The Show

For whatever reason I just don’t have the South Park funny bone in my body. The occasional episode will make me laugh, but for the most part I find it crude, annoying, and lacking any real substance. Having said that, The Complete Tenth Season has some particularly amusing episodes and is probably the best batch in many seasons. Whether you love it or hate it, South Park continues to be a rampaging comedy icon with an aggressive style sure to please its rabid fans.

There’s not much too South Park. The basic animation style tells the story of a series of young boys whose misadventures lead to plotlines aimed at assaulting whatever popular culture is annoying Trey Parker and Matt Stone at the time. As I mentioned above, The Complete Tenth Season is full of episodes that I would say are “great” for the series, but still only get a few chuckles out of me.

After Isaac Hayes left the show the creators decided to give the character a final hurrah using old voice clips and a plot finding Chef acting very strange. A 2-part episode sees South Park simply bashing Family Guy, ending in a clever bit that explains how Family Guy constructs its plots. Why Family Guy never retaliated with a brutal dissection of the inferior show is beyond me. I’m still hoping. One of the best episodes the show has ever produced, in my opinion, is the one focusing on the online addiction known as World of Warcraft. Simultaneously a nerd bash on the game and its citizens, as well as a complete advertisement for the program, the episode actually managed to spoof something with some tact mixed in between the usual humor. If you play the game, or know someone who does, this episode is priceless. Other topics riffed on this season include: Al Gore, reliaty shows, 9/11 conspiracy theories, the return of Satan, and the obsession over the Nintendo Wii.

The 3-disc set contains all 14 episodes from the tenth season. Disc One has: “The Return of Chet,” “Smug Alert,” “Cartoon Wars Part 1,” “Cartoon Wars Part 2,” and “A Million Little Fibers.”

Disc Two has: “Manbearbig,” “Tsst!,” “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” “Mystery of the Urinal Deuce,” and “Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy.”

Lastly, Disc Three has: “Hell on Earth 2006,” “Go God Go,” “Go God Go XII,” and “Stanley’s Cup.”

The DVD

The video is presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame. Everything is status quo. Colors are vibrant, the print is clean, compression errors are nonexistent–South Park can’t look much better than this.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital Stereo with English Closed Captions. There are no problems with the balance or clarity and a surprising amount of moments feature panning effects across the front speaker making for an excellent stereo track.

The Extras

Again all that fans are given are small morsels of mini-commentaries instead of episode-length insights into the show. This is beyond lazy at this point.

Also offered is a World of Warcraft demo disc.

Final Thoughts

South Park: The Complete Tenth Season features a very strong batch of episodes but the same disappointing special features continues to mar the overall quality of the set. – Jeff Ritchie