South Park (TV series)
"South Park" is an animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which first premiered on August 13, 1997, on Comedy Central. The show focuses on the lives of four third-grade boys—Eric, Kyle, Kenny, and Stan—living in the fictional small town of South Park, Colorado. Renowned for its crude humor and often controversial topics, "South Park" has tackled a multitude of subjects including religion, politics, and social issues, utilizing a distinctive style that originated from cutout animation.
Despite being aimed at an adult audience, the series has attracted a diverse viewership, with a significant portion of its audience being under the age of twenty-five. The show has received numerous accolades, including Emmy nominations and awards, and has influenced the landscape of animated programming on cable television. It has also spawned a feature film and various merchandising opportunities.
The cultural impact of "South Park" is notable, as it has been both criticized and praised for its bold approach to satire and social commentary. Even after more than two decades on air, the creators have maintained a commitment to exploring current events and social issues, ensuring the show's ongoing relevance. As of the 2020s, "South Park" continues to be broadcast on Comedy Central, with special episodes available for streaming on Paramount Plus.
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Subject Terms
South Park (TV series)
CREATORS Trey Parker (1969– ) and Matt Stone (1971– )
DATE First aired on August 13, 1997
One of several animated television series aimed at an adult audience in the late 1990s, South Park quickly became one of the most-watched programs on cable television. However, with its controversial subject matter and off-color humor, the series was often cited as an example of a general trend toward vulgarity in American popular entertainment.
A cartoon series aired on the cable network Comedy Central, South Park was created by film students Trey Parker and Matt Stone using simple construction paper cutouts. The series featured four third-graders living in South Park, a small Colorado town. The four boys, Eric, Kyle, Kenny, and Stan, are casually cruel to other children, enjoy jokes about bodily functions, and use off-color language. In almost every episode, Kenny dies violently and his friends curse the animators for killing him.
Although the program was intended for adults, at least one-fifth of its audience was estimated to be younger than twenty-five. Comedy Central gave South Park a TV Parental Guidelines system rating of TV-MA for its frequent violence, crude jokes, and controversial subject matter including sex, homosexuality, suicide, religion, flatulence, drug use, masturbation, menstruation, and death.
South Park’s popularity signaled a turning point for Comedy Central, at the time a floundering six-year-old network. The show not only was popular in itself but also lured viewers to other Comedy Central shows, as series aired immediately after South Park received higher ratings. South Park’s success also contributed to a trend in inexpensive, innovative programming developed by cable channels rather than major networks. The show’s popularity allowed its creators and the network to profit from merchandising and related products, including a computer game based on the series. Eric Cartman, the foul-mouthed, antisocial eight-year-old voiced by Parker, became a breakout character with his own widely recognized catchphrases.
In 1997, South Park won a CableACE Award for Animated Programming Special or Series. In 1998, Parker and Stone won the Producers Guild Nova Award for Most Promising Producer in Television, and South Park was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
In 1999, the R-rated feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, written by Parker, Stone, and Pam Brady, won several film industry awards; one of the film’s original songs, “Blame Canada!” was nominated for an Academy Award. The film was re-released in theaters in 2024 to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary.
Impact
South Park demonstrated the commercial potential of animated television programs and ensured the success of Comedy Central, one of many new cable channels offering television viewers alternatives to major-network programming. Cultural critics repeatedly turned to South Park and its popularity to show that mass entertainment was becoming more controversial and potentially offensive, even as it reached an ever-younger audience.
By 2016, South Park had garnered sixteen Emmy nominations that included four wins and was celebrating twenty years of being on the air as one of the highest-rated shows on Comedy Central. Over those years, the show had continued to innovate and unabashedly take on controversial topics to offer seemingly limitless social commentary. Covering subjects such as religion (including Scientology), political figures, language, race, and celebrities, South Park has remained culturally relevant, and the creators have stated in interviews that they do not have any immediate plans to end the show. In some of the later seasons, Parker and Stone had even begun serializing and establishing more continuity in the episodes.
The show continued to air on Comedy Central into the 2020s, with special episodes streaming on Paramount Plus. In 2022, Parker and Stone celebrated South park’s twenty-fifth anniversary with a special concert at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Colorado.
Bibliography
Arp, Robert, editor. “South Park” and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today. Blackwell, 2007.
Bradley, Laura. "20 Seasons in, Matt Stone and Trey Parker Reveal the Secret to Keeping South Park Cool." Vanity Fair, 9 Sept. 2016, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/south-park-20th-anniversary-interview. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Johnson-Woods, Toni. Blame Canada! “South Park” and Popular Culture. Continuum, 2007.
Eustice, Kyle. "South Park’s 25th Anniversary Concert at Red Rocks Is a Rush, in More Ways Than One." Variety, 11 Aug. 2022, variety.com/2022/music/news/south-park-anniversary-concert-rush-red-rocks-primus-1235339159/. Accessed 22 May 2024.
Thurm, Eric. "The Second Coming of South Park." GQ, 17 Oct. 2016, www.gq.com/story/south-park-resurgence. Accessed 22 May 2024.