Wildboyz-The Complete First Season
(Paramount Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2003)
review by Head Cheeze

With the "Jackass" series coming to an end (for now), stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius decided to take their show on the road in the most literal sense imaginable. Traveling the globe with animal experts and some of their buddies, the duo have concocted "Wildboyz"; a series that is equal parts "Crocodile Hunter", "CKY", and vaguely homo-erotic male burlesque.

It's also one of the funniest things you're apt to see.

From swimming with Great Whites off the coast of South Africa to hassling birds in Belize, Steve-O and Chris have a heartfelt message for us all; animals are stupid. They bite, they shit, they stink, and they kill each other, but, on the bright side, they can also be side-splittingly funny; at least, as long as you've two half-naked imbeciles to exploit them. It seems they want to expose themselves to the animals as much as they want to expose the animals to their audience.

On what other nature show could you expect to see a man in a very poor looking grizzly bear suit hassling actual bears? Or two men dressed as banannas running amongst silver back gorillas? Or feeding voracious predators with treats dangling from a g-string shoved up their arses? This is Animal Planet by way of Beavis and Butthead, and it's riotously funny stuff.

It's also important to note that, when their comic guard is down, Steve-O and Chris both seem genuinely impressed by what they are seeing, and it's obvious that these two guys wouldn't hurt a fly (although other humans are fair game!). It's also obvious-painfully obvious, in some cases-that these fellas are more than willing to put themselves in harm's way for a joke. Looking at the DVD's "bite" chronicles will attest to this!

The DVD from Paramount is a two disc set featuring the 8 original season one episodes, as well as a ton of extras, including over an hours worth of deleted scenes, a blooper reel, episode commentary, and more.

For fans of the "Jackass" series (and the "CKY" series that started it all) this is essential viewing. While I can imagine the folks at PETA firebombing the MTV offices for this series, it's really not exploitative at all.

Oh, who am I kidding. Sure it is. But, hey. At least no animals get hurt. Humans on the other hand....