriend almost every time he sees her.

If you’ve never seen Regular Show, it’s well worth checking out a few episodes to see if the humor works for you. Each episode runs roughly 10-minutes, and it could take a couple of segments to get accustomed to the unique tone and worldview offered up by Mordecai, Rigby and the rest. If nothing else, Regular Show is a fresh and unique entry into the television cartoon genre. If you’re like me, the absurd comedy of Regular Show will have you laughing at the absurdity of it all. Others may dismiss Regular Show as simply absurd.

Regular Show: The Complete First & Second Seasons includes 12 Season One and 28 Season Two episodes:

Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Warner’s 1080p presentation is impressive. Colors are vibrant, which is pivotal in an animated series such as this. The eye catching animation really shines in HD, detail and sharpness is top-notch.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 track isn’t particularly impressive, but it does the job. For front-centric mix, some dimensionality is present. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout.

English SDH subtitles are available.

The special features are impressive:

• Episode Commentaries: (Discs 1 & 2) All 40 episodes have an optional commentary. Some feature creator J.G. Quintel alone, others feature JG with guests. Many times, J.G. and his friends simply watch jokes and gags throughout the episodes. Nonetheless, some fans will find the information they have to offer helpful.
• Unaired Regular Show Pilot (HD, 7:58, Disc 1) Our first view of Mordecai and Rigby has the two pals in an Evil Dead 2 type dimension.
• Animatic for Unaired Pilot (HD, 7:33, Disc 1) Animated storyboards with dialogue and sound effects.
• Original Pencil Tests from Saerom (HD, :38, Disc 1) Saerom Animation is a South Korean animation studio. This silent segment is footage from the pilot’s animation test.
• Animatic for “The Power” (HD, 11:15, Disc 1) Animated storyboards with dialogue and sound effects.
• CG Test for Hodgepodge Monster (HD, :04, Disc 1) A quick look at the Hodgepodge Monster.
• 2010 Comic-Con Teaser Trailer (HD, 2:35, Disc 1) For the uninitiated, this is a look at the kind of humor Regular Show has to offer.
• The Naive Man from Lolliland Student Short (HD, 4:08, Disc 1) Gives some insight into creator’s J.G. Quintel’s characters. This film introduces us to Pops.
•  “Party Tonight” Music Video (1080i, 2:06, Disc 1) In the episode “Mordecai and the Rigbys,” the duo become rockstars. Upon gaining one million Facebook fans, Cartoon Network released this live-action music video of Mordecai and the Rigbys’ only single, “Party Tonight.”
• J.G. Pitches ‘The Power’ (HD, 16:32, Disc 1) The series’ creator pitches the entire episode to the camera and an audience – which basically consists of him walking us through a massive post-it note storyboard, narrating and voicing the episode  he goes along.
• Original Regular Show Commercials (1080i, :48, Disc 1) Two of the first television spots that ran for the series prior to their current format (which now includes showing a clip from the upcoming episode).
• Interview with J.G. Quintel (1080i, 5:06, Disc 2) Quintel explains how he developed the series, his various influences, and takes us on a tour of The Cartoon Network offices.
• Sam Sings Mystery Karaoke (HD, 2:00, Disc 2) Sam Marin, who voices several Regular Show characters, performs karaoke in the sound booth, but the clip is silent and his mouth is blurred out. I’m guessing it’s a music rights issue.
• Digital Copy
• UltraViolet