South Park

Network: Comedy Central; Genre: Animated Comedy, Satire, Parody; Content Rating: TV-MA (for dark comic content and graphic language, sexual content, violence & animated gore); Available: DVD; Classification: Modern Classic (Star range expanded: 1 - 5);

Season Reviewed: 10+ seasons

Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflowfski, Eric Cartman and (sometimes) the ill-fated Kenny McCormick are 8-year-old boys growing up amid an adult world in the backward, frozen-over mountain town of South Park, Colorado. Their adventures, that make up creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's animated comedy "South Park", include fending off everything from supernatural demons to the biggest names in the Hollywood intelligentsia. "South Park" is several things. It's rude, crude, shocking, smart, decidedly adult, completely original, and it is indulgent in the whims and imaginations of it's creators. It's also the very best political, pop culture and current event satire on television.

The show started as something of a fad - the new vulgar, don't-let-the-kids-watch show on the block. But as real world events changed, "Park" evolved along with them. Standing as the kings on top of a soap box they constructed out of swearing kids, talking poo, homosexual hand puppets and hermaphroditic parents; Parker and Stone where blessed with the freedom of a hit series, hip status and a network that gave them the freedom to do whatever they want. As the show aged, they matured in their storytelling abilities and the show went from shock value fad to a barbed satire of American culture.

"Park" is brought to life with oddly beautiful, vibrantly colored 2-dimensional cut-and-paste animation. The episodes are masterfully constructed. The writing a witty showcase of Parker and Stone's love for pop culture parody, graphic violence, pornography and a bold willingness to take on the hot button issues of the week. It is a free-for-all virtuoso where nothing and nobody is safe, every establishment media position gets flipped on it's head and every politically correct sacred cow gets eviscerated. Now that's comedy - if you can stomach a barrage of extreme scatological humor with your social satire. The vomit jokes and fat jokes on "Park" aren't there for the sake of it, but have substance behind them. And nobody does them better.

Eric Cartman, Mr. Garrison and more recently Randy Marsh (stepping up as a reliably hilarious scene-stealer) are classic characters, but Parker and Stone have gone further and developed an entire town of colorful caricatures. They aren't made to be as endearing as those in "The Simpsons", but aren't supposed to be. The characters aren't just vacuous idiots, and the laughs of the show come from a very socially conscious place.

Straight men Stan and Kyle are the show's most underdeveloped. They serve mostly as a mouthpiece for Parker and Stone's conservative libertarian philosophy, often literally giving a speech to a crowd in the show's finale. There is not a single other place on TV where you can see environmentalists, the anti-smoking lobby, illegal immigrants, trial lawyers, news media hysteria, elitist Hollywood liberals, abortion, sex ed in schools and every celebrity from Mel Gibson to Paris Hilton all get ripped to shreds. The show pulls it off because it has a unique ability to deconstruct and reconstruct current events better than anyone else (notably Comedy Central's overrated "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"), giving them a hilarious or supernatural explanation without moralizing getting in the way of the laughs. They take their own messages to such loony extremes it's impossible to take seriously.The cherry on top is the seemingly endless quality of the original songs provided by the creator's cover band, DVDA.

With a skeleton crew that writes, directs, animates, voices and scores the show, this is independent television in it's purest form. This means it often labors on Parker and Stone's geeky indulgences - episodes center around a full-length "Star Wars" parody, the class gerbil making it's way up a human bowel or Timmy, a handicapped student who can only say his name. Occasionally, their shock value execution creates a gagging reaction that obscures an otherwise brilliant point ("Fat Camp"). But I'd rather have a show that challenges me than one shackled to clichés and network mandates. When "South Park" goes for the shocking ending, you better believe it actually will shock.

Still, "South Park" is almost impossible to recommend in a casual sense. The show is truly an acquired taste, but one I have to come to support whole-heartedly through the years despite (and because) I have absolutely no idea what to expect when sitting down for a new episode. How rare is that? Where so many other shows cower in the corner, begging for our approval "South Park" is constantly taking risks and re-inventing itself. We've got terrific stunt episodes, episodes built around one joke or building to a single knock-out punch line. They use the smash-cut ending better than anyone ("There Goes the Neighborhood"). Sometimes the experiments are to it's own detriment and the episode is a 22 minute bore, but even then it's almost unheard of to find a show in it's 10th season that is still water cooler television.

"South Park" grabs us by the collar, shakes us around and dares even it's biggest fans to come back next week for more. The show is a monument of creative freedom with a wicked imagination, a true (and hilariously funny) sense of comic timing, and an insightful, socially conscious ear that smartly reflects a point of view starving for attention in mainstream television. It is a hugely entertaining, fiercely visceral, fire-breathing, red-blooded American satire made by, for (and most appreciated by) the most jaded and discriminating TV viewers. We just don't have shows like this on TV today. Anywhere.

* * * * * / 5

16 October 2017

For some reason, I stopped following this show a long time ago, even before the tenth season I think. Recently, again for some inexplicable reason, it came to my mind and I decided to start it all over, from season one, but this time I'm going to finish it, or better to say catch it, because I hope it will never end. This morning I finished the first season. There's nothing better than healthy laughter with morning coffee. After 20 years this season is still fresh and hilarious. One of the strongest tens I ever gave.

10/10

(I'm near the end of the 8th season now and it still kicks ass.)

24 December 2018

In the last year I have seen all 22 seasons of "South Park" and, although it had its ups and downs, overall it's one of the best TV shows of all time and definitely the ultimate animated one. I can't wait for the 23rd season.

Initially was not sure as to whether 'South Park' would be my cup of tea at all, despite being a huge fan of animation for all my life (and still very much am). But there have been many instances of films and shows that gave me conflicted feelings before watching, but turned out far better than expected and actually being very good or more.

Such is the case with 'South Park'. As of now, it is one of the highest rated shows on IMDb and was a huge ratings success when first aired, and no wonder. At its best, it's absolutely brilliant and one of the best and funniest shows there is to me. Thought that would never be said about a show known for dividing people with its controversial and "offensive" content, was not sure whether I would like it let alone love it and it ended up a favourite. Is it as good as it was? No, it's not as witty, daring or inventive now, but is still very funny and intelligent. That is only being said though because the earlier seasons are so good.

To me, 'South Park' is much better than other popular shows like 'The Simpsons' (originally fantastic, now has declined rapidly) and 'Family Guy' and Seth Macfarlane's other shows, which never did anything for me.

Can actually see though why some dislike it. A lot of the content is very controversial and not for the easily offended. The show is crude, extremely rude (possibly the rudest animated show ever), naughty, at times juvenile and less than subtle in its treatment of taboo subjects. At the same time, 'South Park' is hilarious, smart, witty and daring but also clever, sharp, irreverent and intelligent. The satirical humour is subversive and there are not many animated shows this daring, completely contradicting the tired and incredibly annoying cliché spouted constantly that animation is only for children (often by parents defending a panned family film).

Often one is shocked at how much 'South Park' gets away with, everything. Every subject and every everyday issues is covered and satirised it seems, nothing escapes the writers. While subtlety completely goes out the window, so much of what 'South Park' says has a huge amount of truth and relevance (both when it first aired and still very much so now). Like good satire should it does it in a daring and perhaps divisive fashion, not holding back and taking no prisoners. This should sound like a recipe for disaster, but actually to me it was why the show is so loved and admired.

There's more to 'South Park' than just the humour. The stories are very inventive, smartly constructed, cohesive, honest and relevant. The characters are some of the most memorable and iconic in recent animation, especially Cartman. Trey Parker and Matt Stone's voice work is a practical tour-De-force for both, both bringing so much individuality and personality to these characters and their writing.

Not everybody seems to like the animation, personally liked the quirkiness of it myself and there are not many shows with visuals like 'South Park's'. The music is energetic and catchy.

Overall, brilliant show that surprisingly became right up my street, even with the controversial content. 9/10 Bethany Cox

South Park is probably the most misunderstood show in TV history.

Sure, it does have fart jokes but what it has really involved into is a show that depicts a wide range of current events, pop cultures references, social problems through the lenses of a group of 10 year olds and all the wacky characters that surround them.

The fact that the drawings are fairly simple also makes a lot of people shy away from it, but actually this show has a completely unique approach to several divisive or thought-provoking subjects. To name a few:

• 'The Hobbit" looks at how photoshopped photos makes society expectations of a woman's body hard to reach and the amount of pressure it may put on little girls (whilst taking hilarious jabs at Kanye West and Kim Kardashian)

• "You're getting old" takes you over the nightmare that is feeling like you might be mentally older than you friends and that may make left out

• Console Wars episodes dive into the consumerism involving Black Friday, video games and the world's obsession with Game of Thrones

These are all great episodes and I think the show if anything has aged well with time.

The other brilliant thing about South Park is that because each episode gets produced in the span of week, it can be more up to date than any scripted show - just this season it referenced Kavanaugh nomination controversy in an episode even before he was eventually confirmed.

Second 10/10 I have given on IMDb and South Park is well deserving of it.

I wouldn't trade this show for the world. In fact, I love everything about it so much. So many episodes are funny and some even have a dark element in it that just makes it so good. Cartman's funny antics definitely keep the show going. Plots are so random yet so good. The older episodes are definitely the golden ones. I recommend watching them all. Plus,the show is so good it's been going for 26 years. Even the new episodes are funny, but the older you go back the better the episodes are (in my opinion). If you haven't watched South Park, I definitely would recommend it, and I already have multiple times.