Plot: What’s it about?
I don’t really know where Dave Attell came from, but he, like so many other comics, is pretty funny and someone that the “mere mortal” can relate to. Granted, I find Dennis Miller to be one of the funniest men on the face of the planet, but even I find myself scratching my head trying to correlate the levels and levels of his sarcasm. This isn’t the case with Mr. Attell. Evidently Dave Attell has a sleeping problem (or a drinking problem, but we’ll tackle that a bit later) as the name of his show is called “Insomniac”. Like Jon Stewart, Craig Kilborn, Ben Stiller and so many others, Attell is a stand up comic but he’s seemed to find his niche with the more party-going crowd and hanging out at bars until the wee hours of the morning (the show ends when the sun comes up). But the show isn’t just him ending up hammered talking to some unattractive woman in a bar (though it does happen). Instead, he does incorporate some pretty diverse “skits” into the course of the show that seem to fit with the different locales that he’s in. This brings me to another point, he travels from city to city doing essentially the same thing; soaking up the local culture and downing a few (dozen) drinks in the process. So what’s wrong with that?
This is now the second season and the show has gained more viewers. This is noted in the commentary, but we’ll get to that later. The destinations aren’t as “mainstream” as the first season, but there’s drinkers everywhere and even more colorful characters to be found. In this set, Attell visits Boise, Austin, Kansas City, Anchorage, New York (again), Key West, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Charleston (WV) and Miami just to name a few. Attell is up to his old tricks and if you’re a fan of his work, then you’ll love him once again. Whether he’s supervising the press run for the Kansas City Star of hitting on ski bunnies (at night, no less) in Boise then you’re in for some fun as Attell delivers more of his canned (no pun intended) behavior. The set of cities has been expanded somewhat for the second season as the first had only a handful. Now ranging across the country and even into Amesterdam in the Netherlands. The newest season of his show takes place entirely overseas…great, now he’s offending the world as opposed to just us Americans! Only kidding. I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but if it’s more of the same that you want, then you’re in for a treat. This time with four select commentaries, we get an insight into the mind of Dave Attell and his Director, Nick. Drinking, fun and no sleep can only equal one thing…Insomniac.
Video: How does it look?
Insomniac is presented in it’s original full-frame aspect ratio as it appears on Comedy Central every week (during the season, of course). For the most part, the image is crystal clear and there aren’t that many things to complain about. The video work is all hand held as the crew just follows him around from bar to bar and locale to locale, so the normal problems arise with the image (out of focus, fuzzy, etc.). There isn’t a whole lot of artifacting or edge enhancement per se, but with any video-based source (as opposed to film), it looks a lot better on DVD than on broadcast television. But let’s face it, if you’re watching this for the video quality then you’re watching it for all the wrong reasons. No major complaints here as it looks pretty darn good.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio, like the video, is no major accomplishment here. Parts are hard to hear as in a crowded bar, well, there’s a lot of “other” noise going on. The show is set up, though, with guests and though it’s on location, the dialogue is fairly understandable. A Dolby Surround mix is all that’s used (and needed) here and don’t expect it to blow the lid off your system, because it won’t. Quite frankly it represents the soundtrack very accurately, just as it does when it airs. Again, no complaints here and viewers will be more than satisfied with the way it sounds on DVD.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I think I remember saying how funny an audio commentary with Attell would be. Well, the Comedy Central DVD God’s must have been listening because we have four of them on this two-disc set! Each is about the same, but with a rather sober Attell narrating (and Director), we get some of the scoop on each of the cities that has a track associated with it (Boise, Austin, Charleston and Las Vegas). Though entertaining and such, we do get a lot of background on the shoots, location and the people involved with the scenes (both behind and in front of the camera). All in all, a welcome addition to the set. Additionally, there are some deleted scenes that were left out for, let’s say, a reason. While I wouldn’t have thought twice about them, I’m not running the show. Any way you cut it, the second season of “Insomniac” is twice as good in as many senses of the word. Recommended.
