After nine seasons it’s also nice to see that one of the series key running gags, the perpetual cluelessness of the adults, still isn’t getting old. It's as if the adult townspeople only know how to behave based on movies they’ve seen (this season’s cinematic targets include Rocky (in "The Losing Edge"), The Day After Tomorrow ("Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow"), and Pet Cemetery ("Marjorine"), and their inevitably clichéd over-reactions still provide many of the show’s best moments. The commentaries from Parker and Stone are once again typically short; they usually last only a few minutes into each show before they end it with "Ok, onto the next show now" not even trying to conceal that they really want to get through the recording session as quickly as possible. That might seem lame on other shows, but on South Park--a show where 8-year-olds send a talking killer whale to the moon through the Mexican Space Agency for $200,--somehow it’s totally fitting. --Daniel Vancini

Stills from South Park: The Complete Ninth Season (click for larger image)