Tonight, my favorite television show returns for the second half of its 16th season! I am excited.
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| Welcoming viewers since August 1997. |
I was a huge fanatic when "South Park" started in August 1997. I remember the pilot episode aired on one of the Wednesday nights before I got cable installed into my studio apartment, so it took several months before I saw that pilot episode, but I remember specifically the interaction that completely won me over was in the fourth episode titled "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride," where Chef (acting as Coach) was talking to the elementary football team and said, "Ok children, I know that you are all extremely excited & nervous & anxious about the Homecoming game against Middle Park." Kyle asked, "Who's Middle Park?" Cartman added, "What's Homecoming?"
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| If I were from South Park... |
After that line, I knew this show was something special. In the early seasons, a lot of their humour was in pure randomness and, growing up as a fan of "The State on MTV," I loved it! The other immediate trademark was intentionally-outdated pop culture references from Tina Yothers to John Stamos('s older brother). Many times I was just left speechless, whether I was laughing or just so flabbergasted wondering "how do they even think of these things?" Seriously, who thinks to write the kids training a dog to respond to a command like "Don't be gay, Spark! Don't be gay!"
The second season began with an epic April Fool's Day prank, which somewhat backfired because most viewers apparently did not have a sense of humor about themselves. Except me. I was such a huge fanatic that when the first season ended with the promise that the next episode would be in four weeks to reveal who Cartman's father was, I ran to a calendar and pinpointed the date. Immediately, I noticed it was April 1st, and for the next four weeks, I told anyone who would listen that it would be an April Fool's prank. While I didn't predict that the episode to air would focus on Terrance & Philip (I expected Comedy Central would simply air a short vignette saying "April Fool's Day"), that T&P episode actually became my favorite single episode for the first several seasons (all the way until "The Death of Eric Cartman" in season nine).
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| GO HABS GO! |
By the fifth season, I had trouble keeping "South Park" in my weekly schedule. I usually enjoyed new episodes when I saw them, but the show was not a priority in my schedule. As a result, I never bought any South Park DVD sets when they were released. In fact, it really wasn't until "South Park" came to syndication that it became a regular program on my TV again. Many nights I would be *almost* asleep when suddenly they popped off with a punchline that sent me into a riotous laughing fit.
One Sunday night, I could not sleep and I eventually gave up around 3 a.m. to search for something on television to put me to sleep. I expected to fall asleep during any given program, but instead I found an episode of "South Park" where I was hooked from start to finish, but completely drained from all my laughing that I went straight to sleep as soon as it finished. The episode was their season 11 opener, "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," which started with Randy Marsh in the bonus round of Wheel Of Fortune getting stumped by the final letter to "People Who Annoy You," after being given "N _ G G E R S" (the right answer was naggers; of course, that's not how he answered).
Eventually, "South Park" became a television obsession for me; it attained the rare status of one of those shows that I could watch every time it aired, regardless how many previous times I had seen the same episode. Even though the show was on syndication each night, I still felt as though I needed to have it more readily available at my disposal, so I purchased "South Park: The Hits, Volume 1." Most fans would not have wasted their money on this purchase since all of the episodes were available on prior box sets, but I had not purchased any of the season box sets, so this set was all new episodes to my collection.
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| Ya know? |
Contrary to my original intentions, I slowly started buying the season box sets. Luckily (ok, I planned it this way to a large degree), most of the sets had been out a while so they had fallen from their original "new release" prices. I don't think I have paid over $20 for any set, all the way up to last week when I bought Season 15 for under $15, and I own every season (except season 11, for select reasons).
While a lot of the show's characteristics have remained the same, the story telling and humour have definitely evolved. Whereas the humour used to be its pure randomness, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have developed into incredible satirists. Whereas the show used to have subplots in each episode, nowadays they can fill an entire episode with one story (beginning with "Scott Tenerman Must Die"). The shock factor has worn thin, but the brand itself remains strong as Comedy Central's most successful show. And for the fans who still follow it, the show is still pretty special.
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| Even the Stanley Cup loves "South Park." |
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have perfected the ability to satire both sides of arguments, then sound like geniuses by conveying a reliable lesson on moderation or simplicity at the end. Their scope of satires has been pretty impressive as well, ranging from The Dark Knight trilogy to "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," from Wal-Mart to Hooters, and from the 9/11 conspiracy theories to Cash For Gold stores. Almost every organized religion and sport has been satired at some point in the show's history. Yet occasionally, they will tug on the heartstrings of even the most jaded viewers as proven by "You're Getting Old," the mid-season finale last year.
All in all, it's pretty impressive for a group of today's 10-year-olds who would have originally been born in 1991.
