I remember the mischievous anticipation for the first season of "South Park" to premiere in 1997, knowing based on hype alone that there would soon be a high-octane replacement for The Simpsons' mildly subversive, irreverent humor. Had you told me that nearly a decade and a half later the show would remain among cable's top programs and would be releasing their 13th season on DVD, I'd have laughed at you - and worried about the future of our society.
Nevertheless, Comedy Central's Emmy award-winning cartoon has graduated from simply pushing the boundaries of the outrageous with four foul-mouthed animated boys - over the years the show has become a powerhouse of ruthless social commentary, always on the outer rim of good taste, and never beholden to a sacred cow. In their 13th season, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone take shots at everyone from the Jonas Brothers to Glenn Beck, Kanye West to Mexican President Felipe Calderón, and the best animated comedy show on TV reached new levels of hilarity - as well as relevance.
The series continued its long tradition of poking merciless fun at pop culture icons throughout the 14 episodes, skewering Disney & the Jonas Bros.' hypocritical attempts to sell their purity-wrapped sex appeal to the screaming preteen masses and providing the tipping point of ridiculousness with "Fishsticks," a brilliant Kanye West spoof that was the talk of the Internet for weeks, even prompting Kanye to take a hard look at himself. Granted, Mr. West soon after made an even bigger ass of himself by interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs - and Comedy Central certainly didn't miss the opportunity; they seized the moment by airing the episode for two straight hours shortly after the incident.
The second half of the season raised the bar even further, beginning with a highly controversial episode called "The F Word," focusing on the redefinition of the word "fag." Fox ranting-head Glenn Beck translated well to caricature, and Parker & Stone didn't have to expend much effort in playing up his wild outrage at everything that offends him (which is pretty much everything that doesn't involve white, English-speaking rich people shitting on the rest of the world).
It's moments like these in our society that we should be thankful to have shows like "South Park," a program with such expansive creative license and uncensored megaphone access that they're able to cleverly subvert the propaganda machine and the megastar factory, to pull the curtain back and pants the shriveled little wizard working the gears. South Park Season 13 had more cultural impact than just about any television series out there, and if the Tiger-Woods-spoofing premiere of Season 14 is any indicator, the pace is still quickening after all these years. Pick it up now!
DVD/Blu-Ray Extras:
For the first time ever, the DVD and Blu-Ray will include seven exclusive deleted scenes and the bonus features include “Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios” and free codes to unlock character and challenge levels in the “South Park: Let’s Go Tower Defense Play” game on xBox Live Arcade.
About the Film
Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Mona Marshall, Eliza Schneider
Language: English
Number of discs:2
Studio: Comedy Central
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 16, 2010
Run Time: 308 minutes
CraveOnline's Rating: 9 out of 10
