South Park.I got a text from my brother on Wednesday reminding me to watch the new episode of South Park. It was the season premiere. South Park has been around for 13 seasons! It is so hard to believe that this show premeired in 1997 when I was NINE! That is a little younger than the main characters in the show.
If you haven't seen the show, it revolves around a group of four friends (Pictured from left to right: Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Kenny). The show follows their everyday life, which is way more exciting than any fourth grader's life. In earlier episodes, South Park tended to revolve around more outrageous circumstances such as aliens in the first episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe." In the past years, the episodes have been more satirical. Many of the episodes point out fads or other popular culture such as the World of Warcraft craze and the "Metrosexual" fad (both of these episodes along with every other episode ever created can be watched in their entirety on southparkstudios.com, pretty cool, huh?).
Because of the computer animation creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker use, an episode of South Park can be made in a week. Actually, last season, season 12 episode 12 "About Last Night" depicted Barack Obama winning the presidential election just 23 hours after he actually won the election. This shows how fast these episodes can be made which, I believe, is the reason they are such a hit. South Park was named 12th best TV show in the past 25 years by Entertainment Weekly.
One of the reasons for South Park's success over the years has been their ability to push the envelope. No one is spared (Jews, blacks, asians, and gays alike) in these potty mouth boys' dialog (especially Cartman) and in the rest of the show. Some extreme episodes in the past have been "The Passion of the Jew" where Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" convinces Cartman that he is to exterminate the Jews. Another is "It Hits the Fan" where the "S-H word" is used, unedited, 162 times.
South Park is either a love it or hate it show. As it has a huge fan following, there are probably just as many that oppose it. Either way, it is the most popular show on Comedy Central and single-handedly put Comedy Central in the TV spotlight. So, those that have seen it, do you love it or do you hate it? For those that haven't seen it, go here to make an educated guess!
I thought it was cool how the creators of South Park were able to make the episode of Barack Obama winning the election less than a day after he did. It's kind of impressive; writing the script, recording the voices, editing, and final touches.
ReplyDeleteI think parts of the show are extremely funny, but I don't really like it as a whole.
I thought it was cool how the creators of South Park were able to make the episode of Barack Obama winning the election less than a day after he did. It's kind of impressive; writing the script, recording the voices, editing, and final touches.
ReplyDeleteI think parts of the show are extremely funny, but I don't really like it as a whole.
South Park has definitely been around for a while. I remember that when I was younger and if I was up late on a weekend or having a sleepover with friends or something, we would watch it and think we were the biggest rebels ever. Then I grew out of that and I thought the show was stupid, now I think it is hilarious. Which is interesting because I am Canadian, and i get really defensive when people bad mouth, or even joke around bad mouth my country. But I found the Blame Canada thing hilarious.
ReplyDeleteSouth Park has definately changed the idea of television. It was the first show of its kind. I can remember watching this show late at night so my parents wouldn't catch me. Now there are all kinds of cartoon shows that really push the envelope. South Park really set the stage for programs such as "adult swim". South Park is a funny show that really emphasises the "who cares" attitude and I like that. They make fun of everything and I think that that is why the fan base is so big, but at the same time thats why their opponents are so many aswell.
ReplyDeleteI don't follow the show on a weekly basis, but it is one I catch every so often. I really liked the episode you discussed where it showed Obama winning the presidential vote. I was shocked at how fast they had made it as well. In fact, they used part of McCain's defeat speech in it, which totally caught me by surprise. This show has definitely not left anyone out on whom or what it picks on. I have a feeling that Matt Stone and Trey Parker will continue to push the envelope and make us ask ourselves, "Can they say that on TV?", for a long time to come. Good blog Zack.
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