The twelfth season of the most poorly animated show on TV is coming out on Tuesday. The master satirists continue to make timely and effective shows lampooning everything from Election Night drama to the Writer’s Strike to the High School Musical craze. While this season has been criticized for being weaker than the previous few I think they put together a couple episodes that are worthy of praise.
The biggest problem and the greatest strength of the show are the time sensitive episodes. They put together “About Last Night” which covered the night of the Election in time to air the day after the election which is an unbelievable turnaround. The problem is that the quick release leads to extremely topical episodes that will likely not stand the test of time. And as the judge of the DVD I have to judge the show based on its shelf life and not just its comic effect on the night it aired. However, I think that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker know their strengths and weaknesses and fully commit to the topical quick turnaround format which differentiates them from The Simpsons and Family Guy molds of comedy.
Episode List and Quick Synopsis (Recommended Episodes noted with a *)
“Tonsil Trouble” – Cartman contracts AIDS from a tonsillectomy and after being ridiculed gives it to Kyle. They then must find Magic Johnson to learn the secret to beating it.
“Britney’s New Look” – Britney Spears visits South Park so the boys scheme to get pictures of her and sell them. When she discovers their trickery she tries to kill herself and becomes horribly disfigured. The boys feel badly and try to help her hide from the media.
*”Major Boobage” – With homage to the movie Heavy Metal, the town is caught in the throes of a new drug epidemic (Cat Piss) and when people sniff it they are taken to a world reminiscent of the Heavy Metal film with an emphasis on boob-centric items.
*”Canada on Strike” – The best episode of the season follows Canada as they go on strike to get more Internet money from the World. The satire of the writers strike is pretty obvious and hilarious.
“Eek, a Penis” – Mrs. Garrison leaves to get a gender reassignment, Cartman is put in charge of the class and actually does well. He is then asked to teach inner city kids deemed unreachable.
“Over Logging” – Suddenly, the town of South Park is stripped of its Internet access. Rumors of Internet remaining in California sends people running to join refugee camps that get rationed moments of Internet a day.
“Super Fun Time” – Cartman and Butters sneak out of a field trip to an amusement center nearby. In the meantime the rest of the students get held hostage in the museum.
“The China Problem” – Cartman is terrified after watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics that the Chinese are preparing to invade the U.S. Cartman and Butters then take the problem into their own hands.
“Breast Cancer Show Ever” – Cartman foolishly makes fun of breast cancer and is challenged to a fight by Wendy. Everyone begins to put money on Cartman in the fight, but Cartman is scared he might get beat by a girl and looks to find a way out of the fight.
“Pandemic” – Peruvian Flute Bands have taken over street corners and malls, and the boys start their own band to make money. But as soon as they start the government starts rounding them up.
“Pandemic 2: The Startling” – The flute bands actually were the only defense against Giant Guinea Pigs that begin destroying the world. Sadly, the boys are locked up with the other bands in the Andes Mountains.
*”About Last Night” – Barack Obama wins the election, but his true intention was to pull off a wild Ocean’s 11 style heist. Meanwhile, the people of South Park are either over-celebrating (Obama Supporters) or trying to kill themselves (Republicans).
*”Elementary School Musical” – The High School Musical craze has swept the school and the students are constantly breaking into song. The boys do their best to avoid the craze and try to derail it by converting the popular singing leader.
*”The Ungroundable” – The school begins to attract vampire obsessed students who don’t get along with the very similar and pissed off Goth crowd. Butters finds himself caught in the middle of the two groups.
If you are a South Park fan I imagine you already made plans to buy this season, but if you are on the fence I think this is a season you could skip with a caveat. I recommend at least renting or watching the best episodes, which are available for free on www.southparkstudios.com. Although, as an added bonus this season comes with digital copies of the show which may tip the scales on the “Good Deal” meter.
Special Features and Packaging
This season is packaged just like the previous seasons, so it will match them nicely on your shelf. Hopefully they will continue to avoid The Simpsons mid-series case swap syndrome. They chose two episodes (“Major Boobage” and “About Last Night”) to get the Behind the Scenes treatment and provide a few mini-commentaries. The set also comes with a feature on the Day-to-Day making of an episode, which covers the six day creation process.
Audio and Video
How do you even judge this show’s visuals? For some, the uncensored audio will be a plus, otherwise the show is exactly as it aired on TV in its Full Screen glory.