Created by Steve Dildarian
Featuring Voices by Steve Dildarian, Nick Kroll, Mary Jane Otto, Peter Giles
When I saw this series originally air on HBO, it was right up my alley. I loved the sarcastic, dark, subversive and perpetually misguided main character of Tim and enjoyed his life and adventures. Now, revisiting it on DVD, does it live up to my memories?
The Series
The Life and Times of Tim introduces us to Tim (Steve Dildarian), an average twenty something man that lives in New York and works a soul crushing corporate cubicle job. Tim has a long suffering girlfriend named Amy (Mary Jane Otto) that puts up with more than any girlfriend or wife should do. Why is she long suffering, you ask? Well, it is because Tim finds himself constantly in the middle of the most horrifyingly awkward and embarrassing situations, both at work and in his private life, that you have to see to believe.
The episodes included in this release are the following: Angry Unpaid Hooker, Rodney’s Bachelor Party,Latino Tim, The Priest is Drunk, Senior Prom, Tim Fights an Old Man,Mad Dog Tim, Monday Night Confession, Tim, Stu and Marie, Miss February, Bashko’s Hairy Daughter, Tim’s Not Singing,
Hottest Babes on the Planet, Suck It Philly ,Insurmountable High Score, Tim vs. the Baby, Mugger, Cin City”
While all of these are funny, a few really stood out to me as my favorites.
Angry Unpaid Hooker finds Tim trying to explain to his girlfriend and her parents why a prostitute is in his apartment. This film won a Best Animated Short award at the 2006 HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and certainly deserved it. It was based on the strength of this short film that HBO decided to produce this series.
Rodney’s Bachelor Party relates the story of Tim’s coworker Rodney making up a fake story about what Tim did at his Bachelor party and telling the office staff. Things go from bad to worse, as you might imagine.
In Mad Dog Tim, Tim’s co-workers give him a new nickname and in Monday Night Confession, Tim confesses something extremely embarrassing he did while at a baptism.
Tim takes his boss’s daughter to her prom in order to get a promotion in Senior Prom. Tim manages to get into a fight with an elderly man by just offering his bus seat in Tim Fights an Old Man. Leave it to Tim to find a way to turn a simple gesture into a horrible social situation.
If you are a fan of acerbic humor delivered with a dry wit, you are going to love this series. I couldn’t help but feel that the show has a bit of the feel of Curb Your Enthusiasm a bit, another HBO show that I love.
The creator, Steve Dildarian, not only portrays Tim, but also is the main writer of the show and the director. He is a comedic voice to take note of.
I am happy to have revisited Tim in all of his miserable glory and I will add this DVD gladly to the DVD library.
8/10
The Video
The Life and Times of Tim is presented in anamorphic widescreen. The colors are super bright, lines are clean and black levels are highly respectable. I did not notice any defects or compression artifacts.
7.5/10
The Audio
The Life and Times of Tim is presented in Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround .The audio is impressive with the dialogue being crystal clear and well mixed with the sound effects.
7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
The Life and Times of Tim is presented in a standard amaray case with a subtle cover that portrays the wonderfully low fi animation style of the show perfectly.
The only bonus features available on this release is Awkward Moments, which is a collection of ten deleted scenes. Being a such a fan of the show, a behind the scenes featurette or interviews with the voice actors would have been great.
4/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10
The Review
The Series 8/10
The Video 7.5/10
The Audio 7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 4/10
Overall (not an average) 7.5/10