The series follows a group of four third grade boys(later fourth grade) in the town of South Park, Colorado consisting of Stan(The most grounded and "normal" one of the group usually characterized by his cynicism), Kyle (The town's lone Jewish child with a strong willed sense of moral and social responsibility), Cartman (a fat, racist, sexist, arrogant loudmouth who goes to great extremes to bring others misery) and Kenny (the oft-muffled and indiscernible one of the group whose interest include pornography or mischief when he's not being killed in an over the top fashion). Each week the group encounter over the top situations usually spawned from a fun house mirror image of a real world controversy or news cycle, with issues such as abortion, homosexuality, economic policy, racism, sexual politics, and many other taboo subjects with edge to spare.
The brain child of creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, South Park's humble beginnings stem from the creation of two shorts the duo made that served as prototypes for what would become the series (Jesus vs. Frosty). The shorts became early examples of viral media and was spread by notable figures such as George Clooney (who would later have a joke "guest appearance" giving guttural dog growls in the episode Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride). The series almost became a show on the Fox network during their early days having made contemporary envelope pushing content such as Simpsons, Cops, and The X-Files that all pushed the limits of what constituted "broadcast acceptable". While executives at the network were initially enthusiastic about the show, disagreements (particularly about Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo) would end negotiations and shift the duo's efforts to Paramount with a choice of MTV or Comedy Central. Even prior to broadcast the show was faced with poor test screenings and nervous executives, but despite all this the series became a breakout hit generated buzz with taglines like "this is why the invented the V-Chip" and becoming a cultural phenomenon prior to airing with $30 million in T-Shirt sales and becoming one of the most watched shows on cable TV at the time and giving mainstream credibility to the network Comedy Central beyond their one respected property Mystery Science Theater 3000 which had mainly niche appeal. In the years since its rough around the edges first season the show has become a pop culture touch stone with many of its lines, characters, and visuals taking on a life of their own becoming cultural icons. The show also is known for its razor sharp bite, fearlessly satirizing politics, culture, society, entertainment, and anything else they can get their hands on.... I only wish I liked and enjoyed the show as much as I respected it.
There's no individual element I can point to as when my enjoyment of South Park diminished as the series hasn't seen any noticeable dip in quality since its first season (in fact the writing and animation has only gotten better and better while retaining its minimalist amateur charms), but more with how and what the show satirized. I can understand and appreciate the show's satire of many elements as being both funny and valid, and even episodes with basic if any satire and more of a humor focus are quite good (The Red Badge of Gayness wherein Cartman tries and almost succeeds undoing the North victory of the Civil War simply so he can win a bet with Kyle and Stan is easily my favorite episode of the series) with the show's attacks on various societal inanities being both insightful and humorous.....but then there's the other times where not only did I feel they missed the mark, they went the complete opposite direction from the mark. Episodes like Butt Out, Smug Alert, Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow, or Manbearpig are some of the most infuriating episodes of television I have ever witnessed. Butt Out plays devil's advocate for cigarette companies playing up a weird Willy Wonkaish image for the Cigarette companies while showing anti-smoking advocates as a coven of vampires willing to lie and murder. Not only does Butt Out use Cigarette Industry funded "studies" to say there's no evidence second hand smoke kills, this episode came out SEVEN years after Jeffrey Wigand blew the whistle on the Cigarette companies and was subjected to threats against himself and his family by third party thugs hired through backchannels by Brown & Williamson and created debunked dossiers filled with lies. There's nothing wrong with playing Devil's advocate, but this isn't Devil's Advocate, it's Devil's Cheerleader! If they didn't read the Vanity Fair article, fine, but there's a bloody movie by Michael Mann (The Insider) that covers it! This same approach is utilized in other episodes outside Butt Out with similar aggravating disregard for reality and utilizing other industry funded studies that of course look favorably upon the industry because if you're grading yourself, why grade yourself anything but an 'A'? And the fact that Stone and Parker don't bother pointing out that falicy in industry funded research shows a remarkable lack of self awareness in two individuals whose careers are built on "Fearless Satire"
South Park earns my respect because it says what it wants without a filter. Agree or disagree, there's no attempt to paint their words to make them more appealing, and I can respect that. I can respect the show is made in lightning fast time in both writing and productions. I can respect their willingness to tackle subject matter that larger scale productions wouldn't go near with a 40 foot pole. Unfortunately I don't enjoy or get anything from South Park that I'm happy about. Each subsequent season of South Park left me feeling a greater ratio of sadness, anger, and frustration than humor or laughter. At the end of the day, South Park is about looking into the unflushed toilet that is society and meticulously pulling apart the leavings floating in the bowl for no other reason than to see what the leavings are made of and what makes them smell as bad as they do. I can't ding the show for this because that's exactly what it sets out for, and it's exactly what it accomplishes. Do with that what you will.
The brain child of creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, South Park's humble beginnings stem from the creation of two shorts the duo made that served as prototypes for what would become the series (Jesus vs. Frosty). The shorts became early examples of viral media and was spread by notable figures such as George Clooney (who would later have a joke "guest appearance" giving guttural dog growls in the episode Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride). The series almost became a show on the Fox network during their early days having made contemporary envelope pushing content such as Simpsons, Cops, and The X-Files that all pushed the limits of what constituted "broadcast acceptable". While executives at the network were initially enthusiastic about the show, disagreements (particularly about Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo) would end negotiations and shift the duo's efforts to Paramount with a choice of MTV or Comedy Central. Even prior to broadcast the show was faced with poor test screenings and nervous executives, but despite all this the series became a breakout hit generated buzz with taglines like "this is why the invented the V-Chip" and becoming a cultural phenomenon prior to airing with $30 million in T-Shirt sales and becoming one of the most watched shows on cable TV at the time and giving mainstream credibility to the network Comedy Central beyond their one respected property Mystery Science Theater 3000 which had mainly niche appeal. In the years since its rough around the edges first season the show has become a pop culture touch stone with many of its lines, characters, and visuals taking on a life of their own becoming cultural icons. The show also is known for its razor sharp bite, fearlessly satirizing politics, culture, society, entertainment, and anything else they can get their hands on.... I only wish I liked and enjoyed the show as much as I respected it.
There's no individual element I can point to as when my enjoyment of South Park diminished as the series hasn't seen any noticeable dip in quality since its first season (in fact the writing and animation has only gotten better and better while retaining its minimalist amateur charms), but more with how and what the show satirized. I can understand and appreciate the show's satire of many elements as being both funny and valid, and even episodes with basic if any satire and more of a humor focus are quite good (The Red Badge of Gayness wherein Cartman tries and almost succeeds undoing the North victory of the Civil War simply so he can win a bet with Kyle and Stan is easily my favorite episode of the series) with the show's attacks on various societal inanities being both insightful and humorous.....but then there's the other times where not only did I feel they missed the mark, they went the complete opposite direction from the mark. Episodes like Butt Out, Smug Alert, Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow, or Manbearpig are some of the most infuriating episodes of television I have ever witnessed. Butt Out plays devil's advocate for cigarette companies playing up a weird Willy Wonkaish image for the Cigarette companies while showing anti-smoking advocates as a coven of vampires willing to lie and murder. Not only does Butt Out use Cigarette Industry funded "studies" to say there's no evidence second hand smoke kills, this episode came out SEVEN years after Jeffrey Wigand blew the whistle on the Cigarette companies and was subjected to threats against himself and his family by third party thugs hired through backchannels by Brown & Williamson and created debunked dossiers filled with lies. There's nothing wrong with playing Devil's advocate, but this isn't Devil's Advocate, it's Devil's Cheerleader! If they didn't read the Vanity Fair article, fine, but there's a bloody movie by Michael Mann (The Insider) that covers it! This same approach is utilized in other episodes outside Butt Out with similar aggravating disregard for reality and utilizing other industry funded studies that of course look favorably upon the industry because if you're grading yourself, why grade yourself anything but an 'A'? And the fact that Stone and Parker don't bother pointing out that falicy in industry funded research shows a remarkable lack of self awareness in two individuals whose careers are built on "Fearless Satire"
South Park earns my respect because it says what it wants without a filter. Agree or disagree, there's no attempt to paint their words to make them more appealing, and I can respect that. I can respect the show is made in lightning fast time in both writing and productions. I can respect their willingness to tackle subject matter that larger scale productions wouldn't go near with a 40 foot pole. Unfortunately I don't enjoy or get anything from South Park that I'm happy about. Each subsequent season of South Park left me feeling a greater ratio of sadness, anger, and frustration than humor or laughter. At the end of the day, South Park is about looking into the unflushed toilet that is society and meticulously pulling apart the leavings floating in the bowl for no other reason than to see what the leavings are made of and what makes them smell as bad as they do. I can't ding the show for this because that's exactly what it sets out for, and it's exactly what it accomplishes. Do with that what you will.