Years ago, two longtime friends/former Temple students named Tim Heidecker (an Allentown native) and Eric Wareheim got together, along with help from Bob Odenkirk, to make the series ‘Tom Goes To The Mayor’ for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The relatively short-lived show had a cult following and planted the seeds for the next phase of their careers. That next phase turned out to be the series ‘Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!’  Well, the fifth and final season has arrived on DVD to let us say goodbye to some of our favorite characters.

As always, the series has very little in the way of plots, character development or coherent thought. Each of the ten episodes (all of which are about ten minutes except for the half hour final episode) has an initial premise, but then things always devolve into nonsensical faux products, examinations of oddball characters and wacky encounters.

If you don’t mind unpredictability on a near psychedelic level, then this might be your kind of thing.

Even for the converted, this fifth season was probably the most hit and miss of all of the seasons. There is definitely the feeling that some of the gags/characters have lost their ability to surprise. John C Reilly’s Dr. Steve Brule is one of those characters that will never get old, though. This season was also possibly the most disturbing of them all. There is a generally dark tone to a lot of the episodes with violence, death and dismemberment seeming to play a bigger role here than even in years past.

It has always boggled my mind as to how this show was able to get the guest stars that it did. Besides the usuals, like Reilly, Zach Galifianakis, Rainn Wilson, and Will Forte, there is Will Ferrell, Danny Trejo, Karen Black, LeVar Burton, Peter Cetera, Paul Rudd, Ben Stiller and a few other surprises. If you think about all of the huge names they have had appear on their show over the last five years, it’s a pretty good indication that Tim and Eric have made some friends out in Los Angeles.

Special features include: Awesome Con 2009, bloopers, deleted scenes, extended scenes, a Puss Whip Gang Bang live performance, and a few other tidbits.

If you have the first four seasons and loved them all, you should probably just complete your collection. This certainly isn’t the place to start if you’re new to the series.

While it’s not as consistently excellent (relatively) as the first two seasons, the ‘sketches’ that work rank as some of their best. At the very least, most of the characters were given proper closure or a final goodbye which seems only right.

Really, another season of this show probably would have been one too many. As sad as it may be, it’s always better to leave audiences wondering why you quit instead of why you don’t quit.

Unrated         110 minutes         2011

When J.J. Ellis isn’t writing as the Allentown DVD Examiner, his Decent Exposure Radio can be heard on the air every Friday night from 10:30 to midnight (EST) on WXLV 90.3 FM or wxlvradio.com!