Posted on: April 16, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Suburban Shootout / 2008 Acorn Media / 171 Minutes / http://www.acornmedia.com /http://five.tv/suburbanshootout /

It has been about two years since Suburban Shootout was first aired in the United States, but chances are that this comedy is not something that has been forgotten in the months since then. This set captures all eight of the episodes from the first series. It provides individuals with a great backdrop for the events that are currently occurring in the second series, and gives individuals more than enough material to tide them over until Acorn gains the rights to place the second series onto DVD.

 The show itself deals with the machinations of the two gangs in town, as seen through the viewpoint of new transplant Joyce Hazledine (Amelia Bullmore from “I’m Alan Partridge”). These two gangs, lead by Barbara (Felicity Montagu from Bridget Jones’ s Diary) and Camilla (Anna Chancellor from Four Weddings And A Funeral), are like gangs in that they both shake down individuals for protection money and have various black-market schemes that ensure continued money for their operations. Barbara’s gang is oriented in much the same way that the city council is oriented in Hot Fuzz; aside from fighting with Camilla’s gang, members of the group fight against low cost housing and teenagers that wear hoodies. The show also twists in a sense the general premise The Stepford Wives; where the omen in the book were some form of automatons or were drugged into compliance, the women in Suburban Shootout ensure that their husbands know nothing about what is happening in Little Stempington, and are used in much the same way (take, for example, Jeremy being drugged with Viagra by Camilla).

The collection of the show’s episodes is further bolstered by the inclusion of a number of different bonus features. This means that there are audio commentaries for the episodes given by strategic members of the cast, and the documentary allows individuals to see behind the scenes when the show was still in production. All together, the nearly three hours of this set will ensure individuals are cracking up and focusing in on the absurdist humor. Suburban Shootout is hard to believe at points, but the wacky humor and quick pacing of the show will stick with viewers for a while after the DVD spins to a halt.

Rating: 8.0/10

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