For me, personally… when a show on [adult swim] premieres, it either makes an impression on me right away or it takes me a few episodes to warm up to it. In rare occassions (I.e.: Aqua Teen Hunger Force,) I end up worshiping the show immensely. Such is the case with Delocated as I absolutely love every minute of it. So much so that before a DVD release was even thought of, I strayed from my usual and purchased both seasons on iTunes. However (and at long last,) the first two seasons of Delocated will finally be gracing your DVD players this Tuesday (January 17th.)

The Story

Delocated is a pretty “simple” story involving a man who, for reasons that have yet to be explained, is in the crosshairs of a Russian crime family. Rather than staying on the lam in hiding, he pitches a reality show. With the help of the FBI, they give “Jon” (his witness protection program code-name) and his family ski masks and voice harmonizers, which they need to have on when the cameras are rolling. Without going into too much detail of the show (hey, [adult swim] needs to sell some DVDs,) hilarity ensues in each episode where “Jon” tries to balance his personal life with his reality show… while at the same time staying alive and safe from the Russian mob. Delocated stars Jon Glaser (who is also the creator and Executive Producer,) as well as a stellar cast of comedians and actors/actresses including Eugene Mirman, Nadia Dajani, Jacob Kogan, Zoe Lister-Jones, Kevin Dorff, Mather Zickel, Steve Cirbus, Jerry Minor, and Todd Barry. The show is also Exec Produced and written by John Lee from PFFR (creators of, among other shows Xavier: Renegade Angel.)

The DVD

The DVD is pretty much your standard [adult swim] DVD format. You’ve got 2 discs, one of which consists of the 6 episodes of Season One (all at 11 minutes each,) as well as the first 6 of Season Two. Two episodes (“Pilot” and “Mole”) also have commentary tracks attached if you select them separately, rather than “Play All.” The latter commentary is actually Jon Glaser and John Lee speaking in “Brando” while doing 22 minutes of commentary about the episode. The second disc (in addition to including the final 6 episodes from Season Two) and also includes some jam-packed special features which I will discuss in a bit. Normally in a DVD review you hear about Video and Sound quality. The obvious answer I can give (obviously) is that this is your usual [adult swim] DVD release. Fortunately, Delocated managed to be released after Cartoon Network’s HD conversion so all the episodes are in perfectly clear HD goodness. As far as sound goes… same dealie. This isn’t a Michael Bay production… though Glaser and co. definitely do their best to make it as close to it as possible…

The Special Features

…however, a definitely impressive list of special features:

• Deleted Scenes: Certain episodes had scenes taken out (probably either for time reasons or because Jon and co. felt they were unnecessary.) Some of the deleted scenes include a conversation between “Jon” posing as Sergei (from the episode “Mole”) and both the Mirminsky Crime family and the Arab terrorist family that Sergei is set to marry into. There’s also a scene from “Member’s Only” where “Jon” gets himself kicked out of being an “Honorary Black Man.” Personally, I think the best part of the deleted scenes is the fact that there is no vocal effect on “Jon’s voice, hence you’re hearing Jon Glaser’s normal voice in the scenes.
• Outtakes: Similar to the deleted scenes. They don’t add or subtract anything to the plot of each episode. For instance, there’s a scene from “Rage Cage” where a guy in Rage Cage is chainsawing the crap out of everything in the room for over 5 minutes.
• Flip Books: As Jon Glaser explains in the intro, in episodes “Good Buds” as well as “The Soother,” there were photoshoots taken depicting “Jon” and Mike as well as “Jon” and the plaster hand. Someone pointed out that they looked like flipbooks (where you flip through a book of images that look similar to stop-motion animation.) Thus, they were added as a special feature, along with some random “FRRT!” noises.
• Relocated Demo: This demo was screened at New York Comic-Con 2010 and was the demo that was handed in to [adult swim] when it was originally pitched. It features the scene from “Pilot” where Paul Rudd is killed by Yvgeny as well as “Jon” performing with band Yo La Tengo.

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