I had always been an advent South Park fan, and my main concern with Tenorman’s Revenge was its inability to capture the humor that makes South Park so unique. However, when the game opens with  future sea otters retelling the story of Eric’s awesomeness and his plight against his evil ginger half-brother Tenorman , I already knew my fears had been squelched.

The story is simple. Tenorman has stolen Cartman’s X-box hard drive, and as any X-box player will tell you, we are more than willing to time travel and battle ginger robots to get it back. The game says it the best: ‘Who really wants to watch all those L.A Noir cut scenes all over again?!’

As a platformer, I truly find this game to excel. I found myself… frustrated, more than once and while this may seem like a complaint about the game, it is indeed, quite the opposite.  Growing up, I loved Battle Toads and Megaman, but I use to curse up a storm playing them, (granted I was pretty young so my selection of words was limited and well out of the ear reach of my mother). There are many moments in Tenorman’s Revenge where I found myself using my mature selection of swear words frequently. This is the greatest compliment I think I could use for a platformer; Revenge challenged me, it forced me to think past the idea of button mashing, it retaught me the importance of patience, and when I succeeded, I felt empowered, as though it was my true skill that allowed me to win. Too many times are we faced with a platformer that is mundane, and blatantly points out some simple mechanic that allows us to pass a level, but Revenge, refuses to do that. It keeps it fresh, with challenging levels, unique bosses, and so many hidden gems that it taunts us to find them.

Speaking of which, the replay value of this game is quite high. The game gives you the choice to replay all of its levels using one of the four South Park boys we have come to love. This may seem like a nice, if unneeded feature, but Revenge, gives you incentive. Each boy has a unique power, and if you’re an achievement junkie, this game demands that you replay these levels. In order to collect all the time coins, you are faced with certain obstacles only certain characters can overcome. Only Cartman can burst through walls with his girth, and only Kyle can transform into ‘Kite’ to float around. If you don’t like the idea of replaying every level by yourself four times over, you are more than welcome to the games multiplayer function, rather it be online or locally. At the time of the review, I found the online multiplayer to be a bit slow and unpredictable, but I can say, having my brother join in locally was a tremendous help. I can see this being a great game to enjoy with friends, or an excuse to yell at each other for ‘nubness’ as my brother and I quickly found out.

The Blast Factor: This game truly captured what it means to be a platformer. Challenging levels, annoying enemies, and remembering what precise timing actually is. That being said, I still feel this game falls short of the 5 star mark. There are too many control issues I was running into consistently, and the humor aspect of the game did tend to lose its luster throughout the hours. There is a reason the episodes of South Park only run 30 minutes, and it is to avoid comedic stale meant as this game ran into. Still, this game is well worth the time to sink into it, and it is refreshing to see a game that remembers what it means to be a platformer.

This review is based off a copy of the game provided by the Publisher. South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge is available now for Xbox Live Arcade.

Director Andrew Edison

If The Kids in the Hall and the live-action cast of South Park had ever met a group of real teenage boys and somebody brought a camera, audiences might have been able to predict how charming, how shockingly funny and how deliberately revolting Bindlestiffs would be.

My assignment is to cover up-and-coming New York filmmakers at Sundance. The underage Texan mob of filmmakers that flooded the main screening room at the Treasure Mountain Inn came to premiere their feature at Slam Dance. Are they up-and-coming? Unquestionably. One out of three equals questionable odds, but the massive mess of offensive, good-natured energy that night, could not be denied.

The dozens of friends, parents and teachers, most of whom are barely out of high school, and who, out of convenience and fondness I’ll refer to collectively as the Bindlestiffs, strutted to Slam Dance and swooped down on this year’s Slam Dance Audience Award for Narrative Features.

Edited in a style perfect for the frenetic, punchline-driven storytelling, Bindlestiffs is the story of three friends out to come of age, while they’re on suspension for protesting the ban of a book they’re scarcely interested in reading.

And it is a testament to how fresh and arresting movies can be, when the form continues to recreate itself. As much as Director Andrew Edison, and all his movie-making Bindlestiffs owe to Kevin Smith, to Daniel Tosh, to Jackass, these forefathers can marvel proudly at the evolutionary prowess of their digital age descendents, already breaking molds before they were even old enough to leave the nest.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker are no strangers to controversy. “South Park” pokes fun at Jews, Christians, Catholics, Scientologists and, in no small portion, Muslims.

But how far is the show willing to go? And how far are the made-fun-ofs willing to go to protest?

How about murder?

On a show that puts God in Gap, makes Satan out to be a little bitch, featured a character that was literally a piece of poop, and once locked Jesus and Santa Claus in mortal combat, nothing should surprise or shock viewers anymore. It’s the formula that’s made “South Park” the top-rated show in the history of Comedy Central.

The recent depiction of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed in a bear suit has enraged activists. In the recent episode, the show’s creators poked fun at the usual inability to depict Mohammed in any form by portraying Mohammed with a black “censored” bar covering him and by putting him in a bear suit.

One Muslim group has told Stone and Parker that they’ll probably end up like Theo van Gogh.

Van Gogh, a direct descendant of Vincent van Gogh, was a filmmaker and journalist who was murdered in 2004 by an Islamic extremist after he made a film called “Submission” that was critical of the way Muslim women are treated.

The “South Park” issue has been a divisive freedom of speech case study, but even more divisive is the fact that the Muslim group’s statements about the show’s creator’s possible deaths is also protected as free speech, as the group insists it is not inciting “violence,” but “protest.”

What do you think about this one? Share your comments below!

We can’t decipher this and make it make any more sense than they’ve written it — so here’s what Comedy Central is saying about the next all new episode of “South Park.”

“South Park” is in danger from angry celebrities, violent Ginger kids and Mecha Streisand in an all-new episode titled “201,” premiering on Wednesday at 10 p.m.

It’s a tense situation in South Park as Muhammad has become the pawn in the game to save the town. The Ginger kids are threatening to destroy the city if Stan and Kyle don’t hand over the Prophet and the celebrities have met violence with violence by unleashing Mecha Streisand. In the midst of all of this, all anyone really wants to know is, who is Eric Cartman’s father?

“South Park” is in its 14th season and is the highest-rated series in the history of Comedy Central. You already knew that.

A rumor circulating around the Internet today says mega publisher Electronic Arts is fuming over the South Park season 14 premiere last week and plans to take Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the cartoon, to court.

The episode, “Sexual Healing,” heavily featured Tiger Woods and wife Elin and the hilarious fallout between them, comedy only South Park can conjure up.

Naturally, a source inside EA, speaking with the Daily Informer, said that EA Sports boss Peter Moore knew of the episode and was ready for the fallout.

"Soon after the airing of the episode the top beef were called in, even Peter Moore was informed of the situation," said the source.

Now, Stone and Parker are familiar with lawsuits. Every episode likely irks one crowd or another. But it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, if indeed the rumors are true.

Source: Daily Informer via Destructoid

Two very different season finales tonight: “America’s Next Top Model” at 8 p.m. on The CW and “South Park” at 10 on Comedy Central. No premieres on this Wednesday.

In the news, MTV will have exclusive US television rights to Michael Jackson’s “This Is It.” The movie concert will start to air on MTV’s networks in 2011, so don’t hold your breath.

Discovery has another epic series coming out in March. “Life” is an 11-parter and will be narrated by Opray Winfrey.

Lorraine Bracco from “The Sopranos” was cast in a TNT drama pilot called “Rizzoli.” She will play the mother of police detective Jane Rizzoli, who will be played by Angie Harmon.

Allow me to use this week’s edition of TV Week in Review to show my appreciation for a less-heralded brand of television entertainment. What stuck out on the tube this week was entertainment based in reality. No, not that kind of reality. Real reality. Heck, I’ll just say it.

I love documentaries. Always have, always will. Documentaries are a visual guide for the lazy lovers of non-fiction. Since I’m a lazy lover of non-fiction, and I don’t read it nearly as much as I should, I’ve always been drawn to documentaries. Whether it’s an episode of “True Lif” on MTV or Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me,” I believe a good documentary is as entertaining as a good scripted drama. In fact, they’re often better because the drama is real.

So naturally, when I heard ESPN was bringing 30 original documentaries from 30 talented filmmakers in honor of their 30th anniversary, I was pretty excited. Love sports. Love docs. Love good filmmaking. It seemed like a natural love affair. Add in the ingenious ESPN “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons as the mastermind behind the project and I bought into it from the beginning.

After having watched the first three documentaries, my optimism and high expectations were realized and rewarded. Unlike ESPN’s last celebration of its anniversary, there has been nothing hokey about “30 for 30.” It’s just been enjoyable documentaries from talented filmmakers about stories which haven’t been broached one hundred times.

My favorite was “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?” It retells the story of an upstart spring football league established in the early 1980s that takes on the mighty NFL. “Small Potatoes” relieves the league’s rise, its prominence, its ultimate demise and lasting legacy. It also perfectly portrays the league’s villain (Mr. “You’re Fired” himself, Donald Trump).

Directed and narrated by Mike Tollin, who had first-hand experience in the USFL as its film guy, “Small Potatoes” has a striking amount of depth. One reason I liked it better than the first two “30 for 30″ documentaries, (“The Band That Wouldn’t Die” and “King’s Ransom” “" both pretty good in their own right), was its breadth of interviews. Tollin talked to an impressive cast of characters ranging from Keith Jackson to Burt Reynolds. It really gave a first-hand impression of what it was like to be there at the time.

All in all, the documentary did a great job of depicting the USFL’s relevance to pro football. This was a league that had Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Hershel Walker, Doug Flutie, Reggie White, Anthony Carter and many other future NFL stars. It was a league that introduced 2-point conversions, instant replay and post-TD celebration pizzazz. Furthermore, in terms of storyline development, Tollin pointedly gets to the reasons behind the league’s quick rise and fall.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Tollin, who directed the remarkable “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream” documentary back in the mid-1990s, could put together such an impressive piece. Yet, to do it in a mere 52 minutes is nothing short of extraordinary. If the “30 for 30″ series continues with this kind of work, I’ll be hoping for more ESPN-based celebrations in the future.

TV Quick Hits of the Week
South Park: “W.T.F.”
“South Park” is one of those shows that can baffle you, make you cry tears of laughter and then do both at the same time. This is episode does the latter. The boys find themselves wanting to be wrestlers after attending a WWE event. When they go and try out for the school’s wrestling team, they find out that “real” wrestling is homoerotic and weird. Instead, they make up their own faux-WWE (aptly titled Wrestling Takedown Federation”¦or W.T.F.) with ridiculous storylines involving aborted babies. Of course, their soap opera storylines attract a wide audience of dumb rednecks who think it’s all real. The episode takes a bizarre twist as the boys put on a Broadway-like production, with very little wrestling mixed in, for a bunch of dumb hillbillies. Elsewhere, the rejected amateur wrestling coach goes on a crusade to prove his “wrasslin’” is the real one. If it sounds silly, it is. But these are the kinds of “South Park” episodes I love the most.

The Big Bang Theory: “The Creepy Candy Corollary”
First off, am I the only person in the world that didn’t know Wil Wheaton from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was Gordie Lachance from “Stand By M”? As a fan of both the show and that movie, I’m really disappointed in myself. Anyway, this episode saw Sheldon trying to exact revenge on a fictionalized, evil version of Wil Wheaton. Jim Parsons’ angry, angsty and comic-book-like actions as Sheldon leading up to the confrontation with Wheaton carried this episode. Also, I’m still stuck on his hilarious “four napkin rul” at the table with Leonard. Priceless. The side plot had Penny setting up Wolowitz with one of her friends in a run-of-the-mill storyline.

30 Rock: “Into the Crevass”
I’m not sure how I feel about “30 Rock.” I watch it and often find myself laughing and enjoying its snarky, clever humor. However, I read its constantly glowing reviews, watch it collect a bunch of Emmy awards and start to think it gets way too much credit. It’s funny, it’s cleverly written “" it’s just not that good. This week was a great example. The storylines weren’t compelling, nor were the characters. That’s a huge part of scripted TV. “Into the Crevass” relied on a bunch of funny one-liners (ala Family Guy). Sometimes I feel like this show would be better off running 23 minutes of straight one-liners and quick wit rather than come up some with a forced, lame storyline.

Two of cable’s heavy hitters premiere tonight. Discovery Channel starts a new season of “Mythbusters” at 9 p.m., and Comedy Central has “South Park” at 10. Comedy Central also has “Secret Girlfriend’” at 10:30.

Investigation Discovery (for those of you who have it) has “The Bureau” about the FBI’s top cases, starting up at 9 p.m.

CBS will renew “Flashpoint” for at least 13 more episodes later this season. The Canadian import about a police “Strategic Response Unit” has been a rating success so far.

Bravo is expanding its “Real Housewives” brand with “The Real Housewives of D.C.” The cable network also renewed “New Jersey” for a second season.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” had its best numbers in five on-and-off years on Sunday night, with 1.6 million total viewers at 10 p.m. for the “Seinfeld” reunion.

But the biggest news so far is this: “Monday Night Football” with the Vikings versus Packers gave ESPN the largest audience in the history of cable television and ESPN’s own best ranking in its history, attracting a 15.3 rating, or 21.8 million total viewers. It’s just a ridiculous number, as Brett Favre facing his old team boosted the game to a whole new level.

With an unmistakable voice resonating for the past 30 years, Isaac Hayes was a music legend and pioneer.

His “Theme from Shaft” won both Academy and Grammy awards in the early 1970s.

Mr. Hayes died today at his home in Tennessee. He was 65.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says a family member found him unresponsive by a treadmill, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Hayes was perhaps best known to this generation as “Chef” from the hit animated series South Park.

Comedy Central announced today a South Park compilation DVD featuring seven Christmas-themed episodes of the irreverent, mega-popular cartoon.

“Sing along with the citizens of South Park with everyone’s favorite holiday classics such as ‘Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo’ and ‘Christmas Time in Hell,’” Comedy Central said in a statement. “Check out the boys bringing Christmas to Iraq and learn how hard it is to be a Jew during this holiday season.”

The DVD, called “Christmas Time in South Park” will be in stores November 13

Episodes:

“Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo” (original air date: 12/17/97)

While the kids at South Park Elementary are attempting to stage a non- offensive, non-denominational holiday play, Kyle checks himself into a mental institution.

“Merry Christmas Charlie Manson” (original air date: 12/09/98)

Cartman’s Uncle Howard breaks out of prison to share Christmas with his family. He shows up for dinner with his cellmate Charles Manson.

“Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics” (original air date: 12/01/99)

Hosted by Mr. Hankey himself, holiday songs are performed in unique South Park style.

“A Very Crappy Christmas” (original air date: 12/20/00)

Mr. Hankey’s a no-show for Christmas this year. He’s busy with his new wife and their three little nuggets. Without Mr. Hankey, the boys are doing everything they can to bring the spirit of Christmas to South Park. They are inspired to make a video Christmas card starring Jesus Christ and Santa Claus.

“Red Sleigh Down” (original air date: 12/11/02)

When all the tallies are in, Cartman is overdrawn in the “naughty” column and has to score one big “nice” to be eligible for Christmas presents this year. He enlists Jesus, Santa and Mr. Hankey to help him bring Christmas to the downtrodden citizens of Iraq.

“It’s Christmas in Canada” (original air date: 12/17/03)

The Broflovski family is dealt a devastating blow when Ike’s Canadian birth parents show up unexpectedly and want their baby back. When the townspeople decide to forgo Christmas gifts and take up a collection to get Ike home to South Park, the boys are distraught. Before all the money for their Christmas presents get spent, they hightail it to Canada to bring Ike home themselves.

“Woodland Critter Christmas” (original air date: 12/15/04)

The woodland critters in South Park ask Stan to help them build a manger in anticipation of the birth of their Lord and Savior. Stan complies only to find out that they serve a very different Lord.

Launched in 1997, South Park, now in its 11th season, is the highest-rated show on Comedy Central.