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South Park - The Complete First SeasonRating:
Release Date: 29 June, 2004 Retail Price: $39.99 OUR Price: $29.99 You SAVE: $10.00! |
South Park - The Complete First Season Reviews
An almost perfect box set.
I remember watching South Park when it first aired back in 1997. I had never laughed so hard watching a show before, animated or real. And most of the time, I didn't know why I was laughing. Seeing Cartman get an anal probe...I didn't know what an anal probe was until they showed it emerge from him. Granted, I was entering 7th grade back then, but I kept on watching the show, and it kept on being funny. South Park has managed to do one thing that many other animated shows don't- it stayed fresh and original. Where shows like The Simpsons have stopped being funny after a couple of years (it tried way too hard to be like Family Guy once that aired), South Park never really got boring. Sure, there was the Pip episode that we all hate, but that's a different story. But the show had to start somewhere, and with this first season, it's quite a way to start off a series. There are only two problems that keep it from getting 5 stars.
If you don't know what South Park's about, you're behind the times even worse than I am. It follows the lives of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny in their insane town of South Park, a made up town in Colorado. What doesn't happen in this place? In the first episode, Cartman gets taken away by aliens in the night, and gets an anal probe. At the same time, Kyle's little brother Ike is kidnapped as well, and the cows find out that they are respected by aliens. In this first episode alone, we're treated to more cussing than imaginable (for tv shows at that time) and an absurd amount of violence. Kyle plays "kick the baby" with his little brother. If you can't find that funny, then the show isn't for you. But about the cussing, these early episodes used it much better than they do now. Back here, some of the things that are beeped out don't even make sense. Later in the first episode, Kyle cusses the hell out of the aliens when they don't return Ike. He goes, "YOU LIKE TO *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* AND *beep* *beep* *beep*!!". Even in my own mind, I have no idea what it is he could've said there. How do you continue a series after smoething like this? By planning the assassination of Kathy Lee Gifford, going hunting for animals by screaming "BY GOD IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US" and shooting them regardless of what they're doing, having a boxing match between Jesus and Satan, having the kids try to be lesbians to get their substitute teacher to like them, and much more. Yeah, going into 7th grade that fall, I had a much different sense of humor than before. All thanks to South Park. And for that, I'm grateful.
Out of all the episodes here, my favorites have to be Cartman Gets An Anal Probe, Volcano, Pinkeye, Damien, Tom's Rhinoplasty, and Mecha-Streisand. In Volcano, the boys go hunting with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his friend Ned, both 'Nam vets. The boys all get to use huge automatic weapons, and Cartman has flashbacks of 'Nam somehow. Because they're not allowed to shoot an animal unless it's posing a threat to them, Jimbo teaches the kids to scream "IT'S COMIN' RIGHT FOR US", and THEN shoot. But, a volcano suddenly goes off, and they have to escape. Pinkeye is the crazy Halloween episode where the undead run around, but everyone seems to think it's just pinkeye. Watching Chef dance around ala Michael Jackson in Thriller is priceless, and Kenny's death here is exceedingly graphic. Damien...I've never liked that name. It always sounded evil. Well, it sure as heck is here. A new kid named Damien (duh huh) comes to school, and starts using his evil powers to mess with everyone. Eventually, this leads to a boxing match between Satan and Jesus...where everyone bets on Satan (who is god damn huge), but backs up Jesus. The ending here is classic. Tom's Rhinoplasty is hilarious. I just watched it for the first time since it aired, and now that I understand everything, this one is one of my favorites. Ms. Ellen, a substitute for Mr. Garrison gets hit on by all the boys, and Wendy (Stan's girlfriend) gets jealous. But, she's a lesbian, and all the boys try to be lesbians too so she likes them. Good job there Chef. What's funny is in the beginning of the episode, Mr. Garrison tells Tom, his doctor, that he didn't want anyone to know he's getting a nose job, so he told everyone at school that he has herpes. I spit out my drink here. And wait until you see his nosejob. Mecha-Streisand needs no summary aside from it's Barbara Streisand vs Robert Smith in Godzilla fashion. Yes, this season had many great moments.
Sadly, one reason this only gets 4 stars is because the visual quality is poor. Very poor. As in, "it looks better on tv" poor. There's tons of muddy visuals and some lines on characters (mouths, double chins, etc.) are pixelated, which is sort of annoying. As for the audio, it's a lot better. This isn't exactly DTS or Dolby 5.1 material, but all the voices are clear, and the music is actually louder than it seemed on tv.
Here's the other problem- in the special features category. At the last minute, the commentary tracks by Matt and Trey were removed. The only way you can get them now is if you luck out here in the Used & New section, or if Comedy Central's site still offers them. The latter option isn't looking good right now, as I just checked, and couldn't find any mention of them. Why take out the commentary tracks and put them on cds? Even the Best Of discs that came out a few years ago had commentary tracks (and better visual quality might I add)...but they're nowhere to be found on this complete set. Sad. I've heard a few of the tracks myself though, and they're pretty good. Luckily though, we get intros from Matt and Trey before each episode. All of these are funny in their own right, and a running gag is that they always say "this is our favorite episode". I won't ruin any of the other jokes they mention, but trust me, they're good. There's also the Thanksgiving skit with Jay Leno, which is pretty funny. "What are you kids thankful for?" *all kids in class raise their hands* "...Aside from being thankful for not having a chin like mine" *all hands go down*. Plus, there are two Christmas music videos for Cartman's "Oh Holy Night" and Ned's "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem". Finally, is a CableAce award presentation by the boys. These bits are all pretty short, and leave much more to be desired. But then again, this is the first season, so I wasn't expecting too much. It'd have been nice if the very first episode (The Spirit of Christmas) were on here though.
All in all, the episodes are great, and if you have any sense of humor at all, you'd do good in picking this box set up. It's almost impossible to get this much humor out of the first year of any animated series, and follow it up with equally great episodes for years to come. And the price is right too.
BAR-BOORA ! BAR-BOORA !
This season has some of the most hilarious episodes of South park ever! They include "Big gay Al's big Gay Boat Ride", where Trey Parker and Matt Stone cast George Clooney as the voice of Sparky, Stan's homosexual dog, "Pinkeye" ,where Pink Eye ruins South Park's Halloween (and the first in a line of amazing South Park Halloween episodes), and "Starvin marvin" where the boys adopt an African child. However, the best episode has got to be "Mecha-Streisand" where the boys must stop Barbara Streisand and her evil plot to take over the world.
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