Plot: What’s it about?
Man, do I ever love the 21st Century! I mean really, where else do shows like South Park and The Man Show get aired, but they air on the same network! In this, the “new” millennium, the rules really don’t mean squat. TNN has just been renamed “The network for Men”. Try that in the politically correct 90’s. But, of course, it’s ok if women have their Lifetime and Oxygen networks…right? So this brings us to the DVD in question – The Man Show. Created by two “men” among men, Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, the show is everything that men want to see and that women don’t. Granted, it still does air on cable, so the censors do have their say; but nevertheless it’s a show for “us” (men). Though the show didn’t last that long, it did get quite popular during it’s time. Kimmel has gone onto his own show and is clearly enjoying the more success of the two, but at the time Carolla was co-host of the MTV call-in show Loveline. The aforementioned show took calls and with the help of a psychiatrist by the name of “Dr. Drew”; they attempted to solve the problems of teens across America. Though we don’t really know how many of the calls were actually real and which ones weren’t.
In any case, The Man Show is just that. It starts out with clips of a woman losing her dress and standing in a yard in a garter belt and bra. How nice. Beer is constantly chugged both by the hosts, audience members and Ziggy Sokky (who can down whole beers in one fail swoop). The show has no real plot to it. It’s just a series of sketches and interviews either with or starring the hosts to try and exploit how dumb some people are (mainly women) or they’re leading us on under the guise that we’ll see women on trampolines (which we do…every episode). While the guys make no attempt to hide their chauvinism; we (the audience) can only revel in it. And though it’s not the greatest show on television, it’s something that’s entertaining. Do I like The Man Show? Yes. Do I use it as a reference guide as to how to live my life and treat women? No. But maybe I should. In any case, if you’re looking for some good old fashioned fun, plenty of beer chugging (to make your alcoholism seem less raging) and enough cleavage to last a lifetime; then make sure and turn in. What’s most surprising though, is that both of these guys are married. No one said life was fair…
Video: How does it look?
The video for The Man Show is about what can be expected. Though not a glossy, filmed television show like Friends this is taped in front of an ever-present audience and the picture quality is about on par with what we see on Comedy Central. Some of the artifacts aren’t really seen as much as when the episodes air and the level of detail is a bit sharper than what we’d expect as well. But let’s be real honest here, you’re not going to be influenced that much by how this looks (or sounds) if you’re a fan of this show. The women all look tan and airbrushed and if its seeing those slender women bouncing in bikinis, then worry not; as you can see most every jiggle of whatever they have that jiggles. So on that note…
Audio: How does it sound?
The sound is about what we might expect too. The Dolby Surround track is good enough to get all the gags across and still sound good. At a few times I heard the surrounds kick in, but they’re matrixed and it did sound a bit fake. Still, the dialogue is very clear with no signs of distortion. I did manage to catch an episode of this between the time I watched the disc and the time that I wrote this review and the two sound nearly identical. Kick ass sound, like the video, will do almost nothing to keep you from buying this box set.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The back of the box might be a bit misleading in that it lists a whole slew of supplements. Though, by watching the episodes I couldn’t really find that much supplemental material. Most of the supplements are found within the actual episodes. I could be wrong, or maybe I was playing “Ziggy Sokky…” by myself too much! In any regard, there are some never-before-seen clips of Jimmy and his son, some monkeys telling jokes, Karl Malone tells his viewpoints on some very choice issues and we get some household tips from real-life adult film stars (yes, really). Though I feel some commentary tracks would have been the icing on the cake, there are none here. Regardless, the set is here and for all “real men”; it’s out there for you to buy. And, let’s not forget…”Ziggy Sokky, Ziggy Sokky, Hoy! Hoy! Hoy!”
