Opinions on South Park

[RCBH928]

I want to hear other people's opinions on South Park.
The first time I heard about South Park was in 1998 iirc. Since it was not aired here it was this underground show that you get from the internet that the cool kids watch. Its rude and brash comedy attracted attention back then before the internet killed any form of taboo in topic or imagery. Its web animation like style matched the era when the internet was soaring in popularity. Usually people try to progress and release something that improves on what is already there, but South Park did the opposite by releasing an animation that has less frames than stop-motion. I don't know how but it worked beautifully and created an iconic look for the show, probably launching an art style that was copied later on by others. Personally I was confused on who this show addresses because the animations are very childish but the dialogue is adult oriented.

I have watched random episodes of it previously, but after 23 years hasn't the novelty worn off? How much of one thing can you have before you had too much? Those who started watching that show at 30 are now 52! Fans of the show have literally gone through different age groups. The behemoth catalogue of 307 episodes, who can watch that?

What are your opinions on the show, do you think it still holds up? Should they have quit a long time ago and moved on to better things? Does it still hold its popularity(honestly I don't hear much people talking about it any more)?

Also, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not aged well.

[marurun]

They are 49 and 50 and don’t have on-screen roles in anything. I think they have aged just fine. Unless you don’t mean appearance. Then I don’t know at all.

[Nemoide]

I remember when South Park came out and was THE HOTNESS. I didn't have cable so I couldn't see it right away. I wanted my mom to buy me a T-shirt of it anyway because the cool kids had them (she didn't like it so I never got one). I eventually watched some of it when VHS tapes started getting released. I thought it was great, the edgy gross humor really appealed to me as a 12 year old. I rented the movie when that came out on VHS and liked it too. Eventually my family got cable and I was able to watch it, I liked it but didn't love it. Over the years I'd see an episode here and there, some where funny, others less so.
Eventually the show started bothering me because it got very focused on being extremely topical and always had the political stance of "actually BOTH sides are dumb" which itself feels like a lazy cop-out so they don't need to actually stand for anything. Instead, the show usually thinks that anyone who take political stands are BAD, which is a message I don't especially care for. IDK, I feel like the show (and Trey Parker & Matt Stone's work in general) is really emblematic of a kind of Gen X slacker libertarianism that doesn't sit quite right with me. I don't think I want to say the series is super-bad or anything, but I've drifted away and rarely look back. It's been at least 5 years since I've seen an episode.

There's a part of me that would like to revisit some of the early stuff at some point and see what I think. As far as Parker & Stone's other works, I remember really liking Cannibal: the Musical and Orgazmo but haven't seen them in many years. I always had mixed feelings on Team America. Even without going back and rewatching it, I'm certain that That's My Bush has aged poorly.

[Markies]

When it comes to South Park, I always noticed that the show had three phases.

Phase 1 was the beginning of the show, which was more low-fi and the prime example of the 'low brow' humor that became synonymous with the show. I would saw the show was at its edgiest, but that's also because nothing like that was going on at the time. Most of the shows were self contained and really had nothing to do with anything.

Eventually, they moved to a Phase 2, which was the rapid fire, pop cultural episodes. South Park is a unique enigma where it is an animated show that can be produced in basically a week. So, they basically can do anything in an insane amount of time. Other animated shows takes months to create. So, South Park could hit on topics right when the cultural zeitgeist was it its peak. Once again, the episodes really nothing to do with anything, but they tied into what was going on with the world. Eventually, the show began to its course and the writers were tired of having no consequences.

Then they moved to Phase 3, which is the more modern era. This kind of started with Stan's parents getting divorced and then PC Principal showing up. The show still was able to hit the popular trends, but they began to develop the characters more.

I used to love South Park and was one of the last remaining shows I used to watch before I gave up on TV altogether. In the crazy world, I kind of felt like they were able to cut through so much B.S. and give an honest take on what was happening.

However, I've never been able to go back and watch old episodes. There are a couple of parts that are still funny, but I've never had any desire to watch a full episode again. I kind of associate the show with my awkward teen years and it is hard to want to revisit that time.

[MrPopo]

It's worth pointing out that phase 2 is when they shifted from "dur hur" humor to satire, which they would keep doing going forward (with an odd episode here or there that just has fun with the fact that the protagonists are a bunch of kids doing kid stuff). The nature of the satire changes in phase 3 when they move for season-long underlying arcs as opposed to standalone episodes with the occasional multi-parter.

[isiolia]

I have watched random episodes of it previously, but after 23 years hasn't the novelty worn off? How much of one thing can you have before you had too much? Those who started watching that show at 30 are now 52! Fans of the show have literally gone through different age groups. The behemoth catalogue of 307 episodes, who can watch that?

What are your opinions on the show, do you think it still holds up? Should they have quit a long time ago and moved on to better things? Does it still hold its popularity(honestly I don't hear much people talking about it any more)?

Still fewer episodes than Family Guy, much less The Simpsons.

As mentioned, the show has changed over time, so it's not really just the same thing over and over. That said, I think they had a better thing going when most of the episodes were stand alone as they were more focused. Seemed to work better with their deliberately short production cycle.

I think they still get some good episodes out at times though, and some of the older ones are still great going back to them. Not so much the very early seasons, but the more topical episodes still often hold up.

[MrPopo]

I think the first season which introduced PC Principle was pretty strong; a lot of the plotlines would have been hard to justify without the overarching narrative. The next season with the election you can definitely see the point where they were not expecting Hillary to lose and basically got their entire plotline derailed hard. And that's definitely the part of the new style that they're still having trouble adjusting to; planning things out months in advance but still trying to be "we can change it a day before" topical.

[RCBH928]

They are 49 and 50 and don’t have on-screen roles in anything. I think they have aged just fine. Unless you don’t mean appearance. Then I don’t know at all.

[RCBH928]

I just saw the one about China recently, and they had so many Disney characters in this show that I just don't know how they are not getting sued. There was a guy on YT that had his video pulled because he created a satire of Bugs Bunny meanwhile these are airing on cable.

I'd disagree about "the same thing" comment, it definitely evolved and got more refined over the years. I'd also disagree about the internet killing any taboos, if anything there are more of them now than in the 90s and they are enforced by international companies who don't care about your opinion.

But if you don't care for it, what else is as good or better for comedy cartoons?

While I still find it funny, it seems its basically the same old formula
Yea I guess there is a lot of political correctness now, but back then you wouldn't see a cartoon about a kid kicking his toddler brother around.

There isn't much cartoons now days, let alone adult oriented comedy ones. I guess the demand is just isn't there.

In the crazy world, I kind of felt like they were able to cut through so much B.S. and give an honest take on what was happening.
.

Yes I like that part about them, no one seems above criticism to them. I find them a lot of time as if they are saying "yes, we did go there".

fewer episodes than Family Guy, much less The Simpsons.
.

I get the comedy about Family Guy bit it really wears off easily for me, the show structure of stopping to remembering things and imagining things give me a headache. Somehow I see this show as a South Park copy cat. As for The Simpsons, I just don't understand that show 600+ episodes over 30 years. Who is addressed by this show? I haven't seen much Simpsons but my understanding it was more kids oriented but the audience seems to be the adults. Wasn't it all about Bart back when it started?

[RCBH928]

I remember when South Park came out and was THE HOTNESS. I didn't have cable so I couldn't see it right away. I wanted my mom to buy me a T-shirt of it anyway because the cool kids had them (she didn't like it so I never got one). I eventually watched some of it when VHS tapes started getting released. I thought it was great, the edgy gross humor really appealed to me as a 12 year old. I rented the movie when that came out on VHS and liked it too. Eventually my family got cable and I was able to watch it, I liked it but didn't love it. Over the years I'd see an episode here and there, some where funny, others less so.
Eventually the show started bothering me because it got very focused on being extremely topical and always had the political stance of "actually BOTH sides are dumb" which itself feels like a lazy cop-out so they don't need to actually stand for anything. Instead, the show usually thinks that anyone who take political stands are BAD, which is a message I don't especially care for. IDK, I feel like the show (and Trey Parker & Matt Stone's work in general) is really emblematic of a kind of Gen X slacker libertarianism that doesn't sit quite right with me. I don't think I want to say the series is super-bad or anything, but I've drifted away and rarely look back. It's been at least 5 years since I've seen an episode.

There's a part of me that would like to revisit some of the early stuff at some point and see what I think. As far as Parker & Stone's other works, I remember really liking Cannibal: the Musical and Orgazmo but haven't seen them in many years. I always had mixed feelings on Team America. Even without going back and rewatching it, I'm certain that That's My Bush has aged poorly.

Usually people would judge the show by "Face value" and its comedy effect, but this is a very nice philosophical analyzation of the show and its creators ideology.