South Park: The Complete Fourteenth Season (Blu-Ray)

South Park has become like the Simpsons in that it's aired so long the fanbase is split. Those who love it and those who think it is old, stale and should be put down. I can't speak to how I feel about the Simpsons, that's a different issue, but as far as South Park all I can say is I'm still laughing. I don't hold South Park up to the same criteria as other shows, it's an entity all its own where the point has always been to tune in and have some laughs at current issues with our four favorite foul mouthed fourth graders. To me if South Park still makes me laugh then it's still a great show.

The show has changed its style many times over the years and this season represents another change, I really liked the pace and style of the episodes this season. It starts a little slow, in my opinion, but gears up by "You Have 0 Friends" and only gets better from there. This season contains two fan loved multi-part episodes and one of them is the most controversial episode the show has done in recent years. Was it 'Classic' South Park? Too soon to tell, but certainly great South Park this year.

This 14th season contains the following 14 episodes:

Sexual Healing - The country searches for an explanation for all the recent famous people cheating or becoming supposed "sex addicts", in the process two of the boys from South Park are revealed as sex addicts themselves. [A great episode in that it doesn't make fun of the rich men cheating as much as it makes fun of the people who keep trying to dissect why they do it]

The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs - Reading a banned book in class inspires the boys to write their own filthy book, one that mentions Sarah Jessica Parker 465 times, sick! When they are caught and blame it on Butters he becomes a national bestseller until his next book gets a famous celebrity killed. [Pokes fun at a lot of things, possibly even the idea that Matt and Trey feel people find deeper meaning in their writing than they intend, among other things such as media blaming art for the actions of clearly insane people]

Medicinal Fried Chicken - Randy radiates his balls in order to be prescribed medicinal marijuana. Meanwhile Cartmen essentially lives the life of Tony Montana, Scarface, only with fried chicken and gravy rather than cocaine. [Lots of funny visuals if a little weak on the poignant social commentary]

You Have 0 Friends - Kyle "friends" a loser kid with no friends on facebook when he feels bad for him but soon he becomes an outcast himself. Stan gets tired of facebook and wants to delete his profile but there's one problem, it won't let him. [If Social Network "brilliantly" tells the story of how facebook started, this episode brilliantly portrays what it has become and certainly what it will turn into if we don't stop it now!]

200 & 201 (CENSORED VERSION ONLY) - After seeing Tom Cruise working at a fudge packing plant the boys piss him off and 200 celebrities come back to get their revenge on the town of South Park. Things escalate when the ginger kids return and when we may finally find out...who is Eric Cartmen's father?
[The episode becomes centered on whether or not they can show ********. Nice to have all the call backs, unfortunately the DVD/Blu-ray version is censored like the broadcast version was. Fairly ridiculous on Comedy Central's part but I want to own the season regardless and am not sure why people are getting up in arms. Still, we should be able to see ******** if we want to see ********!]

Crippled Summer - Jimmy, Timmy and Nathan???(the drug dealer from Up the Down Steroid) all go to 'special' summer camp and pay homage to classic cartoons as Nathan tries to foil Jimmy and the cooler kids. Meanwhile Towelie gets a long awaited Intervention. [All I have to say is hahahaha, laughed my ass off at both stories]

Poor and Stupid - Cartmen gets Butters to help him become a NASCAR driver. The title sums up the main repetitive joke of the episode but it's hilarious to watch unfold. [Laughed my ass off again]

It's a Jersey Thing - Jersey starts to spread across America and reaches South Park causing Kyle (or Kylie B.) to face some inner demons he didn't know about his mother or himself.

Insheeption - A trip into Mr. Mackay's twisted childhood mind allows Matt and Trey to mock the confusion of Inception and the constant music played throughout the movie to make dialogue seem more intense. I loved the movie but love this episode even more.

Coon 2: Hindsight (1), Mysterion Rises (2), Coon Vs. Coon and Friends (3) - In the three parter South Park serves up a sequel of sorts to the episode "The Coon". Now all the kids have super hero alter egos and a new hero named Captain Hindsight shows up on the scene mocking all the good people have brought to the world lately by pointing out what should've been done rather than actually doing something about it now. In part two Mysterion is finally revealed and explored and in part three we get some new insight into one of our favorite characters.

Creme Fraiche - Randy become addicted to the cooking channel and thinks he should be a chef despite not being able to cook. With Randy busy Sharon finds herself a new toy that brings her all the pleasure a man can bring, a shake weight. [hahaha, the visual of that ridiculous shake weight. A great episode, silly, fun and makes good points, especially with how Randy gets turned on by the food network]

A great season by my standards but everyone will have to judge for themselves. The three-parter is fun and feels more like classic South Park silliness to me but it does seem like they wanted to do a standalone Coon 2 episode that gradually turned into a three parter when they couldn't wrap it up. For once in a long time though it does add a new level to one of the characters and it has some good laughs. Not as rewatchable as the rest though.

All episodes will contain the usual mini-commentaries by Matt and Trey which are always effeciently informative, if not a little too short for real fans.

There is also a deleted scene from "You Have 0 Friends" starring Cartmen and the season 13 episode "The Coon" is included (despite fans who buy this set already likely owning the previous one).

The Blu-ray releases for South Park have looked really sharp and I personally don't mind paying a little extra but for those who don't focus on vibrancy of the color and sharpness of picture just buy the DVD, the jokes will still be just as funny and you'll save a few bucks.

So that's season fourteen, fans enjoy (unless you can't get over the one censored episode). Those who are no longer fans try to let those of us still laughing enjoy (you don't have to acknowledge the new seasons just as I don't acknowledge most seasons of the Simpsons), those who never were fans why the hell are you reading this? As far as season 15, two words - Can't Wait.

So Comedy Central has come to the point where they support terrorists by caving into their demands. Matt and Trey have spent a decade and a half bringing humor to topics that vastly needed it, but as soon as the one group of people in the world who should be made fun of the most get targeted, then the station steps in to ruin the fun.

When the uncensored version becomes available, whether by purchase or online viewing, I will return to South Park. Until then, I can no longer support anything Comedy Central has their hands in. Hopefully Matt and Trey will find a competent station to switch to once their contract expires after Season 15. They are the greatest satirists this world has, but I will wait for their shackles to be released so I can enjoy their talents untainted.

Region blocked. Why!!? I've lost dollars on this... A loyal fan who buys the season ASAP from the US gets stung by the sudden changing to region coded blu-rays. Bit unhappy Comedy Central - feel free to send me a Region 2 set, or my money back thanks!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 15 reviews  3.5 out of 5 stars