The Venture Bros. - CaB Rewatch

[Agent Dunham]

I'm glad they stopped with the sloshing noises whenever Billy's head moves, though it is quite a funny bit of foley.

God, I've never clocked that horrible sound before.

[The Mollusk]

I was gonna mention that "nice" as well, great early example of the little understated and straight bits of dialogue that keep these absurd characters strangely human.

[Stinky Lomax]

So, assuming we're doing 3 episodes a week now (plus slotting in the Xmas special this week [EDIT: now in the Dunham Order]):

September 11th - A Very Venture Christmas +11 Past Tense + 12 The Trial Of The Monarch + 13 Return To Spider Skull Island

[Agent Dunham]

I would say watch the Christmas special before the other three, although that probably wasn't the order they were seen. If they were released one episode per week the first season would have been done by the end of October, so it looks like the Christmas special really did get released between seasons 1 & 2, which is odd.

[MojoJojo]

Now it's been mentioned, I'm really struggling with some of the dialogue too.
Past Tense - it's played for laughs, but the fact they all coincidentally happened to know each other in college feels very out of place. Introduces modern day Team Venture (I think - although we did get old Action Man in "Ghosts of the Sargasso").
In fact that's something I'm noticing a lot on this watch - series one spends a lot f time introducing new characters. That makes sense, of course, but I feel VB works best when it's mixing up old characters. I also wonder if there was perhaps an idea that VB would continue on like this, with new wacky characters every episode.

[Agent Dunham]

I would say watch the Christmas special before the other three, although that probably wasn't the order they were seen. If they were released one episode per week the first season would have been done by the end of October, so it looks like the Christmas special really did get released between seasons 1 & 2, which is odd.

What is especially odd is that several times "it was all just a dream" excuses everything, and then, every time, that later doesn't excuse anything; right up to the final scene. They're playing around with us and our headcanons.

[Stinky Lomax]

My thoughts as I watch them, before having read any posts above:

A Very Venture Christmas
I can't see how this would need to go before any other episodes, as it was almost wholly a dream, but maybe crashing into Jerusalem will play into things? Intriguing! Anyway: this special is good fun, really fast-paced flipping through various levels of dreams and threats. I liked all the recreated sound clips of the Xmas movies Rusty was cycling through in his sleep (and that therefore got riffed on earlier).
A shame that the "I thought I'd been turned into a pussy" joke got bleeped - kind of kills it. I don't know if you get uncensored versions on the DVDs or whatever, but my general feeling is that if you have to censor swears, just don't put them in your script (or trailer or whatever).

11 Past Tense
This one was great, really funny and clever. Loved the contrived way they all went to college together, the cheesy sexbots, the perfect intercutting between Brock smashing up the D&D game and smashing up Team Venture, and the tying together a bunch of lore like Brock getting kicked off the football team and joining the army, and Rusty's dad dying. Also nice how they planted the tooth transmitter thing early with Rusty's dad always knowing when he was in his room. Lots of smart showy writing without taking time away from the comedy.

12 The Trial Of The Monarch
Enjoyed this one a lot, too! They definitely are getting a bit more ambitious with the structures and keeping everything tight. I liked the expansion of Dr Girlfriend's backstory and Guild lore, and I'm warming to the Monarch. "Did Frank Frazetta design it?!" Also nice that we're at a point where they've introduced enough characters that it's fun to have them recur and interact in new combinations and stuff. It feels like the frenetic 'we're hitting the ground running and also introducing a million things a minute' nature of the opening episodes is calming down and also paying off now.

13 Return To Spider Skull Island
Goddamn, now I see why Xmas special first! Another strong ep, they really ratcheted it up in the last stretch of the season. Cool to get a bit more Hank and Dean time, I'm a sucker for Rocky Horror references, and we finally get the answer to the fetus visions. Also, okay, I guess bleeped swearing can be funny if you do it a hundred times in five minutes. Could have done without the copious amounts of homophobia, but I guess this isn't a very politically correct show in general.

[Dirty Boy]

Good to hear you've enjoyed these more as (and i've said this at least twice now) this was the exact point i felt i really 'got' VB and Past Tense in particular was the first one i wanted to immediately rewatch. For me it only gets more ambitious and intertwined (and funnier) from here.

Also, Steve Park voicing a character that's basically the same one he plays in Fargo "You were such a super lady".

As for "copious amounts of homophobia" in the last one, i took it more as a reference to shows like Oz and whatnot. More of that to come anyway.

[Stinky Lomax]

As for "copious amounts of homophobia" in the last one, i took it more as a reference to shows like Oz and whatnot.

Yeah, that's a good point, and I guess Monarch saying to the Venture boys after they say something fairly innocuous to each other "that's so gay" in such a childish way can be seen as a button on the whole thing, to deflate it. It's the truckers also being homophobic that really burnt me out on it. Like, just have them call him a hippy, you're already doing all this other homophobia and prison rape stuff over here.

[MojoJojo]

A shame that the "I thought I'd been turned into a pussy" joke got bleeped - kind of kills it. I don't know if you get uncensored versions on the DVDs or whatever, but my general feeling is that if you have to censor swears, just don't put them in your script (or trailer or whatever).

The dvds do have uncensored swears - and unblurred cocks if that's your thing. In about 4 seasons time there's an episode which is one of the best examples of censorship making it funnier that I know of.

[The Mollusk]

I'm warming to the Monarch.

Glad to hear this, he's one of my favourite characters in anything ever.

[Dirty Boy]

The Monarch really starts to come into his own with that court episode

"So Hank, what's it like being... A LIAR?! You like being a liar? pants constantly on fire?"

also we seem to be missing the production notes for the last three, so if someone wants to put up the relevant chapters of that there book then do please do all that.

[Agent Dunham]

yeh, yeh.

[Agent Dunham]

[Agent Dunham]

[Dirty Boy]

*thumbsup*

Thanks mate

[Agent Dunham]

The pages for episode 13 - Return To Spider Skull Island are a bit spoilery, so:

Spoiler alert

[close]

[Agent Dunham]

.

[Ornlu]

Hello, just popping in to say I've started watching this for the first time. I'm near the end of the first series and yes, it's really good. Looking forward to the rest, and then finally reading this thread from the beginning.

Alright well, better not be hanging around here for now. Cheers

[Agent Dunham]

Welcome to the thread!

Just found this compilation:

[Agent Dunham]

Season 2
September 18th - 01 Powerless in the Face of Death + 02 Hate Floats + 03 Assassinanny 911
September 25th - 04 Escape to the House of Mummies Part II + 05 Twenty Years To Midnight + 06 Victor. Echo. November.
  October 2nd - 07 Love-Bheits + 08 Fallen Arches + 09 Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner?
  October 9th - 10 I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills + 11 ¡Viva los Muertos! + 12 Showdown at Cremation Creek part 1
 October 16th - 13 Showdown at Cremation Creek part 2 +
Season 3 -                                           ...01 Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny + 02 The Doctor Is Sin

[Agent Dunham]

Season 2 begins! And it feels like the series has truly begun. Love these three episodes.

September 18th - 01 Powerless in the Face of Death + 02 Hate Floats + 03 Assassinanny 911

[madhair60]

[Ornlu]

Actually, am I gonna be able to read this thread alongside watching it from the beginning for the first time? Or has anyone pointlessly thrown in any spoilers for things later in the series? Because I'd really like to.

[Stinky Lomax]

I'm reading this thread alongside watching it from the beginning for the first time, and people are generally being very considerate about spoilers. Some stuff is unavoidable and you might get some from the page scans, but on the whole I think you're safe depending on just how militant you are about spoilers (and I'm usually fairly militant about them!).

[Ornlu]

Wonderful, thanks. Will see how I go (Team Venture!).

[Stinky Lomax]

Just realised Netflix US has the first three seasons, and flipping on the VPN is a lot less hassle than dealing with the Channel 4 website, so that's improved my viewing experience right off!

I thought the first ep felt a little like the early S1 episodes - a bit too hectic and overstuffed, including the audio with a lot of the 'silly voices + dramatic music' issue. I think they would have been better off just dealing with the boys' resurrection this episode and leaving Monarch for the next one. I felt like the art/animation was a bit ropey in places too, though that might have been my imagination.
The next two were great, though. I especially loved the henchmen doing their own music and Hank running around shouting "my pants are haunted!"

[Agent Dunham]

I thought the first ep felt a little like the early S1 episodes - a bit too hectic and overstuffed, including the audio with a lot of the 'silly voices + dramatic music' issue.

That's harsh. Amazing montage opening culminating in the recapture of Rusty, set to the Rozalla remix (made a couple of decades after the original song), and then straight into the amusingly misleading "new" opening credits. "But we're the Venture Brothers". The staff (forgotten sidekicks). Orpheus' angst and Brock, and later, Rusty playing him. And then off to The Monarch in prison, etc, etc. And that's just the first 5-6 minutes.

Maybe it'll make more sense on a rewatch after seeing a few more episodes (lots of seeds being sown). It all makes sense to me now. Main thing is it gets the boys revived and The Monarch escaped.

In the book I see it mentions that the first two are meant as a double episode. Are any of these three less than crammed in comparison to the first episode? We're still being introduced to the characters a whole season in.

Also provides a callback to the reason that Brisby had summoned Rusty (when Rusty had denied everything).

[Agent Dunham]

We should start counting how many Venture Bros there have actually been up to this point.

[Dirty Boy]

Yeah, that Season opening is so fucking good. Love the playing about with the 'fake' titles as well and Jonas Junior is already changing into a very different character as his hair gets longer.

Still think the broadcast order fucks up some of the continuity, i've got Love-Bheits as ep3 and Kim appears in Assassinanny before being introduced in another episode.

You should definitely watch them at least twice as there's loads of stuff i missed first time round, the Doors/Apocalypse Now ending in Assassinanny for one.