South Park is an American animated series created by
Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is broadcast on Comedy Central in America and various other channels in other countries. The series began in 1997 and is on its fifteenth season with a total of 216 episodes, one movie and 7 shorts, as of April 19, 2024. It has also won four Emmy Awards and has been nominated for various other awards.
The series revolves mainly around four schoolboys; Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick, but in later years it has introduced a number of other characters. The show has also caused a number of controversies from its contents, as well as how it tends to parody people and events.
History[]
The show's roots go as far back as 1992 when Trey Parker and Matt Stone were still at college. They created a short video called Jesus vs. Frosty. In 1995, Brian Graden, an executive of FOX, saw the film and commissioned Parker and Stone to make another. The next one, "The Spirit of Christmas" resembled the animation style of the later series and the characters resembled their later selves. The video became increasingly popular and the creators went into talks with FOX. After this, they went to Comedy Central who commissioned the series, and it debuted on August 13, 1997.
The first season relied on shock-value, with rather weird and unusual plotlines such as the breeding of elephants and pigs and a giant mechanized version of Barbara Streisand. As the series progressed, the episodes tended to revolve mostly around the characters up until Season Seven. In this season there was a noticeable increase in satirical episodes, which remain the most popular to this day. The series began to parody celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton and Al Gore. It also parodied real life events such as homosexual marriages, global warming and use of the word 'nigger'. The creators also tend to parody (or pay homage to) television shows and films. The parodies also allow the creators to voice their opinions through episodes. The quick production on the show allows the program to respond quickly to current events, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein. The parodies of course, start controversies; in particular the episode "Trapped in the Closet" which mocked Scientology.
In September 2007, Parker and Stone signed a contract for three more seasons (after the current contract which runs up to the end of 2008 expires) which will take the show up to 2011 with fifteen seasons and a total of 223 episodes at least.
In a news report on The New York Times website, a worker at Viacom stated that the show will continue to 2013.