As promised, I would introduce another type of regular content to my blog. So, I will introduce the “Friday Top Ten”! For the inaugural post I figured I would make my list about something I have spent a lot of time watching recently; so a list of my top ten favourite South Park episodes it is.
Despite the show running for over a decade, I wasn’t a fan until I was at university. I had deliberately avoided it because it was popular; you know how it is when you are younger, right? Anyway, with out further ado, here is my ten favourite South Park episodes. Oh, and by the way, they are in no particular order. I would have been here forever trying to choose that!
Chinpokomon
South Park takes a dig at Pokemon! The Japanese design a series of toys and a cartoon show with the soul purpose of brainwashing the children of America into bombing Pearl Harbour. Absurd as the storyline is, it is a fairly accurate social commentary on the marketing of toys towards the youth. Not to mention it is hilarious.
The Wacky Molestation Adventure
When the kids of South Park find out that all they need to do to get rid of their parents is to use the “M” word – “molest” – and they will be taken away. However, when all of the kids do this, they are left in a future with no adults, where the town is split into different groups. I am pretty sure there are supposed to be some “Children of the Corn” undertones to this one.
Scott Tenorman Must Die
I know I said that I wanted this list to remain unordered, but if someone was holding a gun to my head and told me they would shoot me unless I told them my favourite South Park episode, I would have to tell them this was it. The plot itself is so childish – episodes where the kids get to behave like kids are often my favourites – that it makes me giggle. Cartman is sold a bag of pubic hair by a fifth grader called Scott Tenorman. Cartman, thinking he will be able to show off in front of the others by being the first to get his pubes, is soon distraught when he finds out that you don’t get pubes by buying them. He soon sets out on a quest to get his money back and get revenge on Scott. How far will he go to get revenge? The answer…too far. Way too far!
Bebe’s Boobs Destroy Society
A fairly true to life account of what happens in school when little boys first start to notice boobs. All the boys become very attentive to Bebe and even revert to the their primal selves in order to ward off competition. There is a little bit of commentary on plastic surgery being performed on kids when they are too young, when Wendy decides she wants breast implants to help her get some attention from the boys.
My Future Self n’ Me
A genius episode! Stan’s future self comes back to the past to convince him not to ever do drugs, because if he does his life will be a mess. However, when it turns out that Butters’ future self has come back to see him too, they become suspicious of the future selfs. There are moments during this one where I cried of laughter for hours; mainly when Stan was trying to convince his parents that the future Stan is not from the future.
Lil’ Crime Stoppers
I have watched this one so many times, and all to hear the same line: “Do you want to see my cotton panties?” Now for those of you who haven’t seen this one, you probably won’t get why that is so funny. However, for those of you who have, you are probably laughing so hard you aren’t even able to read any more. The kids decide that the should become police and help solve crimes CSI style, leading to them eventually being offered work with the police.
Good Times with Weapons
Not only is this episode one of the best examples of truly hilarious South Park episodes, it is one of the best examples of animated television in history. When the boys are able to buy dangerous weapons from a fair, they are then transformed into deadly ninja warriors – which is shown visually by a change from the typical South Park animation, to a more intricate anime styling. If you want to see an episode where Butters just can’t catch a break, I would highly recommend this.
Marjorine
Another example of poor Butters getting the raw end of the deal. When the boys find out that the girls have a device to tell the future – it’s actually one of those paper pick-a-number things the girls used to make in school – they try to formulate a plan to take it from them. Sadly for Butters – and his parents – this means faking his death in order to have him come to school as the new girl and infiltrate the group to try to steal the technology for the boys.
Make Love, Not Warcraft
Despite never having played World of Warcraft, I am aware of the culture and stigma that are inherent to the game. This episode shows that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are familiar with these ideas too. The end of the World (of Warcraft) is at hand and the only ones who can stop it are the boys, who lay down their lives/health to become better at the game and defeat the evil that plagues all the other players. This is probably the first episode where I really took note of Randy Marsh in all of his hilarious glory. A lot of people had tried to convince me that he was the best character, and I didn’t believe them, until this episode.
Night of the Living Homeless
To be honest I find this episode just plain silly, but it does have one of the greatest musical moments in the shows history; a rendition of “California Love“. When people start giving money to the homeless in South Park, they too then run out of money causing them to become poor and homeless too. Where is the money going you ask? You will have to watch it to find out.
You will probably notice that there are no episodes passed season ten in this list. It is only my opinion, but I feel the show has taken a turn to the average over the last few years. That is not to say that I dislike all of the new episodes – a special mention should go to the Facebook episode, “You have 0 friends” – but it does show that the quality has dipped to the point of no new episodes being good enough to knock others off my list.
The main reason for my recent disinterest in South Park is that there is no subtlety to any of the humour any more. What subtlety I hear you cry? Well, the show normally has the sledgehammer approach to humour, but at the same time there were underlying pieces of comedy gold hidden deep within. To me, it appears that the gold has been mined for all it’s worth, but this still leaves the blunt and offensive humour that South Park has made famous.
Do you agree with my top ten? Are there any that I missed out and feel deserve more attention? Tough…this is my top ten, but if you want to tell me your top ten I would be glad to read that too.
My personal issues aside, South Park has brought me many hours of laughter. I want to take this moment to thank all involved in bringing it to the screen….
Explodobot 
Solid choices (Scott Tenorman Must Die :D), but was there no way to squeeze AWESOM-O 4000 in? This has to be one of the best episodes, as Cartman’s cunning plan is turned on it’s head to hilarious results.
Good list though, fun times reminiscing over this great comedy show!
There were some really tough choices when compiling the list. Sadly Awesom-O was one of the casualties, along with W.T.F & South Park is Gay!
Cheers for the comment buddy.
I have to agree thoroughly. There’s a reason I dressed as AWESOM-O one halloween.
I would also have had the episode where Kenny actually dies; the episode in the hospital with Mephisto where Cartman wants to know who his real father is; and of course, The Coon.