Come one, come all,
cause they're having
a ball! All your
favorites are back with the
first volume of
the second
uncensored season of Crank Yankers. Delight in the
unbridled nastiness of
Hadassah, the
uptight innuendo of Niles Standish and the "specialness" of Ed. Guest
stars include Adam Carolla, Jim Florentine, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah
Silverman, and Wanda Sykes, placing scandalous calls, getting nasty
and trying their
darndest to screw the
innocent. Guest callers
(some of these are recurring pranksters) include David Alan Grier,
Dane Cook, David Cross, Tracy Morgan, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Kennedy,
Patton Oswalt, Michael Ian Black, Robert Smigel, Seth MacFarlane, Jeff
Garlin, Super Dave Osborn and a few others.
CRITIQUE
Crank Yankers
presents prank calls in a funny way. Not only are the calls funny, the
puppets reenacting them look interesting and some of their actions
alone will get a laugh. The majority of the prank calls are performed
quite well by the pranksters. A few calls made me cringe at how
uncomfortable a situation was, or how ridiculous, but in a good way.
The calls feel scripted sometimes in terms of the dialogue spoken by
the callers. On the other hand, the unsuspecting people picking up
their phones and having conversations with the Crank Yankers sometimes
come off as too unsuspecting, though other calls feel genuine. It
depends on the nature of the call and situation.
My favorite characters
are Special Ed (Jim Florentine) and Niles Standish (Tony Barbieri),
because they're just hilarious, plus the two voice actors are cool.
Barbieri voices Niles with an Oxford accent and a lot of what he says
somehow refers to homoerotic innuendo and likewise. Florentine also
voices the obnoxious Bobby Fletcher who burps every ten seconds while
calling someone. Jimmy Kimmel does a good job with Elmer, a senior
citizen with lots of questions. Sarah Silverman's Hadassah is a decent
character and her calls vary in comedy. Adam Corolla's Birchum is
funny from time to time. Calls from Wanda Sykes are okay, I don't
particularly like her comedy or her annoying voice so I skipped some
of her pranks.
This DVD release is a
two-disc set featuring fifteen episodes from the second season. Disc 1
contains episodes 1-8 and Disc 2 features episodes 9-15.
THE VIDEO
Paramount presents
Crank Yankers in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. The video quality looks
pretty decent except for a few minimal flaws that aren't distracting.
THE AUDIO
Paramount presents
Crank Yankers in English Dolby 2.0 Surround. The calls are
presented to the best of the ability of the original recordings. Some
calls don't sound as good as others, but this presentation gets the
job done.
THE EXTRAS
All bonus material is
located on the second disc. Extras include two exclusive audio
calls from Adam Carolla and Snoop Dogg, an unaired call from
Mitch Hedberg, and an amusing Yankerville Poster and Sign
Gallery from Funny Garbage. The content of the bonus calls is
mediocre.
The menus are simple and
easy to navigate. A "play all" option is featured, as are several
chapter stops for each episode. The inside of two DVD slimcases
include some description about each episode.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Crank Yankers is
a funny show from time to time presenting prank calls (or crank,
whatever you want to call them) in a unique and entertaining way by
using puppets to act out the calls. Not every call is funny but there
are some interesting and original ideas behind these calls. Even
though the extras aren't special, the overall program makes this a
recommended rental. Fans may want to purchase this 2-disc set.
