Fosters Home for Imaginary Fri

Ok, ok...I know this is a cartoon series, but I must say that I find it hilarious! I am 31, and my son is soon to be 6. He and I watch this show together every weeknight at 7pm, and it doesn't matter that we've seen the episodes several times! They are just as funny each time! Also - if you have a child, watching them laugh at the characters is worth the price alone! The show has jokes and obvious sight gags that are geared towards adults....yet it has 'childish' humor and moralistic storylines. You wouldn't think that your child could learn anything from this show, but they do! Friendship, honesty, being trustworthy, diligence.....it's all here, along with fart jokes, fast-talking Goo, and the self-centered Bloo. Trust me- if you like cartoons AT ALL, you will love this series!

Mac is a good boy- bright, sensitive, and a little shy. His imaginary friend Blooregard, or Bloo for short, is mischievous, self centered and lazy. But they're the best of friends. Mac's mother insists age 8 is too old to have an imaginary friend. She means well, but Mac and Bloo refuse to part. So Mac secretly brings Bloo to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, where many other colorful imaginary friends live because their creators gave them up. The other friends are hoping to be adopted by a new kid, but Mac doesn't want anyone to adopt Bloo if he's to live there. So Madame Foster, for whom the home is named, agrees to a deal with Mac, that as long as he visits Bloo every day, Bloo will always be his and no other child will ever be able to adopt him. So now Bloo has a new home, makes new friends, gets into new mischeif, and still sees his best buddy Mac every day.

I love this cartoon! It's so funny, even by adult standards. I also admire it because it has virtually no "potty humor", so parents can feel confident in letting their kids get into it. It doesn't come accross as "educational", but does handle things like friendship, loyalty, courage, peer pressure, self esteem, and other such virtues. On TV it's rated Y7, probably because some younger kids might find some of the imaginary friends a little scary looking, particularly the "Extremesaurs", aka the imaginary friends created by "jerky teenage boys", but they don't make very many apperances. But even if some of the friends are "monsters", you can't find any funnier or nicer, other than maybe in puppet form. =)

The two disk DVD set comes in a standard plasic DVD case with a cardboard slipcover. Nice quality. The stock photo is of the slipcover. The case itself has scenes from the episode Store Wars. The DVD includes all 12 episodes and the 90 minute pilot "movie". The episodes are as follows-

-Disk 1-
House of Bloo's (split into three parts)

Busted

Dinner is Swearved

Adoptcalypse Now

Store Wars

Bloooo

-Disk Two-
The Trouble with Scribbles

Seeing Red

Phone Home

World Wide Wabbit

Berry Scary

Who Let the Dogs In

-Special Features- (all except commentary on disk two)
Commentary on "Store Wars" with Blooregard, Mac and Frankie (Sooo funny! Like a whole new episode in itself)

"What Happens when your Imagination runs Wild?"- A peek behind the scenes with Craig McCracken

Show promos- short segments CN occasionally airs between shows

Gallery of Friends- an introduction to the lesser known friends in the house

End of episode gags

A game code for Big Fat Awesome House Party

And at least three "secret" extras you kind of have to search for (on each disk)

And that just about does it! I have no regrets in getting this in the least, and now look forward to season 2 being released. I hope to be among the first in line to get that one, too! =)

This program is brilliant in that it is not only great for kids, but for adults as well. Scattered throughout are fabulous jokes that are clearly over the heads of children, and frankly, over many adult's heads too (think references ranging from the Marx Brothers to Douglas Adams, and I swear a little Python from time to time). Although creator Craig McCracken worked on shows with similar humor like "Dexter's Laboratory" and "the Powerpuff Girls" (which he also created), "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" is a step above the rest.

From an animation standpoint alone, "Fosters..." is most enjoyable with its clean, cut out, mod 1950's-1960's motif that draws so much from period artists like Charlie Harper. Did I also mention that it has one of the all-time best theme songs ever?

This DVD is a must-have for cartoon fans of all ages.