Eagle & Evans (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Menu Animation & Audio Outtakes Additional Footage-13 Sketches
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	213:57 (Case: 250)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Nicholas Bufalo
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Craig Eagle Dailan Evans
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Willy Zygier Ian Carmichael Martine Gow

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, in every show!

    I enjoy comedy of all types, especially our distinctly Australian humour and English comedy such as Monty Python and Fawlty Towers. Sketch comedy has always been a favourite and I was very keen to review this two disc set of the latest Australian sketch comedy series which has been seen on the ABC. The ABC should be congratulated for continuing to screen new Australian comedy even when it is slightly surreal or different such as Micallef, Backberner or Roy & H.G. It is frustrating to me that performers such as these are snapped up by the commercial networks who proceed to sanitise them or pull them due to early difficult ratings. Having complained about that, it should be noted that this series was pulled by the ABC before the federal election after just four episodes. I cannot find any information about when the four remaining episodes will screen.

    This series is basically a sketch comedy series featuring two lead performers and a host of other regulars. The two leads are Dalian Evans (The tall one on the cover) and Craig Eagle (The not quite so tall one). They also created, wrote and co-produced the series. Interestingly, this series was directed by one of the original D-Generation, Nicholas Bufalo. It does not have the normal sketch comedy format of one sketch after another, as it is based around a fictional variety show called the Blaze De Silva Experience. Eagle & Evans are the warm-up act for the show, keeping the audience entertained before the television show actually starts. We never actually see Blaze De Silva or his show except on monitors in the backstage 'green room'. In each episode, Eagle & Evans pitch an idea to Blaze to try to get on the actual show and we see their warm-up act and conversations backstage with guests and Blaze's wife. In between these pieces are sketches. Each episode runs for approximately 27 minutes and there are 8 in the series. The sketches include running jokes either within an episode or across the whole series (such as one involving Evans dressed as an overbearing woman hassling Eagle) and free standing sketches about various topics.

    The quality of the comedy ranges from extremely funny, to clever, to silly, to completely unfunny. This is fairly normal for a comedy series, a problem which afflicts even the great series such as Monty Python. It's all about the hit rate (i.e. how often a sketch is funny) rather than every sketch being hilarious. The hit rate here is reasonable with enough funny moments to keep you watching - some episodes are better than others. I felt the middle episodes from 3 to 6 boasted the best material, and a sketch at the beginning of Episode 5, showing a school child (Eagle) being taken to the principal (Evans) was very funny. Amongst the other material there are some good laughs but also material which is done to death or just not funny to begin with. Some of the more surreal moments are more weird than funny. To my mind the sketches were better than the material involving the Blaze De Silva Experience but as this is a different idea, it should be applauded.

    This is a fun comedy sketch series, with a slightly different twist.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was generally clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise, and is the quality expected of modern television.

    The colour was excellent, well saturated and with imperfections.

    The only artefact on show is some minor aliasing here and there.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is fine and perfectly adequate for the show.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s 

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times which is obviously the focus for a comedy series.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included motion and music from the show and an episode selection function.

Goof Reel (14:10)

    A selection of bloopers and practical jokes, some of them amusing.

13 extra sketches (21:42)

    13 extra sketches not included in the show. Some of these are very funny and should have been included at the expense of some in the show. The hotel room, cat and glasses sketches made me laugh.

    These discs are coded for all regions but seem to have only been released here.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The set has two worthwhile extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall