It wouldn’t be early-’90s TV without Spielbergian child/creature partnerships, cheesy effects and the quaffed manes of smarmy villains. “Swamp Thing” hits the trifecta.

The half-hour series, based on the DC comic and 1982 Wes Craven film, ran from 1990-1993 and is now available on DVD. With this release, Shout! Factory continues its crusade to preserve pop cultural history – from trivial nostalgia to more worthy neglected works. Included in this set are two seasons of the former.

The packaging describes the show as a cult favorite, which is really just code for: “Hey, remember that show you sometimes watched when you were 10? Aren’t you curious to see how bad it was?”

Nostalgia TV is perfect for channel surfing on a Sunday afternoon or for VH1 retrospectives. Beyond that, does anyone really need nine hours of low budget incoherence and belabored child acting?

Extras: interviews with co-creator Len Wein and actor Dick Durock.

Grade: D-

Swamp Thing – The Series is currently available.