The author of the post, Zachary Adam Chesser (who prefers to be called Abu Talhah al-Amrikee),[199] said it was meant to serve as a warning to Parker and Stone, not a threat, and that providing the addresses was meant to give people the opportunity to protest. The show's popularity resulted in a feature-length theatrical film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut which was released in June 1999, less than two years after the show's premiere, and became a commercial and critical success, and garnered a nomination for an Academy Award. and "PROFIT!" And Even If He Could, Should He? [25][48][158], The show's first episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", earned a Nielsen rating of 1.3 (980,000 viewers), at the time considered high for a cable program.
[118], The opening song played in the first four seasons (and the end credits in all seasons) has a folk rock instrumentation with bass guitar, trumpets and rhythmic drums. [132][133] In 2019, CBS Television Distribution (the syndication arm of ViacomCBS, the parent company of Comedy Central), took over the full distribution rights following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox (parent of 20th Television) by The Walt Disney Company (who had employed Debmar-Mercury founder Mort Marcus as the head of their syndication division),[134], distributing the show in syndication and ViacomCBS airings. "[9] Usually, the boys or other characters pondered over what transpired during an episode and conveyed the important lesson taken from it with a short monologue. [189][190], Specific controversies regarding the show have included an April Fools' Day prank played on its viewers in 1998,[191] its depiction of the Virgin Mary in the season nine (2005) finale "Bloody Mary" that angered several Catholics,[33] its depiction of Steve Irwin with a stingray barb stuck in his chest in the episode "Hell on Earth 2006", which originally aired less than two months after Irwin was killed in the same fashion,[192][193], Comedy Central's censorship of the depiction of Muhammad in the season 10 episode "Cartoon Wars Part II" in the wake of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy[187] and consistent mockery of the concept of climate change by using climate change denialist talking points. [152][153][154][155], The fifth-season episode "Super Best Friends", which was pulled from syndication and online streams following the controversy surrounding episode "201", was not released alongside the rest of the season when it was released in HD on iTunes in 2011. [165] The same year, Rolling Stone declared it to be the funniest show on television since its debut 10 years prior. The series revolves around four boys—Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick—and their exploits in and around the titular Colorado town. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Portions of the season eight (2004) premiere "Good Times with Weapons" are done in anime style, while the season 10 episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" is done partly in machinima. The series is currently aired in syndication in 90 percent of the television markets across the U.S. and Canada, where it generates an estimated US$25 million a year in advertising revenue. His lines are usually sexually explicit in nature, such as his original lines, "I like girls with big fat titties, I like girls with deep vaginas". Subsequent episodes have been produced by computer animation, providing a similar look to the originals while requiring a fraction of the time to produce. And the number actually works. ", "South Park on religion: unbelievably tasteless – & funny", "Lavin enjoying work with legendary broadcaster", "Jay Leno profile: When Big Ears met Big Chin", "Korn To Premiere New Track During "South Park" Special", "Cheech and Chong Will Make Another Movie", "Getting Out the Vote, Keeping Up With Youth", "My Secret Life: Peter Serafinowicz, Actor and comedian, age 36", "Exclusive: Henry Winkler Talks Sit Down, Shut Up", "South Park Returns With One Night Hour-Long Special Event", South Park in India shuts, runs into trouble in US too, "TG4 gives South Park early evening slot: ThePost.ie", "Brace yourself Scotland: STV has some depressingly cliched programme ideas", "Debmar Studios Acquires Broadcast Syndication Rights To Comedy Central's(R) 'South Park, "Debmar-Mercury Inks Multi-Year Deal With CBS TV Distribution For Ad Sales", "South Park: Imaginationland Will Bring the Laughs on DVD on March 11", "DVD Roundup: 3.11.08 Blu-ray and DVD Review – ComingSoon.net", "South Park - Cartman, Stan, Kyle & Kenny go Hi-Def with 12th Season Set on DVD & Blu-ray", "South Park - Short Delay for Blu-ray Releases of 'Season 1' through 'Season 5, "South Park - Press Release: Blu-ray Sets for the First 11 Seasons of the Show! Subsequent ratings have varied but it remains one of Comedy Central's highest-rated shows and is slated to air new episodes through 2022. The instrumental version of the original composition, though, is often played during the show's closing credits and is wordless. [178], South Park won the CableACE Award for Best Animated Series in 1997, the last year the awards were given out. [97] Hayes, who lived and hosted a radio show in New York during his tenure with South Park, recorded his dialogue on a digital audio tape while a director gave directions over the phone, after which the tape would be shipped to the show's production studio in California. [163], In 2004, Channel 4 voted South Park the third-greatest cartoon of all time. [30][184], The show further lampooned the controversy surrounding its use of profanity, as well as the media attention surrounding the network show Chicago Hope's singular use of the word shit, with the season five premiere "It Hits the Fan",[188] in which the word shit is said 162 times without being bleeped for censorship purposes, while also appearing uncensored in written form. [7][51][82] Occasionally, some non-fictional characters are depicted with photographic cutouts of their actual head and face in lieu of a face reminiscent of the show's traditional style. “And you can [expletive] and die.”.


[40], Parker and Stone met in film class at the University of Colorado in 1992 and discovered a shared love of Monty Python, which they often cite as one of their primary inspirations. In April 2010, the season five episode "Super Best Friends" and the season fourteen episodes "200" and "201" were removed from the site; additionally, these episodes no longer air in reruns and are only available exclusively on DVD and Blu-ray. [139] Subsequent seasons have been released in this format alongside the longer-running DVD releases. [19][30][43], A South Park pinball machine was released in 1999 by Sega Pinball.

Berry also used signature acoustic guitar and mandolin cues as leitmotifs for the show's establishing shots. Graden sent copies of the video to several of his friends, and from there it was copied and distributed, including on the internet, where it became one of the first viral videos. [239] In 2008, Parker, as Cartman, gave answers to a Proust Questionnaire conducted by Julie Rovner of NPR. “When Stan notes that COVID kills more than just Latinos, Trump says that the virus is ‘still killing a lot of them’ and then pulls out a chart showing how the coronavirus disproportionately impacts people of color,’” continued the report. [158] Though its viewership is lower than it was at the height of its popularity in its earliest seasons, South Park remains one of the highest-rated series on Comedy Central. The truth is I just want to have fun again. [25] The schedule also allows South Park to both stay more topical and respond more quickly to specific current events than other satiric animated shows. [13] The boys often act as the voice of reason when these events cause panic or incongruous behavior among the adult populace, who are customarily depicted as irrational, gullible, and prone to vociferation. Since 2008, Dunlap has been credited as the show's sole score composer. For just $300 million, 'The Scott Malkinson Show' is all yours to stream for four years," the first option says, followed by others like it. [20], The success of South Park prompted more cable companies to carry Comedy Central and led it to its becoming one of the fastest-growing cable channels.