MovieFreak.com - South Park - Season Two DVD Review

"The fireman is very magical. If you rub his helmet, he spits in your eye!" - Cartman

This season we find out the identity of Cartman's father, learn about Conjoined Twin Myslexia and thaw out a prehistoric ice man, among many other interesting things. So join Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as they take on the supernatural, the extraordinary and the insane. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park.

I remember the first time tuning to Comedy Central back in the day. I think it was late 1997 or early 1998 when South Park grabbed my balls and didn’t let go. Okay, not necessarily, but basically this show kicks ass. There’s no other way to describe it, really. I could use many verbs or adjectives to describe different areas of the show, but "kicks ass" pretty much sums it up.

In general, South Park is full of dick and fart jokes, but each episode this season is about something, whether it is funny or a learning lesson for the kids, such as the signature line, "You know, I learned something today." Not only is the show crude and entertaining, but educational as well.

Coming off a successful and naughty first season, South Park is back for seconds with new 18 episodes. Last season’s finale ended on a cliffhanger, asking the question, "Who is Eric Cartman’s father?" Is it the Denver Broncos? Mr. Broflowski? Officer Barbrady? Hell, it could be anyone.

The second season premiered April 1, 1998. Instead of revealing the identity of Cartman’s father, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone aired the Terence and Philip movie of the week "Not Without My Anus," a shocking little film taking place in Canada about Canadians. Is there anything more shocking than that? Well, yes, if you count all the fart jokes. It’s simply a hilarious season opener with loads of laughs. The identity of Cartman’s father is revealed three weeks later in "Cartman’s Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" and the revelation is… you guessed it, shocking. I wouldn’t dare to spoil it, but any South Park fan will certainly know the answer.

"Merry Christmas Charlie Manson" is probably one of the most hilarious episodes of this season. The “happy holidays” song is classic. Anyway, there are a lot more funny episodes, such as "Chickenlover" (among one storyline is Cartman’s rendering of COPS), "Chef’s Salty Chocolate Balls" (the ones we love to suck and put in our mouths), "Cow Days" (Cartman as Ming Li, a Vietnamese prostitute) and "Gnomes" (the ones who live to steal underpants), among others. South Park’s second season tops the first one and is worthy checking out. Listed below are all 18 episodes:

201 - Terrance & Phillip in 'Not Without My Anus'
202 - Cartman's Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut!
203 - Chickenlover
204 - Ike's Wee Wee
205 - Conjoined Fetus
206 - The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka
207 - Flashbacks
208 - Summer Sucks
209 - Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls
210 - Chicken Pox
211 - Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods
212 - Clubhouses
213 - Cow Days
214 - Chef Aid
215 - Spooky Fish
216 - Merry Christmas Charlie Manson
217 - Gnomes
218 - Prehistoric Ice Man

Warner Bros. presents South Park in the show’s original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Colors are displayed in good fashion. The quality is representative of the material and therefore it’s accommodatingly decent.

Warner Bros. presents South Park in English Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound. This audio presentation is perfectly fine for a show like this, making good use of dialog scenes and other sources of audio. The front speakers do good job of bringing the audio out into the room.

"Goin’ Down to South Park" (~50 mins) – This documentary is actually quite long, considering the fact the Season One DVD didn’t have anything of such caliber. It’s filled with interviews (Matt, Trey and some guy in a hot tub; executive producer Deborah Liebling; facility artists), a tour of the South Park production facility (front desk, animation, recording, editing, etc.), looks at Matt and Trey’s early work from the good old college days and much more. Isaac Hayes provides some narration to the whole thing as well as participating in an interview.

The documentary covers a lot of ground and information on the behind-the-scenes activities of the show, but sometimes goes off topic, which is where the subtle jokes are supposed to be. Other than that, the documentary is structured to a good degree, even though the process of making the show, such as animation and recording, comes a little too late (after the 30-minute mark). It appears, however, this documentary filmed on or before the second season premiere as the late Mary Kay Bergman participates in an interview segment. Lastly, there’s one thing the documentary didn’t clear up and it’s "who the hell is the other guy in the hot tub with Matt and Trey?"

Also included in the special features menu on the third disc is Chef’s "Chocolate Salty Balls" music video, which is hilarious, and Comedy Central promos (Daily Show with Jon Stewart).

You can select to view the episodes with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The DVD’s menus are interactive, but not animated. The average episode length is 22 minutes.

South Park kicks ass. Oh yes, it does. This second season tops the first one with more episodes, laughter, excitement and educational values. Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny will invade your home in this nicely put-together 3-disc set from Warner Bros. The documentary on disc 3 is especially cool, but all together this disc comes definitely recommended.

THE SEASON	8
THE VIDEO	6
THE AUDIO	6
THE EXTRAS	4
OVERALL (not an average)	7