Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Tosh.0: Hoodies Blu-ray Movie Review

Who knew there was more to the Internet than Blu-ray.com?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 3, 2012

We are so much more than a clip show. Let's roll the first clip.

"Tosh.O: Hoodies" decodes to "Comedian Daniel Tosh-Point-Oh ("Oh" as in "Zero" as in "X-point-Oh software revision"): Hoodies," "Hoodies" meaning, well, his wardrobe of choice for the show. Though it might not be the most appropriate time in the world to release a Comedy show with "hoodies" in the title given all the recent headlines and controversies in which the attire has played central over the last few months, it certainly seems like the perfect time to air a program that pokes fun at all of the absurdities floating around the Internet. Comedian Daniel Tosh hosts his own 21st century "America's Funniest Home Videos," his Comedy Central program taking to the virtual airwaves along the Information Superhighway in search of the best of the worst the Web has to offer. Celebrities, everyday people, Youtube videos, tweets, terrible domain names, anything and everything on the Internet is at Tosh's mercy. The humor's as verbally crude as many of the videos are technically low-rent. Tosh makes the funny funnier, the bizarre more understandable, and the just plain weird, well, even he can't explain everything that's floating about out there for all the world to see.

The Internet made me do it.

Apparently, it's really become a case of life imitating art out there in the digital wild as Mike Judge's not-so-fictional-anymore and comically dystopian world of Idiocracy appears to be here, at least in its infant stages. Why people feel the need to make fools of themselves, or do the strangest things for "hits" on the web is anyone's guess, but here it is, a far-from-complete collection of the Internet's worst of the worst. Daniel Tosh's seemingly unending highlight reel of Internet stupidity is made up of honest accidents, personal tragedies, humorous miscues, and all of the most random and bizarre things imaginable. It's all here, and yes, if these clips are to be believed, the world really is going down the toilet rather quickly. Of course, it's not just stupid people doing stupid things. Random people tumbling off the treadmill or a poor kid throwing up on live television are unfortunate accidents, but things happen, right? It's not like some of these people deliberately released a video of chubby bare feet stomping bread, someone drinking a daily soda for the camera (which both seem awfully harmless in the grand scheme of things), or someone attempting to swallow a bunch of cinnamon or chugging a gallon of milk (oh, wait...). That's a selection of the more innocent Internet stuff Tosh finds and decries. There's some truly terrible, strange, unspeakably insane and grotesque stuff out there, and for those who enjoy seeing humanity at its worst or, at best, its most unfortunate, well, this is the show for that.

There's a good chance that even audiences who haven't seen a second of Daniel Tosh's Comedy Central program will be familiar with many of the video clips he incorporates into this program. Many of these things have countless thousands of hits and have been linked and linked and linked some more across message boards all over the Internet, whether movie forums, hang-outs for car buffs, conspiracy websites, firearm discussion boards, virtual sports bars, or any number of random sites across the vastness of the World-Wide-Web. Yet no matter how innocent, goofy, absurd, painful, grotesque, extraordinary, unbelievable, or random the video may be, Tosh manages to come up with some seriously funny commentary, even on those videos that, generally, speak for themselves. He breaks down videos, sometimes frame-by-frame, and creates fairly elaborate stories to go along with them in some effort to explain whatever it is he's seeing on-screen, to give meaning to the absurd or find some kind of justification for attempting what Netizens might nowadays call "epic fails." But Tosh isn't just a commentator. Oh no. He gets down-and-dirty and sacrifices body and dignity in an effort to recreate some of the craziest videos on the Web. He swallows cinnamon, attempts to karate chop coconuts, and shoves a handful of saltine crackers into his mouth. And that's just a taste of what he has in store for his audience.

Perhaps the most intriguing element of any Tosh.O episode is his visit with Internet celebrities, usually celebrities who are famous for all the wrong reasons. In these "Web Redemption" segments, Tosh offers disgraced celebrities the chance to atone for their viral wrongdoings on his show. Ever seen the famous Miss South Carolina flub? How about the tearful defense of Britney Spears? Both victims visit with Tosh for a chance to set the record straight. Finally, a chance for Miss South Carolina to admit that she honestly doesn't know why a percentage of American schoolchildren cannot find their own country on a world map. Many other well-known Internet disasters are recreated in skit form -- with Tosh involved, of course -- but even "redemption" cannot remove the moment from the mass conscience. Still, it's a nice gesture and an easy way to rehash some of the web's most popular disasters while making them feel fresh and allowing a few people to feel a little bit better about themselves. One can only imagine how difficult it must be to be known for being on the wrong end of something that will never go away unless there's an EMP blast or someone, somewhere, hits the "kill switch." Until then, there will be enough material out there to keep Daniel Tosh working well into old age, and if there's one more truth to go along with death and taxes, it's that there will always be new absurdities on the Internet.

Tosh.0: Hoodies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tosh.O: Hoodies features a reasonably proficient high definition transfer. The image is comprised of HD footage of Tosh, usually in front of a green screen upon which the standard "Tosh.O" background is digitally applied (see any of the several screenshots included in this review). Tosh appears adequately reproduced, with crisp clothing and facial definitions and stable colors, whether his skin tone or the hues that comprise the clothes he wears. The image travels outside the studio for the "Web Redemption" segments where a good, stable, HD image yields clean textures, crisp definition, and sturdy colors. The digital inserts can be a little shaky and uneven, but such is the nature of the technology. Light banding creeps across from time to time, as does a sprinkling of noise. Of course, web videos of varied quality appear, many of them suffering through severe compression issues, softness, drab colors, and so forth. As usual, these kind of elements do not factor into the final rating. All told, this is about what viewers should expect from an HDTV show plopped onto Blu-ray.

Tosh.0: Hoodies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tosh.O: Hoodies features an adequate Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. This is a fairly basic track that's constructed primarily of Tosh commentary, dialogue between himself and "Web redemption" guests, and the lower-quality sounds of various web videos. At first, the entire track seems to capture a slightly harsh and edgy tone, noticed both in Tosh's speech and in the audience's applause. The track tightens up a bit as the show progresses, yielding more stable, more natural dialogue and better defined supporting elements. Applause spreads all around the soundstage and represents the dominant surround element. Music captures fair clarity and good bass. Generally, however, this is a generic soundtrack made primarily of a single element -- dialogue -- and Paramount's track handles it adequately. A Dolby Digital 2.0 track and English subtitles are also included.

Tosh.0: Hoodies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Tosh.O: Hoodies contains Digital Exclusives, Extended Segments, and Outtakes, all presented as a series of eleven clips found under the disc's "bonus" tab (HD, various runtimes).

Tosh.0: Hoodies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

People will do just about anything for fame, even if "fame" now means "hits" on a YouTube video or the number of followers on a Twitter account. It's all so absurd -- not every individual video or byte of information on the Internet is rubbish, and much of it is quite useful -- in the collective sense that it was really only a matter of time before someone decided to make a living by dedicating himself or herself to comically tearing it all to shreds. That person is Daniel Tosh, and his Comedy Central program succeeds at finding the most ridiculous stuff out there and really lambasting all of it. Sadly, the concept seems slightly flawed, seeing as that many of these people make themselves look bad enough without Tosh's assistance, but for the most part he manages to turn the absurd into the truly ridiculous. Fans of Internet humor and modern Comedy will find much to love, while traditional standup fans and those somewhat behind the times might want to stick to their George Carlin videos. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Tosh.O: Hoodies features acceptable video and audio. A few bonus clips are included. Fans should buy immediately, but newcomers should probably rent; the program's replay value, at least in the short term, is, I personally believe, questionable, but certainly U.S. Americans and those in the South Africa, the Iraq, the Asian countries, and everywhere like such as, should enjoy it.