Chinpoko Mon: The latest fad has taken South Park by storm - the day-glo, "got to buy" Japanese craze of Chinpokomon. As the boys scramble to collect the set (I want Shoe!), poor Kyle just can’t keep up - dude, don't you know that Cyborg Bill is SOOOO yesterday? Kyle's parents protest that he doesn’t have to be a part of the latest craze, however he points out oh so aptly that they should perhaps dip their feet into the real world - we are talking about the stresses of being eight years old after all. Aah, but when the dolls start spouting primary main objectives of destroying the evil power, some wonder whether this apparently simple and inexplicable little cartoon and marketing juggernaut may be a front for something even more diabolical than simply sucking children's pocket money dry. Whilst the kids are off to Chinpokomon Camp, the parents' concerns grow, although some of them are at least placated by the Japanese toy company representatives' obsession with penile endowment. How will those not so easily swayed stop their children from turning Japanese? With a clever bit of parental psychology perhaps? And can they do it before Kyle bombs Pearl Harbour? Kenny dies.

Starvin' Marvin in Space: Marklar! These missionaries sure have their priorities in check, for, as we all know, the word of the Lord is far more important than such frivolities as food. When a spaceship from the planet Marklar lands near Starvin' Marvin's settlement he's off for the ride of his life, desperately in search of a missionary-free place for his fellow Efallopians to move to. Marvin pops by to visit his South Park pals, and they're all off into space, with the CIA and an increasingly desperate tele-evangelist Pat Robertson in hot pursuit. Can they escape the missionaries' clutches, avoid Struthers the Hutt and her Tiberian Junker, endure some dreadful in-flight entertainment and even survive balloon-torture? Will Marvin find a new home for his people? Well, marklar will just have to marklar marklar, then marklar... Marklar is killed.

Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery: It's Halloween time again, and hip band Korn are popping by in their Mystery Machine for a show at the South Park docks. But there's more fun than that in store - spooky rides, a costume contest, canned laughter aplenty and pirate ghosts. Pirate ghosts? Ro no! Whilst the town's cooler contingent is excited at the impending gig, the reverend is drumming up fire and brimstone and all manner of grief over the invasion of this devil-worshipping, longhaired, heathenistic evil Korn band. Meanwhile the boys are out for revenge on some fifth-graders, so a spot of grave robbing is in order. But what about the pirate ghosts? Can Korn vitalise their rather cool Korn Powers to save the town before they strike down even more innocent folk? And what exactly is the deal with these pirate ghosts anyway? Even more importantly, who will win the costume contest? (Kenny's Star Warsian effort is simply hilarious - and for once it isn’t Chewbacca). You'll never look at Scooby Doo, or indeed flashlights and cotton swabs, in the same way again. Imperial Forces bring down Kenny...

Hooked on Monkey Fonics: It's the 15th Annual Spelling Bee finals - and somehow Cartman made it. Concerned at his lack of smarts (he's not dumb, he's just small brained?), his mom invests in a Monkey Fonics kit - a flash card affair that comes complete with its own drumming monkey in the box (chicka chi chicka chi chicka chi chicka TISH!) At the Bee the boys come up against two home school kids, and Kyle bombs out when unable to spell kruxledifivic - gee, what a dumb ass! But back to the home school kids... Given a taste of social interaction they want more, so Mark is reluctantly allowed to attend South Park Elementary, where his boy in the bubble routine does not fare well against the bully brigade - duct tape ahoy! Meanwhile, Cartman goes into home schooling (an A for eating is on it's way) and Kyle has a crush on the fidgety Rebecca. Will he survive their game of doctors and nurses, and will he be able to bring her out of her nervous little shell for the upcoming Bay of Pigs Memorial Dance (complete with an appearance by ex-Deep Purple dude Ronnie James Dio)? Ha, will he what! We get to learn something today - bullying sucks. Poor Kenny, well - you know...

Season three plummets along its merry way, complete with the same improvements over the seasons one and two discs that I have documented previously. The episodes now don’t have the logos chopped from their ends, and the video quality is on a par with previous releases - not entirely perfect, but a million times better than I've ever seen it on TV. Much the same can be said for the Dolby Stereo sound.

The cruddy jewel case packaging of the first seven discs has been given a welcome heave-ho in favour of Amaray cases - my heartfelt thanks to whoever made this switch. All that really needs doing now is to put some chapters in each episode, but somehow I don’t think that's going to happen anytime soon...

Extras-wise it's all as usual - nada. This is unless you count ads for the other available discs as an extra, of course - in which case never let anybody accuse you of being a glass-half-empty type of person, OK?

This is definitely one of the better season three discs, if for nothing else but the razor-sharp Chinpoko Mon episode - a merciless (and all importantly hilarious) attack on a certain kiddie fad in particular, but covering the whole subject artfully - and also in my opinion one of the best South Park moments ever. The other episodes included here are certainly no slouches either, with the WTF factor going through the roof at certain times (the drumming monkey anybody?) - an occurrence that is always most welcome around these parts.

In all this is yet another reason for South Park fans to be very happy little campers.