The Venture Bros.

This action-comedy spoof of sixties Johnny Quest-style super-science, evil nemeses, and supernatural happenings is by far, the best original Adult Swim program to date. The story follows The Venture family, Dr. Venture, a forty-something pill-popping scientist who never managed to step out from his father's shadow, his two sons, Hank and Dean (both rather Leave it to Beaver-like in their refusal to swear and constant wearing of sweaters and pants), Brock Samson, their James-Bond-on-steroids bodyguard who apparently works part-time for the office of secret intelligence and refuses to carry a gun, favoring of his serrated bowie knife. Most of the hilarity stems from The Monarch, the self-declared arch-nemesis of the Venture family, a weaver of ridiculously circuitous plans against them, an employer of hilariously incompetent henchmen, and a man who harbors an unhealthy obsession with monarch butterflies and an over-wrought sense of self-importance. His melodrama usually falls on the deaf ears of his girlfriend, Dr. Girlfriend, who, in complete contrast to the Monarch, is professional, take-charge, and inexplicably husky-voiced. The cast of supporting characters is of equal quality, including a well-meaning but dim-witted robot named Helper, a necromancer renting out the Venture family's garage apartment named Dr. Byron Orpheus (doctorate in communications, minor in women's studies), whose propensity towards unnecessarily dramatic changes in pitch and dire warnings of disruptions in the spirit world offer the Monarch's only competition in the melodrama department. Baron Underbheit, the tyrannical and oppressive ruler of Underland, who sports an Arnold-like accent, enormous (and anatomically complimentary) armor, and a metal lower jaw, is another arch-nemesis of the Venture family, blaming Dr. Venture's inattentiveness when they were college lab partners for the loss of his jaw. There's a myriad of others, ranging from fake ghost pirates to the forbidden love of a fugitive and a sasquatch. Check it out; you won't be disappointed.

This is a favorite of mine on adult swim, but then there are only a few shows they make I don't care for. This one is sort of a Johnny Quest and other cartoon's of that era parody, but it isn't just a parody cartoon. It is also one of the few shows that adult swim makes that is not just a short fifteen minute show, but a full fledged half hour one so it usually has time to set up a hilarious plot each and every time. The characters are great as Dean and Hank Venture anchor the show and the father and his body guard Brock Sampson are definitely the super funny ones. Then there are the villains, most notably the Monarch, there has never been a character on film who was more evil and diabolical ever presented. Seriously, this show is great...if they aren't fighting the Monarch they are tackling the mystery's of the sea, going to arctic bases where a sort of fantastic four family lives, and having the occasional yard sale where even the arch enemies are welcome. For pure comedy entertainment look no further than the Venture Bros...GO TEAM VENTURE.

In the 1950s and '60s, the heady space age was fully upon us. Sweeping, magnificent Art Deco buildings and designs were all the rage. New manufacturing techniques meant that the rectangle was out; circles and curves were in. We looked forward to flying cars, commercial passenger flights to the moon, moving sidewalks, and push-button automation everywhere. The future never looked brighter (not to mention cleaner) and much of the media of the time wasted no opportunity to remind us of this. Common examples of the period include just about any James Bond film, the Flint movies, and animated series such as The Jetsons and Jonny Quest.

Forty years and two very cynical, jaundiced eyes later, we now have The Venture Bros., which liberally and hilariously skewers the, shall we say, irrational exuberance of the times. The most obvious target is Jonny Quest, but little from the period escapes the series writers' acerbic wit.

Son of Jonas Venture, Dr. Venture is sort of how you might expect Jonny Quest to have grown up -- forever living in the shadow of his father's greatness, leaving him insecure, sarcastic, and in a semi-permanent state of midlife crisis. Alas, Dr. Venture's own brilliance was not passed on to his boys, Hank and Dean Venture, who are in all major respects self-absorbed, easily distracted, and not too swift. In other words, normal adolescent boys. They are watched over by their hired bodyguard, Brock Samson, a chain-smoking seen-it-all paramilitary type from the Office of Secret Intelligence, whose extraordinary competence and calm under pressure is exceeded only by his -- as another poster put it -- relentless brutality.

The Venture Bros. is full of the obvious jokes (dim-witted villains surrounded by even dimmer-witted henchmen), but it also makes funny observations about the incongruity of its inspirational sources.

Example: Like Dr. Benton Quest, Dr. Venture is a super-scientist, making advanced gadgetry as easily as we might make a TV dinner. But what do you do when your lab becomes crammed with unwanted or no-longer-interesting inventions? Yup. Hold a yard sale. Try not to be surprised when all your arch-nemeses show up.

Another example: In episode three, we are asked to cast our minds back to the 1970's series The Six Million Dollar Man and wonder: What were Steve Austin and Sasquatch *really* doing chasing each other through the woods?

The music in Venture Bros. is also magnificent -- not just the signature tune, which takes its roots from the brassy modern jazz of the period, but also the background music throughout the episode. The music's sheer bombast is a perfect complement for the overblown, exaggerated characters, especially the villains.

Though a bit uneven in its execution -- it might actually benefit from being shorter -- there's plenty of funny stuff here to keep modern cynics laughing out loud.

If you grew up watching Johnny Quest get ready to bust a gut on this one, and it's hilarious even if you didn't. Every cliché is ripped through like bodyguard Brock Samson going through henchmen. There's even a scene in there of him painted purple like Aqizio, and watching him snap is always a highlight of the show. The Brothers, Dean and Hank, rather then being Wonder Boys, are the complete opposite of Johnny Quest, and are a couple of goobs, regular teens, who take all the Super Science in stride. Dr. Venture himself is something of a failure in life, and yet he is the envy of all the other Super Scientists, because he has so many Arch-Enemies. The show is outstanding, though there is room for improvement. Some of the gags in the first season are hit and miss, but when they hit, they hit you like like Brock Samson! So there is sure to be a second season. Now grab the handle and push the button. Go Team Venture!

The longest running show in Adult Swim history, and they won't even give it a proper ending. Way to honer your base, you disgusting P'sOS. It's a really rich show with so many areas to explore. We need a final season.