Compulsive Family Entertainment

Yesterday, I finished watching the third series of "The Venture Bros" and came to the conclusion that it's the best show going at the moment, and perhaps since the Simpsons was at its peak, way back in the last century.

Like the Simpsons, it focuses on a family unit (of sorts): Dr 'Rusty' Venture, one time boy adventurer, now pill-popping scientist; Brock Samson, bodyguard and "Swedish Murder Machine"; robot dogsbody HELPeR and the characters of the shows name, twins Dean and Hank. Episodes usually circle around the Doc's attempts to get some cash, with little concern for morals or ethics, including reanimating the dead to be used as manual labour and creating machines using parts from orphaned children.

Generally standing against them is Dr Venture's nemesis (at least in his own mind), the Monarch, who takes his name and outfit from being raised by the species of butterfly. He's aided by a small army of henchman and his partner in life and crime, Dr Girlfriend. Other bad guys who fade into view include "two bit Doctor Doom" Baron Ünderbheit and the sinister Phantom Limb.

The show comes from the AdultSwim stable, which also includes several other big favourites of mine: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Frisky Dingo and Harvey Birdman. Venture Bros tops the pile, however, because of the wonderful sense of utter failure the creators fill into the world they've created: Rusty is a failed scientist, his father was a brilliant scientist but a terrible father and the Monarch is a pathetic villain who routinely fails in his aims.

Plus, it's also extremely funny. Taking cues from old cartoons such as 'Johnny Quest' (who makes a cameo as a strung-out junkie), it rips into the adventurer style, with the clear implication that the Venture clan would be long dead were it not for the protection of Brock, one of the few characters who show any skill or competency at that they do. Indeed, he frequently takes great pleasure in slaughtering hordes of henchmen with little else but his knife.

As with any good show, much of the pleasure is from the side characters. A particular favourite of mine is the next-door-neighbour/necromancer Doctor Orpheus, whose tendency to over-dramatise just about anything provides many a chuckle.

But for the main part, it's the brilliantly skilled writing that makes the show stand a mile above most the crap out there. Creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer have created something fab and wonderful here, especially with their eye for cute references: how can you not love a show where a bisexual Sean Connery-soundalike secret agent is named after the bassist from the Specials?

Currently, I'm eagerly awaiting getting hold of a copy of the fourth series. My only hope is that they, unlike the bods behind the Simpsons, know when and how to end it. For now, though, the unfamiliar wouldn't make many better decisions then to get hold of the first series on DVD.