Robot Chicken: Season 6 ***½ (TVMA) Fans of this long-running pop-culture sketch satire on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup will be delighted by the DVD release’s extensive bonus features. If you lack the overgrown adolescent sensibilities to get your kicks from lots of stop-animation grossouts and movie spoofs, move on to the next review. Those of us who cling to our teenaged ideas of what’s funny long beyond the chronological average normally dictates will not only enjoy the episodes, but appreciate all the behind-the-scenes insights into the surprisingly large effort required to serve up such seemingly simplistic laughs. Despite being too old to get many of the gags (e.g. - bits based on video games or musicians off my radar screen), they zip by so quickly, something in my zone will soon follow. Younger viewers will mesh with a higher percentage.
We see and hear from many of the creative staff - including the team’s first female writers - and an impressive array of voice talents the scripts and cult cache have attracted. Allison Janney, Sam Elliott, Patrick Stewart, Scarlett Johannson, Rachel Lee Cook and scores of celebs have relished the chance to go nuts behind their mikes, even if only for a line or two, and frequently as the butt of the joke. A multitude of deleted scenes on the two-disc set - complete with comments about why they missed the cut - add another dimension of appreciation for all that’s required to generate the appearance of dudes spontaneously riffing on all facets of showbiz, leisure pursuits, and cultural icons.