Viva La Bam: Seasons 4 & 5

For years now, pro skater/Jackass crewmember Bam Margera has been tormenting his parents (Phil and April), publicly humiliating his uncle, "Don" Vito, and raising hell, breaking shit with and debasing his like-minded friends. The first three seasons of Viva La Bam were a fun ride of property destruction and pranks, but either I'm maturing or the show's losing its edge/creative juices because during this volume I found myself quickly losing my patience for the same old antics. Well, the fourth season anyway. From the opening trip to Europe to ruin his parents' second honeymoon through to the CKY challenge where a winner is given the deed to the State of Bam (basically, Bam's backyard trailer park), the show suffers from a lack of originality and makes no attempt to conceal the fact that the whole thing is staged beyond belief. Worst of all is the episode where April bets the guys they can't hold down jobs, which provides a series of poorly staged flops. And the constant reliance on abusing Don Vito to create laughs wears thin the moment they begin including him in every scenario. Yes, the fat, erratic blowhard is a great target, but using him every episode to deliver the punch line gets old, quick. And did I mention that Brandon DiCamillo (now known as "Dico") is a humourless, annoying shit? Thankfully, the fifth and final season picks up where three left off; it's filled with the kind of dumb shit stunts fans fell for in the beginning (including a toned-down Dico, thank god). A trip to Brazil, guest appearances by Cradle of Filth, Billy Idol (who helps cut a "moon roof" in Bam's $250k Lambo) and Gwar (who Phil and Ape are forced to baby-sit), a drag race between Ryan Dunn's pimped-out limo and Bam's Lambo, and two instances where Vito gets his sweet revenge help save the show from season four's failures. Oh, and Bam has an ex-con whipping boy named Novak who he pays to degrade and mistreat, which is actually quite comical, considering Novak is a disgusting and pathetic human being. Now that the show has been put to rest by MTV, we won't have to see it crash and burn to the black crisp it was headed towards. The extra disc of bonus material is as good as you'd want it to be, and really, probably the best disc of this bunch. Bam presents his "Viva La Top Five" — the best five moments ever with Phil, Ape, Vito, and Food, "Random Ass Moments" (use your imagination) — and an hour or so of deleted scenes from both seasons that are well worth the time. Another edition of MTV Cribs is also included to show just how much money our beloved Bam wastes on trashing expensive things we could never dream of affording. Nice. Plus: Uncommontary. (Paramount)