Danger 5

Season 1 of Danger 5 may be the most perfectly executed comedy show in TV history. The minds that came up with this concept are genius's. The outrageous black humour is just enough without being being too offensive. Ilsa speaks Russian but everyone can understand her. Hitler and the rest of his henchmen are portrayed as cartoon baddies. Danger 5's boss is an Eagle. When featured characters die they always give a drink recipe. I have watched each episode dozens of times, it never gets old. I wish I could say the same for season 2. The edge they had in Season 1 was rounded off to an absurd degree. It was almost like the Best Boy on the first season became the director but didn't understand what made the first season so good.

I absolutely love this show. It's witty and clever and right on the nose. The model car and plane fight scenes put the hilarious camp over the top but it remains interesting and the novelty of the 60s TV show theme is not quick to grow stale. I know people who don't like this show for various reasons and I certainly think that you have to have the right sense of humor for it, but when you do, its a total riot. The second season is not quite as appealing to me as it takes a turn for the random more often than not but I see its merits and it still has me laughing often enough. I think that this is one of the most underrated shows of all time and cannot recommend the first season enough If you don't like it by the first two episodes however, it will probably never appeal to you.

I just got my Danger 5 patch in the mail the other day.

If you aren't watching this series you have to ask yourself, why do I even have eyes? Because if you aren't using them to watch this then you are doing it wrong. Natzis(sp), dinosaurs, babes, guns, puppets, international intrigue, it has it all.

In all seriousness it is a loving send-up of a dozen different genre's and eras that on paper looks like it would be a disaster but by some miracle it is amazing. The cast is totally committed to the insane plot while never winking at the camera. The writing is totally beside the point since the story is only exists to serve the various set pieces. Worth watching alone because it isn't anything like what you've seen before.

The ridiculousness of this show is on a whole other level. This show looks and feels as though it was shot in the 70s. There's nazi dinosaurs, power ranger style mech robots, corrupt police dogs, mind control crystals and the lost city of atlantis. At one point they shoot someone through the telephone. All of the special effects are done with dolls or miniatures and make to look as intentionally corny as possible. The entire premise of the show revolves around killing Hitler, something they fail to do constantly and make mediocre accomplishments, usually foiling hitlers current hare brained plans while he escapes unscathed to plot again.

The humor in this show centers not so much around punchlines or jokes but the sheer absurdity of what is going on. At one point Hitler goes into hiding in a high school and danger 5 has to go undercover, 21 jump street style. Somehow every character who dies lives conveniently long enough to describe their perfect drink to the bartender dude in detail so he can make it to honor their memory. Ilsa speaks exclusively in Russian which makes no difference to the fact that everyone seems to understand her and respond in English as if she was speaking the same language. And every episode ends in one of those bond-esque cocktail parties, until the episode when they start doing cocaine and then its basically a cracked out version of their usual cocktail parties. Everything is so, like, groovy man.

Reminiscent of "A Fistful of Yen" (from Kentucky Fried Movie) and looking like "Mighty Morphing Power Rangers," "Danger 5" succeeds at one of TV and movie making's toughest goals; making a deliberately bad production that doesn't overshoot the mark.

"These two are part of a team the Allies put together to irritate me."-Adolf Hitler in "Danger 5."

Japanese Super Soldiers with swastikas on their helmets.

Armed dinosaurs.

A gold plated Panzer tank.

All this and more, played straight and at a pace that would challenge the focus of a 30 Rock fan. Doesn't seem funny out of context? That's the genius of "Danger 5." The context is hallucinogenic and yet the stories have a peculiar coherence that allow Eagle-headed commanding officers to seem both reasonable and laugh out loud funny.

Like I said, don't try to make sense of it. But watch a few episodes and there's a good chance you'll create your own way of "getting it." And if it doesn't make you laugh, for goodness sakes don't watch, because there's no "deeper meaning" in "Danger 5."