I can't believe 'South Park' has had eighteen full seasons on television, with it's current nineteenth season airing weekly on Comedy Central. It's truly a milestone in animation about a few foul mouthed kids who take on weekly world problems that coincide with what's going on in the real world, all the while interjecting tons of toilet humor at every corner.
It's a formula that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been working with for almost two decades and it has never gotten tiresome or redundant, but instead has continued to be one of the freshest and most entertaining shows out on the market to this day. With each season, there still seems to be a treasure trove of iconic moments that are still talked about and tons of quotable lines that make their way to posters, other television programs, and clothing.
With season eighteen, the social and political satire and commentary is at an all time high, as each episode in some form or fashion deals with a real life issue in our own world, but with tons of fart jokes. This is a winning formula that I hope lasts for another eighteen seasons or as long as Parker and Stone continue to do the show.
The shows episodes range from the debacle with the Washington Redskin's NFL name in the season opener to holograms, Magic: The Gathering, freemium games, the Ebola virus, transgender people, and Uber. Each episode is just as funny and relevant as the one before it with some excellent moments that will be forever etched in our minds. In addition to that, there are some references to previous seasons and characters that come up throughout the season.
This eighteenth season still proves that 'South Park' is nowhere nearing the end as Parker and Stone continue to have fresh weekly, if not daily material to add to their one-of-a-kind show, and that's a good thing.
The Disc: Vital Stats
'South Park The Complete Eighteenth Season' comes out on two 50GB Blu-ray Discs from Comedy Central, each consisting of five episodes each. The case itself is in a fully illustrated cardboard set with hard plastic Blu-ray holders and is incased in a cardboard sleeve as well. The cardboard foldout lists out each episode with all of it's information inside the foldout.
'South Park: The Complete Eighteenth Season' comes with a great 1080p transfer presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. In these later seasons or since they've been coming out on Blu-ray, the image has significantly been better, and it's definitely evident here with season eighteen. Just like last season, the detail on the old school construction paper animation looks incredible, as you'll be able to make out the imperfections in the paper.
The planes and surfaces in the series have vivid detail as well. The digital shots also look great here as well too. The illustrated lines are perfectly drawn with zero aliasing. Colors pop throughout as well with strong well-balanced primary colors boasting off screen. Black levels are deep and inky, however there is just a tiny bit of banding here and there, but it never draws away from the viewing experience, leaving this eighteenth season with top marks.
This release comes with a great lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio mix as well as a 2.0 option as well. The 5.1 option is the way to go for sure. Again, this is very fun audio track full of tons of sound effects that cover the entire spectrum of sound. From explosions, live performances, musical numbers, to farts, each sound is well-balanced and robust with some great directionality.
Mostly, this is a front heavy audio mix, but when the music chimes in and the ambient noises of South Park enter the picture, the entire speaker system comes full force and sounds great. Dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to follow, even with some of the more over-the-top accents, which of course is always hilarious. The bass even rumbles a little bit too. The LFE here is excellent and the dynamic range is very wide, leaving this audio presentation with top marks.
Audio Commentary - Trey Parker and Matt Stone are back again with their infamous mini audio commentaries for each episode. Each commentary starts at the beginning of each episode and lasts about five minutes each, which has the creators discussing how they came up with each episode and how it evolved. All of them are a must-listen.
#Socialcommentary - Here are some facts and information that pop up in each episode in the form of a tweet, giving us some trivia and facts on each episode.
Deleted Scenes (HD 8 Mins.) - There are six episodes that have deleted scenes, all of which are worth watching.
'South Park: Season Eighteen' keeps the fresh political and social issues relevant and very funny. This is the formula that Parker and Stone excel at, and they don't stray from this material. There are tons of great moments in each episode, making this eighteenth season very strong. The video and audio commentaries are both excellent and the extras are all worth listening to and watching. If you're a fan of 'South Park', this 18th season is highly recommended!
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