Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Robot Chicken: Season 6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Another delirious, deviously funny season of Stoopid Monkey's premiere series

From the mind of Seth Green and Matthew Senreich springs... Robot Chicken! From quick-hit, split-second sketches to recurring jokes and pop culture jabs, nothing is safe, nothing is sacred. Beloved childhood institutions? Fair game. Revered superheroes and cartoon characters? Prime targets. Fan-favorite TV stars and '80s icons? In the crosshairs. If it can be ridiculed, subverted or parodied, it will be. And that's the mad genius of the show. With so many victims to be had, Robot Chicken rarely, if ever, runs out of steam. With so many sketches, a massive dud is almost instantly forgiven and forgotten the moment something absolutely hilarious follows. And with so much fun to be had and so many laughs and surprises to relish, all packaged in easily digested, binge-worthy seasons of rapidfire episodes, the show never gets old. Hit or miss? Sure. But you won't hear me complain. I can't get enough.

Robot Chicken: Season 6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the Blu-ray edition of the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special released earlier this year, Season 6 offers a decent 1080p/VC-1 presentation that suffers at the hands of minor but frequent aliasing. The issue appears to be, first and foremost, source-based, and occasionally the product of further sharpening. (The worst of the aliasing plagues the puppets' paper mouths, although other instances are readily apparent, particularly along the edges of costumes.) Still, it's relatively harmless on the whole and much more visible in screenshots than when the episodes are in motion. Otherwise, all is as it should be. Colors are bright and bold, primaries pop, black levels are deep, and detail is revealing enough to showcase the stitching, plasticized imperfections, nicks, dents and dimples that give the figures and dolls such low-rent stop-motion personality. Ultimately, laser-eyed videophiles may scowl every so often, but most fans will be too busy laughing to note the presentation's shortcomings.

Robot Chicken: Season 6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similar to Season 5 and the DC Comics Special, Season 6 features a decidedly average Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track limited more by the series' two-dimensional sound design than anything more nefarious. Flat and front-heavy, with minimal rear speaker activity, the mix at least boasts clean, clear voices and spiffy effects. Music is rousing and dynamics are serviceable as well, but little else impresses. LFE output is merely passable, directionality is directionless, and the soundfield is thin and weak. Again, though, for better or worse, this is Robot Chicken. Direct any complaints to Green and company, not the Blu-ray disc's producers.

Robot Chicken: Season 6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: The Robot Chicken overminds provide commentary for each Season 6 episode, meaning fans have good reason to plow through every episode at least twice.
• Chicken Nuggets (HD): This option that allows users to access sketch-by-sketch video commentary segments while watching three episodes: "Executed by the State," "Robot Chicken's ATM Christmas Special" and "Immortal."
• Featurettes (HD, 51 minutes): Nearly an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes chart the full Season 6 course, from the writers' room to the puppet stages to the editing bay. Few stones are left unrolled.
  
  
  • The Making of Season 6 (HD, 10:08)
  • The Wilson Identity: From People to Puppets (HD, 1:33)
  • They Came to Play (HD, 5:35)
  • Our First Ladies (HD, 6:15)
  • Kirkman on Kirkman (HD, 2:26)
  • Outtakes! (HD, 3:53)
  • My First Time... (HD, 1:43)
  • The Dirt on Seth and Matt (HD, 2:23)
  • The Inside Joke (HD, 2:00)
  • The Benefits of Robot Chicken (HD, 3:31)
  • Who the F*** is Zed? (HD, 6:14)
  • Post-Apocalyptic Future of Holidays (HD, 4:54)


• Deleted Animatics (HD, 55 minutes): A massive collection of deleted scenes -- some good, some great, some... that flatline -- introduced by the creators an presented with animated storyboards.
• Deleted scenes (HD, 9 minutes): Five more deleted scenes follow, these presented with finalized animation: "Airport Thumper," "Pac-Man Colonic," "Prank Gone Wrong," "Fugitive Death" and "Giraffe Skeleton."
• Deleted Channel Flips (HD, 13 minutes): A third collection of cut bits in various states of undress.

Robot Chicken: Season 6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Robot Chicken doesn't necessarily get better and better with each passing season, it just does what it does very, very well. Yes, some sketches will double you over with laughter while others will leave you scratching your head ('70s, '80s and '90s pop culture knowledge is something of a prerequisite), but the zany hit or miss nature of the show only ratchets up the rapidfire hilarity of it all. Warner's Blu-ray release is a bit more problematic, with iffy video and less-than-remarkable Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless audio, but so goes the show and its AV source. More than six hours of special features sweeten the pot and make any shortcomings that much easier to overlook. If you have any love of Robot Chicken, ignore my video and audio scores and add Season 6 to your collection post haste.