DVD REVIEW: THE GOODE FAMILY (The Complete Series)

Show
I only remember watching a few episodes of THE GOODE FAMILY when it originally aired in the Summer of 2009.  I liked it, but I don't remember being particularly interested in watching every week. As a huge fan of Mike Judge, I kind of regretted it when I heard it had been cancelled and wished I had watched more episodes.

As the years went on, certain elements stuck with me: Che (the "vegan" dog), Ubuntu (The Goode's  "African" adopted son), and Charlie (the conservative stepdad).  Occasionally I would talk to friends who liked animation if they remembered the show, and most people had a vague memory of it but couldn't tell me much of what had happened.  As time passed I sort of forgot about the show since it didn't look like I was ever  going to get a chance to watch it again.  Now, thanks to Shout Factory I can finally sit down and enjoy a show I really should have watched in its original run.

List of episodes:
 Pilot
Pleatherheads
Goodes Gone Wild
Helen's Back
A Tale of Two Lesbians
Freeganomics
Graffiti in Greenville
A Goode Game of Chicken
After School Special
Trouble in Store
Gerald's Way or the Highway
A Goode Man is Hard to Find.

During it's twelve episode run, The GOODE FAMILY manages to touch on many of the current trends occurring in the ultra-liberal politically correct world.  An astounding amount of topics are covered and most of them are handled quite astutely.  The Goode's often find themselves not only the brunt of scorn from the conservatives in their lives, but judged by their liberal friends for not being "good liberals."  An interesting decision that shows the difficulty to fit into even the most "accepting" political groups in our society.

The standout episode for me was "A Tale of Two Lesbians" which involved The Goode's having to decide between their friendship of a local working class Lesbian couple and the new chic lesbians who just moved into town.  It was, I'm sure, a pretty racy topic for 2009, and it could probably still ruffle a few feathers.  An interesting side note is that the working class Lesbian couple was not played as a one-shot topic and actually remained as supporting characters throughout the series run.  Another smart move by the creators.

Image soure: Wikipedia

It's hard to review the animation in most modern shows because, unlike classic animation it isn't very "cartoony."  There's no "squash and stretch" and characters are kept on model with a very specific set of expressions throughout the series run.  THE GOOD FAMILY manages to set itself apart somewhat by creating a style that involves cross-hatch shading on just about every object in the Goode's world.  This  gives the show a very R. Crumb underground animation feel that serves the topic of nouveau hippies well.

Voice acting is strong across the board, but the standout for me were Judge as Gerald Goode.  Judge gives Gerald a very similar voice to his Mr. Van Driessen character from Beavis and Butthead.  Judge had already mined Beavis and Butthead when he chose to make Hank Hill a vocal doppelganger for Mr. Anderson, but I think in both situations the familiar voice matched with a new situation and character design works.  Gerald is played as a guy who will be politically correct at any cost, and this single-mindedness makes him somewhat dense in most situations.  He is not completely the butt of the jokes, but Judge is definitely trying to show that a well-rounded moderate view of the world makes a person less socially stunted.  It's the rare moment where Gerald sees the world from another viewpoint that give the show it's most potent social commentary and kept me watching.

Video
 Shout Factory has given THE GOODE FACTORY an amazing video presentation.  Colors are strong and stable.  And, although I looked hard, I didn't see any aliasing or banding.  The picture was quite pleasing and, dare I say it, pretty for a show with fairly simple animation.

Sound
Both the 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2 Channel mixes are solid.  Voices are strong and placed squarely in the forefront with good use of other channels for ambient noise and soundtrack.

Special Features

Audio Commentaries
Deleted Scenes
Unaired Scripts
Featurettes
Unaired PSA

Image source:nj.com

The standout special feature on the set are the commentaries with show creators Dave Krinsky and John Altschuler.  Because of the limited number of participants and limited number of commentaries, I felt that, unlike THE SIMPSONS, each commentary was full of info and limited self congratulatory back-patting or laughter.

Conclusion
A strong comedy gets a second life on DVD thanks to Shout Factory.  Great episodes and a strong video and audio presentation along with solid special features make this another great release from a company that is well known for their devotion to the obscure.

DVD Rating
4 out of 5