DVD Reviews

Pale Force – DVD Review

By June L. Dec 1, 2009, 12:22 GMT

PALE FORCE is a hilarious series of animated shorts starring Jim Gaffigan (My Boys) that appeared on Late Night with Conan O Brien. Drawn by New Yorker cartoonist Paul Noth, the series features Gaffigan and O Brien as a pasty crime-fighting duo whose powers lie in their extreme paleness. O Brien, an incompetent weakling, always relies on Gaffigan to save him. Included on the DVD are Gaffigan s appearances on ...more

For the fans of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, this DVD collects the webisodes of Pale Force, an action adventure animated series created by Jim Gaffigan. Starring Jim Gaffigan and Conan O’Brien as the super pale super heroes with “extraordinary valor, matched with freakish pallor” Pale Force is a send up of pop culture and saving the day.

If you don’t know Pale Force, it is difficult to explain without sounding absolutely insane. Yes, it is irreverent, yes it can be hysterically funny, and yes there are numerous cringe moments, but it captures something of the years 2005-2008 in a way that is timelessly….er….weird.

Pale Force is comprised of muscled macho Pale Man voiced by Jim Gaffigan (as Jim Gaffigan,) and his scared and skinny sidekick Conan, also voiced by Jim Gaffigan. There is an evil villainess Lady Bronze, and there is the Legion of Pale, a collection of suntan-challenged folk ranging from Santa Clause to Nicole Kidman who approve or reject members of the Pale Force.

There are earth shattering adventures involving the Miss Pale American pageant and an attempt to discredit Pale Man.

All 21 webisodes are included on the DVD as well as some special features, including a deleted scene and early incarnations of the series. As a bonus there are each of Jim Gaffigan’s appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, from the 2005 visit in which he introduced Pale Force to the 2008 evening when he gave Conan a look at the finale.

It is fun watching these appearances, as they explain much about the series, in terms of creation and purpose….well….if you don’t view it as an idea gone terribly awry.

Jim seems out to get Conan, portraying him in a bad light with every scene. Jim Gaffigan in his appearances says he espouses veracity in the series, that has him as a muscled and deep voiced champion for good, and Conan as wimpy and fairly useless. This seems to be a problem for sidekicks throughout history.

In one episode, the cartoon Conan attends a group meeting for sidekicks and as the “camera” pans around the room viewers get glimpses of the great second bananas in pop culture, such as Mr. Spock, Barney Fife, and Robin, while Tonto gives sage advice to the newcomer.

Not a cartoon for the kiddies, Pale Force is for the fans of Conan and Jim’s brand of humor which moves from juvenile to raucous to bawdy and back without skipping a beat. Jim is the hero, Conan the klutz, but all turns out well in the end….at least for Pale Man. The episodes have a combined running time of 84 minutes, and the specials add 75 more minutes to viewing time.