4 gibbles out of 5

Really, I would’ve recreated the show as well to justify the inclusion of this image.

Directors: Aqua Teen People, maybe Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro

Why did Aqua Teen switch from Hunger Force to Unit Patrol Squad 1?  Because the creators got bored.  For a show based on endless nonsense tangents, a cure for boredom may only be a temporary fix, but it keeps the show at quality, so whatever.

Some of us have been by Aqua Teen for a while.  Some viewers float in and out, some gave up after the loose “plotting” of the first few seasons turned to randomness, and some… well, who cares.  The pitch for the new “series” seems to be that the group has moved to “Seattle” (which looks exactly like the New Jersey backgrounds) and is now a group of undercover cops or something.  As with the “Detective” squad that was only loosely used in episode 1 of Hunger Force, the police idea doesn’t come back after the start of Patrol Squad except as a way to poke some retcon jokes at old “continuity” vs. new “continuity.”

Lots of quotes, yes?  Well, everything here is taken in jest.  The Aqua Teen crew, at its best, excels in the kind of genius loose-limbed cartoon logic that makes for the best surreal viewing.  It’s not as flat-out random humor as the stoner crowd might lead us to believe, but it is an acquired taste all the same.  If you’ve liked the last few seasons of Hunger Force, you’ll be at home with Patrol Squad.  The awesome theme song is to be missed, but whatever roots had been planted have been severed, allowing for the establishment of new personalities and characters that are a step above the gross out humor that the show steeps in to when getting lazy.

Patrol Squad may not be the best of the best – some episodes lacking the pure momentum that accelerates the more perfect seasons – but this first collection (the DVD also comes with the last few episodes of Hunger Force, proving even more noticeably, with a side by side comparison, how little has changed between the shows) is a definite win for longtime fans, letting us know that Maiellaro and Willis are still operating at their insane prime.

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