‘The Aquabats! Super Show: Season One’ DVD Review

There’s a long tradition of kids TV shows that feature music and comedy – from the likes of the Banana Splits and Sesame Street to more modern shows such as Doodlebops and Yo Gabba Gabba. Speaking of which… From the creators of Yo Gabba Gabba! and frontman Christian Jacobs (who plays the Aquabats MC Bat Commander) comes the perfect blend of live-action, animation, music and merth –  The Aquabats! Super Show.

Featuring the galaxy’s first group of musical crime-fighting superheroes: MC Bat Commander, Crash McLarson, Ricky Fitness, Eagle Bones, Falconhawk and Jimmy the Robot, The Aquabats! Super Show sees the gang travel America in their Battletram battling cheesy, rubber-suited monsters protecting the planet from the creatures and super villains out to destroy it. Mixed in to this live-action show is an ongoing Aquabats cartoon series and fakes ads for increasingly ridiculous products made by “Gloopy”.

I think it says a lot about Nerdly (and me in particular) when the online PR for this new UK DVD release of The Aquabats! Super Show thinks it’s our kind of TV show because “we’d get the humor.” Of course they were right: the off-kilter, off-the-wall comedy found in this series is the kind of bizarre madcap stuff we love – plus throw the a “rubber-suit” Power Rangers-esque vibe and this series is right up our street!

Reminiscent of the 60s iteration of Batman starring Adam West, by way of Scooby Doo and The Monkees, The Aquabats! Super Show is that rare breed of children’s television show that appeals to kids on a purely entertaining, visual, level; yet it also will find an adult audience – the kind that will enjoy it purely for its kitsch appeal, camp quality and slightly risque jokes. Plus there are a number of pop culture references that ONLY adults will get…

A cult classic in the making, The Aquabats! Super Show is released on DVD on Monday July 22nd, courtesy of Fremantle Media.