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Show:		7.0
Picture:		8.0
Sound:		8.0
Extras:		6.0
Score:		7.0

Director(s):	Mike Kelly
Starring:	Zane Lamprey
Genre:	Documentary
Website:	http://www.mojohd.com/mojoseries/threesheets/
Release Date:	October 27, 2009
Rated:	NR

List Price:	DVD - $49.98
Amazon:

Three Sheets is a show that follows Zane Lamprey, a happy go lucky seeming guy, around the world. Zane does what many shows do. He goes and tries the local food and meets the local people and learns the local customs. But don't let that fool you—this is not your usual show. Zane Lamprey is all but a licensed alcoholic, and this show is all about booze. Sure, the people are interesting, and sure the customs are fun, but booze is booze, and this show doesn't attempt to appeal to anyone but its most basic audience: drinkers.

Whether Zane Lamprey is hanging out in Taipei drinking a variety of snake parts (blood, bile, and poison...right, and soaked testicles) or merely binging his way through the country of Belgium, several things can always be guaranteed with Three Sheets:

1. Zane Lamprey will eat local food and start drinking.

2. Zane Lamprey will drink some more.

3. Zane Lamprey will drink more than you saw "That Guy" in college ever drink.

4. Zane Lamprey will make some comment about how "the day hasn't even started" and then will proceed to almost inhale entire bottles of beer, wine, exotic liquor, or whatever else.

5. Zane Lamprey will continue to act drunk as he gets progressively drunker. Occasionally this includes major social faux pas, like standing up and screaming/hitting the table in Seoul or pointing to people who are saying, "You make me uncomfortable when you point" while Zane points and laughs.

6. Zane Lamprey will wake up and try whatever they put in his face to cure his hangover (ranging from magic mushroom tea to a soup made of clotted cow blood, intestine, and many other interesting ingredients).

I'm a bit torn on this show. On one hand, it appeals to my hedonistic side. Who doesn't want to imbibe on exotic drinks, lounge while meeting others and eating fresh foods on the beach or a jungle, and be paid to travel and eat and drink? The show is informative, even educational, on different liquors, drinks, and their history. The scenery is gorgeous, the people who Lamprey interacts with are all interesting, and Lamprey himself is extremely likable. Being both a great television host and someone who seems like he'd be great to hang with, Lamprey is a very enjoyable person to watch and makes the show extremely endearing to viewers.

On the other hand, even for a seasoned alcohol aficionado, Zane Lamprey often goes from whimsically fun to outright scary, sometimes going so far as to regularly mock friend and occasional show pony Steve McKenna, who regularly over-indulges and ends up as a drunk mess.

While in the Philippines, Lamprey takes a straight shot of double distilled Lampanog, a 166 proof (83% alcohol) liquor based on the sap of coconut palms. Sure, we've all taken a shot of 151 when we were freshmen in college (no? Just me?) but most of us didn't consider that the starting point for our day. Lamprey goes on to pound shot after shot after shot of the single distilled stuff (still an 80 proof drink) while sitting in the sun for hours. He also makes a point to always discuss how little water he drinks during the course of these binges. In Jamaica, Lamprey drinks so heavily early on in the day, he misses the last part of the show - getting a feel for many drinking customs and associating with people who live there. He passes out early in the afternoon and doesn't rejoin his hosts until the next morning. Not to leave anyone wondering, during the "Post Game Recap" of his drinking, they make sure to underscore - again - that Lamprey didn't drink water throughout the day. And in Belize, after another chaotic day complete with Viper Wine and Cashew Wine, the hangover cure was to start drinking again. Heavily!

When I could get past the shock and dismay I felt watching this man constantly drink himself into a stupor, I could get myself to appreciate easily the most interesting part of the show: the Hangover Cures. In Jamaica, some suspicious combination of what could be magical mushrooms and weed put Lamprey into a content daze. From drinking more alcohol to eating strange parts of animals to having the pressure points in his feet brutally massaged, the fascinating different ways countries across the world tackle the dreaded hangover was as diverse as it was interesting.

Three Sheets has its own drinking game (the rules of which are explained in the Costa Rica episode) and a producer/cameraman team that is interactive with Lamprey and seem to be good sports about their job (who can blame them?).

DVD Bonus Features

The Three Sheets box set only has some outtakes and webisodes. They aren't heavy in special features, and the outtakes are also shown at the end up each episode. Basically, they don't offer anything special on top of the show itself.

The DVD case is large and awkward, with 7 DVDs shoved into one case with thick storage plastic. What does this mean? The case doesn't close and the discs fall out. It's like it was designed by a drunk Lamprey after too much of the bad sauce in some strange country.