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Home Movies: Season One is a television treasure that almost wasn't. After five episodes in 1999, the bright and sometimes brilliant animated satire was yanked from UPN's schedule and was rescued by Cartoon Network's late-evening "Adult Swim" programming, where it thrived for a few more seasons. Created by Loren Bouchard and Brendon Small (who provides the autobiographical voice of the show's 8-year-old hero, Brendon Small), Home Movies concerns the angst-ridden adventures of a fatherless boy who can't quite handle typical childhood challenges (school, sports) but, in his stumbling way, is advancing toward his dream of becoming a filmmaker and actor. With a manner and voice suggesting a cross between David Spade and Woody Allen, Brendon struggles--sometimes with sardonic wit, sometimes with heartbreaking candor--to protect his shaky sense of personal security while also trying to be taken seriously as an artist. Brendon lives with his single mom, Paula (wonderfully played by Paula Poundstone until episode 6, when she was replaced by the equally effective Janine Ditullio), whose own neuroses peak during some very funny moments. Among these is a school meeting that finds her removing her sweater and spouting a string of obscenities, a writing class that ends repeatedly in make-out sessions with a nameless slinger of sexy doggerel, and a disastrous date with Brendon's soccer coach, a hefty bully and all-around loser, John McGuirk (H. Jon Benjamin). McGuirk is Brendon's foil throughout the series, a drunk with rage problems and dubious ethics who often leans on the young hero as a confidante when he isn't making the poor kid run extra laps. The show's dialogue comes fast, biting, and painfully honest, characters frequently talk at the same time, and some of the best material is in the short dramas that Brendon tapes with friends Melissa (Melissa Bardin Galsky) and Jason (also H. Jon Benjamin). Home Movies is not to be missed by anyone who enjoys urbane comedy, animated or otherwise. --Tom Keogh
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