The Mantis-Eye Experiment

Hey kids, it's mailbag time! This is a mostly filler update where I answer (or just make fun of) all the e-mails I've gotten in the last long time that I've mostly neglected to answer, though I do read them all, I swear. Let's get started!

First we have the response from bill tim (not his real name) after I posted his angry e-mail sent to me when I shifted the site to a 12 oz. Mouse focus on April 1st. He's an okay guy after all!

Man that was a good joke. Had me fooled. I would
have responded sooner but i was pretty pissed off that
the best venture brothers site out there had changed.
I hadn't been back to the site since then. As soon as
i saw that the site was the same when i came back i
said "Shit". And when i read that you posted my email
my exact words were "I guess i'm the dumbass?" Well
that was a good April fools joke. Keep up the good
work with the site. I can barely type this email with
the amount of egg on my face. Man you got me good.

A fan
Bill Tim(not real name) aka. Real Dumbass

Aww now, Bill, don't be so hard on yourself. These things happen to the best of us! Next we have an inquiry from one 'Vincent Volpe' (which may or may not be his real name, it is a mystery!):

Are Hank and Dean really clones made form genetic material obtained from Dr.Ventrue and Brock because there is no mention of their mother or if they were adopted. Please email back when available, thank you.

Well Vincent, since I'm not a writer for the show (in fact I don't have any involvement with the show at all, aside from being a fan) I can't tell you for sure. That's one of the most popular theories on the boys, and certainly can be supported with lines from various episodes. There are many other possibilities of course, but the clone angle seems like the most obvious one. We'll find out in season two for sure though! Next up we have some e-mail all the way from Sweden via a fellow named Bjorn Rudolfsson:

Hey,

I just recently saw the series and have become a huge fan of it! I found my way to your site when I was searching for info on season two and I'm glad your site could enlighten me on that. Anyways, since you seem to be well connected and informed on the Venture Bros, I figured I should direct a question I had to you - In the first episode (Dia De Los Dangerous), the Monarch curses about Brock Samson, calling him Dr.Venture's Swedish killing machine. Got any info on that whole swedish bit, cause I'm dying to know, being a swede myself and all?

Thanks for a great site!

The heritage of Brock Samson is unknown at this point, but I think it's safe to assume that if he's not really Swedish, calling him as such by the Monarch is an understandable stab at his stature and follicle coloring, since Swedes are often stereotyped as being large, buff and blond. We may find out Brock's background in season two though! Thanks, Bjorn!

Steve Takata sent me an excellent e-mail with many facts that I will hopefully get around to adding to the site some day (if I haven't done so already), but he ended his very informative e-mail with a question:

BTW, how do you know that that Dr. Venture says "Get their clothes" and not "Get their clones?" I'm sure you're right but I was curious about how you arrived at such a definitive conclusion.

Well, Steve, I know this because Jackson Publick, head writer and creator of the Venture Bros. wrote that very line as the headline on his LiveJournal entry on that episode after it aired. Also if you listen very carefully, there is no distinct 'l' sound in that line. You perhaps want to hear the word 'clones', because on some sort of subconscious level you know the boys were clones, perhaps. Maybe. Next we have a question from the enigmatic 'Swanky~Tuna':

I was wondering, do you know what song is playing when Brock is hosing down the X-1? I hunted through the Foetus and Steriod Maximus song samples on cduniverse but didn't seem to have any luck. Would you happen to know?

Unfortunately I do not, since I am not that familiar with the works of Foetus. If you are talking about the pilot episode, then you will have to continue to scour his CDs. If, however, you are talking about the episode Ice Station, Impossible!, that would be an original tune not available on any of JG Thirwell's CDs, since all the music composed for the series is original. Next question comes from Anthony D'Andrea:

I am looking for DVD’s with no luck. Dude this cartoon is god dam funny! They need to show Brock freaking out more. The one episode were he beats the sh#@ out of the little bee guy was so F-ing funny. I have a brother in Iraq and I know this show will get the guys rolling over their. He requested me to send funny DVD’s and this was the first show that came to mind. Were can I get the DVD’s?

Well, if you notice at the top of the front page there's a DVD countdown. The DVDs for season one will be released on May 30th, so you can pick them up then. However you can of course buy bootleg DVDs with sub-par quality episodes (ripped from TV viewings, and almost certain to contain the Adult Swim or Cartoon Network watermark) off eBay if you must. However, I'd recommend just waiting for the official DVDs since they will also contain some excellent art and great extras along with the always hilarious episodes.

That's all the e-mail I have for today. And once again many thanks to anyone who sent in any useful tidbits of information. I try to add them to the site when I remember to, but I don't usually reply to the e-mails (though I do once in a while), so chances are, if you sent me in some neat facts or info I've already added it to the capsules and you just didn't notice (or you already did, perhaps). Until next time, enjoy! And don't forget to watch the show every 10pm EST on Sunday night!

Quick note that AS changed the Sunday schedule yet again. Venture Bros. is now on at 10pm Eastern on Sunday, instead of 12:30am. That's cool for people who have to go to bed early on Sunday night, right? I've got nothing more to say!

Quick update to inform you of the latest developments at Jackson Publick's House of Venture. Word is that post-production and pre-production continue in full swing. The new season promises to be full of thrills and chills and apparently it will sound killer too. There's also the regular bundle of screengrabs that look pretty damned interesting (as always) and doggies! Everyone loves doggies, right? Well, most people do I guess.

And there's slightly over five fortnights until season two begins! I use fortnights because five fortnights sounds like less time to wait than 73 days. To me anyway.

Also, if you weren't paying attention, AS's upfront was on the 30th. I didn't cover it because VB was of course already renewed, but just in case there was any doubt, here's the relevant snip from the article:

The Venture Bros.: With Hank and Dean Venture presumably dead, Doc and Brock carry on as Team Venture and seek revenge on The Monarch and other villains in the second season of the series from Jackson Publick III. New episodes begin June 25.

As far as season one goes, Mid-Life Chrysalis is on Adult Swim Fix this week (okay, I know the week is almost over) as well as on your television thingy this Sunday night. That's all for now, kids, enjoy!

The more astute among you I'm sure realized the date of yesterday's post, and my somewhat uncreative April Fool's Day tradition (it's a tradition because I've done it two years in a row!) of switching this site to that of another show on Adult Swim, though one of much lower quality. Hopefully you had a decent laugh, or otherwise just ignored it among everything else that is part of the huge comedy-fest we call The Internet on April 1st. I did get one gem of an e-mail though, which I will share with you:

You are a fucking dumbass if you think 12 oz mouse is
a funny TV show. It barely qualifies as a TV show.
It's like a mentally handicapped child with a crayon
wrote and then drew the show.

It's things like these that make me remember why I started this site in the first place! Okay Mr. Bill Tim, I shall change my evil ways and turn the site back to a Venture Bros. site! You have convinced me! You can still select the 12 Oz. Mouse theme from the settings page if you want though.

Guys I have to confess, that with all this waiting for Venture Bros. season two, I've kind of burned out on the show. I mean, it's okay and all I guess, but I'm just so sick of all the episodes and everything that I think I'm going to put my efforts into something else. So, as you can see, I'm slowly converting this site to a 12 oz. Mouse site. For those who don't know, 12 oz. Mouse is the greatest show ever to air on Adult Swim. It's about a mouse and stuff. As you can see I have the design of the site done, but there's still a ton of Venture Bros. info, but that will all be removed in due time. To celebrate this new beginning, I've put up a brand new poll! Finally!

That's about it. I have to start writing up those episode capsules now, but that's going to take a while. Thanks to all you Venture fans for supporting the site, but it's time to move on. And remember, season two of 12 oz. Mouse starts this September!! I need to adjust the counter for that too. I have no idea when the DVDs are out though. See ya later!

Those of you who are observant may have noticed that Venture Bros. didn't air yesterday night like you might have been expecting. Instead AS opted to switch Saturday night back to entirely anime (Stroker & Hoop didn't air either) and replace it with Inuyasha. Joy. So VB is back to being not on the air at all, though it may be shown on Friday Night Fix if you need constant viewings or something.

Also, AS announced Adult Swim Fix, which is essentially Adult Swim only on the internet. Every week there will be seven episodes from AS's original comedies and some anime for your viewing pleasure. They're not revealing what will be available, but it goes live tomorrow (March 27th), so I guess you can find out then. Otherwise those bootleg DVDs you bought on eBay for entirely too much money will have to suffice. See you guys next update!

Update: Oops, just noticed during a bump that it's actually been moved to 12:30am eastern on Sunday night (reairing at 4:30am EST), so we're good. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out to me as well, even though I didn't see them until after I saw it advertised on TV. Suckers!

Hey kiddies, there's another awesometacular update over at JP's Place. One episode is nearly complete, and voice work is almost totally done for season two. Still lots of work to be done, but it's apparently coming along very nicely. Also for you fans of animation, this should be some great news:

Noodlesoup installed a TV monitor in their waiting area, which runs samples of the studio's work all day, presumably to dazzle potential clients and baffle bike messengers. An episode from the first season was on a constant loop last week--and it was one of our better looking ones, mind you--but compared to this season's episodes, most of which are just rough cuts with no music or edits made to them yet--it looked like crap. So I think it's safe to say you're all going to be very pleased with the look of season two.

Oh yes, you can start to get excited now. Also check out the sweet painting of Brock by Bill Sienkiewicz which will appear in the season 1 DVD (which is complete and only awaiting release), and more screenshots and other stuff as well!

Quick note, in case you missed it, AS played some cards tonight with an actual start date for season two: June 25th, which I can only assume to be official. I updated the countdown accordingly. That's it!

I'm a couple days late, but Adult Swim posted some info on the season one DVD set a few days ago.

The DVD will feature all 13 episodes of the first season, as well as the pilot and the "A Very Venture Christmas" special. Bonus features include creator commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes of the Venture Bros. live-action movie and original packaging art by comic-artist/god Bill Sienkiewicz.

Release is on May 30th, two weeks before season two is scheduled to begin (June 11th). Also you may have noticed I've brought back the DVD countdown in the box along with a countdown to season two's start. Good times. I've also got a bunch of e-mail to sort through, which I will get to one of these days. Going to have to start doing some actual work with this place soon I guess.

Quick update to mention that Adult Swim will apparently begin re-airing season one starting this Saturday at 11pm. I didn't see it myself, but my sources tell me there was a bump on AS stating this fact in a large-fonted and rather blinky way, so I can only assume they are very serious about this. Also my source is a pretty reliable guy. I mean so what if his office is really the bathroom at Walmart, that doesn't make him any less of a lawyer, right?