Over the decades since television became the dominate form of home entertainment there have been many shows that have touched our lives. They would set a standard in excellence that rivaled theatrical films and even literature. Then there are those that are little more than a sting of vulgar, off color jokes that pander to the most juvenile of tastes. One such show was ‘Son of a Beach’. The series is rude, crude and socially unacceptable. It is also funny in that sixth grade school yard sort of fashion. Let’s face it; the world is tough and when you get home the news is depressing. There are times that you just need to let go of any and all connections to the responsibilities of your adult life and return at least for a little while to when fart jokes were truly funny. The series was produced by noted shock jock Howard Stern. He has built his career on being emotional stuck in that ten year old mind set. His radio show was so incredible asinine and vulgar that Stern constantly found himself in trouble with the FCC resulting in astronomical fines for his parent network. Now he leads the charge against good taste in the freer format of satellite radio. This was one of many forays into the world of television for Stern and one that permitted him more experience behind the scenes. The series itself originally was broadcasted on the then new FX network. This was intended to be the more cutting edge outlet for Fox programming and a move to the less restrictive venue of basic cable. It is also something that could never be considered for conventional television. The show is sick and twisted so if you are easily offended look else where. If there are children in your home do not allow them to watch this or have access to it. In some states this could be construed as reckless endangerment or at least really bad parenting. This is for the grown up and even then only for those with the ability to enjoy toilet humor. Shout Factory has the DVD distribution rights and are now up to volume two. Even in this method of releasing a TV season they are going in an unconventional way. Volume two has the last third of season two and all of season three. Most studios go for the full season or split a single season in half but in this case a strange division is in keeping with the overall presentation of the series.

Under the watchful eye of Stern the series was created by David Morgasen, Timothy Stack and James R. Stein. Morgasen has worked in production but this is his major contribution as a writer. Stein has a long career as a television writer mostly in sit-coms such as ‘Silver Spoons’, ‘What’s Happening’ and ‘Sanford and Son’. Stack has been a comic oriented character actor in both films and television. Before this he was best remembered as the father in ‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose’. Most recently he has been nominated twice for a Writers Guild of America award. There is one thing about Howard Stern. When he becomes attached to a project he has the habit of surrounding himself with people who know their way around the business. He may have a strange public persona but the man knows how to give the people what they want. Fundamentally the premise of the series is a parody of ‘Baywatch’. ‘Baywatch’, in its heyday was one of the most popular TV series in the world. It also was so silly in its own right that it was practically a self parody and provided fodder for numerous skits in many comedy shows and films. Standing in for the role created by David Hasselhoff is Notch Johnson, hysterically played by Timothy Stack. The running joke with the audience is he thinks and acts as if he was a buff lifeguard; the object of desire by every woman insight. In reality he is balding with a beer belly. This is just one of many running sight gags that make up the humor here. Don’t go into watching this set with any expectations of it making sense. It is something that is best viewed by first disconnecting all of the higher functions of your brain and go back to when the kid that was able to shoot milk through his nose was considered a comic genius.

The action centers on a group of misfits ostensibly working as life guards. They are not assigned the prestigious Malibu beach, they are Malibu adjacent. The name of their unit is SPF-30, get used to bad puns as you watch this series, there are a lot of them. Leading the team is Notch. He is considered the world’s greatest lifeguard and is fluent in several languages and life saving techniques. His main nemesis is Mayor Anita Massengil (Lisa Banes) who has little but distain for Notch. Serving under a lifeguard foreign exchange program is Chip Rommell (Roland Kickinger). He is a Teutonic force of nature and wants to see everything run in a tight orderly fashion which is usually beyond the team’s capability. The size of his biceps is several integers above his IQ. For any lifeguard show you need a dimwitted blonde which comes in the shapely form of B.J. Cummings (Jaime Bergman). If she was to have a chest injury there would be a resulting silicone spill that would shut down the beach for miles. Although always bubby she is not the brightest bulb around. She is also an expert at mouth to mouth resuscitation; a gift that most of the men on the beach are anxious for her to demonstrate. Jamaica St. Croix (Leila Arcieri) who speaks almost exclusively in Ebonics. You really didn’t think this show would leave out a cheap racial humor, did you? Also on the team is Kimberlee Clark (Kimberly Oja) who started out as a spy for Major Massengill but is soon won over to the SPF-30 crew. Considering this is a Howard Stern production there is a requirement for gay humor. This is achieved with the inclusion of the Mayor’s son Kody (Jason Hopkins). He is a minor character by the time of the episodes presented here.

Besides the regular cast there are frequent appearances by the motley crew who populates the Howard Stern show. The include Baba Booey, Hank the Angry Dwarf and Beetlejuice. There are also guest shots with Joey Buttafuco, Alan Thicke and Bill Maher. This is a bizarre and rauchy series that is funny and is sure to be offensive to everybody at one point or another. Typical of Shout Factory there are a lot of extras included. There are all new DVD introductions to the episodes, behind the scenes looks and commentary by the creators of the series. In addition there are some cast auditioning tapes and a sexy montage of the ladies of ‘Son of a Beach’. If you are in the mood for something low brow and you know you are, get this one and watch while the kids are visiting the grandparents.