Fans of the groundbreaking Comedy Central series "TV Funhouse" know that "sophomoric humor" is no insult, but a high badge of honor. This series--"only" for grownups, Mom and Dad"--took the conceit of a kids' show, complete with puppets, live animals, a goofy host, and cartoon, and peppered the whole menu with enough crass jokes of every stripe to reduce viewers to helpless giggles. The boxed set features eight full episodes, each of which has more gross, but hilarious, bits than an average Farrelly brothers or Judd Apatow film. Hapless host Doug (Doug Dale) tries to wrangle his kiddie-show "Anipals," who consist of real dogs and cats, but also crude, fouled-mouthed puppets like Chickie the Rooster, Fogey the Dog (voiced by subversive creator Robert Smigel), and his cousin, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who would go on to his own fame and fortune as Conan O'Brien's sidekick.
Each episode involves adventures of the Anipals--off to Tijuana for a cockfight (where Chickie comes out the worse for wear), Atlantic City to catch Triumph's gig and run into Robert Goulet (who appears, a great sport, as himself), to an animal lab where the Pals envision lucrative new careers for themselves. The humor is gross, and the outtakes in this set even more so (is there such a thing as animal porn?) Guest stars appearing gleefully include George Wendt and John Ritter, and memorable, but R-rated cartoons include the adventures of "Wonderman," and "Stedman." "--A.T. Hurley"