Going into Eagleheart I was very reserved. It was a TV show starring Chris Elliott. So it was either going to be amazing or terrible, cause he always seems to work in those two extremes. But as I delved into this show that can best be described as being in the style of Venture Bros. and Archer but live action and spoofing cop shows, specifically Walker, Texas Ranger.
Since it’s on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim each episode is 10 minutes long which works well for this show, because I’m not sure it would work if it was 22 minutes. The shortened time frame allows each episode to jump into whatever crazy adventure the main characters will have that episode and get out before the jokes get stale.
The show’s protagonist is U.S. Marshal Chris Monsanto (Elliott), who is very much the classic cocky, full of himself, hero not unlike Archer. In the first episode we learn that he loses sidekicks left and right so his Chief (Michael Gladis oddly channeling Orsen Welles) assigns him two sidekicks (that way if one dies he still has one left). They are Susie (Maria Thayer) the square by the books girl, and Bett (Brett Gelman) the idiot.
Together Chris, Susie and Brett take on all sorts of strange cases including a string of murders all involving creeps, a swingers cult, Mexian drug smugglers, a Sky bandit in an airship, evil twins and much more. And you might be thinging, what’s so strange about drug smugglers, trust me, you’ve never seen anything like this.
Eagleheart is great blend of comedy and violence, and this show is very violent. For only being ten minute episodes the body count is always very high. Chris even manages to explode a guy with the death punch in one episode.
As this is a Chris Elliott show at times it does get very, very strange, especially towards the end of the season. The oddness may turn some viewers away, but for those that get the humor of the show, they are sure to be entertained by just about every episodes. Even the episodes I didn’t think were that funny the first time through, the more I thought about them the funnier they got. I think this show is going to do well for multiple viewings.
The episodes are presented in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This is a pretty good looking and sounding show.
The first season DVD release includes the following extras:
Commentary: You get 20 of these some episodes of more than one. Each has a various collection of cast and crew. These are okay, a few jokes in there and some behind the scenes tidbits too. Deleted Scenes and Outtakes: (21 min.) These are okay, nothing super great here. Some of the outtakes are okay. Scenes from Never Aired Pilot (feat. Conan O’Brien): (10 min.) Nothing like the show ended up being, it’s still pretty funny. NY Comic Con Panel with Season 2 Sneak Peek: (24 min.) A typical ComicCon panel which is always a fun thing and you get to see clips from an episodes in season 2 and you get insights into some other episodes. Pretty good times. Kill Reel: (2 min.) Want to know how many people were killed in season 1? Watch this bloody montage and find out. Promos (7 min.) Short promos for all the episodes. The best line here is “This is our most shiniest episode yet.”
When you see Chris Elliott’s name above the title you never know what you’re going to get. Will it be the next Get A Life or will it be more like his run on Saturday Night Light? They never really knew what to do with him on that show. If you are a fan of Elliott’s strange and quirky sense of humor and you don’t mind a bit of the old ultraviolence, then Eagleheart might just be for you.
Adult Swim presents Eagleheart: Season One. Created by: Michael Koman and Andrew Weinberg. Starring: Chris Elliott, Maria Thayer, Brett Gelman and Michael Gladis. Running time: 132 min. on 1 disc. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: April 4, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
