The Mighty Boosh: Special Edition DVD

DVD year-end box sets

Reviewed by Audra Schroeder, Fri., Nov. 27, 2009

The Mighty Boosh: Special Edition DVD

BBC Warner, $79.98

For fans of cult/hit BBC show The Mighty Boosh, this seven-disc special edition DVD set is sort of like a snack before dinner – dinner being the still-simmering notion of a fourth season. When Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt's bizarro British improv comedy show grew into a TV show in 2004, it gave them room to stretch their alter egos – zookeepers/frustrated musicians Vince Noir and Howard Moon – into alternate realities and fantastical characters. Three seasons later, the show's fanbase has rightly expanded and demanded a definitive collection. And so their menagerie of time-traveling oddballs inhabits this set, from the slick art school packaging to the dizzying content, essentially giving devotees and newcomers alike a shot at all the episodes in their psychedelic glory, from the first season's Zooniverse to season three's mystical junk shop, plus bonus bits from each season and postcards with Boosh art. The seventh (extras) disc is a nice bookend, featuring interviews with Fielding, Barratt, and cast; footage from the duo's earliest comedy club gigs; a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Sammy the Crab, an alcoholic crustacean from the third season; and interactive features that allow you to journey through rainbow-colored wormholes into select scenes, plus catch a glimpse of Rich Fulcher (who plays irrepressible zoo manager-child Bob Fossil) dancing in the moonlight. The outtakes and deleted scenes are often funnier than the episodes they're from, pointing to the fount of wit and absurdity that is the Boosh. You can still see the show in reruns on Adult Swim if you don't want to lay down four Jacksons for this baby, but if transsexual sea creatures and men with heads made of cheese sound intriguing to new ears, be forewarned: This box set deserves close – and repeat – viewing to be truly appreciated.