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The cult of Bruce Campbell shows no sign of slowing down. His newest masterwork, The Man With the Screaming Brain, is still burning up DVD shelves, and it seems that every week there are a thousand new devotees to the Bubba Ho-Tep admiration society. And with the arrival on DVD of this eight-disc, complete collection of Bruce’s ‘93-‘94 show The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., it looks like the club might get a membership boost.

During the last decade, Brisco County has existed as a cult secret, a show that most Bruce Campbell fans had heard about and remembered watching once or twice, but never had a chance to revisit. Warner Home Video didn’t have the show available in any form, save for some quickie VHS copies a few years back. So this box set is a holy grail of sorts, one of the most notable and hard-to-find stones on the path to true and unadulterated Bruce Campbell Satori.

Here’s the story. Bruce plays Brisco, a savvy, old-west bounty hunter chasing down the dastardly villain John Bly (Billy Drago), the man who murder Brisco, Sr. (R. Lee Ermey), a U.S. Marshal. In the world of typical mainstream television, this is enough of a plot scenario to fertilize a season’s worth of television, but that’s where Brisco County transcends its status as mere TV. As Bruce chases that murderous jackass, he is joined by Comet the wonder horse (who doesn’t realize he’s a horse, natch), a band of weirdo compatriots (a bizarro inventor and a jazz-voiced saloon singer are just two notches on the bedposts in this regard), and a golden orb from beyond the realms of imagination that ties everything up with a nice sci-fi ribbon.

Confused? Don’t be. What may read on paper as irreverent smart-ass tomfoolery . . . well, it actually plays as irreverent smart-ass tomfoolery, but it’s far more than that. With Bruce Campbell’s patented grin and how-the-hell-does-he- keep-from-laughing deadpan, he anchors the show, keeping the off-the- wall, extraterrestrial gimmicks in check, all the while adding a gloss of smirking charm.

Is The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. as good a show as its bloated reputation attests? Probably not. Like Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules, a little Brisco goes a long way. Although I wanted to see where the series ended up, I definitely didn’t feel a burning, round- the-clock marathon desire to do so, but Bruce Campbell is such an effortlessly engaging screen presence that it’s hard to resist him.

And come on – the show is a sci-fi western starring Bruce Campbell. Buy the damned thing already!

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

These 1.33:1 transfers of Brisco County aren’t going to blow anybody away, but they present the show relatively well. Color accuracy is maintained impressively, and black levels (while not all that deep) are at least quite consistent. The major problems are smearing and a lack of finely grained detail. And although it’s not a problem with the series as a whole, every once in a while, cleanliness levels drop significantly. But overall, everything looks pretty good.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The simple stereo mix also won’t impress either, but it takes care of business, nevertheless. Dialogue sounds great, sound effects come through with adequate fidelity and punch, and there are even a few successful atmospherics. The show’s catchy musical score also comes through with class and finesse. Any fan will tell you that a 5.1 mix would have been a better call on Warner’s part, but hey – you can’t always get what you want.

Also included are French and Spanish Subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

While not overflowing with bonus goodies, there are more than a few tidbits of fun in this set. The screen-specific audio commentary on the show’s pilot with Campbell and executive producer Carlton Cuse is the highlight, a veritable treasure trove of Bruce trivia and hilarious anecdotes about the show’s conception, execution, and subsequent toss into the dung heap.

Then we get a series of featurettes. Brisco’s Book of Coming Things showcases Brisco’s narration over many of the wack-o contraptions and creatures he has met along his dusty trails. The History of Brisco County is a more straight-forward making-of doc. Tools of the Trade looks at a bunch of the lore involved with Brisco County ideas and concepts (it also comes with optional commentary with Campbell, Cuse, and performers Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson, Kelly Rutherford, and a handful of writers). A Reading From the Book of Bruce is a simple and hilarious excerpt from Campbell’s must-read autobiography, If Chins Could Kill. And A Brisco County Writer’s Room interviews many of the behind-the-scene collaborators on the show.