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PARAMOUNT

SERIES INFO

Director:
Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Cast:
Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Writing Credits:
Various

MPAA:
Rated NR

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English Dolby 2.0
Subtitles:
English
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English

Runtime: 223 min.
Price: $39.99
Release Date: 6/5/2018

Bonus:
• “Season Commentary” from Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone
• “#Social Commentary” for All 10 Episodes
• Ads and Trailers


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


South Park: The Complete Twenty-Second Season [Blu-Ray] (2018)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 9, 2019)

Will South Park ever call it a day? Sure, but we’re not there yet, as evidenced by this Complete Twenty-Second Season release.

I’ll examine all 10 programs in the way presented on the discs, which also is the order in which they were first broadcast. The synopses come from the package itself.

Disc One:

Dead Kids (aired 9/26/18): “There is a school shooting at South Park Elementary. The parents are confused by Sharon’s overreaction and Randy is desperate to help his wife get her emotions under control.”

Not known for its subtlety, South Park manages a surprisingly nuanced look at school shootings, one in which it implies the prevalence of these via the nonchalant way the kids respond. It’s a clever approach to a hot button subject, and the secondary plots also work well, especially when Cartman goes on a crusade to prove Token saw Black Panther. “Kids” opens S22 well.

A Boy and A Priest (aired 10/3/18): “Father Maxi is upset when the backlash over the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals makes it into his weekly service. Butters feels sorry for Maxi and reaches out.”

Pop culture has already beaten the Catholic Church sex scandal to death, so South Park finds it tough to locate a new angle. Though it offers a few decent twists, too much of it relies on seedy material, elements that make it a cheesy episode.

The Problem With a Poo (aired 10/10/18): “Mr. Hankey is overseeing South Patk’s Christmas pageant, but he puts his job in jeopardy by posting a series of offensive tweets while on Ambien. Meanwhile, PC Principal and Vice Principal Strong Woman deal with the aftermath of their affair: PC babies.”

The episode’s title alludes to the controversy that arose related to The Simpsons Apu, and some of the Mr. Hankey elements reflect that. However, the show doesn’t really take on the topic, as most of it comes with jokes about Mr. Hankey’s Roseanne Barr-style tweets until we get a gratuitous jab toward Simpsons at the end.

The PC Principal elements don’t fare better. Both he and VP Strong Woman offer one-note characters, and it’s not an especially funny note, so the focus on their story fizzles.

Tegridy Farms (aired 10/17/18): “Randy moves his family out to the country to start a new life on the farm. With a little help from Towelie, Randy’s weed is poised to make a huge splash in the legal marijuana market. Meanwhile, Kyle tries to protect Ike when the vaping craze hits South Park Elementary.”

For reasons I’ll never understand, Randy became the focal point of many South Park episodes over the last few years. I think he’s one of the series’ less interesting characters, so his prominence hasn’t been appealing to me. The emphasis on Randy makes this a lackluster show, and the vaping scenes don’t redeem it.

The Scoots (aired 10/31/18): “It’s every boy and girl for themselves this Halloween when the kids head out for tricks or treats. This year, e-scooters change the holiday for everyone.”

By coincidence, I just read about how e-scooter patrons leave them abandoned all around town. I’ve never actually seen anyone on them, though I see them strewn around the area.

Whatever the case, “Scoots” offers a rebound episode, as it fares much better than its last few predecessors. The show brings a few clever twists to the subject matter and manages a lot of laughs.

Time to Get Cereal (aired 11/7/18): “ManBearPig returns and starts killing the residents of South Park. Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny turn to the only man who might be able to put an end to its reign of terror.”

“Time” essentially offers the first part of a two-part package, so I’ll save my comments for the next show.

Nobody Got Cereal? (aired 11/14/18): “ManBearPig continues to lay waste to South Park but the townspeople are all too busy playing Red Dead Redemption 2 to do anything about it.”

“ManBearPig” debuted inauspiciously back in Season 10, an episode that gleefully mocked Al Gore as Chicken Little. 12 years later, South Park tries to make up for its ignorant position of 2006.

Sort of. While the two “Cereal” episodes backtrack on their mockery of climate change, they still make Gore look like a doofus. Granted, we can’t expect South Park to suddenly treat Gore with respect, but the continued silly, immature attitude conveyed to him feels odd since the series now wants to back off the circa 2006 view.

The Red Dead Redemption theme adds a minor twist, but it’s not enough to overcome the episodes’ flaws. All the Gore gags feel cheesy and drag down these shows.

Buddha Box (aired 11/28/18): “Cartman is diagnosed with anxiety. Working the diagnosis to his advantage, he uses it as an excuse to do absolutely anything he wants.”

Traditionally, Cartman-centered episodes have been among the series’ best, but S22 has largely avoided the character. “Box” brings him to the fore, but it mostly concentrates on the modern dependence on cell phones. That’s not a particularly novel concept, and “Box” fails to find much insight.

Unfulfilled (aired 12/5/18): “The citizens of South Park enjoy all the perks of being a company town when the Amazon Fulfillment Center moves in. Everything seems to be going fine until an accident at the facility and the contradictions inherent in capitalism threaten to bring down the entire system.”

This becomes another two-part set, so I’ll address “Unfulfilled” when I go over the next show.

Bike Parade (aired 12/12/18): “Amazon’s CEO continues his efforts to crush the strike at the Amazon Fulfillment Center while the boys prepare for the annual bike parade. Randy and Towelie’s weed business grows in some unexpected ways as the town tries to cope with the stress of not getting their Christmas packages delivered.”

S22 ends on a limp note. Like the cell phone addiction mocked in “Box”, the modern dependence on Amazon feels like low-hanging fruit. There’s not enough good content for one episode, much less two.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture A/ Audio B/ Bonus C+

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Second Season appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on these Blu-ray Discs. As always, the shows looked great.

At all times, the episodes delivered great definition. S22 provided consistently concise, well-delineated elements without a hint of softness. I saw no jaggies or moiré effects, and both edge haloes and source flaws remained absent.

With a wide variety of hues on display, S22’s colors excelled and boasted lively, vivid material. Blacks seemed deep and dark, while low-light shots appeared smooth and clear. The episodes delivered strong visuals.

Though not as good, the series’ Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio worked fairly well, though – as usual – I’d like more ambition. Most of the shows focused on the front channels, where we got good stereo presence for music and reasonable spread for effects.

The surrounds added some pizzazz during more dynamic scenes – such as one with rockets - but most of the time, they lacked a lot of ambition. This meant a mix that used the back speakers to flesh out the episodes in a positive but not memorable manner.

Audio quality seemed good, with natural, concise dialogue that lacked edginess. Music was full and bold, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy. Nothing here dazzled but the audio appeared perfectly acceptable.

Alongside each episode, we get mini-commentaries. Across these, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker offer short overviews of each episode. The commentaries last between two minutes, 23 seconds and four minutes, 14 seconds for a total of 32 minutes, 23 seconds.

All together, these 10 chats discuss story elements, inspirations, and others facets of the production. As always, Parker and Stone prove engaging and informative, as they pack a lot of information into the brief commentaries.

All 10 episodes include #SocialCommentaries. These provide text tracks that give us information about the creation of the shows as well as references to other episodes and cultural influences.

In the past, these tended to offer too few tidbits and too many quotes. The SocialCommentaries for S22 remedy that, as they appear more frequently and they add a lot of useful insights. They’re worth a look.

Eight Deleted Scenes fill a total of eight minutes, 15 seconds. We find these for “Dead Kids” (1 scene), “A Boy and a Priest” (2 scenes), “The Problem With a Poo” (1 scene), “Time to Get Cereal” (1 scene), “Nobody Got Cereal?” (2 scenes), “Unfulfilled” (1 scene). Some amusement results.

22 seasons into the series’ run and South Park remains inconsistent. While S22 comes with some good shows, it also presents a few duds. The Blu-rays offer excellent picture along with fairly positive audio and some useful supplements. This becomes an erratic compilation of programs.

Viewer Film Ratings: 2 Stars Number of Votes: 2
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