The Bottom Line
Harvey Birdman is an idiot and a horrible attorney, surrounded by other incompetent idiots. These lawyers, paralegals and judges wear cowls, capes and wings around their business suits, inhabiting a surreal world of cartoon antics held randomly to real-world standards. The show is a Hanna Barbara fanboy's dream, with Inch-High Private Eye, Jabberjaw and a bunch of other cut-rate cartoons I never cared for. "Harvey Birdman" is good for a couple laughs, but never coalesced into a great show.
Pros
- Anything with Boo-Boo can't be all bad.
- Enough extras to satisfy the "Harvey Birdman" fan.
- Nice enough DVD.
Cons
- More funny!
- Take advantage of the DVD medium.
- God help me, some legal satire wouldn't hurt a show like this.
Description
- 2 discs.
- 154 minutes.
- Commentary on five episodes.
- Deleted scenes.
- "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" movie trailer.
- The wind beneath his wings (Birdman crew pictures.)
Guide Review - "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" Vol. 1 DVD
Harvey Birdman's antics on "Space Ghost" were always hilarious. And when Adult Swim was first announced as a concept, the first show I read about was "Harvey Birdman," a crime-fighter turned defense attorney in the Cartoon Network world. I always loved those Cartoon Network commercials with all the 'toons interacting like they were just poor working schmoes and just didn't see how "Harvey Birdman" could go wrong.
But "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" is just not that funny. It's still very funny as a concept, which don't get this geek watching. I never expected it to be "The Practice," but I thought they were going to be making fun of legal shows. "Harvey" ends up just being another dada Cartoon Network show with laughs, but no coherence.
I'm not sure what the magic formula is that makes "The Brak Show" better than "Harvey Birdman," but "Harvey" just doesn't get to where it seems like it should be. Even the funniest episodes, including critical favorite "The Dabba Don," always seem like a near-miss.
As a product, the DVDs are nice, have funny packaging, plentiful commentary and some enticing extras. I'm just not enthused.
