Maybe this will teach you to listen to authoritah!

Isn’t it hard to believe that after one season of episodes, people had already taken "South Park" to heart? Well, no.

Those first 13 episodes look amateurish, but they showed the cutting satire, unabashed hilarity and overall charm of four elementary school children that spew as much profanity as Andrew Dice Clay, yet are still lovable. And after Warner Bros. released the "Complete First Season" DVD set in 2002, it was only a matter of time until we got a second season DVD set. And now, here it is: SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON. I think they have taken care of a great deal of episodes which were already pre-released on DVD/video by WB and previous distributors Rhino.

Indulge me, for a moment. The first season is legendary of course, but things only got crazier with the second episode. Some things remained the same, however: Eric Cartman was a little a**hole with a crazy sense of humor; Kenny McCormack's hood hid his use of vulgarities (and he still also spent every episode getting killed in various ways); Stan Marsh and Kyle Broslofski were still the straight, best friends that were foil to the many antics in their little mountain town; and characters like Mr. Garrison and Officer Barbrady were still colorfully looped. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were riding high off their success and made even a couple feature films circa the second season 1998-1999: the NC-17 satire of ORGAZMO, and the R-rated dopiness of BASEKETBALL. Then along came the feature film, but I have my own review of that.

But the jokes and situations got dirtier, more outrageous, more broad and uncompromising...and more hilarious than before. And as is common with most TV shows, the second season contains several more episodes than the first season: whereas the first DVD set contained 13 episodes, this new DVD package collects 18 of them. We pick up where "Cartman’s Mom Is A Dirty Slut" left off...sort of. And this DVD set is promising some "kick-a**" special features, but I’ll get to those later. Before I offer a list of the episodes, and their separate reviews, let me just say that this is my second review of a DVD gift set modeled after TV show episodes (see my review of FUTURAMA VOL. 1). I will try to appeal to you with the title, the original TV air date, a synopsis and brief critique, and maybe some anecdotes as well. I love this show a lot, and I think that each episode deserves its own review.

That said, the eighteen episodes on this package are divided up onto three DVDs: On Disc 1, we get Terrance And Phillip In Not Without My Anus, Cartman’s Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut, Chickenlover, Ike’s Wee Wee, Conjoined Fetus Lady, and The Mexican Staring Frog Of Sri Lanka. On the second DVD are Flashbacks, Summer Sucks, Chef’s Salty Chocolate Balls, Chickenpox, Roger Ebert Should Lay Off The Fatty Foods, and Clubhouses. Last of all, DVD #3 contains Cow Days, Chef Aid, Spookyfish, Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson, Gnomes, and Prehistoric Ice Man. All special features lie in the third DVD.

And all of the episodes presented on the first two DVDs come complete with their original video introductions by Trey and Matt. In these intros, they perform acoustic sets at a retirement home for elderly folk, and they also make fun of cooking shows ("Baking Bacon With Macon") by making bacon treats and feeding them to their pet pig. They’re fairly funny (the cooking skits were beyond dopey and virtually unwatchable), but I got a kick out of seeing them torture old people and also referring to each episode as their favorite. And besides, it's not every day you see acoustic versions of death metal songs.

Terrance And Phillip In Not Without My Anus (4/1/98)
SYNOPSIS: Terrance and Phillip star in their own HBC Movie of the Week. After being framed for murder by the envious television critic Scott, Terrance gets off thanks to the charm of him and Phillip. However, Scott strikes a plot with Saddam Hussein to lure the duo to Iran due to the kidnapping of Terrance’s daughter, whom he conceived with Celine Dion, who is now in an affair with their friend Ugly Bob. When they return to Canada, Saddam has damn near taken over their country. Scott insists that the duo strap a bomb on themselves in order to kill themselves and free Canada from the reign of Saddam.
CRITIQUE: This is that episode which everyone HATED. The opening had the words April Fools on it, and yet many lost the joke because we were all so interested in fat boy..."HEY! DON’T CALL ME FAT, BUTTLICKER!" But this is quite funny, because Trey and Matt got to take revenge on critics who accused them of being nothing but immature fart jokes, and they also called Celine Dion a "stupid b*tch." Not only that, but in the first third of the episode, Terrance and Phillip go through so much it’s absurd. And they still have the time to fart their anuses off. But there’s one moment when Terrance and Phillip watch TV which contains a pretty delirious in-joke.

Cartman’s Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut (4/22/98)
SYNOPSIS: Cartman is about to realize who his father is when Mephesto is shot during a blackout. The boys are forced to go to the hospital to help save him. "America's Most Wanted" comes to South Park to dramatize the event, and the townsfolk join them on the set. A snowstorm traps them in their set, and they are forced into starvation. Eventually, they resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, the snowstorm causes a power outage, and it's up to Kenny in order to get the generator back online in order for Mephesto to remain on life support. Will the townsfolk survive, and will Cartman ever know the true identity of his father?
CRITIQUE: This is the set-up from which Eric Cartman sung that classic Styx song "Come Sail Away," and where we learn the truth about Cartman’s parents. Also, Eric Roberts gets eaten up because, let’s face it, as the Mayor says, "Nobody gives a sh*t about Eric Roberts!" Stan pukes a lot in this episode, and this is also the first episode where Kenny dies for nobility. As he braves the weather and is left frozen alive, he becomes a "freezie pop," to which Stan proposes: "Do you think that if we hit him with a shovel, he’ll shatter?" Outrageous and funny.

Chickenlover (5/20/98)
SYNOPSIS: Someone is molesting chickens in South Park, and Officer Barbrady can’t do anything, since he admits to being illiterate and can‘t read the many clues. Barbrady goes back to elementary school in order to gain intelligence, and uses the help of Stan, Kyle, and the fruity owner of a Bookmobile in order to solve the case. Cartman, meanwhile, is drunk on his deputy powers and starts teaching people to respect his authoritah!
CRITIQUE: Cartman started to become the biggest comic relief of the TV show in this season, and this is Cartman at his most uproarious, beating up Kenny's parents just for the hell of it. The joke involving Officer Barbrady’s reading disorder creates one of the most hilarious, ironic morals in the entire South Park canon. But this episode, while pretty funny in its references to the TV show "Cops" and "Barnaby Jones," this episode belongs to Cartman. Never before will you look at "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" in the same way ever again.

Ike’s Wee Wee (5/27/98)
SYNOPSIS: Mr. Mackey tries to lecture the class about marijuana, and passes out a sample to be handed around the class. When it doesn't return, Mr. Mackey is fired and made the laughingstock of South Park. Depressed and alone, Mr. Mackey falls into a spiral of alcohol, marijuana and LSD, and becomes a hippie! Will this be the end of Mr. Mackey? Meanwhile, Kyle's baby brother, Ike, isn’t about to be circumcised. The boys learn the truth about circumcision, and Kyle sends Ike to Nebraska. When he learns Ike was an adopted brother, Kyle tells his parents the truth, and Ike is rescued in the end. But will Kyle learn to accept his Canadian brother in time before they cut off his fireman?
CRITIQUE: I thought this was quite funny mostly because of the plight of Mr. Mackey. One minute he’s giving the kids a heartfelt lecture about the dangers of drug, mmkay. The next he’s drunk off his rocker and singing Pat Benatar songs. How low can you go? I did enjoy the fact that they tried to cover up the absence of Ike and Cartman's philosophy on the fireman was quite hilarious. However, the high point was Mr. Mackey taking LSD and seeing his head off his body, floating away like a balloon. And just who was it that took the marijuana?

Conjoined Fetus Lady (6/03/98)
SYNOPSIS: While playing dodgeball one day in Chef's gym class, Pip unleashes anger from the boys’ jeers and throws a dodge ball right at Kyle, causing heavy nosebleed. He is sent to Nurse Gollum, feared by the students but seen by Kyle for whom she really is: a victim of Conjoined Twin Myslexia, where a dead fetus is attached to her cheek. Kyle's mother feels outraged at the boys’ comments about her, and organizes a town celebration of Conjoined Twin Myslexia which leaves her even more singled out among the town. Meanwhile, Pip leads the South Park dodgeball team to the national championship in Washington, but they forfeit for fear of playing against the brutal Chinese champions, who have been trained to take out all their opponents without mercy.
CRITIQUE: "Captain Ahab has to have his way!" I particularly enjoyed the dodge ball competition and the fact that Pip is still spat upon by every single kid in elementary school, that French piece of crap. The main story concerns the conjoined twin myselxia-inflicted Nurse Gollum and the fact that Kyle's mom makes a big deal out of it, like she does everything ("What what what!") It's a fairly amusing episode, but like all episodes, the humor is beyond the innocence of these little bastards. And watching this episode makes me realize how much I miss Chef's presence in many of the recent South Park episodes.

The Mexican Staring Frog Of Sri Lanka (6/10/98)
SYNOPSIS: Mr. Garrison makes the boys write a paper about Vietnam, so Stan asks his Uncle Jimbo and his friend Ned Gerblansky about their experiences in Vietnam, riding on carnival attractions and single-handedly kicking some butt. Garrison doesn't believe them and flunks them, giving them detention when pressured by the children. The boys get revenge by shooting phony footage of the legendary Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka, which kills by one look. They submit it to Jimbo and Ned’s TV hunting show, and the ratings put popular cable access show "Jesus And Pals" in danger. Their producer is forced to turn the show into a "Jerry Springer"-type trash talk show in order to boost their ratings. When the two adults stage a hunt for the Mexican Staring Frog, and Ned turns catatonic as a result, they are invited by the producer to be on "Jesus And Pals," where they stage a ridiculous fight that Jesus has to end up solving.
CRITIQUE: Did you ever want to see Jesus Christ be the unwilling host of a low-rent talk show? Well, my friends, this is the episode for you. This is mostly funny because it makes a great joke out of Vietnam, and it gives us time to see more of Jimbo and Ned, two colorful and dopey rednecks that like to kill animals just because they like the sight of bloody carnage. It does get in some nice shots at "The Jerry Springer Show" and features cameos by Rick James (who constantly refers to Michael Jackson) and two future movie stars I wouldn’t dare to mention.

Flashbacks (6/17/98)
SYNOPSIS: A freak accident on a bad road leaves the boys stranded on a bus teetering over the edge of a snowy cliff. Ms. Crabtree gets off the bus to find help, and discourages the kids from getting off by telling them they will get eaten by a big, scary monster if they do get off the bus. However, Ms. Crabtree finds "love" with a country bumpkin and becomes a stand-up comedian, and the kids are left on the bus to recollect memories from the earliest "South Park" episodes in fabricated manner with the stories ending with ice cream parties. However, will Ms. Crabtree get back to the bus in time before the monster eats them all!
CRITIQUE: The opening scene with Cartman indulging in a chocolate cake is hilarious, as is the scene where Ms. Crabtree makes a fool out of Pauly Shore. The various highlights are hilarious, as the boys seem to imagine everything in a different light ("Oh my God, Kenny...killed death!" "You...bastard?"), and I appreciated the surprising love angle between redneck heartthrob Mitch. There’s also a moment when the boys imagine themselves in a situation from "Happy Days." But the most riotous moment is when the parents of South Park, convinced their children are on the streets, do one of those sing-alongs in the name of finding their missing children, and also the ending is a double-whammy.

Summer Sucks (06/24/98)
SYNOPSIS: Mr. Garrison loses Mr. Hat and is forced to make a visit to New York to see Dr. Katz, professional therapist. And as for the rest of the summer in South Park, life sucks! The children can’t play with fireworks as part of a new law prohibiting the use of fireworks, so Jimbo and Ned ride down to Tijuana to get some nice illegal fireworks…and they get busted. And Cartman takes swimming lessons, unaware of the dangers of first graders. The fourth of July celebration concocted by the Mayor sees the arrival of a giant "snake" firework, which is lit only to engulf the town.
CRITIQUE: Fairly humorous episode focusing on how when the Chef’s away, the children will play. It's a delight to watch Cartman suffer a lot in this episode; nowadays a lot of the jokes involving Cartman won't be as crushing towards Cartman in the end. For reference checks, I noticed a nice spoof of the "Dr. Katz" TV show, Mr. Garrison’s hilarious revenge fantasy involving Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, and another joke on TITANIC. The Mayor is also a prominent character, as are Jimbo and Ned, the most lovable hunters in cartoon history. And when Chef sings about having a manage a trois ("Simultaneous"), I was getting a nice chuckle.

Chef’s Salty Chocolate Balls (7/19/98)
SYNOPSIS: Robert Redford sets up the Sundance Film Festival in South Park, and immediately the town is taken over by stuffy rich folk who like health food. This provides the perfect opportunities for Chef to promote his newest candy treats, including his Salty Chocolate Balls, for Wendy Testaburger to make a p*ssy out of Stan, and for Cartman to make easy money by being a sell-out. But the pollution of the Hollywood crowds affects an old friend, Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo, so Kyle has to help him get these industry bigwigs out of South Park once and for all.
CRITIQUE: "Suck on my chocolate salty balls..." Quite hilarious episode pokes fun at the Sundance Film Festival, Hollywood players and intellectual wannabes, and gives Cartman one of his most quotable lines: "Tom Hanks couldn't act his way out of a nut sack!" I was also happy to see Mr. Hankey return to the show, and he gets a couple of scenes which poke fun at E.T. and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The kids also proudly admit that both GODZILLA and INDEPENDENCE DAY sucked a**, and the final scene is a hilarious riff on FANTASIA.

Chickenpox (8/26/98)
SYNOPSIS: Shelley Marsh gets the chicken pox, and when the boys' parents learn about the importance of getting the disease at an early age, they hatch a plan. Stan, Kyle and Cartman are sent to Kenny’s house for a sleepover in the hopes they will get the disease from Kenny. Stan and Cartman catch the disease, but Kyle doesn't: his mother is desperate and confused, and Kyle overhears a telephone call one day and discovers the truth. The boys come up with a plot of their own, and they get the knowledge of a hooker named Old Frida via Chef. This diseased prostitute infects their parents’ belongings with Herpes, and matters get worse when Kyle finally caves in with the disease and Stan is linked to certain death.
CRITIQUE: When Cartman gets busy with the Calamine lotion, I can't despise the episode. A pretty nasty episode with a lot of jokes centered around Kenny’s poverty and the transmitting of disease through saliva and skin contact, but then this show isn’t known for its subtlety. There's also a slightly humorous subplot involving the fatherly figures of Kenny and Kyle reuniting on an ill-fated fishing trip, and we are treated to Cartman doing his first a cappella rendition of Elvis Presley’s "In The Ghetto." Quite a treat.

Roger Ebert Should Lay Off The Fatty Foods (9/2/98)
SYNOPSIS: Mr. Garrison decides to take the boys to the local Planetarium, but Cartman is more interested in auditioning for a position in a Cheesy Poofs commercial. The boys discover a strange kid on the bus from the Planetarium, and he is somehow consoled by Mr. Mackey, and through a mind-melding technique he discovers the truth about the Planetarium. But then again, so do the boys, after Kenny is eventually killed being hypnotized by the intensity of the projection of the lights. Before the boys know it, everybody seems to be under the spell of the Planetarium, all except for Cartman, who lands the coveted role in the Cheesy Poofs commercial.
CRITIQUE: Cartman is, as usual, a bratty little shmuck, but easily one of the great comic highlights of the show. There’s a laugh-out loud moment when Cartman is in the finals for the Cheesy Poof auditions and sings a certain 1980s pop hit. As introduced in the opening video scene, this is a take-off of a classic "Star Trek" episode. This and "Barnaby Jones" are highly referenced in the second season of the show, and I particularly liked how Kenny dies in this episode. The whole planetarium joke is one of my favorite plots of the entire second season.

Clubhouses (9/23/98)
SYNOPSIS: Bebe has a crush on Kyle, so Wendy asks Stan if they can all play Truth Or Dare in Stan’s clubhouse. However, Stan doesn’t have a clubhouse. So he and Kyle build their own clubhouse, kicking out Cartman and Kenny, who have to build their own. However, Stan’s parents are starting to see their marriage unravel, and are going through a divorce. By the time the clubhouse is finished, Stan's got a lame-a** stepfather and Cartman and Kenny found their own chicks to hang out with, a couple of teenage runaways who throw a wild party in Cartman’s clubhouse. Will Kyle and Stan get to first base with their young dates, or will Cartman and Kenny have the last laugh.
CRITIQUE: Cartman is still trying to prove himself a bad boy, and nothing’s funnier than when he does it in front of girls ("I‘m almost 8 years old, and if I wanna fingerpaint, I'm gonna fingerpaint!"). The angle involving divorce is given vulgar, hilarious air blown into it, as is the contrast between love affairs between children and adults. The ending is one of the most painful in the history of South Park, and it’s a wild ride up until then. Besides, Stan ignored the cardinal rule of Truth Or Dare as explained by the Chef. I really thought this was a little lighthearted, but I liked this one. And I also enjoyed the re-imagination of "Fat Albert" with more four letter words than ever before.

Cow Days (9/30/98)
SYNOPSIS: South Park is holding its 14th Annual Cow Days, noted for its legendary "running of the cows" and a brand new Cow Memorial, which is a clock that moos. The cows of South Park use this monument as a worship of idolization, and form their own cult. However, the boys are interested in winning "authentic" Terrance & Phillip dolls from a game in which you try to chuck a ball through a cut-out in a Jennifer Love Hewitt picture (her mouth, not her breasts). To earn more playing money, Cartman joins a bull-riding competition for $5000, but while practicing ends up suffering a freak accident that gives him the mistaken impression that he’s a Vietnamese prostitute named Ming Lee.
CRITIQUE:A wildly funny episode, and my personal favorite all because of Cartman’s mistaken identity. Nothing’s funnier than Cartman propositioning a soldier with lines from a 2 Live Crew song in a crazy accent. Another funny element is the wraparound story involving two tourists who won a trip to South Park on a game show, and their eventual implication in the case of the missing cow monument. There's so many quotable lines in this episode, and the fact that these cows are brainwashed is quite funny, and the ending is, like always, quite a holler. Everybody grab a broom, it's shenanigans!

Chef Aid (10/20/98)
SYNOPSIS: Chef wrote a song called "Stinky Britches" a long time ago, and all of a sudden its now a hit for Alanis Morissette. When Chef tries to get his rights to the song, the head honcho of the company decides to sue Chef for all he’s got, and gets Johnnie Cochran on the case! The result: Chef owes the record company $2 million or faces 4 years in jail. But the plan is that Chef can raise money himself to assign Johnnie Cochran to represent him, and yet the money they make isn’t enough. Stan proposes Chef Aid, where people pay to see Cartman do the German Dance. But when Chef's old rock star friends come to South Park, Chef Aid becomes a full-blown benefit concert. And oh yeah, there’s a FATAL ATTRACTION-type subplot involving Mr. Garrison’s hand puppet Mr. Twig being violated by a face from the past. Garrison is forced to share a jail bin with Chef, and is eventually busted out from jail by...Mr. Hat!
CRITIQUE: A classic episode. The stories involving Mr. Garrison’s looney love triangle and the attempts to save Chef from utter ruin (Chef himself becomes a gigolo, whereas the boys’ first attempt to save Chef by selling candy bars to famous folks is cheeky) are funny as hell. The joke involving the Chewbacca defense is hilarious, and the fact that the company head’s hair falls down in his face whenever he says, "I am above the law!" is quite comical. But this is the first time we see Cartman doing the German Dance, and we get numerous cameos from famous musicians. Elton John! Meat Loaf! The late Joe Strummer! Ozzy Osbourne! Rick James! Rancid! Kick a**! And how about that line: "And now, here he is…TV’s Ozzy Osbourne!" Who would’ve known?

Spookyfish (10/28/98)
SYNOPSIS: Stan’s Aunt Flo gives him a new pet fish, but the fish creeps out Stan and eventually murders a couple people. Stan’s mom is shocked, and eventually buries the bodies. When Officer Barbrady inquires of the missing people, she holds him captive (and half-naked) in the basement. Meanwhile, Stan and his friends discover that Cartman’s attititude has been shifting on and off, and for good reason: an evil twin from a parallel universe has shown up to provide an antidote to the typical Cartman we know, being nicer whereas the real Cartman is a little bastard. Eventually, they have to stop the possessed animals at the Indian Burial Pet Shop from running amok, and must confront evil Stan and Kyle clones from the same parallel universe which spawned Evil Cartman.
CRITIQUE: Two Cartmans are better than one in this episode, which proudly flaunts the use of alternate "Evil" universes, evil fish that kill people behind Stan’s back, the crazed mother trying to cover up the corpses, and the old Indian burial ground which has a pet store built over it. Also quite funny is the use of "SpookyVision," in which the screen is framed around photos of Barbara Streisand, and the chemistry between . I enjoyed Cartman’s repeated use of the adjective "hella," before I heard it in overdrive. And the best moment is when Evil Cartman treats his friends to a song about friendship; I was cracking up during that scene. I can’t say that it outdoes the "Pinkeye" Halloween episode, but it comes close to it.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson (12/9/98)
SYNOPSIS: Stan rails against his family for not letting him visit Cartman’s family in Nebraska, and sneaks out. However, the boys discover that Cartman’s family is just as crazy as he is, and their Uncle Howard is stuck in prison, until he busts out and brings along his inmate, Charlie Manson! Manson drives the boys down to the mall to meet Mr. Hankey, but Kyle unleashes the mall’s Mr. Hankey as a fraud and provokes a riot. The SWAT team then discover Manson and chase after him, until the Cartman’s house is taken under hostage by Uncle Howard. Can Charlie Manson discover the true meaning of Christmas, and what will happen to Stan when his irate family come to Nebraska!
CRITIQUE: Two Cartmans? How about five of them! How about a whole dysfunctional family of Cartmans! How about Charlie Manson becoming the new holiday hero just by watching “The Grinchy Poo!” Is this the most f*cked up thing in the world?! Yes, but it’s also genuinely funny, as Charlie Manson faces his past and discovers his true family, saving Christmas for the boys. I can’t describe this episode except that its one of the strangest, funniest episodes of South Park in all of its 6 years existence.

Gnomes (12/16/98)
SYNOPSIS: Mr. Garrison could lose his job as a teacher due to incompetence, and has to assign the boys an oral report on current events. The four boys get paired up with Tweek, the paranoid, oddball son of a coffee shop owner. Tweek is haunted by underpants gnomes that come out at 3:30 AM and steal his clothes, and the boys eventually discover this and venture into the underpants underworld. Mr. Tweek’s coffee shop faces unemployment at the hands of the Harbucks conglomerate, and he writes the report for the guys and gives Mr. Garrison his job back, as well as making the boys new radicals against corporate takeovers. As a result, Harbucks fails, and the boys must learn the truth about big business from an unlikely source.
CRITIQUE: Ah, the introduction of Tweek. Tweek is a jittery, overly worried boy with more nervous ticks than a near-closed grandfather clock. The inclusion of the underpants gnomes are wonderfully funny, and the moral is surprisingly refreshing, focusing on social commentary that goes against using children as political tools and the madness in railing against corporations. Of course there are laughs in witnessing Tweek discovering the underpants gnomes, and in Mr. Garrison acting like a pompous jerk. And oh yeah, Cartman and his big stick. Quite hilarious.

Prehistoric Ice Man (1/20/99)
SYNOPSIS: After Kyle falls down an ice hole, Stan is lowered in the hole and discovers a man named Larry frozen in ice. The discovery creates a rift in their friendship, and after Mephisto thaws him out, they discover he’s actually from the year 1996! Thus, Larry is made into an attraction, and placed in a booth with Ace Of Base music and posters of FARGO and ID4 on his well. But Larry is eventually freed and discovers his life isn't the same. Meanwhile, the government unleashes a secret weapon in order to capture Larry: Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter!
CRITIQUE: This is quite funny, and yet I wasn’t completely understanding of it. The pop culture references remain, but the burning question is this: was Ace Of Base even popular in 1996? Even with this quandary, I laughed myself silly as Cartman tried to imitate Mr. Irwin and stick his finger in various animal butts. Another funny touch is that the "Stinky Britches" song resurfaces in a Marilyn Manson joke. As much as I enjoyed this caper and the tension between Stan and Kyle, it's all about Cartman the Croc Hunter. Quite right, mate.

Overall picture quality looks good, with impressive controls on sharpness and color details for a show so basic. The episodes are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratios. I noticed no problems with artifacts, jagged effects or edge enhancement, and I was overall pleased with the picture in the long run. The audio for the video introductions from Matt and Trey are shoddily transferred, with a lower volume pitch than the actual episodes. Sound fares much better for the episodes, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, providing a nice clarity for the dialogue, music and sound effects.

As was the case with the "Complete First Season" boxed set, Warner Bros. obviously are uncomfortable with Trey and Matt expressing their viewpoints on the audio commentary sets. So the only real extras were scant and worthy only as nostalgia for fans. The case is the same here: ONLY TWO EXTRAS! Sorry, but I don’t count a promo for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" as an extra (hell, you can tape one off TV). First of which is the music video for Chef's "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)," which surprisingly received MTV airplay when the CHEF AID album was released, and went to the top of the charts in the United Kingdom. I thought the song and clip were quite funny, and there are clips from episodes before spliced into this one, mixed with new animated footage of the lip-synching cartoon creation.

The second extra is a vintage 50 minute documentary from 1999 called "Goin' Down To South Park." Trey and Matt are interviewed from a hot tub, and we are also treated to a small tour of the production facilities. We also get comments from (and about) executive producer Deborah Liebling and voiceover actor Isaac Hayes (Chef himself), as well as some history into how the two guys met and got started with the show, and their thoughts being away from Colorado. We are also treated to info about the music (the duo’s band DVDA), the merchandise, the morality squads, and other fine stuff. The last third of this documentary focuses on the actual technical details and designs, with focuses on animation, voices and editing. However, they steer clear of talking about the celebrity spoofs, which means they can’t lacerate Barbara Streisand or Bob Saget like they did on the audio commentary tracks.

To conclude this review, I have to admit that this set is ultimately recommended for any "South Park" fan bored with the various DVD releases of episodes and such. It is only time until we may see a third installment in the series (CAT ORGY!), but these 18 episodes featured here show the evolution of a show that is not afraid to come up with new and interesting jokes to disturb and gross out all. I only wish that Warner Bros. should start to get some "hella sweet" bonus features and lighten up...even Barbara Streisand deserves a bad comment. But I can’t complain about this set, [in Cartman voice] seriously, you guys.