If you already know that ATHF is the acronym for the Adult Swim series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” then chances are you’ve already seen an episode or two. Luckily, with the nonsensical humor involved in ATHF, two episodes are all you need to decide if you’re a fan or not. It’s hit-or-miss, depending on just how much nonsense you can take, and the fifth season DVD of Adult Swim is pushing no exception.
Simply put, established fans are going to love what they’re getting, while first timers might just hurt themselves searching for any semblance of plot or continuity. Even though the fans don’t come for plot or continuity.
“Aqua Teen Hunger Force 5,” or simply “5” as it is being marketed, does include two of the best episodes in the series to date. The episode “Hand Banana,” where Meatwad creates a dog from Shake’s genetic material, only to have it constantly rape his neighbor Carl, has a surprising amount of laugh-out-loud moments in just a 15-minute span. If any of that sounded appealing to someone who doesn’t follow the series, I seriously suggest you give ATHF a chance.
Of course, you could probably just look for “Hand Banana” on YouTube, but ATHF’s fifth season DVD also includes the uncensored version of the “Dickesode.” Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Poor Carl gets his penis ripped off. There are also many scenes with mass amounts of penises including piles, buildings, necklaces and rockets. Originally when the show aired, these things were censored with colored blocks. In the season 5 DVD, you can see the original artistic vision of the “Dickesode” – unfiltered glory and appreciation of the male form.
The uncensored “Dickesode” is a good representative of all the special features on the DVD. That is to say, most of it can be funny, if not totally unnecessary. It’s funny to watch a woman of at least 60, mutter about her top magically disappearing behind the scenes as she records the lines for her animated counterpart, but you may never find yourself bored enough to sit through it.
There is also an episode of “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” entitled “Chambraigne” thrown into the special features, which is cool to see for the veterans of Cartoon Network’s late night lineup.
The best of the special features is probably Tera Patrick eating a hot dog while recording her lines, but that’s probably only because she’s a popular porn star. It’s a rudimentary equation: Porn star + hot dog = a few minutes of your time well spent.
Well-spent time aside, you can pick up the DVD for $24 to $30, depending on where you buy it or if you purchase it in time to take advantage of current sales. It’s worth the cash for hardcore fans, especially if you’re adding to an already existing collection of the past four seasons.
If you’re the type who weighs a DVD’s worth on extra content and special features, you might find yourself disappointed. In some ways, the box set as a whole seems thrown together, but that does keep in the spirit of each and every episode of ATHF. Production value is not usually an issue when it comes to the fans of this show.
The majority of casual fans will probably want to skip a purchase, but those desperate enough to fork over $30 for their ATHF fix will be more than satisfied with the fifth season of Meatwad, Master Shake and Frylock.
