When Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), an unremarkable, unemployed pot-enthusiast, has a one night stand with Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl), an attractive behind-the-scenes producer for the E! channel who’s out celebrating her promotion to on-camera reporter, the result is a very unexpected pregnancy.

When I saw this movie in theaters I formed an opinion that it was one of the most true-to-life comedies I had ever seen [read my movie review here]. I felt that beyond the unavoidable contrivance of the premise (slacker dude impregnates hot chick), it didn’t rely on generic Hollywood knee-jerk comedic fodder.

It is a rare occasion when a second viewing proves to retain its ‘funny.’ Not that I’m very cynical, but something filled with slap-stick, lowest common denominator (lcd) cliches, and sight gags only goes so far with me. Thankfully Knock Up is short on lcd, and long on believable interactions.

By using nearly every member of his immediate family and a huge swath of his personal friends, director Judd Apatow succeeded (cheated, is how he described it) in creating a fairly realistic look into the lives of two people from very different backgrounds, and their immediate friends and family (Ben’s collection of vulgar, smart-ass dope fiends and Allison’s dysfunctional family).

I’m glad to be able to honestly say that I had as much fun watching it on DVD as I did the first time in the theater. The realism held true and the laughs were still there for me.

While it’s branded as an extended edition, the actual movie itself felt unremarkably different from the theatrical release — and that’s fine with me. It’s in the nearly 4 hours of bonus material included on this 2-disc “Extended & Unrated” collector’s edition that this release makes its bones. There’s enough extras to hack-up an entirely different, yet still hilarious version of the movie. And the included audio commentary with Rogen, Apatow, and SNL’s Bill Hader is as much fun to listen to as the movie itself.

After watching the extended/alternate takes, deleted scenes, raw footage, and out-takes, I began to understand why the movie felt so real to me. Many of the scenes in Knocked Up were based in large part on Apatow’s real-life experiences. Add to that the fact that most of the cast are friends or family in real life, and the scenes were filmed with a free-flowing improvisational atmosphere (on nearly a million feet of film), and it’s hard to miss capturing the bleed-through from fantasy to reality.

If this kind of movie is your bag, then you’ll be in heaven (along with me) over this DVD. See my extensive rundown of the features below.

Disc 1 Special Features:

• 14 Deleted Scenes (18:55); 4 Extended/Alternate Scenes (8:28)
• Line-O-Rama (3:36) – Rapid-fire one-liners from the cast
• Gag Reel (3:28) – Out-take compilations
• Roller Coaster Doc (5:20) – Jay Baruchel refuses to get on a ride, has a panic attack, and ultimately everyone pukes.
• Directing the Director (7:42) – Capote director Bennett Miller signs on to ‘help’ Apatow during filming.
• Loudin Wainwright III Live at McCabe’s: “You Can’t Fail Me Now” (3:49)
• Topless Scene: Web Design Company (0:34) – Seth Rogen goes shirtless
• Feature Commentary – Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader
• Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound
• Subtitles for the hearing impaired

Disc 2 Special Features:

• 14 Deleted Scenes (30:25); 4 Extended/Alternate Scenes (29:03) – Between this set of scenes, and the set from disc one, there’s enough hilarious footage for nearly another whole movie.
• Video Diaries (28:33) 22 confidential video-blog clips of Judd Apatow from throughout the 56-day movie shoot.
• Kids on the Loose (5:37) – In an effort to create a family that feels ‘real,’ Apatow used his own wife (actress Leslie Mann) and children in the movie. This cute clip shows him wrangling his two daughters, Iris and Maude, for the camera.
• Beard-O-Rama (4:03) – Martin Starr decries his prosthetic facial hair.
• Kuni Files (5:29) – Follows Dr. Kuni (Ken Jeong) as he wades through his part in the film.
• Gummy: The 6th Roommate (6:43)- David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) laments dropping out of his role as Gummy for a part in a Woody Allen film that ultimately never got made.
• Stripper Confidential (2:03) – Apatow discussing directing nude scenes.
• Finding Ben Stone (30:27) – Several Hollywood greats try their hand at the lead role — including Michael Cera (Superbad), Orlando Bloom (Um, Orlando fucking Bloom), James Franco (Spider-Man), David Krumholtz (Numb3rs), Justin Long (He’s a Mac), Allen Covert (like every single Adam Sandler movie), Bill Hader (SNL), Danny McBride (Underworld), and Gerry Bednob (40-Year-Old Virgin).
• Kuni Gone Wild (5:53) – Dr. Kuni’s does a 5-minute improve rant.
• Loudon Wainwright III Scoring Session (4:47) – Wainwright talks about melding his musical style into the film.
• Line-O-Rama 2 (6:37) – More rapid-fire one-liners from the cast.
• Gag Reels (4:59); Two additional out-take compilations. (3:25)
• Loudin Wainwright III Live at McCabe’s: “Grey in La” (3:15); “Daughter” (3:46)
• First Sex on Camera (1:32) – Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen learn about cocksocks and how to not get a boner on camera.
• Topless Scene: Restaurant (3:27) – Seth Rogen goes shirtless again.
• Raw Footage: Geisha House (10:51); Swingers (7:21) – If you ever wanted to try your hand as an editor, here’s your chance. There’s nearly 20 minutes of uncut, unedited improve footage from two integral scenes in the film.
• Katherine Heigl Audition (2:44) – See Heigl trying out for the role of Allison.