March 10, 2008

Whether you are a fan of the current political regime or all about protesting the war in Iraq (while supporting the troops of course) there is no denying the abundant fodder coming out of Washington D.C. these past 7 years for stand-up comedians, late night talk show hosts, and even the producers over at Comedy Central. I can’t imagine the new face of television once we have a new leader in the White House. Lewis Black, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert (and their writers) might just start having to "work", since George Bush will no longer be generously donating his life to their cause.

And what about shows like Lil’ Bush, a series totally based on our 43rd president and just about every other significant political figure in the past 20 years? Season 2, which begins its run later this week, has at least one good year left in it, and to celebrate the new season Comedy Central is releasing Lil' Bush: Season One - The Invasion Begins [Uncensored] on DVD.

Lil’ Bush takes poking fun at our president to a whole new and original level with the concept of making George and everyone else in Washington lil' kids. Lil' George and his Lil' White House posse, including Lil' Condi, Lil' Rummy and that unintelligible, foulmouthed wisecracker, Lil' Cheney are all cleverly designed as charming bobble-head caricatures with just enough subtle facial details and animations that you instantly know who these characters are, even if they are now at an age where they should be hanging out with the gang from South Park.

Originally created as a series of 5-minute shorts for Amp’d Mobile, but not the cause of their demise, the episodes were expanded to fill in the coveted timeslot between South Park and Jon Stewart on Wednesday nights. The show took off from there and here we are...between season. Created by Donick Cary, who has also done some writing for The Simpsons and Letterman, expect a lot of irreverent humor, both of a political and adult nature; something the uncensored DVD allows you to experience fully.

The setting for the show is like some awkward time paradox where we have modern day events taken right from the headlines, but George Bush Sr. is still President and Barbara is still the First Lady. Lil’ George attends Beltway Elementary School with his close friends, Lil' Condi, Lil' Rummy and, Lil' Cheney. This provides plenty of comical opportunities to introduce other political characters like Lil’ Bill, who is first seen hitting on two girls at lunch when Lil’ Hillary storms into the cafeteria. These are just two members of the Lil Dems, who also count Barack Obama, Lil’ Al Gore, Lil’ John Kerry, Lil’ Nancy Pelosi in their numbers. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t take that much suspension of disbelief to see all these multi-age characters from all over the country all attending the same grade at the same school. Heck, even Lil’ Kim Jong-il makes the flight from North Korea every day for class, at least for one episode where a schoolyard brawl could start a nuclear war.

Lil’ Bush Season One is broken down into 12 11-minute episodes which were shown two at a time to fill a 30-minute slot. Apparently Comedy Central hasn’t adopted the Aqua Teen, Robot Chicken 15-minute philosophy of Adult Swim yet or they could have stretched their first season out twice as long. It doesn’t really matter for the DVD, and with a total running time of about 130 minutes you’ll probably watch the entire season in a single sitting, although you probably should spread it out. Lil' Bush is definitely better in lil' installments.

The episodes poke fun at just about every facet of the current political situation, and even though George Sr. is running the country Lil’ George seems to have full run over the White House and Oval Office. A lot of the humor is completely visual such as the missile launcher and oil pumps in the backyard of the White House or the sign outside the school that says something new every time you see it – an homage to the church sign in The Simpsons no doubt.

So what does Lil’ George and his gang of Lil’ friends do for 12 episodes? In a show dealing with immigration, when asked to do chores Lil’ George finds it is far easier to hire a Mexican to do the work for him. And when Lil’ George and his crew head off to summer camp they stumble upon a rival camp run by Al Qaeda, which prompts the ultimate panty raid.

When Lil’ George needs to find the perfect Father’s Day gift he and the gang enlist in the Army and go to Iraq to spend time in the magical Green Zone. Another episode has everyone competing to get their first kiss. Lil’ George is hot for Lil’ Laura while Cheney runs rampant in the girls locker room before sealing the deal with Barbara Bush. Lil’ Condi, who is crushing on George, actually wins the contest but with whom is the real shocker.

Lil’ Tony Blair makes an appearance in an episode that equates being British with homosexuality, not as a rule but through George Sr. and Barbara’s own misconceptions with Tony’s quaint mannerisms. Lil’ Al Gore is still predicting the end of the world through global warming, even in his grade school presentation. Using a time machine built from LEGO’s he takes Lil’ George and the gang into the future (not before stopping for free ice cream) where melting polar ice has turned the world into a giant “water park”. Now, Lil’ George is more determined that ever to stop Lil’ Al and wreck his Lil’ Live Earth Concert.

One thing that impressed me was the music. In nearly every episode there is a short music video where Lil’ George’s band performs some relevant musical number complete with crazy costumes and funky animations that pay tribute to the style we saw in cartoons like Josie and the Pussycats. Sometimes these performances are integrated right into the story such as the Lil’ Live Earth episode or the Walter Reed episode. And you’ll be surprised by the long list of influential alternative rockers that are grabbing the mic to provide guest voices, including Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Jeff Tweedy, Colin Meloy, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Dave Grohl.

The Lil’ Bush Season One DVD comes with a few noteworthy extras including a “lost episode” that was created for backup purposes. The regular series had an episode where Lil’ Cheney had a heart attack, died, and went to hell, where it turned out he was more twisted and evil that Satan who had to send him back. It was very reminiscent of the Saddam/Satan South Park conflict without the whole gay lover relationship. Anyway, when the real Cheney ended up in the hospital it was decided that this particular episode would be in poor taste if he should really die, so the creators whipped up an episode entitled Walter Reed (just in case), that you can now watch for the first time on this DVD.

Every episode has full commentary by the cast and creators, and there are even secondary guest commentaries for select episodes with noted figures like Jerry Springer, Ralph Nader, and Tucker Carlson. These commentaries offered some interesting insight into the show as well as some additional humor. There were a few episodes I enjoyed more with commentary than without. There are also some interviews with the cast and creators as well as an animated tour of the White House conducted by Lil' George.

Lil’ Bush Season One DVD is shown uncensored, which means you get to hear at least one F-Bomb come out of the mouth of Lil’ George just after George Sr. tells him the story of how he created Barbara from the assembled body parts of past dead presidents. There are some adult visual sight gags, mostly the Red Hot Chile Peppers gag where the Lil’ Bush band appears wearing nothing but socks, leaving the real band totally naked with Lil’ Al Gore trapped in the future. There is also a humorous scene after the Al Qaeda panty raid where the terrorists are chasing them out of the camp with little black sensor bars dangling between their legs, so the DVD isn’t totally uncensored but then again, do we really want to see animated genitalia.

The only problem I had with this DVD was trying to watch it all in a single sitting. Obviously, when you take a show that was targeted for 5-minute mini-episodes on a cell phone and expand it to 11 minutes (x2) for weekly TV, the stories and ideas are bouncing all over the place and it becomes hard to keep track of plots and events. After I was done watching the entire DVD I had trouble recalling more than a few memorable moments. Lil’ Bush is definitely something meant to be consume in small doses, or at least with friends and a lot of alcohol. It makes a great party DVD, especially if that party is democratic.

Filmmaking: 8
Lil’ Bush definitely falls into the classification of lowbrow political satire sprinkled with a few moments of pure genius. After 7 years of having to deal with the reality of having Bush in the Whitehouse I’m getting pretty tired of all the impersonations and comedy bits, but Lil’ Bush takes on this tired material from a new and fresh perspective that will appeal to whatever sense of humor we have left at this point, because frankly, it we can’t laugh at this lame duck president we’d all be crying or moving to Canada.

Graphics: 8
Much like South Park, Lil’ Bush comes with its own unique sense of artistic style and animation. By modern standards the show is quite primitive yet revels in its own stylish charm where each character has just enough subtle details and mannerisms that you can identify who they are even before they are introduced. It's very much like those "Metallica vs. Napster" Camp Chaos Flash animations that were out a few years ago on the Internet. There is just as much humor and social commentary in the scenery and various signs. The “No Child Left Behind” Abortion Clinic was brilliant and you need to read the sign outside of Beltway Elementary every time it appears on screen.

Sound: 8
Lil’ Bush comes blasting out your home theater setup with a Dolby Digital mix that sounds good for most of the show and gets even better when the Lil’ Bush band starts to rock the house. The musical numbers not only have great music mixes, the lyrics are witty, engaging, and full of political insight and irreverent humor.

Value: 8
The Season One DVD retails for $19 but you can find it for about $15 in discount stores or purchase it online at the Comedy Central store for $5.49 and get an exclusive "Unstupidable" magnet FREE. Admittedly, the sum of all the episodes is just a little longer than a feature film, but you will definitely want to watch all the shows over again with the various commentaries. And a few years down the road when this current presidency is all but a distant bad memory, you can pop this DVD in and hopefully laugh some more.

Overall: 8.2
This was one of the more difficult reviews I’ve done lately. We are beaten over the head daily with bad news from Washington and then late night TV and comedians bulk up their routines with anti-Bush material to the point where many of us just want to forget. When I first started watching the Lil’ Bush Season One DVD I thought, “here we go again”. I mean; I already have enough reasons to dislike George W. Bush without a 12-part animated series telling me more, but the creators managed to burrow through my shell of political indifference and tug at what little sense of political humor I had left. You might have to watch a couple of the shows more than once before they find their mark, but overall Lil’ Bush is a fresh approach to stale material that is guaranteed to make you laugh…eventually.