For a generation of pop culture spouting, irreverently humoured people (myself included in this group), the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up of shows have managed to give us plenty of, usually under fifteen minute, blasts of off-beat humour and maniacal attitude. They've given us not-quite-superhero fast food with Aqua Teen Hunger Force, death metal gone wrong with Metalocalypse, and Seth Green playing with toys with Robot Chicken. Now we can add Moral Orel to that roster.

Created by TV veteran Dino Stamatopoulos (Mr. Show, Mad TV), Moral Orel is a take-off of the 1960's Christian themed stop motion animated show, Davey and Goliath. But that's about where the similarities end. Instead of teaching us about morals, being a good person with Jesus' help, and treating everyone with respect, Stamtopoulos and his writers have decided to drag religion over the coals with as much borderline offensive, off-colour, and outright "this is soooo wrong" moments as they can cram into each eleven minute episode.

Collecting the first season of the show (fifteen episodes in all), Moral Orel introduces us to the residents of Moralton, Statesota with the main focus being on youngster Orel (Carolyn Lawrence, who also does "Sandy Cheeks" in Spongebob Squarepants) who is so obsessed with doing right by Jesus that he often gets himself into some of the most morally wrong situations possible. We also get to meet Orel's heavy drinking father, his anal retentive mother, the greedy local preacher, and the secretly gay gym teacher - there's also a handful of other characters who inhabit the world of Moralton which gives the show a mild form of continuity throughout.

Each show here sticks to a pretty basic formula by introducing a topic (such as "Charity", "Waste", "Love", and even "Satan") and throwing our naïve Orel into the fire. Each episode sees the clueless youngster trying to do good while being oblivious to just how utterly terrible a lot of his actions are. It all ends with Orel in dad's study learning a life lesson and about one of the many "lost commandments". Oh, and there's also a helping of zombies, crack addiction, egg outlaws, and Satanists to spice things up.

A show best taken in smaller doses, Moral Orel truly does amaze you in just how much Stamatopoulos and his crew managed to get onto television. If you think that Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park has been pushing the envelope of tastelessness in animation then you can safely put Moral Orel up on the same level. When it's not busy bashing religion and making satirical jabs at its source inspiration and 50's life, this is a show that doesn't try to hold back on any joke no matter just how sick and depraved it gets - Hell, the first episode has Orel bringing back people as zombies because they're not "living for the Lord" and are therefore sinning. But things definitely hit their shocking peak during the episode "God's Chef" where Orel learns the joys of masturbation.

Admittedly, the formula and religion bashing of the fifteen episodes here does tend to get a little old after a while and you almost have to wonder if Stamatopoulos is investing too many personal attacks on religion in the show. It's a cutesy looking show with a mean streak and mature themes, but sometimes it can go a little too far for comfort (as witnessed by the off-putting "God's Image"). That's not to say things should be played "safe", it's just to say that sometimes there should be a line drawn.

If you're a fan of the other shows in the Adult Swim block, chances are you'll find something within Moral Orel to enjoy. It's probably on the lower end of the scale for me in regards to their shows (I hold The Venture Bros. and Robot Chicken in higher regard) but it has enough shockingly funny moments, nice retro-looking animation and strong voice work (especially Lawrence) to be worth checking out at least once. (Chris Hartley, 6/22/07)

Created By: Dino Stamatopoulos.

Starring: Carolyn Lawrence, Scott Adsit, Jay Johnston, William Salyers.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: Moral Orel is a show filled with lots of bright colours and the transfer here handles them well. It sports nice clarity and has no flaws I could really notice.

Extras: Billed as the "Unholy Edition" due to having a few moments cut for broadcast being replaced, the first season of Moral Orel arrives with more features to chew on that Adult Swim usually puts onto their DVD sets.

There's promo spots, bumps (the little ads that air between commercials), a behind-the-scenes featurette, a scene involving Reverand Putty as voiced by Stamatopoulos, a collection of the end animations that play during the credits and six deleted scenes.

But that's not all as eight episodes contain group commentaries from various people involved with the show, they're pretty fun to listen to mainly because everyone is joking around and having fun. But, by far, the most interesting extra here is the one entitled "The Awkward Comic-Con Panel" that has a druken public appearance by Stamatopoulos as San Diego's yearly Comic-Con convention that goes downhill fast. It also has two commentaries one by Stamatopolus as well as one by The Venture Bros. creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick.