Season Two of "Sealab 2021," part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, isn't as fresh or amusing as the first, which shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. The sheer novelty of taking an obscure 1970s Saturday morning cartoon and re-dubbing the episodes into irreverent 10 minute sketches can only work for so long before the newness of the idea wears off, and what you're left with is a show that soldiers on past its expiration date. The show is still sometimes really funny, and still the best original program offered on Adult Swim, but nowhere nearly as consistent as Season One (a must-have boxed set).

This two-disc set contains all 13 episodes from the second season. Some episodes, such as "The Policy," "Hail, Squishface," & "Article 4" are gems, on par with anything made during season one. But just as often, we get stuff like "Bizarro," which takes it's somewhat amusing premise and runs it into the ground, to the point where it's actually irritating to sit through. "7211" is an unexpectedly straightforward episode, with no attempts at humor at all, which is apparently the big punchline. "Return to Oblivion" revisits a season one episode in which Murphy (Sealab's commander) is trapped under a soda machine; this time it's 'behind the scenes,' and a studio accountant is determining whether or not to pull the plug on the show; it has some funny moments, but just as many of the gags simply pander to the spastic 12-year-old crowd. Again, the dip in the quality of writing isn't surprising. I mean, just how many episodes can anyone really eek from the premise before you start running out of ideas? But another reason Season Two doesn't work as well is the increasing use of new animation. It's still crude by Disney standards, but much of what made Season One so damn funny was its exploitation of the original's cheap 70s-style animation; Season One of "Sealab 2021" wasn't a satire of a single show...it poked fun at an entire decade of the assembly-line, cookie-cutter cartoons many of us grew up with. Any use of new animation was used sparingly, and only if no existing footage was available to fit within an episode's plotline. Here, the additional animation is ample and obvious, sometimes dominating an episode to the point where it more closely resembles "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" than the cheap cartoon that inspired it. Of course, I'm sure the extensive use of new animation is dictated by necessities of the scripts, but it does sometimes negate what made Season One so fun, especially for those of us who grew up with Saturday morning cartoons.

The picture quality of Season Two is an improvement over Season One, but I think that's mainly because the increase in new footage. The sound quality of this set is on par with the first, rendered in 2.0 Dolby stereo. Nothing spectacular, but definitely serviceable.

This set boasts commentaries for all 13 episodes by the show's creators & crew members, which sounds like a real bonus until you start listening to some of them. It becomes quickly obvious these guys are more concerned with cultivating their geek-slacker image than offering much in the way of actual info. The commentaries on some episodes aren't really commentaries at all; one features the guys bowling while an episode plays, while another has them playing air-hockey. Ha-ha. Disc Two offers all of the other supplemental features, most of which are intended to be more funny than informative. "20 Questions with the Cast" features the animated characters being interviewed by a bikini-clad woman, and is amusing for the first two minutes of its 11 minute running time. "Take a Tour of 70-30" is a 2 minute segment where more bikini-clad women talk about the studio, and offers no real info. "A Tribute to Harry Goz" features cast & crew members who pay tribute to the late actor who voiced Murphy (I didn't even know he died), and it's probably the best extra included. "Ronnie" is an unfinished episode, featuring voice overs but no animation. While the extras are more abundant than those included on Season One, they get boring pretty quick.

"Sealab 2021 - Season Two" isn't bad, and die-hard Adult Swim fanatics will likely need it for their collection, but casual fans would be better off with Season One, which is funnier by far, when the show was still fresh and new. The extras don't offer much in the way of valuable behind-the-scenes info; they are mostly here to further display the same type of humor prevalent in the episodes. But if it's your kind of humor, too much can never be enough.