Robot Chicken, Season 1
Take the stop-motion animated toy action ofKablam!and the pell-mell-paced gag barrage of, say,Laugh-Inand you've got the fast and furiously funnyRobot Chicken, the addictive addition to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night lineup. Co-created by geek-God Seth Green and filmmaker Matthew Senreich,Robot Chickenepisodes run a scant 12 minutes or so, which invites repeat viewings to catch what you missed during the channel-flipping mayhem through TV, movie, and commercial parodies, and non-sequitur blackouts, all acted out by dolls and action figures. To truly appreciate this series, it helps to have aFamily Guygrasp on pop-culture trivia, although you need not remember the failed TV seriesTwo Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Placeto enjoy "Two Kirks (Admiral James T. and Cameron), a Khan and a Pizza Place." Suffice to say, if you grew up with the Transformers, Voltron, He-Man, and the Care Bears, you'll cackle loudly atRobot Chicken. Each episode is hit and miss, with moments that border on mad genius, such asThe Diary of Anne Frankre-imagined as a vehicle for Hilary Duff, or a sketch involving the Tooth Fairy and a little boy whose happiness is short-lived as his parents brutally bicker off camera. It may just live up to its billing as "the darkest sketch in television history."Other moments to remember: actress Rachael Leigh Cook (voiced by herself) gets carried away during a "This is your brain on heroin" PSA; the shape-shifting superhero adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; a popsicle-stick adaptation ofDebbie Does Dallas; and aBehind the Musicdevoted to Muppet house band the Electric Mayhem.Robot Chicken's coolness cache extends to its voice cast, including Sarah Michelle Gellar,Family Guycreator Seth McFarlane, Mark Hamill, and Macauley Culkin. This two-disc set hatches a wealth of archival goodies, including deleted scenes and "animatics," behind-the-scenes footage of animation meetings, and alternate audio takes.Robot Chickenis a fowl ball!--Donald Liebenson