SOUTH PARK - THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON, in which the irreverent series really came into its own, made its bow on DVD (Paramount Home Ent., $49.99) June 29, 2004. The three-disc set contains 17 episodes from 2000, as well as "mini-commentaries" by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who discuss their continuing censorship problems with Comedy Central and various inspirations.
The fourth season was probably best known for introducing the wheelchair-bound Timmy, who could only say his name, evoking pathos in his very own holiday special, "Helen Keller! The Musical." It also contains such memorable episodes as "Cartman Joins NAMBLA," a hilarious parody of the perils of online dating; "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?"/"Probably" in which Saddam Hussein returns to Hell to win back the heart of Satan; and "Tooth Fairy Tats," about a scam to score it rich from the Tooth Fairy. And who could blame Parker and Stone having fun with the trashing of Phil Collins winning the Oscar for best song (TARZAN'S "You'll Be in My Heart") over their very own "Blame Canada"?
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
