"South Park" (1997) TV series 1997-????

User Rating:

9.3/10   

Creators:

Trey Parker
Matt Stone

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

Release Date:

13 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Tagline:

Four boys. One f**ked up town.

Plot:

Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.

Plot Keywords:

Colorado | Parent | South Park Colorado | Racist | Adult Animation

Awards:

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 16 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 7	8:00 PM	MTV	Towelie	#5.8
Sat. Nov. 7	8:30 PM	MTV	Scott Tenorman Must Die	#5.4

Cast

Trey Parker	...	Eric Cartman / ... (180 episodes, 1997-2009)
Matt Stone	...	Kyle Broflovski / ... (179 episodes, 1997-2009)
Isaac Hayes	...	Chef (136 episodes, 1997-2005)
Mona Marshall	...	Sheila Broflovski / ... (89 episodes, 2000-2009)

Also Known As:

South Park (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Южный парк (Russia) [ru]
South Park (France) [fr]
South Park (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

30 min | Finland:22 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:18A (DVD rating) (season 3) | Japan:R | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-15 (2006) (TV rating) (self applied) | Finland:K-3 (1999) (DVD) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:(Banned) | Chile:18 | Canada:18+ (tv rating) | Canada:14A (DVD rating) (seasons 1, 2, 4 - 12) | UK:18 (two episodes) | USA:TV-14 (syndicated episodes) | UK:PG (some episodes) | France:U (DVD rating) | Italy:VM18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (some episodes) | Australia:M (some episodes) | Brazil:18 (some episodes) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:16 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:MG6 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (some episodes) | USA:TV-MA | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:(Banned) | UK:15

Company:

Comedy Central

Trivia:

Chewbacca is a running theme in the series. Every Halloween episode, at least one child dresses as Chewbacca, and usually wins the costume contest. Also, "the Chewbacca defense" is always used by Jonnie Cochran.

Goofs:

Continuity: Clyde's last name was Goodman in early seasons, but the more recent seasons changed it to Harris. In early merchandise and the season eight episode quest for ratings he was called Clyde Donovan. Also, Jimmy's last name has been both Vollmer or Swanson.

Quotes:

Chef's Father: [at Chef's rehearsal dinner] Could I have everyone's attention, please?
[crowd quiets]
Chef's Father: Tomorrow, my son is gonna get married to a beautiful lady.
[sniffles]
Chef's Father: I'm very happy for them both.
[begins to choke back tears]
Chef's Father: Ooh, there I go - I told myself I wasn't gonna cry.
Chef: It's okay, pop.
Chef's Mother: Thomas, you're gonna get me going now.
[begins to tear up]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Light It Up (1999)

Sadly Misunderstood

South Park is one of the most misunderstood, and also the most intelligent shows on television.

South Park is a satirical look on most anything from Western society - politics, the media, today's youth, celebrities, violence in our society, and much much more. However, instead of presenting these issues as they are, they alternately project them through the exploits of four young boys in South Park, Colorado.

Unfortunately, many people take the show solely at face value, refusing to see the intelligence in it - South Park is admittedly filled with racist and sexist jokes, along with other offensive material. The problem lies within the fact that most people don't seem to understand the concept of satire and self parody.

I admit that I, myself, was one of these people - for years I refused to watch that "garbage," until finally a friend forced me to actually watch a whole episode, and I realized that the show was actually making a point.

So, if you haven't done so, go - watch an episode. You'll feel smarter when you're done.