The Kathy Griffin Collection: Red, White + Raw

Kathy Griffin's Red, White + Raw presents seven of the actress-comedienne's specials for the Bravo network (filmed in San Diego, Knoxville, Temecula, Milwaukee, Costa Mesa, Atlantic City, and Boston). Griffin speaks to the audience as if they were her best friends, lacing her comments with liberal profanity, sexual references, mentions of her mother Maggie, and catty comments about celebrity culture. Subjects include reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars, Hoarders, and Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey, but she reserves the lion's share of her spiel for tabloid staples, such as Bristol Palin, Kim Kardashian, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston (in comedy, timing is everything, so it's worth noting that her bits about Jackson and Houston preceded their deaths). Other routines revolve around Griffin's appearances on The View, Law & Order: SVU, and The Teen Choice Awards, which she attended with Palin's ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston. A few of the bits are region-specific, such as a routine about the Waffle House, which might not make as much sense to non-Southerners. Whether Griffin goes too far is surely a matter of personal taste, although her account of an awkward encounter with Sharon Stone struck me as insensitive. While there's a little overlap between a few shows—all filmed between 2009-11—most of the material is fresh (in both senses), while the Milwaukee and Costa Mesa specials include taped and live appearances from Maggie, an endearing staple from Griffin's Life on the D-List. DVD extras include unaired bonus footage. A strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)