THE SERIES
Inspired by and based on characters from the book Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong, The Oblongs… is a grossly offensive, hilarious show that centers on the Oblong family; they live in The Valley section of Hill Valley, a toxic area downstream from your typical industrial waste site, in the shadow of the rich Hills. Obviously, the setting gives way to an array of bizarre physical and emotional abnormalities. The parents in this close-knit family are the loving, limbless, irrepressibly sunny Bob Oblong (Will Ferrell) and his adoring, alcohol-and-tobacco-addicted, sharp-tongued, bald-but-beautifully-wigged wife, Pickles (Jean Smart), who frequents the Rusty Bucket bar, owned by the transsexual Anita. The Oblong kids are: conjoined jock twin sons Biff and Chip (Randy and Jason Sklar), who share three legs and three buttocks, can't seem to agree on anything and are tough at home but losers everywhere else; younger son Milo (Pamela Segall Adalon), arguably the center of the show, is a single-haired optimist who has every childhood emotional disorder and behavioral problem ever diagnosed; the only-daughter is sweet, tattling, 4-year-old Beth (Jeannie Elias), who sports a cucumber-like growth sprouting from her head; and lastly, there is Milo's narcoleptic scottie dog, Scottie, and the chain-smoking family cat, Lucky. Other regulars in the series are Milo’s school-friends, the Debbies, various school staff, townspeople and Bob’s co-workers at Globocide. The show follows the abnormal Oblong clan as they cope with their shortcomings and deal with the indignities of being “different” in a ”normal” world. The Oblongs are not so much dysfunctional as slightly nonfunctional.

The series was created by author/artist Angus Oblong and writer/executive producer Jace Richdale (The Simpsons); executive producers that helped bring it to fruition are Bruce Helford and Deborah Oppenheimer, both of The Drew Carey Show, Norm and Nikki.

THE EPISODES
The show premiered April 1st, 2001, and was cancelled in October 2002. Sounds like a decent run, but in reality, the first season was only eight episodes, running till mid-May 2001, and when the series returned in the fall line-up in 2002, it only lasted five more episodes – for a total of 13. Every episode from the series is included in this set. They are presented in original airdate order: “Misfit Love,” “Narcoleptic Scottie,” “Milo Interrupted,” “Bucketheads,” “Heroine Addict,” “The Golden Child,” “Flush,” “Flush,” “Sweet Helga,” “Disfigured Debbie,” “Pickles' Little Amazons,” “Get Off My Back,” “Please Be Genital,” “My Name is Robbie” and “Father of the Bribe.”

SOUND AND VISUALS
All Episodes of The Oblongs… are presented in standard Full Screen (1.33:1) televised format. The only Sound track is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. English, Spanish and French subtitles are available, as are English Closed Captions. Overall, the show looks and sounds just as it did on TV – nothing new or shocking here.

PACKAGING AND LAYOUT
Though the series was originally aired on the WB (it’s actually a WB title), Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim division has more-or-less adopted The Oblongs… and made it popular. The packaging is identical to other Adult Swim releases: a tri-fold digipak holding both discs is housed in a cardboard case. Artwork from the show covers the set; brief episode and special features summaries are included within. Particularly cutely thematic is the radioactive symbol as artwork on the discs themselves. The standard Adult Swim and Warner Brothers adverts are included.

Main Menus for the discs feature the animated family and music. Choices are “Play,” “Episodes,” “Features” and “Languages.” All special features are on the 2nd disc.

The set runs for approximately 279 minutes; episodes are 21 – 22 minutes each and do not have chapter stops.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Considering this is a “complete twisted series” set, with no new episodes to look forward to, the bonus features are a bit lacking. There are two short featurettes and a slide show of art. I would have liked to see a commentary or two and maybe some deleted stuff. Here’s what you get:

• It’s an Oblong World – This brief featurette is a great backstory to the genesis of the show. Creators and cast members (minus Will Ferrell) participate in interviews that discuss the shows creation and underlying messages and themes; there are lots of clips from the show, rough animations, storyboard drawings and pictures from the original books to complement and round the feature out. Very interesting and fun to watch, despite its “typical” nature, this bit will entertain you for about 13 minutes. Of interesting note: Angus Oblong chose to have his identity concealed in order to protect his true identity from those who would use such information in their ongoing efforts to destroy the universe.
• The Art of the Oblongs – This 4½-minute featurette is an Angus Oblong-guided tour into the world of his artwork for the series. Featured here are some drawings of his, as well as footage of him drawing and sketching. It’s pretty cool, but seems way too short – I could have sat through more.
• An Oblong Picture Book – This is an automatic slide show of Oblong art. It plays to – what sounds like – Dixieland music and runs less than 3 minutes. Kind of cool, but also kind of pointless.

LEAVING THE VALLEY
The Oblongs… The Complete Twisted Series gives fans a chance to own all 13 episodes from the grossly offensive, hilariously twisted, short-lived animated series. Though the set has been on the shelves at Best Buy since mid-summer, it is now available for purchase everywhere. Fans of the show will surely want to invest the average $22 in the set, but beware – bonus features are skimpy. For those that haven’t seen the show, if you like other adult cartoons (South Park, Simpsons, etc.) you may dig this. Check it out.

DVD Series Score: B
DVD Series Sound + Vision: B
DVD Series Packaging/Layout: B-
DVD Series Special Features Score: C-
DVD Series Collection Overall Score: B-