The Henry Rollins Show: Season One

Plot: What’s it about?

There was a time about fifteen years ago when I had “borrowed” a CD from my brother only to find that he had a track of Henry Rollins on there. No, it wasn’t his music (Rollins Band), but a segment called “The Virtues of Black Sabbath”. I can only assume that it was from a stand up performance but it was quite possibly one of the funniest things I’d ever heard. I’d heard of Rollins but never really knew much more than that. This little segment opened my eyes to how extremely intelligent Rollins is. He’s not performing on a regular basis anymore, rather he’s now got his own talk show on the Independent Film Channel and I jumped at the chance to watch it on DVD. In the age of talk shows, it seems that everyone has had one (or will) but very few offer the unique insights that Rollins’ does. First off, there’s a lot more of an edge to his show. He starts off with a rant (usually having something to do with George Bush or the Republicans in general) called “Teeing Off”, then a guest and then a musical performance. That’s a lot for a 30 minute show. But if works.

This first season gets off with a band when Rollins’ first guest is none other than Oliver Stone. Stone, no stranger to controversy himself, gets the mood established quickly and Rollins probes him about his then new movie, “World Trade Center”. Other guests this season include Jeff Bridges, Bill Maher, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Kevin Smith and Billy Bob Thornton just to name a few. I’m willing to bet there’ll never be a Brittany Spears interview and that’s good enough for me. Rollins is intelligent enough to discuss current issues and has the leisure of being on the IFC to say what he thinks. The guests do this as well and all four letter words are certainly intact. I personally loved this show and will probably make an effort to watch the new season. Henry Rollins is a counter-culture choice for the host of a talk show but again, it works.

Video: How does it look?

As expected, all of the episodes are presented in a full frame ratio. The show is broadcast on the IFC which isn’t available in HD (in my area, at least) but it’s of no consequence. I noticed no blemishes in the transfer and the look and feel of the set is very dark. Edge enhancement isn’t a problem in the least and I’d be hard pressed to really find anything wrong with the way this looks. I’m willing to bet that this looks as good as or better than when it broadcasts on TV. Suffice it to say that this is a very faithful representation of the show and how it looks.

Audio: How does it sound?

There’s no Dolby Digital EX or even a 5.1 track here, just a basic stereo mix which is more than enough to get the job done. Rollins is very well-spoken and all of his words come through clear and clean. There are really no ambient effects to note and the only time the sound really comes through is during the musical performances (which sound excellent, by the way). Like the video, you’ll know what to expect when you pop these discs in.

Supplements: What are the extras?

If there are any extras, I couldn’t find them. What you get is a three disc set that contains all twenty episodes from the first season and that’s about it.