Why So Blu?

South Park: Season 17 (Blu-ray Review)

All 10 episodes from South Park’s 17^th season are now available in this exclusive two-disc set. Join the boys as they prepare to battle the crowds on Black Friday to get the best deal on the new gaming systems, watch Cartman infiltrate the NSA and see why the Goth kids are being sent away to a camp for troubled children. For them, it’s all part of growing up in South Park!  Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 17 seasons already! In fact, season 18 is now airing. Mind blown. 

 

 

Season 

South Park: Season 17 is now on Blu-ray and DVD. Before we get started on the meat and potatoes of the review our readers should know a thing or two about what makes South Park: Season 17 special. Mr. Bill Hader is back onboard as a full time writer for the show and this season sees a reduction in episodes. It has gone from the usual split-year of 14 episodes to a whole year with just 10. Matt and Trey wanted to focus on quality and quantity and if this season is any indication of things to come then count me in as someone will stick with the kids from South Park for many more years to come.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way let’s dig in on what’s going in South Park: Season 17. The first disc is made up of your average single story arc episode that lampoon everyone from Alec Baldwin, privacy, NSA, ginger cows, the coming of religions and Van Halen playing at said thrall. Some of those episodes are cool but not every joke finds its mark. Granted, it’s impossible for it to do so. My favorite of the episodes found on the first disc. When the parents go to the cable service provider to cancel their subscription has got to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen on television in a very long time. I’d rather not go into those salacious details but I can hear and see it in my mind again and I am laughing like a moron. It’s hysterical.

The Emo/Goth kids (poseurs) episode is also a highlight and it features special guest star Edgar Alan Poe as the original Emo-Goth. This episode is the one of, if not the only episode, where they changed the opening song and lyrics. It’s a very funny episode and it trashes the emo-goth subculture that seems to fading away with the rise of the hipster. I still enjoyed it very much and look forward to more standalone episodes featuring the emo-goth kids causing trouble. As if, right.

What seals the deal is the “Black Friday” trilogy where it blasts Game of Thrones and the lameness that is Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving where insane people stomp and trample one another in order to buy crap they don’t need at cheap prices). This trio of episodes makes no apologies and goes for the jugular. It also has time to stop and make fun of George R.R. Martin, creator of GOT, in addition to having the kids dress up in weird haphazard outfits from different films/shows. Their story, within the Black Friday trilogy, is that they all want to get the latest video game console and half the kids want an X-Box One and the other half wants a PS4. You can see where that one is going.

The final episode winds down with an appearance by Kanye West (not actually voiced by Kanye West). I believe with Hader and Stone and Parker back in the saddle with no more distractions and more time and less episodes but with more quality the show has a second breath. Not I was prepared to walk away from the show at any point but I’m not blind to the show not being as great as it was in its prime. South Park: Season 17 proves otherwise. Here’s to more silly adventures form those wild and crazy kids!

Episodes

Let Go, Let Gov

Informative Murder Porn

World War Zimmerman

Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers

Taming Strange

Ginger Cow

Black Friday

A Song of Ass and Fire

Titties and Dragons

The Hobbit

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail: South Park on Blu-ray has always looked great and season 17 is no exception. It’s not a reference set by any means but it is above average. Contrast and sharpness levels hold steady and never look boosted or tinkered with.

Depth: Some episodes, depending on the story, look really good and are epic in scope. I’d say that the Game of Thrones mini-series of episodes really pushed the animation budget over a bit.

Black Levels: Black levels look consistent and never crush during those scenes exterior darkness.

Color Representation: Banding is barely noticeable but it is there although it’s very nonintrusive if you don’t know what to look for. The series looks like a giant came sometimes depending on the episode.

Flesh Tones: N/A

Noise/Artifacts: I only caught a few instances of noise and what I did catch was light and not a real problem. The minute levels of noise were obviously inherent from the source.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: South Park: Season 17 sounds robust and you won’t hear a peep out of me in regards to what subtle nuances you may or may not hear. The set is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless and I think more animated shows should be given this treatment. It’s not a reference soundtrack by any means but it does give the viewer that swift kick to the nether regions it deserves. That’s all we can ask for, right?

Low Frequency Extension: The bass in you face holds back a bit and is only present when it needs to be. It’s usually there to add a bit of low end to the spectacle of scenes that may involve violence and whatnot. It works for me.

Surround Sound Presentation: The South Park sound field opens up in the rear channels as random voices, effects, etc., make their way over to the back in a non-cluttered fashion.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are surprisingly clean and focused. The center channel does the dirty work and in some cases it’s very dirty but hysterical work.

 

Extras 

South Park: Season 17 has a small smattering of extras. I remember a previous season set that had an exhaustive and hilarious look at the making of the show and all those who were behind it, etc. I am sad to say that season 17 does not have anything close to that previous documentary. What it does have is deleted scenes, a #socialcommentary track, mini-commentaries by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Deleted scenes are only on disc 1. Mini commentaries and #socialcommentary tracks are on both discs.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 5:23) – Some of these ran a bit too long and were removed for that various reason. That or they weren’t that funny. I’ll let you decide.
• #SocialCommentary (Blu-ray Only) – This hash tag commentary in what seems to be associated with Twitter is pretty neat in that you will get tons of useful and not so useful information on the current episode that you are watching in 140 characters or less. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one of these #socialcommentary tracks and I hope more filmmakers take notice. It’s good stuff!

• Mini-Commentaries by Matt Stone and Trey Parker – The boys keep very short and concise interjecting here and there. They’re mini-commentaries and they stick to it.

 

Summary 

I have almost no memory of season 16 but season 17 is fresh in my mind. With the exception of one or two episodes this season rocked hard and pushed the pop culture and satire envelope over the proverbial cliff. It was refreshing and hilarious. The 2-disc Blu-ray set looks and sounds great and the few extras contained within are okay. If you’re a South Park enthusiast then this set will be yours but if you’re just regular person that knows a thing or two about current events and/or pop culture, or Game of Thrones, then this set may also be for you.

 

 

Order South Park: Season 17 on Blu-ray!