South Park: An evolution

[Lee]

I've been watching a lot of old South Park episodes over the last week or so and it got me thinking of a lot of things that were very prevalent in those episodes. I thought I'd take a cracked style look at some of these.

What did you say? SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP

Ms. Crabtree was the bus driver in the first few seasons of the show. She had a bird in her hair like the bus driver from Forrest Gump. Another similar trait is her angry tone which she takes with the children including threatening to kill a bunny on occasion.

A typical joke would have Stan calling her a bitch and she would shout 'what did you say?' to which Stan would respond 'I have an itch' and she'd be OK with that.

She was murdered in the episode "Cartman's Incredible Gift" in 2004.

Cartman's Mom was a dirty ****


A prime example of character development in that Lianne Cartman used to be the biggest **** in South Park. Including the German porn video in the movie and a home movie with Mr. Mackay yet this has died off in recent years. This has also coincided with Cartman's mean streak becoming more apparent.

The last time outside of 200 where she was promiscuous was in the episode "The Death of Eric Cartman" in 2005.

Hello there children

Hey Chef!
How's it going?
Bad.
Why?
*Typical scenario*
Let me sing you a little song.

I guess South Park was at its peak when it was number one in the charts with Chocolate Salty Balls sung by Isaac Hayes. Yes Shaft voiced the role of Chef who was a major character up until Season Ten where Hayes decided to leave the show after the Scientology episode. Hayes died in 2008 so we'll never see Chef in South Park again.

Chef last appeared in "The Return of Chef" in 2006.


So what else do you remember about old South Park Episodes? Tweek? Pip? Oh my God they killed Kenny?

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Like yourself, I went back and re-watched South Park from the very start a good few months ago and I think the initial genius and comedic style often get over-looked by what they're doing now. The speed of production allows them to take shots at the current issues, but in the first few seasons where production would take weeks and months, the stories had to resonate a lot more.

Officer Barbrady is a forgotten gem in the South Park universe as although an inept police officer in a comedy show isn't terribly original, he was still a lot of fun to watch. The episode with the chicken-fucker is his finest moment and the twist that the chicken-fucker was only doing what he was doing so that Barbrady could learn to read was just ridiculously funny. That was also the same episode where Cartman would first start making innocent civilians respect his authoritah too.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

As far as characters go, I remember Mr. Derp, but I only remember him from one episode. Chef was seduced by a Succubus, and Derp became the substitute cook. Of course, Cartman was the only one, who liked him. Mr. Derp was a goofball, but he's hilarious in this episode.

I'll never forget the "Pinkeye" episode. After his corpse is pumped full of Worcestershire sauce, Kenny turns into a zombie. He infects the morgue workers, and with Kenny's help, they spread the virus. Everyone dismisses the epidemic as pinkeye, and the entire town is transformed into zombies.

Everything about this episode is hilarious. The cause of Kenney's zombie transformation, Cartman's costumes, and Stan's dilemma at the very end (he has to decide whether to kill Wendy or not). And the spoof of the Thriller video, where Chef imitates Michael Jackson is just priceless.

Definitely my favorite Halloween episode from any animated show, and this is coming from someone, who loves The Simpsons' Treehouse Of Horror.

"Cartmanland" is another classic. Owning a theme park would be a dream come true for any kid, and Cartman's persistence to have the park to himself was just great. A lot of us love theme parks, but the long lines and crowds can be a pain in the ass. Cartman fulfilled his dreams, but eventually, he was forced to let people in the park, because he had to pay for repairs and security. As always, Cartman got what was coming to him in the end, and Kyle's faith was restored.

It's funny, because over the years, Eric Cartman has evolved into one of the most evil and beloved television characters ever.

 

[Megatron]

I watched the Goobacks episode about a week ago, and I think I can say that is my favorite episode of the show. The whole 'DEY TOOK ER JERBS!' meme they had going on throughout the episode gets me every time. Every single time. Then when the redneck leader rips on another redneck for thinking global warming could help kill the future, I lose it. Plus the ending with them all saying fuck it to saving the world and going in the gay pile just caps it. I think the redneck leader was only on for maybe one or two other episodes, but I'll be damned if that episode isn't one of their funniest for the sheer ridiculousness of it.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I watched the Goobacks episode about a week ago, and I think I can say that is my favorite episode of the show. The whole 'DEY TOOK ER JERBS!' meme they had going on throughout the episode gets me every time. Every single time. Then when the redneck leader rips on another redneck for thinking global warming could help kill the future, I lose it. Plus the ending with them all saying fuck it to saving the world and going in the gay pile just caps it. I think the redneck leader was only on for maybe one or two other episodes, but I'll be damned if that episode isn't one of their funniest for the sheer ridiculousness of it.

I think my favorite part of the episode is when Stan is trying to order a cheeseburger and says 'I want a god damn cheeseburger and some god damn french fries, you fucking Goo-backs!" Love that episode.

I think my favorite old episode would either be the Civil War Re-enactment episode or "Here Comes the Neighborhood."

My brother and I were constantly quoting the Civil War one. We would always say shit in Cartman's southern accent. I used to tape every episode I saw on TV when I was a kid and this is the one I remember replaying the most.

Here Comes the Neighborhood was just brilliant. Probably the best ending to an episode ever.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

HEY YOU SCRAWNY ASS ****, WHAT THE **** IS WRONG WITH YOU!

That's the first thing that came to mind which is from their first episode I believe. I also remember Cartman dressing up as Hitler for Halloween only to like him more when Principal Victoria showed him a video of why dressing up like Hitler in school isn't cool and what did Principal Victoria change his costume into you ask? A klansmen of course.

I also remember Mr. Garrison a closet homosexual who often berated gays because he couldn't admit that he was one himself which led to some hilarious moments such as getting plastic surgery to look like David Hasslehoff and Mr. Hat in a steam room naked with Bret Favre.

Ms. Chokesondick dying from actually choking on dick was pretty hilarious as well.

My favorite old moments mostly come from season 5. There was Cartman inheriting 1 million dollars and buys a theme park to keep everyone out which caused Kyle to go into a coma, Cartman feeding Scott Tenorman's parents to him, the episode when Garrison manipulates the whole town into getting rid of the rich black people like Will Smith and Kobe Bryant and the ending of that episode was truly classic. I always loved the Butters episode as well with his dad in a gay bath house and his mom going insane and tries to murder Butters with him having no clue of what's actually going on.

Lastly of course I remember Chef as he was always a good character and its too bad his relationship ended with South Park the way it did. Its also a shame that he died before any amends could be made.

 

[shattered dreams]

The evolution of Randy Marsh is a fun thing to think about. In some ways it is a big part of keeping the show going. What was the moment you realized this? World of Warcraft, the internet episode, the biggest shit one or have you long been on the bandwagon.

Also, sexual harassment panda was great and the civil war episode was pretty awesome.

 

[Nate DaMac]

The evolution of Randy Marsh is a fun thing to think about. In some ways it is a big part of keeping the show going. What was the moment you realized this? World of Warcraft, the internet episode, the biggest shit one or have you long been on the bandwagon.

I think it was the Bat-Dad episode. That's the first time I can remember him being the focal point of an episode off the top of my head. Not only is he my favorite character despite how much I love the boys' characters, he has pretty much taken over as the main character of the shows these days. 2/3rd of the current run has featured him more prominently than the boys.

Also, sexual harassment panda was great and the civil war episode was pretty awesome.

"The Red Badge of Gayness." Just wanted to get away with saying that out the Bar Room.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Surprised no one has mention "Scott Tennorman Must Die". To me it set the bar for Cartman's antics that he will never cross again. The episodes was funny, shocking, and completely fucked up beyond anything else I've ever seen on TV.

Runner up to the LOTR episode. The way they parodied the stories and especially Butters was great. I love that show.

 

[jmt225]

I started watching South Park during season 1. I was just 13 at the time, so a lot of the jokes went over my head looking back, but I still adored the show like no other.

The first episode I remember watching was Mecha-Streisand. I was hooked right away. It had so much "What the fuck is this shit?" moments that you couldn't help be mesmerized and find it all just to be hysterical.

I think my favorite early episode though has to be Rainforest Shmainforest. The song in that episode would be repeated by me and an old friend of mine constantly at school. We thought it was just hilarious. I never knew it was Jennifer Aniston's voice who did the teacher in that episode either until a couple of years ago.

However, the best example of South Park during it's early years is definitely the movie, South Park: Bigger, Larger, and Uncut. That's Matt and Trey at their finest. The movie, in my opinion, is one of the greatest comedy films of all time, if not THE greatest. It's that good. As many great episodes as South Park has had since then (and there have been quite a few brilliant ones), nothing still lives up to the movie for me.

 

[Ming]

The Scott Tenormam episode has been my favourite since seeing it and still is. The ending to that episode is easily the most surprised I've been by a South Park episode, and it really defines Cartman well. He can be stupid and silly, but he can also be one intellectually evil motherfucker. You'll have to pardon me, I don't remember many of the names. I'll be using a Friends format to describe other great episodes; The One about tolerance - a favourite of mine for one specific joke, The One with Kanye West and fishsticks, Cartman stealing Jimmy's joke was hilarious, Insheeption - ah yes, I remember this cunning title, a great epsiode, Randy Marsh at his finest and Make Love Not WarCraft, another title I remember. Again, Randy Marsh rocks the shit out of this one and Cartman being a big boy was funny too.

 

[Windy Winston]

I've watched every single episode of South Park more than once it is my favorite show.
My favorite episode is the one when the boys are watching Russell Crowe fighting around the world to see the new Terence and Phillip Movie trailer. That episode cracks me up every single time. A lot of great episodes where mentioned so far. I think that season 5 and 6 were my two favorite seasons, also season 2 I think is a very underrated season.

It made me laugh how Mr. Derp was brought up on here, even though he only has like a total of a minute of screen time in the history of South Park he is still one of my favorite characters. I liked too how they always use to have bizarre news reporter like a Hispanic Man With Some Gravy Stains on his Lapel. They don't do that anymore with the news reporters. So far this season has been pretty good, the episode that was on tonight was great.