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34 reviews in total

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22 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
One of the most demented things I've seen since vintage 'Ren and Stimpy'. Pure genius!, 27 March 2004
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

Many of my all time favourite TV shows haven't been the ones hyped to death, but the obscure ones that you "discover" for yourself. 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law' is a case in point. I don't know if it achieved any kind of audience in the US, but it suddenly appeared out of nowhere here in Australia and was shown at an odd time slot with little fanfare. A friend caught the Scooby Doo episode and when he described it to me, I knew this was a show I just HAD to see! So I managed to catch the "Unabooboo" episode, then the one where Jabbajaw and The Neptunes are accused of plagiarism, and last night I watched the Flintstones/Sopranos episode, which was pure genius! I am now hooked for life! For anybody who hasn't seen the show it features Birdman the 60s Hanna Barbera cartoon character reinvented as Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Each episode he defends a cartoon client accused of some crime e.g. Shaggy and Scooby Doo for dope, Fred Flintstone for racketeering. Plus there are lots of strange gay in-jokes and surreal bits and pieces which make it one of the most demented things I've seen since vintage 'Ren and Stimpy'. My favourite characters are Reducto and Birdman's nutty eye-patch wearing boss. This is an utterly brilliant show and I can't wait to see more episodes!

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Hanna-Barbera For Adults, 19 April 2003
Author: Ron Broadfoot from Canada

For some reason, I loved this show from the first episode I saw. It is so interesting to see how many old Hanna-Barbera characters are getting in trouble with the law, and they need Harvey Birdman to bail them out! I remember one episode where Shaggy and Scooby-Doo get arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana and Birdman represents them. Of course, Birdman and his clients win in the end. Scrappy-Doo then makes a brief appearance at the end, but is then lifted up and carried away by Birdman's falcon sidekick. I thought "Goodbye Scrappy...and good riddance!"

To close off, here's a message to the show's creators. How about some new episodes?

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law!, 8 July 2003
Author: chthon2 from Florida, USA

Another interesting late night cartoon short. I first saw the episode that was the dual Flinstones/Sopranos parody. Hanna Barbera keeps throwing out great material, and much of it, like this, will never have a wider audience. That's kind of sad, but at the same time, kind of good, too. It makes it more special, to know that only a small group of people are watching this.

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Along with Family Guy, one of the funniest shows, 10 August 2003
Author: ilusionfactory

I was a huge fan of Space Ghost Coast to Coast when it was introduced back in 1994 (it has lost a lot since 2000). It was hilarious to see these 60's characters making references to their past incarnations (which were awful) and how they made fun of them. It was great to see Space Ghost believe he was greater than he actually was. I consider this aspect and the idea of the talk show with live action stars to be not only creative but also one of the most original and funny concepts ever.

Now we have Harvey Birdman, based on the same principle as Space Ghost C to C, but expanding on the "let's make fun of all the crappy Hanna Barbera animations of the 60's" concept, which is simply great.

The series were introduced in 2001 when Cartoon Network launched Adult Swim, but after a few episodes it disappeared. Thankfully, it wasn't because of low ratings but because they were making more episodes, and each one is even funnier than the one before.

The constant reference to old cartoons and characters is just amazingly funny and, contrary to what some people have posted here, I am well under thirty but I have seen all the re- runs from the original shows in CN, so I believe that it has a larger audience than some people give it credit for.

All the characters are great, starting with Birdman himself. I just finished watching one where the judge is Mentok. That character is hilarious. He is constantly trying to show how great his mental control powers are. It's crazy.

If somebody hasn't seen it yet, please give it a try. Cartoon Network has probably one of the funniest lineups with shows like this and Family Guy, all great and edgy animated sitcoms.

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
As funny as it is weird, 15 August 2005

Author: Shawn Watson (gator_macready@yahoo.com) from The Underverse

I first came across Birdman while on holiday in Majorca when I was 13. I remember vividly watching it with these 2 hot German twins and laughing whenever he shouted 'Bi-ii-irdMAN'. It was really, really corny. But this was back in the day when Cartoon Network didn't have much to show other than the really old-fashioned 1960's and 70's stuff. The last thing I ever imagined is that Birdman would come back in the 21st century to be re-invented as Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law at the Sebben and Sebben law firm.

He's a bit of a dunderhead. And a bighead and a sociophobe and rude but you can't help but love him. Avenger is still his sidekick (only cuter than he was previously) and his boss is Phil Ken Sebben, a one-eyed ladies man. Among the various, random people who work for the firm are Peanut (a Birdman wannabe), Peter Potamus, Reducto and a big cuddly bear who always seems to be smiling (and applauding all on his own at inappropriate moments). My fave character has to be Judge Mentok the Mindtaker (OOOOO-EEEEEE-OOOOOO-EEEEEE!!!!), he just really, really funny.

Harvey's typical cases involve him defending the likes of Shaggy and Scooby, Fred Flintstone, Boo-Boo and George Jetson. Getting in the way of cases going smoothly are and abundance of rapid-fire jokes that come at you from all angles and will probably disorientate you if you're not sure where they're coming from. Sometimes you might have to watch an episode twice as the the dialogue is usually delivered very quickly and you might lose your place among the cryptic references and wildly outlandish humor.

In truth, it's a show for Adults. Even though the jokes are only mildly suggestive there is no way a child could fully understand everything that is going on unless they are an uber-uber-geek. This is a show made for people who love stuff like Family Guy, not Spongebob Squarepants.

Oh, and I love that theme song. They must release some kind of soundtrack CD for this show. Why? Because Mentok WILLS it so!

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Can you file this under Phantom comma Funky?, 8 November 2004
Author: MissSatan from Sydney, Australia

I'll admit not everything on adult swim tickles my fancy. I first stumbled upon it with friends on a Friday night in a hazy state of mind half way through an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. We believed to be a genuine cartoon and laughed hysterically. Needless to say the next week, stone cold sober, meatwad didn't quite have the same appeal. Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law, however, is downright hilarious. It has underhanded satire similar to a 'Family Guy' flashback. I believe this type of camp, sarcastic, pop humor only appeals to a limited audience, however if you don't find at least portions of this show amusing or clever then you're an empty cold shell of a human being.

The great appeal of the show is the cameo appearances of your favorite childhood cartoon stars. I guess I love to see Harvey Birdman ruin that childhood image. As I write this I picture the Jetsons overnight struggle to get to Harvey's desk without the aid of their futuristic travelators, half way through their plight Astro collapses and pleads with the rest of the family to go on without him. Besides, who doesn't want to see Shaggy and Scooby get busted? Hauled to jail because of the damning evidence in the Mystery Machine of empty pizza boxes and clips? Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law is definitely the best thing on adult swim, my only complaint is the episodes aren't long enough and it's not on DVD yet.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Ludicrously radiant and eccentric; hilarious show!, 14 July 2002
Author: dorlago from California, Oakhurst

I am a big fan of the Adult Swim line up, and Harvey Birdman makes me laugh the most, which is what I look for on Sunday's Adult Swim. This attorney takes on the oddest cases involving prior famous cartoon stars, and they go to court, and is set up as a sort of spoof on a soap opera that is insane and makes no sense. These anecdotes are made of antics that are just for laughs, and it completes that task in such an impressive manner. If you are looking for a show that you want to take seriously, this isn't for you. And if you like Space Ghost, you will like this, and vice versa.

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8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Must see TV, 6 November 2002
Author: Brett_Buck from Sunnyvale CA

This is my favorite 15 minutes of the week! Hapless, second-rate H-B superhero Birdman is now a hapless second-rate lawyer, defending various twisted former H-B stars like the cast of Jabberjaw and the now clearly homo-erotic Jonny Quest, etc. Race Bannon (well, sort of Race Bannon) suing Dr. Quest for custody of Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit after a, uh, lover's tiff? Hapless and hyper-paranoid former Birdman antagonist Dr. Reducto opining over the good old days ("Back when I was a kid, if a someone brandished a Shrink Ray, he'd get some respect!"), becoming smitten with a witness ("No one told me your feet would be so - tiny!"), and threatening everyone in the courtroom to "Back Off! I'll make you travel size!"?

Most people would be completely mystified as to why this would be funny. I thought about it for a while, and I think unless you had watched the old series' on which this show draws, you would have no idea whatsoever what the heck was going on. You pretty much have to be a male between 38-42 to truly appreciate it. That's a pretty small target audience.

Even if you do recognize the characters, it's so surreal that you will be amazed. Seeing a giant grab and the mechanical spider/eyeball monster testifying to Race Bannon's bond with the kids defies description.

One odd thing about this series is that the characters are much better defined than the originals. Back in the 60's, the writing was almost non-existent. Somebody must have written up one or two story outlines, and just randomly used them to generate every episode of Birdman, Space Ghost, The Herculoids, etc, by substituting characters. Could have done it with a computer. This show fairly well written and I think this is what ultimately makes it funny - these absurdly flat characters you remember have internal lives, and for some reason this makes it funny.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Quirky, odd, funny, 18 March 2003
Author: Marshall_DC from Washington, D.C.

Another member of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, it features Harvey Birdman, former crime-fighter and now super hero lawyer; Avenger, his trusted falcon aid and typist; and Peanut, his multi-talented and borderline psychotic legal secretary.

Parodying many famous cartoon characters (Scooby Doo, the Superfriends, Fred Flintstone, among others) the humor is off-beat, hip and often surprisingly subtle.

Main-stream sitcom fans probably won't get it, but those with a taste for the eclectic or the campy will end up laughing out loud.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
If there's ever a way to make Hanna-Barbera better, it's this!, 21 January 2009
Author: dhein09 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Well, I just got into watching this show a few months ago after watching the episode with Top Cat being sued for bookmaking/illegal gambling. I was hooked after that. I'm watching the series on On Demand from Comcast, and the next episode for me to see is the final one. I know what happens, though (spoiler) - Harvey gets through all his cases again, and then gets run over by Phil Ken Sebben and dies. (spoiler ends here) After seeing the beginning of the Flinstones episode, I immediately began watching the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons again. I saw some Flinstones, a few Jetsons, some Quick Draw McGraw, some Magilla Gorilla, some Scooby-Doo and, my personal favorite, Tom and Jerry, who unexpectedly don't appear in the series. It would make perfect sense to have Jerry sue Tom for assault.

Anyway, there's some characters in there I have yet to see in the cartoons, like Ricohet Rabbit, Grape Ape, and Jabberjaw, to name a few.

If I had to choose between my favorite episode, it would have to be the one with Atom Ant. He gets sued for having high levels of radiation in his home. The verdict wasn't shown, though.

So yeah, if you happen to see this On Demand or anywhere else, I say watch it. It's a funny series, I'd recommend it to all the Hanna-Barbera fans.

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