Search - Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series on DVD

Fantastic, long awaited show, a few disappointments with the

Matthew Wilkinson | SLC, UT | 05/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So I've been awaiting these DVDs forever, ever since the show was cancelled, and I've had them for a little over a month now. I had my pre-order in since the day it was available, and for the most part I could not be happier. The show still holds up today, despite all the great shows that have popped us since then, it still holds its own. The main actors play their characters amazingly well with all of their quirks and intricacies. A very funny, extremely well written, and tragically short-lived piece of comedy genius.



But enough about the show, by now you either know if you will like it or not I hope, what I really wanted to talk about is the DVDs. Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad these are out and I don't have to keep watching my downloaded copies on my computer screen, but I do have a couple gripes.



First off, the picture is cropped down from the original. Like Pan & Scan in reverse. Instead of cutting down a widescreen image to fit an old-style squarish TV screen, they cut down the original squarish picture of the TV show to fit today's widescreen TVs. So the bottom part of the original image and sometimes the top are chopped off. Not a huge problem, because obviously it was done in a way where you can still see what's going on all the time, but a bit annoying having about a third of the picture missing.



Secondly, (something that "N. Smith" touched on a little) is that some of the original music from the series was changed. Instrumental snippets of songs like "Teenage Riot" by the Ataris and "Cyclone" by the Dub Pistols were used to great effect in some episodes but now they've been replaced by generic pieces of music that convey vaguely the same feeling. Most people won't miss them, but it's just something I noticed while watching. The music that was specifically written for the show is great on its own, the other songs just added to that.



So there you go, a couple things that I didn't like, but which by no means drop this to less than a must-buy for me. 5 Stars, no doubt.



"Wow, we're really making a killing. Can't wait to go home, put on seven aprons and a couple of wigs and enjoy a highball out of a chipped State Bird glass.""