That's My Bush!: The Definitive Collection

Since it's from the boys who brought us South Park, one should heed the DVD jacket warning about graphic content; the title alone of this Comedy Central-aired 2001 show is absolutely meant to be taken as a vulgar double entendre. As much a send-up of network sitcoms, with their wacky-neighbor jester characters and inclination toward total inanity, as it is a wicked jab in the ribs to then-new President George W. Bush, That's My Bush! positions the leader of the free world on a par with, oh, Ralph Kramden or Al Bundy, a hapless American male besieged on all sides by his wife, coworkers, pets...basically, by the sheer mundaneness of everyday life. It should come as no surprise, however, that there are some trenchant observations here about some of the most divisive issues of the day, from abortion to the death penalty—since like South Park these eight episodes (the entire series) are rude for a reason. But dating from early 2001, the show cannot help but appear to let its object of parody off the hook far too gently: this is all before 9/11, the Patriot Act, the Iraq War, and Hurricane Katrina, so its depiction of Bush as simply an affable buffoon is a relic of a more innocent time. DVD extras include commentaries from both the cast and creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Recommended. (M. Johanson)