The first episode starts with a visit to a moonshine maker in Arizona. The exchange is pretty hilarious, as the moonshiner stays masked and in sunglasses the whole time. He starts laughing when it comes time to sample the goods, as it seems like the masked man doesn't have a plan. (The moonshiner ends up figuring it out, by lifting his mask up and drinking, resulting in endless laughter and a "You'd make a terrible bank robber" comment from Zane).
The show does end up teaching you a few things about alcohol, which is pretty cool. Hey, I know a whole lot more about moonshine than I did before. And tying a six pack to a rope and throwing over the side of your boat while you're canoeing to keep it cold? Genius. Also, I possibly don't know a whole lot about alcohol, so that might help keep most of these facts new for me. Of course, this wouldn't be a show with comedians and drinking if it didn't venture into ridiculous drinking and eating stunts that are given to Steve each episode. There's the ranch car bomb, for starters, which is a cup of ranch dunked in a pitcher of beer. Steve didn't end up making it through that one, by the way. There's giant chicken fried steak, there's a crawfish eating contest, a kitchen sink full of ice cream, it goes on and on. I think the gag is that Steve's actually not so good at these things, so even though he starts out boasting and confident, he actually ends up losing it at the end of most of these.
The routine does get a bit routine after a few episodes. Zane visits a restaurant or bar, and if there's a pepper, he eats it. Sometimes Steve eats something hot too, and of course, sweating and cursing ensues. Steve does an eating challenge, often ending in a bit of a puking spill. There's a whole lot of punishing Steve in the show in general. Then there's a little bit of alcohol education, and then Steve and Zane will do a six pack challenge like mini-golf or walking on keg shoes. That's not to say it's not all good fun. Zane is a funny guy, and he gets some genuine laughs out of the normal folks he visits. It's just not consistently side-splitting hilarity.
The sound quality in this series leaves a little something to be desired. Often the background music is turned up way too high, and you can't hear what anyone's saying. It's kind of disappointing, because it's often when someone's making a funny little side comment under their breath. At least you think it was probably funny, if you could hear it over the generic "Man Show" type rock music.
The special features are pretty good, with commentary from the crew, the Drinking Made Easy Comedy Tour Performance, and deleted scenes. Overall, it's a good show. Zane's comedy style isn't particularly vulgar or offensive (for the most part; hey, he is a stand-up comedian that boasts about how much he drinks) so it's pretty safe for, say, a big circle of friends to enjoy. Ok, perhaps it's family-friendly, but I think you know your family well enough to determine that. The venues are interesting, and there's plenty to learn about drinking that you didn't even know you wanted to know. If you need help figuring out what you want to drink, this show does indeed make it easy.
