I’ve never really been a fan of the reality series glut. Most are cheaply produced shows that do no more than appeal to the voyeuristic tendencies of the humans race’s least intelligent TV viewers. Occasionally these shows have a little something going for them, like contests and the like (making them a little bit more ‘game show’ in appearance), but mostly they show people at their worst behavior. Shows like The Real World put several people into a household and let them go at each other in (allegedly) unscripted arguments, cheap shots and sexual encounters. Generally these people are the losers of humanity who haven’t the talent or brains to do something with their lives that doesn’t include exhibitionism. That is why one of my favorites of the newer crop of reality shows is one that blatantly makes fun of the whole genre, while making fun of the varied world of animation styles. This series is called “Drawn Together”, and it is getting ready to start its 3rd season on Comedy Central next month.

The show takes characters from all walks of animated life and puts them together in one household. For all the reasons stated above. The characters include Captain Hero, who is as his name implies, is a superhero. He’s also a super-jerk, a super-womanizer, and a super-drinker. Then there’s Princess Clara (a Disney-like fairy tale princess), Foxxy Love (the sassy bisexual crime fighting rock star a la “Josie and the Pusstcats”), Toot Braunstein (a Betty Boop look-alike - whose manic-depressive and bloated black & white character is prone to flashing and cutting herself with razor blades), Ling-Ling (a crazed version of Pikachu), Spanky Hamm (the gross and disgusting character downloaded from the Internet), Wooldir Sockbat (think SpongeBob Squarepants) and Xandir (the effeminate video game hero on an endless quest to save his girlfriend… or maybe its his boyfriend…).

What really caught my attention about the series was the fact that the writers didn’t give a whit about how far they went or who they offended. The jokes ranged from overt lesbianism between the female characters (including a nifty little Disney like song about it), to extremely racist and sexist remarks from the various characters about the other characters. They flash body parts as easily as they make poop and fart jokes. Everything about the show screams non-political correctness and I found myself… well… drawn to it. I LOVE non-political correctness, and not because it offends people, but people are stupid (and bored) enough to BE offended by it. I can’t help but laugh at anyone who gets offended by anything.

Paramount is releasing the 2nd season on DVD this month, and it is every bit as gross and disgusting as the first season… perhaps even a little it more. The first season only had 7 episodes, but this one offers up 15 and each and every one offered levels of offensiveness that rivaled some episode of “South Park”… but just barely. And to make matters worse (better?), the episodes in this set are uncensored… so when the characters are nekkid, there aint' no fuzzy blocks over their… uhhh… parts.

As for extra features on the 2nd season DVD, Paramount delivered some that were very worthwhile. There are commentaries on 4 of the episodes, all of which are pretty funny… and oddly informative. Even stranger is that the commentary on one of the episodes was so awesome, they decided to adda commentary on the commentary. Uhhh… yeah… Best of all, there are a bunch of behind the scenes interviews with most of the voice actors. Often you don’t get to see the face behind the voice so this is especially fun. Additionally, for all you American Idol wannabes, there's a karaoke feature that allows you to sing along with such great tunes as "S*** Sandwich."

“Drawn Together” Season 2” is about as offensive as a show can get, but only to the aforementioned ‘Intellectually Challenged’ folks out there. Those of us with an I.Q. above 100 will understand and undoubtedly laugh heartily at this highly creative series.

Episodes:
The One Wherein There is a Big Twist, Part 2
Foxxy vs. the Board of Education
Little Orphan Hero
Captain Hero's Marriage Pact
Clum Babies
Ghostesses in the Slot Machine
Super Nanny
Terms of Endearment
Captain Girls
A Tale of Two Cows
Xandir and Tim, Sitting in a Tree
The Lemon-AIDS Walk
A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special
Alzheimer's That Ends Well
The Drawn Together Clip Show

Extras: Audio Commentary, Karaoke Sing Along, Potentially Annoying Commentary on Commentary, Behind the Scenes Interviews
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 9/25/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR (But Contains Sexual Content and Coarse Language)
Website
Website

We'll give Drawn Together: Season 2 an A.