Venture Brothers #38 in EW 100

[Draft]

Despite EW for givign Famiyl Guy, American Dad, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force bad reviews, The Venture Brothers was number 38 in their 100 Picks thing..

Nothing on the new season dates or info tho..

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Wow. After bashing those good shows, they go and praise utter crap like VB. Way to go, EW. Prove that you have no clue and all.

[Scythemantis]

Wow. After bashing those good shows, they go and praise utter crap like VB. Way to go, EW. Prove that you have no clue and all.

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty.

[Desensitized]

You're kidding.
No he's not, he hates VB.

[Czar Gato]

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty. I agree 110%. Besides, EW gave the ATHF movie something like a "B" grade IIRC, which is pretty good from them.

[Draft]

I agree 110%. Besides, EW gave the ATHF movie something like a "B" grade IIRC, which is pretty good from them.
Oh, my bad :D

ya, scythemantis put it better than i ever could've

[Neo Ultra Mike]

I wouldn't call ATHF empty. Yeah it realizes on aburdist humor and has little continuity, but it has solid character interactions (the root of it's comedy for the most part) and the plots are decently thought out. Then again ATHF's one of my favorite shows and don't like it being called emptyless, bad shows just because some people dont' get it's sense of humor.

Glad to see VB on the list though. Sad they couldn't get David Bowie to do a role (espically after finding out about his status in the Guild in the Season 2 finale) due to lack of money. Heh, if his kids had liked VB he would of done it, just like he did an upcoming Spongebob ep for his kids.

[Draft]

Actually, after re-reading the issue, i guess they divided the list into a few catagories, and I guess the TV Show section began at 34. So it was behind the Assistants from 30 Rock, Entourage,and Ugly Betty + Larry Sanders..

[J'onn J'onzz]

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty.
Yeah, I'm going to have to agree. Venture Bros relies more on actual jokes than just absurdism.

[Zach Logan]

Wow. After bashing those good shows, they go and praise utter crap like VB. Way to go, EW. Prove that you have no clue and all.

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty.

I'm going for number 2.

Family Guy has been in the gutter lately, and American Dad has never gotten out of the gutter, to be perfectly frank. Aqua Teen is good, but I enjoy the Venture Brothers much more. It's more entertaining, and has much more subtle humor piled on top of the action and more obvious humor. I also enjoy the musical and additional references of the Venture Brothers done in a way that has to do with the actual plot instead of relying on cut-aways that are loosely connected and completely interchangable with any other episode (not to say it hadn't worked in the past for Family Guy, it just doesn't anymore).

[Don_East]

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty.
Don't try to argue, he thinks every episode's humor is nothing but urine jokes. He probably hasn't seen a Season 2 episode.

[Marinite]

You're kidding.

Venture Brothers has the sharpest wit and imagination of any series to premiere on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network and is easily on par with Futurama in terms of story quality and character depth.

Family Guy, American dad and Aqua Teens are all funny and I enjoy them, but I would never call them good shows. They appeal to only the grimiest, most infantile pits of my mind. Hilarious, but empty. Agree 100%. Venture Bros. and Home Movies are the only shows [as] has aired that I will say are witty/cleverly written and actually take advantage of the "animation for adults" archetype [as] is suppose to be. I laugh at Aqua Teen and find it funny, but it's little more than something you can find on the Internet, to be honest.

[J_C_X]

Coming from a UK [adult swim] fan the Venture Bros. is up there with the best (i.e. The Simpsons, South Park and Futurama). Very cleverly written and if it was on a major UK broadcaster I have no doubt it's fan base would be huge.

ATHF, Family Guy and American Dad! are all funny but more of a guilty pleasure, the Venture Bros. on the other hand is clever and well written not relying on random pop culture references just a real funny show.

By the way I am aware of the references in the Venture Bros. to Trainspotting, Oz and Johnny Quest but it's so subtly done.

[Scythemantis]

Urine jokes? 99% of Venture Brothers humor consists of dryly absurd dialog exchanges and the underlying tragedy of virtually every character. It's some of the most intelligent comedy currently on television. There's violence and sex jokes, too, but I've never seen them seize control of the show. Most of it remains sophisticated and subtle.

[Speedy Boris]

What's the EW 100? I know it's Entertainment Weekly, but is it the 100 best things of the year or something? Also, any way to find a complete list?

[Juu-kuchi]

As per usual for an accomplishment by the Venture Bros., a "Go Team Venture!" is in order.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Don't try to argue, he thinks every episode's humor is nothing but urine jokes. He probably hasn't seen a Season 2 episode.

Why would I watch Season 2 of a show I hate? It goes without saying that if the start of a show is freaking terrible, there's no reason to watch the 2nd season. Obviously many things improve over time, but without the framework, there's no reason to keep watching.

[Speedy Boris]

Why would I watch Season 2 of a show I hate? It goes without saying that if the start of a show is freaking terrible, there's no reason to watch the 2nd season. Obviously many things improve over time, but without the framework, there's no reason to keep watching. If I were to hear consistently good things about a show's second season, I'd think to myself, "maybe they know something I don't", or "maybe I didn't give it a fair shake before", and I'd probably also wonder if the show had improved from its beginnings. But that's just me.

And I'm not saying that popular opinion is always right, but I also don't think it's a good thing to be so steadfast in opinions on a show that you can't see and acknowledge others' viewpoints. People like Venture Bros., and the sooner you're more open to acknowledging people's reasons for liking it, the better.

[Don_East]

Why would I watch Season 2 of a show I hate? It goes without saying that if the start of a show is freaking terrible, there's no reason to watch the 2nd season. Obviously many things improve over time, but without the framework, there's no reason to keep watching.
Season 2 was brillant in terms of writing and pacing.

I know you won't watch because you're afraid of being wrong. Trust me, it's a hit in the ego but it heels. I mindlessly bashed Ben 10 after seeing bits of one episode once and I was uninformed of the show's true quality.

Also, Death Note for AS and Michelle Ruff is an okay Rukia.

[Ragebot]

Also, Death Note for AS and Michelle Ruff is an okay Rukia.

:p

KuwabaraTheMan, I think I have to admire you just for your extremely skewered sense of taste and logic when it comes to practically every topic discussed on TZ.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Season 2 was brillant in terms of writing and pacing.

I know you won't watch because you're afraid of being wrong. Trust me, it's a hit in the ego but it heels. I mindlessly bashed Ben 10 after seeing bits of one episode once and I was uninformed of the show's true quality.

No, I don't want to waste my time on a show I hated. I've now seen 4 episodes of the show, all of which were pretty horrid(I still wan the 22 minutes of my life "Careers in Science" stole back)

I saw the Christmas Special as recently as last December, when AS decided to be morons and play it in the middle of my Inuyasha movie marathon. It was just as bad as the first 3 episodes were.

I'm not above changing my opinion on a show if it deserves it(see IGPX, which I bashed, then enjoyed, and then overall found to be a mediocre show with periods of quality), but VB doesn't deserve it.

Also, Death Note for AS and Michelle Ruff is an okay Rukia.

Death Note is shounen, and thus, not adult.

No, Ruff is a terrible Rukia. I'd take half the 4Kids cast for One Piece over her.

[HG Revolution]

Why would I watch Season 2 of a show I hate? It goes without saying that if the start of a show is freaking terrible, there's no reason to watch the 2nd season. Obviously many things improve over time, but without the framework, there's no reason to keep watching.

The Eds had a terrible first season, and look how big a fan you are of it now.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The Eds had a terrible first season, and look how big a fan you are of it now.

The Eds first season was rough around the edges, but not terrible.

[Mugen]

The Eds first season was rough around the edges, but not terrible.

Ed Edd and Eddy didn't start getting good until the third season. It took the Simpsons three seasons before it started to settle into it's stride. There are many shows that start off rough/not good but turn out for the better.

Wait, how about you explain why you don't like VB. I'm not trying to force you to like it, but if you at least explain what about it you don't like, then people won't get angry and lash out.

[Don_East]

The Christmas Special doesn't count. Not really their better work anyway. Watch "Escape To The House Of Mummies Part Two", now that was brillant.


Death Note is shounen, and thus, not adult.
The main character is a obsessed loon who kills people to build his perfect utopia in a matter that would disgust Hitler.

No, Ruff is a terrible Rukia. I'd take half the 4Kids cast for One Piece over her.
Compared to the cast of Hacked Piece, Ruff's Rukia is the Siren. Atleast knows how to do sexy, she was Fujiko afterall.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I've said why I hate VB, before.

Bad writing, annoying characters, reliance on crude humor.

The Christmas Special doesn't count. Not really their better work anyway. Watch "Escape To The House Of Mummies Part Two", now that was brillant.

Why should I watch an episode of a show I hate, though?

The main character is a obsessed loon who kills people to build his perfect utopia in a matter that would disgust Hitler.

It's about a guy trying to kill bad guys to make the world good. Who is oppose by people trying to stop him. Nothing adult about that.

Compared to the cast of Hacked Piece, Ruff's Rukia is the Siren. Atleast knows how to do sexy, she was Fujiko afterall.

Thank you for pointing out my biggest problem with her. Ruff's Rukia sounds too much like Fujiko.

That's not who Rukia is. Rukia should have a boyish sounding voice. Ruff sounds FAR too feminine for her.

[Don_East]

Fine, but if I posted in a thread one of your favorite shows and it went:

"I hate the Prince Of Tennis. I watch the first episode and hated it. I'll never watch it again and don't make me watch a show I hate. It's concept is stupid. A shounen based one of the most boring sports to watch. Kids won't watch that. What are they thinking? And those tennis itself, I saw better tennis on Mario Power Tennis on Gamecube. I'll never change my opinion no matter anyone say."

You would be the one defending it and I'll be one never change it now matter what you try to suggest. You see, I'm just defending one of my favorite shows. I can't give my full opinion on PoT because I only saw one episode. And even then I it was on my TV but I was doing other things.

One day we'll meet KuwabaraTheMan(if that's your real name). And we do, I'll have bring the VB Season 2 DVD set while you bring the first PoT boxset. You'll watch four VB episodes I pick and I'll watch all the episodes of the first disc and any episode that needs to finish up the final episode on the first disc.

[Mugen]

"I hate the Prince Of Tennis. I watch the first episode and hated it. I'll never watch it again and don't make me watch a show I hate. It's concept is stupid. A shounen based one of the most boring sports to watch. Kids won't watch that. What are they thinking? And those tennis itself, I saw better tennis on Mario Power Tennis on Gamecube. I'll never change my opinion no matter anyone say."



Wow, you just basically summarized the review ANN gave for the first boxset of the Prince of Tennis.

[Don_East]

Wow, you just basically summarized the review ANN gave for the first boxset of the Prince of Tennis.
Wow, really, I must be psychic. I barely go to the site, let alone read the review.

[Ragebot]

It's about a guy trying to kill bad guys to make the world good. Who is oppose by people trying to stop him. Nothing adult about that.


Nothing childish about that either.

[Don_East]

Nothing childish about that either.
Yeah, one of the reasons that I want it on AS. The would-be Peggy Charrens of the country would cause a campaign that maybe spell doom for Toonami and/or anime on Toonami.

EDIT- I'm starting sound more and more like Jeff Harris.

[Kuroba]

It's about a guy trying to kill bad guys to make the world good. Who is oppose by people trying to stop him. Nothing adult about that.
There's nothing adult about having a teenager kill people by putting their names on a note he essentially got from Hell? :shrug:

[HG Revolution]

There's nothing adult about having a teenager kill people by putting their names on a note he essentially got from Hell? :shrug:

In all honesty, the twisted morality and such is nothing that hasn't been seen in Gundam. Death Note is more graphic but not by much, and graphicness isn't really a measure of maturity. That said, I wouldn't mind Death Note on Adult Swim simply because there's no other place for it. Not actiony enough for Toonami, Ani-Monday isn't looking at outside acquisitions yet, and everywhere else is either too niche or too censor-heavy.

[Master Moron]

If I were to hear consistently good things about a show's second season, I'd think to myself, "maybe they know something I don't", or "maybe I didn't give it a fair shake before", and I'd probably also wonder if the show had improved from its beginnings. But that's just me.


Yeah, but, you guys all liked season 1 of Venture Brothers. So, it wouldn't be very credible for you to say season 2 improved, since you always liked the show. Why would someone who hated the first season believe someone who liked the first season in that the second season improved.

As someone who hated season 1 (with the exception of the pilot and the Christmas special, which the fans hate for some reason), I did think season 2 improved slightly. There was less reliance on urine jokes and some of the characters became slightly more likeable. For instance, Brock I thought was completely unlikeable in the first season, but showed some signs of humanity in the second season. Still, the characters in general are still not very likeable. Dr. Venture certainly hasn't become much more likable.

In addition, I just don't think the show is very funny. Clever, yes, funny no. There are sometimes lines on the show that seem very quotable, however, whether I laugh at them is another story. Something about the delivery just doesn't work for me. It almost seems like they're trying to cram as much witty banter into the dialogue as possible and not bothering to make sure it flows out humorously. Another thing I don't like is all the sex jokes. It's not like I don't like sex jokes. There are ways to make sex jokes funny, but I don't think this series has ever accomplished it. I notice this series often seems to contrast those characters that have sex often(Brock Sampson) with those that don't(nearly everyone else). I'm guessing this is supposed to be funny, but it kind of seems mean spirited to me. I mean, really, what's so funny about a killer having sex with a lot of women and every other male in the series being a pathetic loser? Really, it's almost like the only way to get laid in the Venture Brothers universe is to become a killing machine or a villain. Is that the joke?

[Speedy Boris]

Yeah, but, you guys all liked season 1 of Venture Brothers. So, it wouldn't be very credible for you to say season 2 improved, since you always liked the show. Why would someone who hated the first season believe someone who liked the first season in that the second season improved. Er, I wasn't a big fan of season 1. I didn't -hate- it, but it didn't do much for me. So that situation of giving it another chance actually applies to me.

[Scythemantis]

"Careers in science" is the worst episode of Venture Brothers and the Christmas Special was a largely unfunny short. You have NOT seen four episodes that you can judge the show on.

And not only is it unfair to say that VB "relies" on crude humor, I'd have to say that it's very light on crude humor. I barely notice any in most episode.

[Master Moron]

"Careers in science" is the worst episode of Venture Brothers and the Christmas Special was a largely unfunny short. You have NOT seen four episodes that you can judge the show on.

And not only is it unfair to say that VB "relies" on crude humor, I'd have to say that it's very light on crude humor. I barely notice any in most episode.

I don't really think there's any comedy on Adult Swim that doesn't rely on crude humor to some degree. You probably just don't notice it as much on Venture Brothers due to being desensitized to crude stuff by shows like Family Guy.