Mini-DVD Review: South Park Season 11 (Aug. 12)

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Mini-DVD Review: South Park Season 11 (Aug. 12)

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the mini-DVD review! Today we take a look at Comedy Central/Paramount's South Park: The Complete 11th Season . South Park of course is the popular cable animated series that is full of laughs for all ages. See skees53's mini-DVD review of South Park: The Complete 11th Season:

South Park- The Complete Eleventh Season (Comedy Central DVD, $49.99) brings all fourteen episodes from the 2007 season of the Comedy Central hit to a three-disc DVD set. Like most animated series, the kids don't really grow up, but somehow, in each and every season, they do grow even more hilarious than in the past. The 2007 season contains perhaps some of the best South Park episodes produced to date, with many hilarious moments that will have you asking "did they REALLY just do that on TV?" And, to sweeten the pot, all fourteen episodes are presented uncensored, although many South Park fans won't notice that much of a difference--it is a rude and crude show to begin with.
Every single one of the episodes from this season can be viewed as memorable in one way or another, beginning with "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson," where Stan's dad uses the "N-word" on live TV, and somehow becomes the victim. Cartman pulls a prank on Butters that ultimately only serves to make a fool of Cartman (and ends up putting Butters into a special camp that is designed to "pray the gay away") in "Cartman Sucks." Kyle and Stan are out to determine the meaning behind Easter bunnies and eggs in "Fantastic Easter Special." Mrs. Garrison realizes that in her new life as a woman, she just so happens to be a lesbian (to clarify, Mrs. Garrison was originally a gay man, then got a sex-change operation to become a woman that liked men, now is a women that has decided she is a lesbian, and anybody watching season twelve knows that there is an even further twist to this bizarre story) in "D-Yikes." Cartman realizes that he can say anything he wants by pretending to have Tourette's Syndrome "Le Petit Tourette." Butters takes a scary trip into Imaginationland, where only he can save the world, in the three-part episode "Imaginationland." The boys want to become rock stars, or at least Guitar Hero champions, in "Guitar Queer-O."
The set is once again like all of the previous sets, in the standard digipak with the episode information on the two side panels. The episodes all look and sound great, as one would expect. And, it is worth noting that this DVD set, while from Paramount, is a Comedy Central DVD product, NOT a CBS DVD product, so there aren't any obnoxious disclaimers about things being edited or music being changed. In fact, as far as I could tell, any applicable music was intact (removing the Melissa Etheridge song "Come to My Window," for example, would have killed a great scene in the "D-Yikes" episode, so it was good to see all music intact).
Each episode has the mini-commentaries from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, which have always been slightly disappointing, as I'd like more than just mini-commentaries. There are a few Comedy Central Quickies on Disc 1, from 'Lil Bush, The Daily Show, Reno 911!, and The Colbert Report. Basically, these are just funny clips from these shows. I wish that these South Park DVD sets could be more impressive on the special features end, as many other animated series are on DVD.
This is a great set to own with some hilarious episodes, and any fan of South Park must own this one, even the casual fan. I can't think of any other season of the series that has had better episodes (including the current season), and some of the situations in this season are just outright hilarious, so much so that even those that don't watch the series on a regular basis will find them to be hilarious. It took me a long time to warm up to this series (I used to find it a little too out there and over the top for my sense of humor), but eventually it just got to me that this is a hilarious series that anybody that loves comedy and can accept rude and crude entertainment will love it.
-- Reviewed by skees53