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Yes, the South Park guys are very timely.

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The South Park boys are back. And this time, they're bringing a little extra to their DVD set. This is the first set to be available on Blu-Ray, but I have not yet upgraded and only got my hands on the "regular" DVD. That's the one I'll be reviewing.

The season opened strong with the episode "Tonsil Trouble" (in which Cartman gets AIDS). On the commentary, it is explained that this was the "safe" episode that was partially finished in advance to taking a mid-season break. They showed it first because they couldn't decide which of the first three to begin the season with.

I recall not being impressed as the season progressed during its initial broadcast, but upon re-watching it, I changed my mind. This season had some clever themes and some pretty disgusting images, such as Randy Marsh at the computer.

South Park kicked off their 13th season (dear God, did I just say 13th? I couldn't feel older right now if I had to get my bifocals to read the instructions on a box of Depends) the way the show's longtime fans expect them to kick off every season: by kicking the latest flavor of the month, flash in the pan whatever square in the bean bag.

Sometimes their target is a woman, of course, and that's when they do whatever women call it when they get so mad, they physically want to fight each other. I believe the word is "hot as #*$(ing hell."

I cheated and looked it up on Wikipedia. Sorry.

(S12E07) While the kids are on an educational field trip to a living museum called Pioneer Village, Cartman forces Butters to sneak away with him from the class to go to the amusement center located nearby. While they're having a good time at the amusement center, a group of thieves break into Pioneer Village and take the class hostage. Hilarity ensues.

This episode is the last of the first half of season 12. South Park will return later in the year with seven more episodes.

(S12E06) South Park, along with the rest of the country, has lost the Internet. As a result, Randy Marsh takes his family on a trek to California to find it.

As someone who is an Internet addict, I certainly can understand the dilemma of this situation. I don't think we could go back to being a society without Internet, much as we can't go back to being a society without phones, television or cars.

As someone who works with the Internet for his day job, I had some problems with the simplistic way that it was presented. The Internet is used for much more than shopping or e-mailing (or, indeed, porn). Entire industries rely on it. The only part that struck me as truthful was seeing people live in a Great Depression-type state without the Internet.

(S12E05) It must be very tough for Trey Parker and Matt Stone to keep outdoing themselves. I don't know which image from tonight's episode was funnier: the mouse with the penis on its back running all over town (and, at one point, singing at the moon) or the photo of Mickey Mouse with a huge erection. It's a tough call.

More after the jump...

(S12E04) The South Park guys are going after the Writer's Guild of America, and it's about time.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not members of any of the unions, and they negotiated Internet profit-sharing before it became an issue for the WGA. They have also remained consistent with their dislike of the Hollywood creative elite (including actors and writers, although they are both) and their willingness to take a different viewpoint than the popular media.

(S12E03) To begin, for those unaware, South Park Studios has started to offer full episodes of the show on their official site with limited commercial interruption. I originally reported this in November.

I'll say this: when the South Park team put their minds to it, they can come up with some fantastic animation. When you watch the crudity of the animation in standard episodes, it's easy to forget that they're pretty damn talented at their craft.

(S12E02) The thing that makes South Park stand out above all other television shows is the creators' ability to take an old idea and put a new spin on it with depth and good reasoning. This episode is a perfect example of that.

Britney Spears tries to escape her fame by hiding out in Colorado. Sadly, the paparazzi follow her and through a confluence of events, she blows her own head off with a shotgun. Fortunately, this is South Park and such things aren't fatal here.

(S12E01) After a routine tonsillectomy goes horribly wrong, Cartman comes face to face with his own mortality.

Season Twelve is out of the gate pretty strong. Unfortunately, it seemed to lose momentum towards the end.

Matt and Trey tackle the issue of AIDS...again (they have done so before, such as in the episode mocking Jared from the Subway commercials). They tend to present AIDS as a shock-value joke, but this time their take is slightly different.

(S11E03) Sorry this review is a few days late, Becky, but I've been sick.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode, though it didn't floor me with hilarity the way some episodes do. Perhaps that was in large part to not quite understanding what the point of the episode was. Was it meant to mock those who see the Earth as a conscience entity that can actually choose to get rid of us the way the students of South Park get rid of lice? Or was the whole episode just a philosophical experiment and we're left to make up our own minds? Or maybe it was all just a really elaborate set up so they could do a gag about Angelina Jolie having crabs at the end of the episode.

It's almost time to warm up the barbecue, invite your friends over, open a few beers, and then tell everyone to get the hell out of your house so you can watch South Park. That's right, the eleventh season of the show kicks off March 7 at 10:00pm on Comedy Central.

I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'll be reviewing the episodes again, since I know a lot of you love to talk about the show. South Park has never been timid in its satire, but last season it really gave a beat down to Al Gore; 9/11 conspiracy theories; Oprah and James Frey; censorship through intimidation; science vs. religion; and Scientology (again). I think season ten marked some of the best episodes of the series so far, and I can't wait to see what Matt and Trey have on tap for season eleven.

I know how it is. You read my posts on TV Squad and you think to yourself, 'man, I really wish there was some way I could thank Adam for all his hard work. God knows it's difficult to sit on one's butt and bang away on a keyboard.'

It is tough, but I manage. Anyway, if you want to show your appreciation, and my request for the R2-D2 DVD projector was too expensive for you, then why not buy me this awesome South Park figure set? Kenny, Kyle, Cartman and Stan are dressed as their band Fingerbang from the episode "Something You Can Do With Your Finger." They even come with interchangeable arms. These toys would bring me hours of enjoyment, and really, isn't that what life is about? Me being happy?

I find it kind of humorous that on the product description page they censor the word "fingerbang" as "f*ngerbang." Apparently replacing that one letter with an asterisk makes it impossible to figure out the word.

[via Jeff Pidgeon]

While watching Scrubs last night, I saw a familiar face in a promo for the new NBC sitcom, Teachers. The guy on my television screen had his arms stuck in the window of a car and I had to pause my TiVo and stare at the TV because I swear I knew him from somewhere!

With Scrubs on hold, I went to NBC's webpage for Teachers and found out who the guy was. It's Deon Richmond, y'all! He played Rudy's friend Kenny ("but I call him 'Bud'") on The Cosby Show. Since then, he appeared in Eddie Murphy's Raw and Spike Lee's Mo Better Blues. He's also appeared on a string of sitcoms, including a recurring role on Sister, Sister.

It's great to see him, but I'm still not going to watch that show.

You may have noticed that Wednesday night's episode of South Park was not the one where Tom Cruise refuses to come out of the closet numerous times, as was previously scheduled. The abrupt change actually had nothing to do with the fact that the episode was the final straw for Chef Isaac Hayes. Comedy Central yanked that episode at the last minute because Tom Cruise threatened Viacom with pulling Mission: Impossible-3 advertising if it aired again (is anyone else nervous about the amount of power that man has?).

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone released this hilarious and potentially inflammatory statement through their lawyer today: