Plot: What’s it about?
Following in the trend of television shows coming to DVD, we are now greeted with the first season of one of the most controversial shows to hit the airwaves in many years. That’s right, South Park’s first season is now available on DVD. Much like Warner’s “Friends” series, this had been available as some selected episodes, but this is truly what started it all. If you’re not familiar with South Park, though, I suggest you shave off the beard you’ve grown while living in that cave you’ve been in for quite some time; as it’s one of the funniest shows of all time! As far as plot goes, well, there’s not really one. Each episode centers around the main four characters. And who are these little cute kids, you ask? Eric Cartman is the loud-mouthed fat kid who constantly begs his mother for treats (and usually gets his way). Kyle and Stan are the seemingly two “normal” ones of the group, though Kyle’s persuasion (Jewish) is the brunt of most of Cartman’s jokes. And then we have Kenny. Kenny wears the orange coat and, well, dies in each and every episode. In fact, that’s one of the reasons to watch the show, just to see how they can conjure up a new way to kill Kenny.
The first season was an instant hit, though the controversy it caused far overshadowed the popularity of the show. Broadcast on the Comedy Central network, it didn’t have “network” censors to attend to, though it was banned in several towns (and Comedy Central isn’t available everywhere). But no less than two years later, a feature-length movie was already made and was a modest hit at the time. The movie allowed the kids to really say what we’ve wanted them to since this first season aired (i.e. a LOT of four letter words). Rounding out the rest of the town (South Park, Colorado) are colorful characters like “Big Gay Al”, Chef (voiced by Isaac Hayes), Mr. Mackey, Mr. Hand and the kids parents all play a recurring role in whatever mischief these little brats seem to get into next. This isn’t all, though, a “who’s who” of major Hollywood stars have lent their voices as guest characters and on the same token, no one seems to be immune to the criticism that South Park constantly dishes out. On the brink of it’s sixth season, I can say that this is truly the one (season) that started it all.
Video: How does it look?
It’s almost a joke as to how low budget these episodes look. Essentially they’re cardboard cutouts that have a somewhat “cartoonish” look to them. Each episode is presented in a full-frame transfer that reflects the original aspect ratio. For the most part, the colors are very bright and vivid, even surpassing broadcast quality (there happened to be an episode airing on Comedy Central while I was doing my review, so I switched back and forth from Satellite to DVD to compare the two). There’s not a real problem with edge enhancement, considering the source, and all of the other factors that are normally considered are thrown out the window here as we don’t really know what to expect. Bottom line, if you have seen the other South Park DVD’s, then this is how these episodes look. No major complaints here.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, only the movie was presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but this is the first season we’re talking about here! All episodes are in Dolby Surround, which more than serves the purpose. You’ll hear each and every verbal slur as they’re constantly dished out and all of the voices and sound effects are intact. There is some depth to the tracks, however, as it tends to supercede what we would call “acceptable” when it comes to animation. Not a lot else to say here, it sounds pretty good and I wasn’t let down at all.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Evidently Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s commentary was a bit too much for the folks at Warner to handle as it has been removed from this disc set. They’re selling it on their website, so not all is lost. Still, South Park does come with a few extras. First up are “A South Park Thanksgiving” which was featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Cartman’s “O Little Town of Bethlehem” video. These run a few minutes in length, but I was a bit saddened that they didn’t include the much more hilarious “O Holy Night” video by Cartman in which he forgets the verses of the song. There is also a spot for the 1997 Cable Ace Awards. Some promos are included (4 @ 15 seconds a piece). Die hard fans have already seen these episodes time and time again, so there isn’t a lot of new material here. The lack of commentaries is disappointing and they were cut due to standards that Warner had (why not just slap a disclaimer on it and we’re all happy). Still, having arguably the best season of South Park on DVD is just fine by me.
