At 21 seasons deep, it’s becoming harder and harder for South Park to push the envelope with Mr. Garrison. Even before he was officially elected President of the United States, he had ascended to power by fucking the Canadian President to death—an act that was always going to be tough to follow in terms of shock value.
Over the past year, South Park has often bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to current events. Tonight’s episode takes on the fear of sexual harassment allegations in the workplace, Netflix’s endless greenlighting of new series, the threat of nuclear war, and probably a few things I’m forgetting. And…
Nathan and Mimsy have only served as the main antagonists on a handful of South Park episodes, but it feels like more. That’s because each of their non-background appearances has been a disruption to the show’s universe.
In the typical American sitcom, the two storylines of “Doubling Down” would have converged by the end of the episode, especially since their subject matter is so similar. On one end, there’s Cartman and Heidi’s poisonous relationship, with Eric constantly gaslighting her through multiple breakups and reunions. No…
Has there been a comedy series whose parodies are as esoteric as South Park? Where one episode makes fun of a well-known artist like Barbara Streisand, another recreates the fight scene from the cult classic They Live shot for shot. For every takedown of a mainstream show like Family Guy, there’s an entire episode…
“Hummels & Heroin” preempts South Park’s what-we-learned-today speech by getting its message out of the way early. After a guy playing Chuck E. Cheese at a children’s birthday party overdoses on opioids, one of the police officers remarks that he’s sure the drugs are coming out of prison. “When there’s a drug…
Even if Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always been shameless in their self-promotion, they’ve at least been able to turn it into a good joke. To sell more tickets to The Book Of Mormon tour, they tacked on an advertisement to the end of a Broadway-themed episode in Season 15 (one of their best), and their South Park:…
Too often with South Park, we get caught up in the message. And by we, I mean us. Yes, even you. Have you ever debated about the meaning of a particular episode in the comments section? Have you ever been absolutely sure that you’re correct about what it’s trying to say, even as others tell you you’re wrong? I sure…
Before we begin, let’s get this out of the way: I promise not to make every South Park review about whether or not Trey Parker and Matt Stone bring up Donald Trump. But it’s worth mentioning again tonight because 1) It’s only the second episode of the 21st season and 2) It’s the first time this year he’s been…
The entire marketing campaign for South Park’s 21st season has centered around a back-to-basics promise. According to promos and interviews with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, it will be a season without serialization; a season with more silliness and less politics; a season without Donald Trump.
South Park turns 20 years old this summer, meaning that if those foulmouthed, crudely fashioned 8-year-olds that were first introduced on August 13, 1997 followed the rules of linear time, they’d all be adults farting down the barrel of 30. Similarly, there’s now an entire generation of people—spanning high-schoolers…
We did not exactly love Despicable Me 3, but South Park co-creator Trey Parker’s press tour for it has resulted in some fascinating peeks into his mind. It first provided some insights into how he and Matt Stone were planning on dealing with Donald Trump in the show’s upcoming season—that is, by not addressing him at…
The reality of President Donald Trump was not something a good chunk of this country was prepared for. This goes double for Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who had created an episode for South Park’s past season pegged to the victory of Hillary Clinton. When that didn’t happen, Parker and Stone scrambled to rewrite the…
Here’s one to distract the kids. Despicable Me 3 (styled Despicable M3), the latest animated adventure to feature the neckless, pick-nosed ex-villain Gru (Steve Carell) and his gibberishy, Twinkoid, banana-sucking Minions, finds our grumpy hero enlisting the help of his long-lost twin brother, Dru (Carell again), in…
South Park dedicated its entire last season to an extended riff on Donald Trump, with Mr. Garrison transforming into a not-so-subtly Trump-esque politician. Still, the show’s famous “giant douche or turd sandwich” political leanings kept it from hitting Trump too hard, with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone still…
A little over a week ago, Newsweek published “Dispatches From The Alternate Universe Where Hillary Clinton Won,” a collection of Op-Eds from numerous websites that would have ran had the election gone the other way. South Park could have likely been featured in there, too. Somewhere in the back of Trey Parker and Matt…
Has the idea of the big reveal completely lost its effectiveness on South Park? Because after a season packed with them, the plot device does nothing for me. Tonight’s revelation that Troll Trace’s CEO, Bedrager, is actually a troll himself should have been the biggest bombshell of the season. But instead, it lands…
Although Trey Parker and Matt Stone seem as worried as the rest of us about Donald Trump being president, his oncoming incumbency at least makes their jobs a little bit easier. As “Members Only” proves, the satire writes itself. Parker and Stone didn’t have to imagine Mr. Garrison/Trump getting ushered around the…
Even after 20 seasons, Trey Parker and Matt Stone still handle the vast majority of the voices on South Park. One exception to that, though, is Kyle Broflovski’s adopted Canadian brother, Ike, who, like all Canadians on the show, has a big, floppy two-part head, and, like all toddlers on the show, is voiced with…
If there was ever a time for the current season of South Park to kick it into high gear—to amp up the sex, violence, absurdism, and general profaneness, it was in its post-election episode. But, like many of us, Trey Parker and Matt Stone currently seem to be in a state of numbness, wandering around in a stupor as…