Did you ever wonder how Hell was organized and run? Did you ever imagine that it looks and acts like an incompetent business office? Well, if you thought about both things, you’re going to be in heaven (pun intended) with Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell. It follows the assignments of Gary (Henry Zebrowski) the demon and his trials/tribulations with his co-workers, work and his boss — SATAN (Matt Servitto).
Seriously, I’m not sure what the f*** I just watched twice, possibly a third time, but it’s quite the bit of entertainment. Let me do a wonderful episode breakdown for you:
Welcome to Hell: The first episode of the series is a doozy, as it stretches your political correctness like a rubber band. Gary, our main demon, gets a new intern named Claude (Craig Rowin). Satan assigns them the task of convincing a pro baseball player, who sold his soul to Satan, to stop thanking God and wearing a cross during his onscreen baseball moments. Things go awry when Gary accidentally obliterates the baseball player into a pile of cockroaches, and both Claude and Gary have to correct things quickly before Satan finds out. If you’re going to start a show about a bunch of office working demons, this is probably the note you want to start on. Everyone is introduced, even Eddie the only tortured, reoccurring soul. The comedy is solid and the end result is grotesquely beautiful.
{media load=media,id=3432,width=720,align=center,display=inline}
Bone Garden: Gary’s former girlfriend from his former life ends up boning Satan, and Satan wants that to continue! The ‘bone garden’ is a piece of unsold property that Satan and Gary’s former girlfriend do the deed in and Satan wants Gary to make sure it continues to be unsold. How can Gary guarantee that? He has to haunt the place and discourage anyone from buying it. On top of this, Gary can’t have any contact with this former girlfriend, otherwise he’ll have to face Satan’s wrath. This is probably one of my favorite, yet tragic episodes from the bunch. It’s offensive, simple and sad/hilarious all at the same time. I feel terrible for finding Gary’s misery so entertaining, but it’s very entertaining. Don’t skip this one.
Take Life by the Horns: Gary forces his way into a special task from Satan to blackmail a senator into putting Satan’s face on the nickel. When assigned the task, Gary finds himself not only failing to locate the senator, but getting stranded with a random hiker, who has fallen and broken his leg (Gary joins him). Gary’s chitchatting with the hiker ends up as a book from the hiker called ’Take Life by the Horns’, which features deep, dark secrets about Hell and Satan. Satan sends Gary out to fix what he broke with the author and take care of ‘business’ with the author’s life. This gets messed up quick. Definitely one of the more grotesque episodes of the bunch, especially with broken legs, but it ends well with a bowling ball. That’s right, with a BOWLING BALL. Figure that one out.
Schmickler83!: Gary’s attendance at a concert ends up with him losing his wallet, as well as his summon word (the word that people use to summon him to them). He has to figure out how to change his summon word before Satan finds out. His former intern, now boss, Claude ends up helping him — but not that much. While there was plenty of good humor here to be had, this is the weakest episode of the bunch. The McGuffin gets old quickly, though there are some solid moments of comedy.
Devil in the Details: Gary is sent back to convince a former child star, who sold her soul to the devil for fame (though brief), to write a musical play about Satan’s life. While there isn’t much convincing needed, the drama teacher, Tiffany (Geneva Carr), goes balls to the wall with getting the musical done — until she gets fired due to the content. Gary must scramble to make the play happen, or at least end whatever play is going to happen in the most tragic way (shotgun sandwich). This is a messed up and very dark episode, but nonetheless entertaining. Geneva Carr’s Tiffany is sadistically funny, mean and drives most of the comedy. One of my favorites of season one.
People in Hell Want Ice Water: Gary and the gang of demons must find a way to collect more souls for hell. Satan puts together a competition where the winner is rewarded with nice, cold ice water (always a caveat, though). Gary and the other demons find themselves out in the field (on Earth) doing their best to sucker humans, while Claude builds a website and suckers humans in an intelligent, quick way. A great way to cap a season off and well worth the wait for the payoff.
As you can see, the show doesn’t hold back whatsoever. The DVD release is completely unedited, so you get the language with all the situations. How Adult Swim gets away with even the edited material is beyond me, but I’m glad they get away with it. The comedy can be, and regularly is childish, but the people delivering it make it fun. Zebrowski does a great job leading the way, while regulars Rowin and Servitto (especially him) help to keep the comedy going.
Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell grotesque, un-PC, stupid fun…and life needs that some days. It delivers it well, in the most evil of fashions.
On the special features side of this release, here’s what you’re getting:
– Deleted Scenes
– Promos
– Commentaries
– Behind the Scenes
– Original Short
– Screen Tests
You get a variety of things that are every bit as good as the show. You’re in for some extra treats with this one. Hell, even the main menu of the DVD adds to the overall package. Sick and amazing stuff packed into one release.