C&C - Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law - "The Death Of Harvey" (SERIES FINALE!) [7/20]

[Neo Ultra Mike]

You may of heard of Harvey Birdman as the 60's Superhero who obtained power from the sun, fighting crime with his sidekick avenger. You may of heard of Harvey Birdman as the occasional Guest cameo on Space Ghost Coast To Coast who at one point had his own short lived talk show job "Birdman Coast To Coast" being fired after one episode. But most likley the Harvey you know on this board is the Harvey from "Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law", one of the longest lasting Adult Swim original cartoons. (In fact, only Aqua Teen Hunger Force at this point can claim lasting longer). From the sneak peak back in 2000 to the series premiere September 2nd, 2001, Harvey Birdman has always been one of the more popular Adult Swim Originals, and the first not specifically produced by Williams Street. It's went through it's share of trials and tribulations: The cost of traditional animation taking episodes forever to come out (Until 2004, HB averaged about 3 new episodes a year), the switch over to Flash Animation, the loss of Joe Alasky as Peter Potamus, and most recently a somewhat story arc over the last few episodes that show the end of the show. In fact, after almost six years of being An AS original, Harvey Birdman ends tonight (On AS Fix anyway. 11:45PM Sunday night if you don't watch AS video) with it's definite series finale episode "The Death Of Harvey Birdman". The team may go on and do something else for Adult swim, but it surley won't be Birdman related. So how does the episode shape up? Creep in and find out.

SYNOPSIS: "Harvey Once And For All Proves What Kind of Lawyer he is when he is forced to redo all 37 of his past cases, tying the entire series up and putting a nice bow on it. Until we realize there is one former client out there - Nitron - who has been released and is reeking havoc upon the city. Will Harvey be able to save the day, or does he die, like the title so clearly suggests? Will the Incredible Hippo return to help the Birdman? And Will X, finally, get the crest?"

Review: Well it wasn't a perfect series finale. I still would of appreciated them putting in a Space Ghost Coast to Coast tie with HB's past history with him and how he first became a lawyer in the first place. And there were a couple of lull spots and the ending with Harvey being run over I saw at least a half mile away. Still though there were a good set of laughs: The cold opening "previously on Harvey Birdman" segment, Dr. Quest talking about his original case, Birdgirl's video game like visor and rounding up all of the old cases, Mentok's vaction, Harvey's long closing down to the wire argument tying up every one of his past cases history's, ths "sssssssssssss" inflatiable gag, Phil revealing to be alive and driving backwards with the music playing in and out, The various suits Harvey was wearing between his lawyer and super hero costume, Harvey's battle with Nitron, Birdgirl and Peanut getting stuck together and the return of the incredible Hippo, Deadly Duplicator and X hanging out, and Harvey's recorded voice at the very end. Defintley a passible finale and a way of ending the series on a definite note. Hopefully other AS originals can find a solid ending like this one at least.

Well that's it. Enjoy the last Birdman Everyone!

[Moto Pete]

great now to the commentary and the DVD on Tues

[livingfruitvirus]

great now to the commentary and the DVD on Tues

I don't see a commentary.

[Golgo13]

Of all the AS shows to recieve a series finale, this is by far the best. Great laughs, gags pumped up twice as hilarious, tons of cameos, epic soundtrack, and some of the best animation since The Venture Brothers.

All-in-all a great ending to a great series. Easily one of the best in AS history.

[Draft]

Best.
Episode.
Ever.

Time to update my 3 favoirte [as] episdoes of all time..

[Daikun]

That rocked! Woohoo! :D

[sdp]

Is this airing later tonight or is it on the website?

[Moto Pete]

I don't see a commentary.
i saw it on as fix schedule but i could not find it online

http://i.adultswim.com/adultswim/schedule/tools/img/vid_071307.jpg

[Daikun]

Is this airing later tonight or is it on the website?

It's on the website now.

It'll air on TV on Sunday night.

[CartoonSwim69]

[adultswim] #1 fanboy...LOL

That finale was great, Harvey finally fought and suceeded!

There were some problems and thoughts...

For a while, I thought the monster would turn out to be a mild-mannered guy who would want to repeat the case. I glad they didn't do that.

And I also thought they would re-do the ending scene of Very Personal Injury where everybody was cheering only to stop and see that the Bear is still clapping.:D

Speaking of that episode, the Apache Chief gags were a bit overdone, but the last one was hysterical.

It would've been better if Birdman came out under the bus alive and decided to be a superhero and quit the law firm, but the ending was just as good...I guess.

"I thought I asked you to make yellow-colored binders!"
"HEY LADY, GOT LAID LATELY? DIDN'T THINK SO!"

Grade: A- with a R- for lack of Reducto.

The Series In General

This show had its best moments from the first season. The first 6 episodes were perfect and lived up to the critical praise.

And then there was DEADOMUTT.

That will forever be the weakest link of Harvey Birdman. It was the start of the whole "Let's change the focus of the show and become a workplace sitcom instead" situation.

As a result, nearly all of Season 2 was lackluster with the exceptions of Devlin Made Me Do It, Blackwatch Plaid, Droopy Botox, and Peanut Puberty.

Season 3 improved by focusing more and more on cases and not just on what was going on around the lawfirm itself although "Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation" had no case whatsoever and manages to be one of the funniest episodes ever. Oh, and Season 3 gave us Birdgirl. That puts it about 100 places over Season 2.

Season 4 was ho-hum. After a decent season premiere and follow-up show "Incredible Hippo", the show killed off Phil Ken Sebben and became sub-mediocre silliness [and I'm NOT talking about the admirable silliness of the earlier episodes and other Adult Swim shows]. It also made me realize that the writers relied so much on Sebben [and Reducto], that without them, the show lost nearly 65% of its material, the other 35% being Peanut, Birdgirl, Potamus, and oh yeah, the cases in the episodes.

But, the finale was the silver lining and the show ended on a VERY VERY good note, beating out the Brak finale [which was clever in its unexpected nature] and the Sealab finale [which was a lame cop-out.:mad:].

To wrap it up, I proudly give Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law a B+ for effort and laughs, and rank it third below Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Space Ghost Coast To Coast, but above Brak Show and Sealab 2021.

It was better than nearly all the other Williams Street shows as well [and it was made by the regular Cartoon Network studios], but had some flaws that overshadowed the goodness at times.

[J'onn J'onzz]

To wrap it up, I proudly give Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law a B+ for effort and laughs, and rank it third below Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Space Ghost Coast To Coast, but above Brak Show and Sealab 2021.

It was better than nearly all the other Williams Street shows as well [and it was made by the regular Cartoon Network studios], but had some flaws that overshadowed the goodness at times.

Eh... were I to rate the starting WS shows, it'd probably be

#1 Space Ghost
#2 Harvey Birdman
#3 The Brak Show
#4 Sealab 2021
#5 Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Though Sealab and Aqua Teen are pretty close in how much they amuse me...

[Captain Highwind]

Goodbye...one of the few AS comedy shows that I watch.

So if people complain enough, will Phil rebuild him?

[J'onn J'onzz]

Goodbye...one of the few AS comedy shows that I watch.

So if people complain enough, will Phil rebuild him?
Yes, Phil will rebuild him as a robot and force him to watch pointless TV parodies and it will be called Robot Birdman.

[Daikun]

Season 4 was ho-hum. After a decent season premiere and follow-up show "Incredible Hippo", the show killed off Phil Ken Sebben and became sub-mediocre silliness [and I'm NOT talking about the admirable silliness of the earlier episodes and other Adult Swim shows]. It also made me realize that the writers relied so much on Sebben [and Reducto], that without them, the show lost nearly 65% of its material, the other 35% being Peanut, Birdgirl, Potamus, and oh yeah, the cases in the episodes.

There is no season 4. The final episode is the season 3 finale.

[CartoonSwim69]

There are 3 VOLUMES of DVDs but 4 seasons of Harvey Birdman.

[livingfruitvirus]

There is no season 4. The final episode is the season 3 finale.

No there's four seasons. The first was the hand drawn episodes. The second was the 11 eps in 2004. The third was the 12 episodes in 2005. The fourth was the 7 episodes from 2006 to now.

[Dracula_Marth]

wait a minute. that was 2 episodes ( i know it's one but the credits were at parts 2 and 4). not a bad series finale.

4 1/2 out of 5 or A

series gets A+

[Kitschensyngk]

HA HA HA!...finale.

HA HA HA!...cameo.

So he really did die.

[Speedy Boris]

I LOL'ed at the part when Apache Chief gets coffee splashed onto his crotch from Nitron's stomp. The large amount of shirt layers that Birdman was wearing was good, too. So was Birdman trying to reason with Nitron even after being told not to, under any circumstances. And good to see Clapping Bear in the crowds. :D

Part 2 was definitely better than the first half- lots of goofy, epic action and comedy that worked. Plus we finally got to see Birdman in superhero form. The majority of Part 1 felt very forced, IMO.

[Desensitized]

Brilliant.

A brilliant way to end a brilliant show.

We'll miss you, Birdman.

[Zach Logan]

This episode proved just how much Stephen Colbert really made this show. Good episode overall, probably one of the best of the series. Good going, and we'll miss you Harvey Birdman (Attorney at Law).

[Master Moltar]

Nice to see one of my favorite [as] originals go out with an awesome episode. I enjoyed pretty much all of it.

[Zechs]

Loved it sad to see the show go this was one of the last good shows AS had.

[Vyse]

HA HA HA! Budget Increase! (The only way AS could get Colbert back for this ep and have the ABBA loop)

Overall, the best Series Finale ever for an AS original. I rather have a Birdgirl, Peanut, or a Birdgirl/Peanut spinoff than new eps of Harvey.

[Ahiru-kun]

What better way to close a series than killing the main character?

This was a great episode, and I can accept the fact that Blue Falcon, Gigi, Reducto, and the other rival Lawyers were nixed.

TDoH was excellent right down to Harvey's super fast retrying of all his cases, the Nitron battle, and Phil's triumphant return and his realization of who Birdgirl is.

One thing I didn't like was the bits with X. They seemed to slow the episode down. Focusing on characters who really add nothing is a problem this series has always had.

All in all, I give the Death of Harvey an A and the entire series an A-.

[sdp]

I've only seen the first season, didn't think so much continuity was going to be in the finale but of course it was easy enough for me to understand. Especially with the gags about first season cases. I thought the finale was good, not amazing but it wasn't bad. Not only do I need to buy the two other DVD sets, this finale also made me want to watch the original Birdman so I'll probably get that DVD set soon..Haven't watched that since I was a kid.

Man, I also watched Liar Liar and playing Phoenix Wright, looks like I'm on my lawyer mood.

[The Myst]

Probably the best Birdman episode ever. The best series finale of the three originals to end. Maybe one of the best series finales I've ever seen.

[ShadowGUN]

The Apache Chief scene were great. Good to see Phil made it to the season finale.Sad to see the show end. Oh well at least we still got the video games.

[Dogbert]

Ha Ha! So the bear was really Sam Malone in a bear suit all these years. It all makes perfect sense. Wait, no. That makes no sense. Oh well, the completely random Cheers reference was welcome anyway. Though it could have been even better with a random parody of the Cheers credits and theme too...

Stephen Colbert's return was nice. I kind of forgot all the incest themes that come along with him and Judy, so I was caught off guard by the rapid amount at the end. Reducto would have been nice too though...

Was it just me, or did the music that accompany Phil driving the bus sound an awful lot like Abba's Dancing Queen?

I'm hoping Stephen says something on The Report tonight...

Harvey Birdman, you will be missed.

[mojokingbee1]

I can sum this absolutely perfect episode in two words:

MY. LAP.

[email2003]

What a way to end this series,

"Ha, Ha! Last Laugh!":D

No more Birdman!:crying: Wish they could've pulled off a movie like the Aqua Teen did.

[veemonjosh]

I still wonder how the storyline of the PS2 game will play into all of this.

Anyways, best episode of Birdman, and of possibly any Adult Swim show I've ever seen.

5/5.

[PickHut]

I used to watch this show when it was new and came on every week, but I lost interest somewhere after the first season. But I decided to check these two episodes out considering it was the series' end. It was entertaining to watch Harvey quickly go through his old cases, but the fun really picked up in the finale, when the city was under attack. It was goofy, chaotic, epic, and just plain fun to watch. Harvey's death didn't even feel tacked on or forced at all, it was just a part of the show's silly nature. Overall, a good ending for the series.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I ended up missing a lot of Harvey Birdman episodes after the first season, but wow, what an ending. Trying all those cases was funny, and cramming Peanut and Birdgirl in that booth thing was great.

I had no idea Phil was going to be returning, that was a pleasant surprise. I didn't think Harvey would die either, that it was a fake out or something. It was kind of sad, but at least he got to go out on top.


Grade: A- with a R- for lack of Reducto.

I wish they had managed to put in Reducto somehow, even though he's dead.

I still wonder how the storyline of the PS2 game will play into all of this.

PS2 game?

[J'onn J'onzz]

I didn't think Harvey would die either, that it was a fake out or something. It was kind of sad, but at least he got to go out on top.
More like on the bottom. Of a bus.
PS2 game?
The guys behind Phoenix Wright: Attorney at Law are making a Harvey Birdman game for the Playstation 2.

[btv]

haha, the more I hated the insignificance of Harvey's death the more I welcomed the fact that the writers are just too damn good for me.

A

[veemonjosh]

The guys behind Phoenix Wright: Attorney at Law are making a Harvey Birdman game for the Playstation 2.

And, while no one (including me) cares, for the PSP as well.

[tucsoncoyote]

Brilliant.

A brilliant way to end a brilliant show.

We'll miss you, Birdman.

and with that... the bear turns out the lights, and Sebbin gets the last laugh, while Peanut tells someone it's his hand... Brilliant!

but yes, it's a shame to see Harvey go.. but when you gotta go.. you gotta go...

Maybe they should do a sequel... where Birdgirl and Peanut get married, have kids, and names one of them... Harvey Jr....

Birdgirl: Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod OmigodOmigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod Omigod....

what better way to end a show.. either graduate them, marry them... or kill them! YARRRR!

At least Apache Chief will survive...kind of....

:coyote:

[PC!]

At least Apache Chief will survive...kind of....

His children are another matter entirely.

Anyway, an awesome series finale. Any show that can reference every other episode in the series, have all the characters in top form (something Birdman rarely had a problem with), AND end the show with the bang it did...well, it's just awesome.

Though I wish Birdman didn't die. =(

Thanks for the laughs, Harvey.

[Dogbert]

I got the DVD set yesterday (thanks to Circuit City for breaking street date) and just got to the episode with Phil's death. The Death of Harvey's account of what happened definitely doesn't coincide with what actually happened. The scenes in the morgue, especially the one with Phil's eyepatch and cell phone in a pile of cremated ashes, don't make sense if Phil's body wasn't recovered. Not that a show like this needs to make sense...

[The Myst]

I got the DVD set yesterday (thanks to Circuit City for breaking street date) and just got to the episode with Phil's death. The Death of Harvey's account of what happened definitely doesn't coincide with what actually happened. The scenes in the morgue, especially the one with Phil's eyepatch and cell phone in a pile of cremated ashes, don't make sense if Phil's body wasn't recovered. Not that a show like this needs to make sense...

What actually happened to Phil seemed to change every time they had a flashback to it. It's a joke.

[Deadman]

wow what a great episode. sad to see harvey end. 5/5

[Freedom Fighter]

*sings* Harvey Birdman... is over! */sings*

It's amazing the writers crammed as much as they did considering Harvey was retrying all his old cases at once... and it all came out pretty coherent. Favorite parts included Birdgirl recapturing all of the convicts so they can stand trial again, Phil's long-winded yet shocking return from the dead, the countless Apache Chief gags, and of course, the final battle with the Bird-team taking on Nitron!

And I didn't even expect Harvey to actually be killed! Or, at least stay dead... you know, I was thinking they'd kill him and find a way to bring him back to life, all in the last minute or two. Still, I guess the ending fits... after all, Harvey's become the uber-lawyer. What better way to go out than at the top of his game?

"The Death of Harvey": 4/5.

[Bones Justice]

Pretty good, I laughed at a lot of the bits. And the superhero battle was entertaining, too; it was better than most of the battles in Fantastic Four WGH (which is sad).

Birdgirl stole most of the final episode. She had most of the funny lines. I loved the videogame helmet.

I would have liked to have seen a few more of the other lawyers make a cameo but I guess there was only so much time. At least Phil was back for one more episode.

I wish we could have seen Apache Chief cry, "Ee-nuk-chok!" one more time. :D