This is a quirky and very interesting series. When it first came out on Comedy Central I hated everything about it, but the more that it was on (as background noise) and the more used to it I got, the more I wanted. There are very few series on TV like it. It thrives on occward silences and lewd jokes, but at the same time there are some pseudo-touching moments and some high-brow humor (often times under the surface).We are past the days of the after school special, but for those of you who remember seeing them on TV, or being forced to watch them in school, this will be a hilarious flashback (ironically noted).What I didn't know about this series based on a 46 year old junkie dropout who gets out of jail and goes back to school, living at home, is that it is based on a real public service announcement about a woman with a very similar life. She even looks like the real character. It was a riot to watch the PSA because it is almost like the show. The elements of that PSA are used in the series (especially in the unaired original pilot that is also on the DVD - as a side note, they did a good job with the changes they made when the series came to air - Jerry's hair, Jerry's step mom, and Jerry's part time job at a hospital, which was thankfully totally cut out) and add a lot of depth to the narrative.I wasn't too impressed with the voice-overs because most of it was the main characters simply chuckling like stoned people watching the show.What sets this DVD set apart from most is how creativly presented it is. The whole thing looks like a trapper-keeper with folders and stickers and doodles that looks like a student who isn't paying attention in class. A lot of the titles and descriptions are done in interesting ways (ex: the school newspaper, a quiz where all the answers are wrong, etc). I can't get over how cool it is!I would highly recommend getting the series this way.
