South Park: The Complete Sixth Season

Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment / 2002 / 374 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: October 11, 2005

Never ceasing to push the envelope as far as Comedy Central’s sponsors will allow, this sixth season of Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s South Park includes all the liposuction-spewing, sperm-infested shrimp, and testicles-on-forehead that you’ve been waiting so desperately to see (oh yeah - and Martha Stewart sits on a cooked turkey, too).

Yet even if these scenarios sound almost too far-fetched to work, the real wonder of this newer, more finessed South Park is the wherewithal Parker and Stone are able to show as they weave their young characters into these outlandish narrative concepts. I mean, showing 8-year-olds trash talking and getting each other in trouble is easy, but figuring out how to do that as the people of the world learn how to crap out of their mouths is near impossible.

As shown with their brilliant South Park movie (which came out three years before this sixth season), Parker and Stone are not merely content to repeat the explicit tomfooleries of their iconic characters’ past. They want to think bigger and more outrageously about how to present these characters in unique situations. Sure, sometimes this results in making the show less laugh-out-loud funny than usual (the “New Terrance and Philip Trailer” episode is funny, but only here and there), but their ambition as storytellers and jokesters nevertheless makes the journey worthwhile.

Even more than in previous seasons, this sixth round of South Park is a marvel to behold. It’s a testament to what television can look like when you take the lids off of crazy filmmakers’ heads. And anyone who shares an affinity for Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and their cronies will know that it’s not just important to add these episodes to your DVD shelf, it’s an honor to cherish them.

Especially when we meet Mr. Garrison’s beloved Mr. Slave. How many times were these guys kicked in the head by mules when they were kids?

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Same as the set of transfers on the other South Park DVD box sets. From my review of season five:
"All episodes are presented in their original 4:3 full screen aspect ratios. Alas, like the first season set, they just look alright. Colors are sharp and well-defined and black levels solid. But there is quite a bit of noise here, and compression artifacts pop up more often than they probably should. Since South Park such a low-rent-looking show anyway, these sub-par video transfer don't detract much from our enjoyment, but these sure could have looked better."

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Ditto:
"As presented in English Dolby Surround 2.0, these soundtracks are also just average. Frequency response is never really expansive, and there also isn't much in the way of stereo separation or surround use. At least the potty-mouthed dialogue sounds great, and the show exhibits an expert usage of sound effects that are striking. Hardly definitive soundtracks, but perfectly fine nonetheless."
Also included are English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Aside from set of Comedy Central previews, the only bonus stuff here are the short screen-specific audio commentaries provided by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They never last very long, which is nice, because they pack all the info they want to get across into a short span. These are all pretty damned funny and very revealing. Fans will want to check these out.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve never purchased a South Park DVD set, this one might not be exactly the best place to start, but for those of us with five other South Park sets on the shelf, this is a must-have. Transfers and mixes are fair, and while extra features are thin, the commentaries from Matt and Trey are worth their weight in gold. Not for the squeamish, but definitely for everyone else. Recommended.