On the surface, Creature Comforts (premiering tonight on CBS, 8PM EST) comes across as just another summer replacement series. The premise is simple: reduce some man on the street interviews to sound bites, and reproduce them with animal cartoon faces. Fortunately, the premise must have been pitched to CBS a little better than that.

Creature Comforts is, in fact, one of the brightest spots in a summer season dominated by wannabe “reality” pirates, wannabe filmmaker competitions and, yes, even bingo as a televised sport. Based on the British TV series of the same name, Creature Comforts is a welcome departure from the tried and true formulaic series to which we’ve grown accustomed. There is no plot here — there aren’t even vignettes, although there are some recurring characters. Instead, we get little snippets of conversations, the kind you hear every day, and barely notice. For instance, we hear a woman telling a man how he’ll never get close to her romantically, not particularly amusing until you realize these are pandas conversing. There are bees suffering from allergies, sharks talking about the power of a winning smile, various hypochondriacs and neurotics all in animal and insect guise, all forcing us to look at ourselves in a pointed, if somewhat skewed style.

Produced by Aardman Animations, the same team that produced the theatrical films Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, Creature Comforts masterfully utilizes stop motion animation to create a world that may appear fanciful, but strikes close to the urban heart. I don’t want to run through all the skits here — words wouldn’t do them justice. Take my word for it. If you want a welcome diversion from from the tripe that is standard summer TV fare, you’d be hard pressed to find something as charming and insightful as Creature Comforts.

Moving into a fourth season with six left to go in its record-setting run, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles underwent some changes. The show would move away slightly from its formulaic nature, and generally with some mixed results. It’s a downswing, though it remains enjoyable for the target audience.

A few episodes into the fourth season, the darker, somewhat more menacing introduction was replaced by a less violent, brighter colored clip. The same goes for many of the episodes, moving into lighter territory where the Turtles hardly ever make physical contact with their foes. Michelangelo would become severely handicapped, having his trademark nunchucks replaced by a weak grappling hook. While he still carries his favorite weapons, they’re never actually used in combat.

Shredder, the arch nemesis who kept the Turtles busy previously, also takes a step back. In his place are some far less exciting villains, including way too many mad scientists who rarely seem to have much of a plan. The 15-plus hours contained in this set have some other rather terrible ideas, such as one where the heroes end up in a fairy tale dimension that’s a stretch even for a show regularly filled with bizarre occurrences and characters.

That’s not to say the season is a complete loss. The episode "Splinter Vanishes" is an obvious inspiration for the recent re-imagining animated TMNT movie, splitting the team up as they go their separate ways. "Foot Soldiers are Revolting" is more in tone with earlier episodes, somewhat harder edged, though still definitely a cartoon aimed at the younger set.

At the least, LionsGate has finally released this show in proper box set form on DVD instead of small individual volumes. Those who grew up with the series will have a great time reminiscing, and also shake their heads in disbelief that they were ever mesmerized by some episodes. The younger set new to the characters should have no problem adjusting.

Video quality is inline with all previous volumes. At times, the top of the screen warps, an obvious indication these were obviously mastered from a VHS. Compression is rough, and it’s to be expected with the bright, solid colors. This is a step up from the original cable broadcasts, while that remains one of the few positives.

Audio is flat, not that far off from the expectation. There’s no stereo use to be found. The sound is clean without distortion or static. All dialogue mixes fine with the music. It’s still flat and rather treble heavy.

Extras make an appearance for the first time on DVD. There are two interviews, running about five minutes each. James Avery who voiced Shredder (and also remembered as Phillip from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) discusses how he came into the role and reflects on the impact it had on a generation of kids. Pat Fraley is next, and he handled the voice of Krang. His discussion is much of the same as Avery’s, though he does go into a little depth in how he came up with the voice.

A pizza recipe is the final extra, a single screen of text. On a side note, every time one of the discs is inserted, trailers play. All five discs contain the same exact pieces of promotional material. While skippable, it’s definitely a case of ridiculous overkill.

Raphael graces the box in a neat though annoying raised plastic cover that’s nearly impossible to fit onto a shelf. The art used for this is the same as the previous Volume Five release. Likewise, all of the menu art is recycled yet again as it has been since the initial release of this series on DVD.

Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a classic video game website which he called home after his fanzine (Gaming Source) published its final issue. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for reasearch purposes. Really. He has also begun writing freelance for the Toledo Free Press.