Lewis Black's Root of All Evil: The Complete First Season Uncensored DVD Review
Posted by Marilyn Yang on 09.30.2008
Lewis Black is the pretend judge in a courtroom that delivers the verdict on what is truly the root of all evil. He doesn't yell as much as you would expect. Some funny mock lawyers (and one former real lawyer) make their cases.
The Series
Here is the basic format of the show:
Lewis Black's introduction
Opening statements
Cases presented by both faux lawyers
Inquisition of both sides by Lewis Black
Ripple of Evil (the butterfly effect of evil disaster posed by the accused)
Closing Statements
Final Verdict, sentencing
Post show interview (shown during closing credits)
DISC ONE:
Episode One: "Oprah Winfrey vs. The Catholic Church"
Black does a decent comparison of Oprah and the Catholic church. Arguing for the Catholic church as the root of all evil is Greg Giraldo. Arguing for Oprah as the root of all evil is Paul F. Tompkins.
Worth watching for: somewhat convincing arguments by Tompkins and Giraldo, considering mock trials don't usually exist outside of high school or law school
Skip it if: you are an easily offended Catholic, or you are crazy in love with Oprah
Episode Two: "Donald Trump vs. Viagra"
This is now the second TV show I've reviewed this week that has featured Viagra. Arguing for Viagra as the root of all evil is Greg Giraldo. Prosecuting Donald Trump is Andy Kindler. Giraldo actually argues for the benefits of erectile disfunction. Kindler's arguments are forgettable.
Worth watching for: Giraldo's visit to a nursing home, seeing geriatrics swear like sailors
Skip it if: you're sick of seeing bad Trump impersonations
Episode Three: "Weed vs. Beer"
Arguing for beer as the root of all evil is Andy Daly. Arguing for weed is Paul F. Tompkins. Tompkins does a brief interview with singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.
Worth watching for: Tompkins and Daly both deliver amusing arguments in a debate that has been held in frat houses for years
Skip it if: you dearly love patchouli, marijuana, or Sam Adams (the person, not the beer)
Episode Four: "Youtube vs. Porn"
Greg Giraldo argues for porn as the root of all evil. Patton Oswalt argues for Youtube. There's a brief cameo by Ron Jeremy.
Worth watching for: Patton Oswalt
Skip it if: you actually expected to see clips of porn, because they're still pixelated even though this is uncensored
DISC TWO:
Episode Five: "Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney"
Greg Giraldo argues for Paris HIlton as the root of all evil. Patton Oswalt argues for Dick Cheney.
Worth watching for: the funniest episode of the season
Skip it if: you love Paris or Dick, which excludes most people, so basically if you watch an episode of Root of All Evil it should be this one
Episode Six: "American Idol vs. High School"
Arguing for high school as the root of all evil is Patton Oswalt. Arguing for American Idol is Andy Kindler.
Worth watching for: Oswalt compares The Breakfast Club to the Bush administration, and does a cheer with pom-poms
Skip it if: you weren't impressed with Kindler in "Donald Trump vs. Viagra"
Episode Seven: "Kim Jong-il vs. Tila Tequila"
Arguing for Tequila as the root of all evil is Greg Giraldo. Arguing for Kim as the root of all evil is Kathleen Madigan.
Worth watching for: Kathleen Madigan, particularly during the inquisition segment and closing statement
Skip it if: you currently reside in North Korea
Episode Eight: "Las Vegas vs. the Human Body"
Arguing for the human body as the root of all evil is Patton Oswalt. Arguing for Las Vegas is Andrew Daly.
Worth watching for: In all honesty, I felt this episode was pretty mediocre, and nothing stood out for me.
Skip it if: you feel the need to
Series rating:6.5/10
Extras
Post Show Interviews: extended versions of the post show interviews of each episode with a woman (who isn't mentioned by name in any episode) without the closing credits scrolling in the way, or Paul F. Tompkins getting cut off like in the first episode. The extended versions are not terribly necessary, nor particularly funny overall. Additionally, all post show interviews are on disc one, but half the episodes are on disc two. So you can't necessarily watch all the post show interviews at once if you haven't seen disc two yet, because every interview reveals who the winner is. The language is still censored, which is annoying. It is interesting to note that Greg Giraldo really used to be a lawyer. There, now you know the most interesting thing I found in this bonus feature.
Bonus Features Your Day in Court: a short with Lewis Black advising what to do if you are going to appear in court, how to choose your lawyer, all shot in a grainy, handheld camera look that (I guess) is meant to look like an old public service announcement. Also, not particularly funny nor necessary considering the accused on Root of All Evil is either something intangible, or a person who isn't actually present in the mock courtroom, anyway. Meet Judge Black: Black basically clarifies that he is not a real judge. Meet the lawyers: Black discusses the comedians featured on the show. The actual lawyers don't get to speak for themselves, which is disappointing. PolitiBits: If you say the same thing often enough, it becomes the truth. This is the gist of Black's advice to politicians. What he actually says made no sense to me.
Comedy Central Quickies: Reno 911!: Prostitution Sting (sting gone awry) South Park: It's Just Gone (the nation has no internet) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Baracknophobia (segment on "the irrational fear of hope," with various pictures of Barack Obama) The Colbert Report: Cookie Monster (fruit is beating out cookie as a snack for children; Colbert blames Cookie Monster's switch to eating fruit now instead of cookies) I recall seeing this episode of The Colbert Report a while ago when it originally aired, and there is more to the Cookie Monster segment than featured in the quickie, which is too bad since it was funny. Extras rating:5.0/10
The Video and Audio
Root of All Evil is presented in color, fullscreen format with 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The audio is available in English only, in Dolby Digital Stereo. Neither video nor audio is remarkably different from when I saw a few Root of All Evil episodes on Comedy Central. No complaints though, other than that there is no episode list inside, just two discs. The episode names are listed on the back of the DVD box, but not in order, and nothing indicates which episodes are on which disc. Video and audio rating:5.0/10
The 411: Root of All Evil isn't bad at all, but it isn't great. It had some very funny moments with some very funny comedians, but some moments that fell flat or completely lost my interest as well. The extras aren't anything special, and they were actually my least favorite part of the whole two-disc set. Considering there are plenty of Root of All Evil clips available online legitimately through Comedy Central's website, I'm not convinced it's entirely necessary to have this show available on DVD for the sake of some extras just yet.
