All Rise...

The Charge

"Get some sleep!"

The Case

Boobs and booze. That pretty much sums up Insomniac. Which is not to say that it isn't entertaining and doesn't occasionally branch out past its two loves, but when it comes down to it, Insomniac is a show about getting trashed and ogling hot women. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

In case you don't already know the premise of the show, I'll give you a brief overview. Comedian Dave Attell, having finished a comedy show, takes us along on his late-night escapades, exploring the nocturnal goings-on of a new city in each episode. There are a lot of bars and a lot of drinking, but Attell also shows us a different, sometimes quirky, side of each city, as evidenced by the following episode summaries:

* Key West

What is Fantasy Fest like? It's kind of like a porn movie and a Star Wars convention had a baby and the baby grew up to be…that guy.

Highlights: Turtle Kraal races, breast painting on Eaton Street, chicken wrangling with the Rooster Rescue Team, Garden of Eden clothing-optional bar, pedicab ride

* Austin

Is this a roller derby or a women's prison? Either way it's hot.

Highlights: All-Girl Roller Derby League, drag kings at Club Deville, South Austin Robot Group, Fiesta Tortilla factory

* Miami

I'm about 40 pounds too heavy and half a foot too short for this place.

Highlights: Bed, Flagler dog track, Twist Club drag bar, shark fishing, Miami Velvet swingers club, raising the bridge

* Boise, ID

How'd you guys meet?
Through friends, mutual friends.
Is that friend called pot?
No, his name's Kurt.

Highlights: potatoes, night skiing, Piercing and Fetish Night at the Locker Room gay bar, Boise Gun Club, artificial insemination at the Stewart Dairy Farm

* Anchorage, AK

I'm no great writer like Jack London or Jewel…

Highlights: summer solstice = no sundown, Darwin's Theory bar, salmon fishing, kite flying, Slave-for-a-Day Auction at Mad Myrna's, reindeer sausage at the Alaska Sausage Company, dog sled limo

* Kansas City

Women have all the power because women have all the vaginas.

Highlights: Isle of Capri riverboat casino, strippers, bail bondsmen, Kansas City Star

* Charleston, WV

We wear shoes.

Highlights: Monster Truck Jam, Kanawha Eagle coal mine, Capital Street, LAN party, police ride along

* Amsterdam

You need pot to live in this town. It gets very stressful.

Highlights: live sex show in the Red Light District, art forgery, pot and hash at the Grey Area coffee shop, Torture Museum, disco taxi, wooden shoe factory

* Las Vegas

I love any town where you fly in and leave by bus.

Highlights: Las Vegas Boulevard, Adult Video News Awards, Double Down Saloon, pawn shop, The Strip, the Frank Sinatra Suite

* New York City

What's your name?
Me? I'm Carson Daly.

Highlights: Bleecker Street, Sheepshead Bay football, Club DV8 hair salon, Tickle-Torture Night at The LURE (Leather, Uniform, Rubber, Etc.), Chess Forum, Staten Island Ferry

But in the end, despite Attell's best attempts, Insomniac is still a show about boobs and booze and should be viewed with that fact in mind. The drunker you are, the more you will enjoy this series. Stone cold sober, it's amusing and passes the time. Trashed, it's a work of art.

The transfers for this disc are, as for most television shows, perfectly adequate. Nothing stood out as bad, but nothing stood out as good either. They're innocuous.

Included on this two-disc set are:

* Audio commentaries on four episodes: These give you a better understanding of how the show is really created. It's a lot more complicated than it looks.
* Uncensored deleted scenes (16 minutes): As with most deleted scenes, these were deleted for a reason; still, they're mildly entertaining.
* Comedy Central "Quickies": These shorts are hilarious and made me realize I need to watch more Comedy Central.

Should you buy this DVD? If you enjoy the show, then yes. At a list price of $25, you can't go wrong—you get commentaries, deleted scenes, and, most importantly, uncensored episodes. While a few scenes are still blurred out (I'd assume because otherwise the disc would have to be labeled as pornography), you definitely get your money's worth of nudity, full-frontal and all. More boobs and of course more booze—how could you possibly go wrong?

For making a profit off his questionable lifestyle, Dave Attell is found not guilty on all accounts.

Case dismissed.

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