*** - Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. While I would rate this 5th volume (and, technically, 6th season overall if one includes the straight-to-DVD- films which later aired in 30 minute chunks on Comedy Central as season 5) as maybe a little bit better than the episodes that preceded it, it is a far cry from the glory days of this show that used to be able to make amazing intellectual jokes out of dry topics such as math and science. Now, however, it all too often relies on trashy jokes, titillation, attempts at pleasing internet nerds, and topical gags that are bound to wither and die in short order. That is not to say that there aren’t some bright spots. A few of the episodes in this season are genuinely clever and funny, often evoking the quality that was found back in the FOX years, but an equal number were not only groaningly unfunny, but also couldn’t seem to find any story direction. Granted, this is an animated comedy show, so story direction probably shouldn’t be a top priority, but when the first few seasons were able to have such a high-quality overarching theme, the lack of that now becomes very disorienting. I will admit that – especially on Blu-ray – this season looks spectacular. It is one of the first Blu-ray discs I’ve watched where the difference between it and DVD are very easy to see. That can’t entirely make up for its lack of humor, though.
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