South Park: The Complete Third Season

Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone provide the voices for the vulgar foursome Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman, the paper cut-out animated grade school stars of this hilarious, Emmy-nominated, 17-episode third-season of South Park. Memorable standouts include the season opener “Rainforest Shmainforest,” with the guest voice of Jennifer Aniston (the boys become part of a cheesy “Getting Gay with Kids” choir and dance group and are accosted by guerillas in the Costa Rican rainforest), “The Succubus” (Chef unwittingly falls in love with a masquerading succubus, while his parents obsessively reminisce about meeting the Loch Ness Monster), “Tweek vs. Craig” (the guys force coffee-crazed Tweek and middle-finger-flipping Craig to brawl), “Korn's Pirate Ghost Mystery” (a Scooby-Doo satire featuring guest voices by rock band Korn), “Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub” (Stan and Kyle's fathers get freaky in a Jacuzzi during an outrageous meteor shower bash), and “The Red Badge of Gayness” (Cartman uses s'more-flavored schnapps to win a Civil War reenactment…for the South). But the best episodes here are the Emmy-nominated children's anime-craze spoof “Chinpokomon” (South Park parents alienate their kids from Japanese toy products by playing with them themselves--making it uncool!), and the superlative “Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics” a holiday-themed 10-song musical celebration with everybody's favorite, Mr. Hankey (“…he loves me, I love you; therefore, vicariously, he loves you…”). Sidesplitting, shameless, and smart, this triple-disc set, featuring audio commentaries by Parker and Stone, is definitely recommended. (J. Williams)