Review-”Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse”

• Release Date: July 22, 2008
• Publisher: Comedy Central
• Rating: Not Rated
• Run Time: 176 minutes
• Bonus Features: Commentaries by creators Robert Smigel and Dino Stamatopoulos and host Doug Dale dirty outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage, video commentary with Chickie, Jason, Xabu, and Dave
• Genre: Comedy
• Buy It on Amazon.com

“Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse” was a short-lived comedy that was basically a kid’s show for adults. If the Triump the Insult Dog stamp of approval that this is uncensored isn’t enough, I must warn you that this series is absolutely not for kids. The animal puppets (the Anipals) don’t sing or dance, they take road trips to Atlantic City and eat their own kind.

All of the eight episodes mix the adventures of the Anipals with various cartoons and short film segments. The Anipals are supposed to be a part of a TV program named “TV Funhouse” but they never seem to do their job. Instead, they get into trouble while host Doug is left as the only one who cares about the show and its many theme days. Two or three shorts are inserted as the story progresses. Examples include “Wonderman” (a superhero who only seems to care about getting into the pants of hot girls) and “Porn for Kids” (I’m not even going to explain this one).

While parts of “Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse” were funny, I didn’t laugh nearly as much as I expected to. However, I’m not a fan of gross-out or most adult humor and this show definitely has a lot of both. Most of my laughs came from the completely inappropriate but often hilarious shorts. My favorite was “Wonderman” but I also enjoyed “The Baby, The Immigrant, and the Guy on Mushrooms,” “Mnemonics,” “Christmas with Tingles,” and a few others.

Since the only actors are host Doug Dale and a bunch of puppets, acting isn’t really a key part of the series. However, Doug Dale plays his character well. Video quality is great as is the sound. The package is topped off with a boatload of extras. Amongst the bonus features are a whopping eight commentaries, outtakes, and a video commentary with the Anipals. I wasn’t particularly entertained but fans of the show will definitely enjoy these extras.

While I didn’t like “Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse” as much as I thought I would, I can still definitely see why there is a cult audience for the show. People who like adult comedy will probably love this but if you can’t stand poop or sex jokes, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.