Home Movies

Although, like many of the posters here, my girlfriend thinks this is the worst show on TV, I can't get enough of it. We get it every night here on teletoon. It does take a bit of getting used to as the show is dialogue based, but it is easily as clever as anything you will see on any episode of Sienfeld. The producer/writer must be a big movie buff as well, because the movies Brendan makes are often parodies of famous movies. There's a lot to enjoy about this show. Why people are so down on it, I'll never know. I say, give it a chance. The early episodes, shot in "squiggle vision" are actually funnier than the newer ones. The animation does take a bit of getting used to, but I don't feel it detracts from the basic genius of the writing.

I love almost every episode of this series. The characters are all great and I always get a good laugh out of watching the show. Of course, if I had to pick a favorite character it would have to be the soccer coach Jon McGuirk, but all of them are great...I also like the character of Jason a bunch too. The show revolves around this kid who makes his own movies in his basement. Simple, yet effective. They also show scenes on the soccer team, where the McGuirk coached bunch loses nearly every game. Just a nice, funny show to watch.

I came late to "Home Movies" - I never saw the UPN season because I don't pay any attention to network television. And I knew (somehow) that it was in "Squigglevision", which was one aspect of "Dr Katz" which I really didn't care for. However, I happened to catch a couple of episodes on the "Adult Swim" segment of the Cartoon Network a year ago and was instantly charmed by the quirky humor, whimsical plotting, and brilliant voice work by an (obviously) skeleton cast and crew and have spent the last few months catching up on the backlog via reruns on Cartoon Network and the collected DVD reissues of Seasons 1 and 2.

Folks, this is brilliant stuff which will sink right into your cortex if you give it half a chance. Saying that it's about an eight year old who make movies with his friends in his basement just doesn't do it justice. "Home Movies" is an elusive blend of Oscar Wilde style "comedy of manners", deadpan pop culture lampoon, childhood memoir, character study and multi-part acapella choir. It almost always manages to sustain a certain wistful, tender attitude towards its characters even in the middle of some truly hilarious dialog exchanges and slapstick physical comedy. That's not an easy thing to do.

About the actual animation: Season 1 is indeed cursed with "Squigglevision", a truly annoying design choice, but the eye eventually accepts it and gets on with enjoying the proceedings. And fortunately, by Season 2 the creators decided just to go with straightforward "Flash" style animation, and the remaining episodes are much easier to watch. The animation never rises above the level of "barebones minimalism", but it is effectively harnessed in service to the story and voice work. In fact, if you pay attention you soon realize that the artwork is quite sophisticated in terms of storyboards and layouts - the "camera" zooms and pans and sets establishing shots and even manages some moments of delicate mood and beauty. For comparison think of the old cheaply made "Hanna Barbera" cartoons from the 70's, 80's and 90's ("Yogi Bear", "Flintstones" after the first season, cookie cutter crap like "Wacky Races" and "Josie and the Pussycats"). In terms of storytelling sophistication and care, this animation style compared to that is like London Broil compared to a Big Mac.

My favorite episodes (that I've seen) are probably "Bye Bye Greasy" and "The Art Of The Sucker Punch", and "Marbles and Mortgages", which contain a mix of parody, slapstick, and character study which many full blown feature comedy movie releases can't match. Watch these episodes carefully (especially the parts where H. Jon Benjamin's "Coach McGuirk" is involved), and you will see an awesome mastery of comedic timing and superb delivery that Woody Allen might envy. It's not so much that the writing is tight (though it is inspired) - rather, the whole thing has a loose, improvised, inspired feel, where even the dead ends and misfires are used as a springboard for further hijinks and blandishments.

I don't know how well Small and his group of creators would have done with furthur episodes if "Home Movies" had gone past the fourth season. This kind of inspired inanity can have a very short "shelf life" as the pressure of constantly coming up with fresh scripts and performances weigh upon the creators. But man, while these guys were in the groove, they were GOOD. I plan to get the Season 3 collection as soon as it comes out, and will relish completing the viewing of every episode there-in. My thanks to Small and his co-creators for a wonderful series that has given me many hours of pure delight.

THis show is genius. The way that the characters interact with each other and the world is more real than any other show i have seen. Coach McGuirk is the greatest character ever created. He is so pathetic yet such a bad ass you can't help but laugh at him. Adult Swim only shows Home Movies once a week right now, but at least it's on at all. This is just my opinion , but the show is much better without Paula Poundstone playing Paula Small.Janine Ditullio just fits the part so well. H. Jon Benjamin, who plays the voice of Coach McGuirk ,also plays the voice of Jason. Jason is a candy fiending,stuck up slob that seems a bit slow. But he's very insightful when it comes to making movies. One of the most defining lines Brendon Small has is when he is playing the role of "Land-Stander" and says something along the lines of,"I just want to stand, on land." You feel so bad for the kid sometimes, but I can usually relate to him. Anyway, it comes as no surprise to find out that a lot of the show is made up on the spot as they go, which is probably one of the main reasons this show is so great. (and because it came from the mind of Brendon Small)

Home Movies was a Soup to Nuts production, released through Shout Factory and was originally intended to be shown on UPN after Dilbert & ended with on 5 or 6. Eventually, like most other IFC like cartoons, after a few years they found their way back to TV. Although only 4 seasons were made, this was a fun cartoon and when put with other Adult Swim cartoons which had a similar look, most notabley Futurama and Family Guy, made for a good 30 minute weeknight after Cartoon network show that the whole family could enjoy.

Overall, these were good, clever cartoons that remain pretty fresh and watchable today. It's a shame there weren't more made.