South Park

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I loved the season 18 premiere episode. It looks like this season is already off to a good start.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I really liked yesterday's episode. But somehow, just like with last year's Goth kids episode, which I also really liked, people seem to hate it. I dunno, it was definitely not as funny as last week's and it had some draggy parts, but it also had some good jokes and I liked how it played off of the ending of last week's episode as well, which is rare for SP outside of multi-parters. Considering Butters' expulsion was never resolved, I wonder if that'll come up again in a later episode or they'll just have him come back to school next week.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This episode was great. People just love to nit-pick this show up the ass. I like how it showed continuity with the ending of last week's episode, and on top of that, it really did a good job of explaining how insanely anal people get about health these days, especially when they're largely uninformed about the science of proper health. As a pharmacist, I've had a fair deal of education on this stuff, so it was great to see one of my favorite shows dissect just how stupid people can be when they think the key to good health is something as simple as just avoiding gluten altogether (which in and of itself is not a recommended thing to do). I mean, yeah, the solution that they came up with at the end is scientifically worse, but the point of the episode is still hit home with that.

[Nel_Annette]

Agreed. Yesterday's episode was great, and I loved how the boys' party plot was born from what happened last week. Subtle continuity nods are always a pleasant surprise. Didn't really like the season premiere as much, but generally I've found quite a few of the season premieres weak over the last ten years of the show.

Oh Stan, we all wish we were drowning in bitches.

[Daxdiv]

This week's episode looks interesting.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I liked this week's episode, honestly. It's not as strong as the first 2, but the whole tran/cisgender thing was really amusing, and I also like how, once again, this episode played into the continuity of the last one. It looks like that might be a season-wide thing.

[Daxdiv]

It was Tumblr: The Episode with Cartman being the trans person claiming oppression and Stan being the Cis having no idea what is happening. Oh Stan, you can't fight these people.

That and the plots connection from each week. I can't wait to see what part from this episode connects to next week. I suspect that they'll still have the bathroom up and running by then.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It'd be kind of cool if this continuity ends up building up to something in the season finale. I doubt it, but at the very least, it's an amusing new feature for this show.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Spoiler

10. Chinpoko Mon- The Nostalgia Critic already covered this episode in his list, so I won't really go into any detail, here, but even as someone who got the whole Pokemon craze being that I was a fan at the time as well, I still always found this episode to be funny. It just nails down the general idea of how fads work with kids, and the completely ridiculous plot about how a big Japanese coroporation was marketing to the children to use them as an army was just the classic style of South Park humor that's personally right up my alley. This one will always be a favorite of mine.

9. Stanely's Cup- I've heard so many people hate on this episode in the past, and about 99% of the negativity just goes toward its ending. Personally....I think the ending is funny as well, and I don't see how it turned so many people off considering how many worse and less tasteful things South Park had already done way before this episode. Another thing I notice is that, while people like to point out that South Park is a social satire show that often likes to make fun of current events, I'm surprised that people never seem to credit it for how much it also parodies movies, or in this case an entire genre of film. Having watched a ton of sports movies myself, this episode doesn't leave out a single cliche, and makes sure to capitalize on every joke possible while still remaining a unapologetic as this series has ever been. I love this kind of humor, but maybe I'm the weird one, here. Asspen sort of did the same thing, as well (though, it was more specifically geared toward's cheesy 80's teen movies as opposed to just sports movies), and it was certainly a great episode, but personally I got way more laughs out of this one.

8. Casa Bonita- This is a great example of a character episode. In this case, its more of a Cartman episode, and also somewhat of a Butters episode to a lesser extent. Cartmanland and Gingerkids were 2 other Cartman episodes that I really love, but this one just slightly won out over the 2 of those. The basic premise is that Kyle is going to Casa Bonita for his birthday, which is Cartman's favorite restaurant, and he can take any 3 friends with him. The only problem is that he refuses to take Cartman after what a jerk he's been to him in the past, and decides to take Butters instead. Of course, Cartman will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, no matter how silly of a thing it is, and he ends up going overboard by tricking Butters into thinking that the world is ending to get him to hide and go missing, all while trying to put up an act around Kyle to convince him that he has changed his ways, just so that he can go to a damn restaurant that he really likes. What I love about this episode is that it really shows you how manipulative and conniving of a person Cartman can be. Its part of why he's my favorite character, but also shows you how mean-spirited he is, yet at the same time it comes off being really funny. Of course, there is the part of you that is sort of rooting for Cartman, and the part of you that really wants to see the brat get his comeuppance. This episode is actually a little bit of both, to be honest, but I'd say it leans more toward the former, since even though Cartman is the bad guy here, you can see how badly he wants to go to Casa Bonita that he's willing to lie and scam out his ass to get what he wants. My only gripe with this episode is how Kyle is a bit out of character in how he becomes so trustworthy of Cartman after Cartman puts on such an obvious act. Its a bit out of character for Kyle, as he's usually much smarter than that. Other than that, its a great Cartman episode with a really satisfying and hilarious conclusion.

7. The Wacky Molestation Adventure- Once again, this one is another episode that's more of a movie parody than anything else. It does have some social commentary on what I think was a thing at the time with child abuse being a big thing in the news, and maybe something about people not really abusing their child, but the media and society were too sensitive to anything at that time and even being a proper parent and yelling at your kid about something could be seen as abuse. I'm not entirely sure if even that's close to the mark, but either way, I don't really care. That's not the point of why this is a great episode. At its core, its a really funny parody of Children of the Corn, and movie I sort of have a strange interest in if only because I saw it as a kid and it used to scare the hell out of me. This episode actually helped me get over that movie, and now I like it as a more of a cheesy but still well conceived horror movie. The general plot is that Kyle gets angry at his parents for not letting him go to a concert with his friends by a band called "The Raging Pussies," and tries to get back at them by calling child services and saying that he was molested. It turns out this ploy works and his parents are pulled away by authorities, leaving him to do whatever he wants. As soon as all of the other kids of South Park here about this, they do the same, and eventually South Park becomes an adult-free town. Flash forward in time a bit, and an unsuspecting couple ends up stuck in the newly named "Smiley Town" with Eric Cartman as its mayor, while the other half of South Park is split up and lead by Stan and Kyle. Essentially all of the kids have banded together and formed 2 separate societies, and with this new couple in the middle of the dilemma, you can bet your ass that this episode capitalizes on every Children of the Corn joke and reference that it can muster while still being a very clever and funny episode in its own right. It also pays homage and reference to quite a few other movies as well, and I always love movie parodies (well....the good ones, anyways).

6. A Ladder To Heaven- Its hard to explain why I love this episode so much....other than I just find it to be pretty fucking hilarious. That's really all I can say. I mean, it has a message about how sentimental people can get over something that they completely miscomprehend, and how there are people who can exploit people's emotions for whatever reason, but really I just see it as an episode about Stan, Kyle, and Cartman being the dumb kids that they are and figuring that they can build a ladder to heaven to get a free candy shopping-spree ticket that Kenny supposedly had on him when he died. Its them being completely selfish and partakin in a ludicrous idea all for some candy, and people and the media and even the freaking military taking their actions in completely the wrong way....and I just find that pretty funny. I don't know, maybe its just a good string of individual jokes that makes this episode so funny for me. I really can't explain it any further than that, so I won't. Moving on....

5. Super Fun Time- This one is a Cartman AND Butters episode in equal parts, and you can't go wrong with that. Mr. (or was he still Mrs. at thsi time? I can't remember. And quite frankly I don't care, because its irrelevant) Garrison takes the class on a field trip and tells them they have to partner up with someone to make sure that they nobody gets lost or goes missing. They are going on a field trip to some old country time-period sort of get-up, in which the actors obnoxiously stay in character during their entire shift, no matter what. Garrison tells Butters that he is absolutely responsible for keeping Cartman out of trouble, and Butters takes this very seriously to the point of hand-cuffing himself to Cartman. Of course, Carmtan doesn't want any part of this dumb-trip and as soon as he spots the next-door "Super Fun Thyme," he takes the first opportunity possible to ditch the class and head over there, even forcing Butters along with him. The other part of this episode deals with a group of international criminals (who robbed a Burger King, of all places) holding up in the get-up and holding the entire class and all of the employees hostage, all while the actors still annoyingly refuse to break character, leading to some absolutely hilarious situations. Both sides of the episode are extremely funny, and its good proof of how South Park can do great comedy without even really having to reference any current events or make any social commentary, whatsoever. Of course you could probaly find some of that here if you looked hard enough, but if that were the case then you're completely missing the point.

4. Woodland Critter Christmas- The Nostalgia Critic already talked about this episode, and like him I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who may have not seen it. I'll just say that its funny as hell, and IMO its the best Christmas special ever. Now go watch it.

3. You Have 0 Friends- As someone who used to constantly be bugged by friends about refusing to get a Facebook account, this episode finally nailed down why I can't stand facebook. Its not a forum for intelligent discussion, or a way to truly keep in touch with friends (at least not most of the time). Its a major online gimmick in which friends are treated as commodities and people partake in useless, meaningless "interactions" (if you can even call it that) and mini-games. I still gladly have no Facebook account to this day, and this episode on top of being a great sattire on that, was also just funny with plenty of good jokes. I nearly died laughing when it started becoming a parody of Tron towards the end.

2. The Breast Cancer Show Ever- So, remember how I said a few entries back that Cartman is either the character that you either want to root for or want to see get his own ass handed to? This episode is definitely the latter, and its actually a great character episode for Wendy. Basically, Cartman has never had a problem with picking on Wendy, who to be fair mostly comes off as an ass-kissing goodie-two-shoes that all the teachers love, even if she genuinely cares about what she talks about. However, Cartman ends up going too far this time, when he mocks Wendy and her message as she is making a presentation about the importance of Breast Cancer awareness. This causes Wendy to snap and publicly challenge Cartman to a fight in front of the entire school to finally shut him up once and for all. Now Cartman is in a tight spot, as he knows he clearly can't beat Wendy, but he can't afford to be embarrassed in front of his whole class by being beat up by a girl. This forces Cartman to do everything in his power to try and convince Wendy to call off the fight, all while he still tries to put up an act in front of everyone else that he's not afraid of her and is ready and willing to fight her at anytime. Its funny because once again it shows you how manipulative Cartman can be with his schemes, but in this case its for a problem that he got himself into in the first place. And the ending is priceless, since its once again something Cartman gets himself into, even when he could have very well been in the clear. Its just a really great way of showing you the pathetic side of Carmtan, which incidentally may be even funnier than his more clever side.

1. My Future Self 'n' Me- So, why is this my favorite episode? Well, because for me, it succeeds completely on 2 fronts. One is that its a really funny episode in which all of the jokes just hit home (at least for me), and it never fails to keep me from laughing. Two is that its another episode with a message, but its a message that I can really get behind more than any other that I've seen in the show so far. The episode is all about how parents and public service try to steer their kids away from drugs and other bad things by....flat-out lying to them about it. Anyone with some common sense and true morality knows that this is completely wrong, and you can bet that South Park rips this kind of thought to shreds. I won't really spoil the twist in the episode for anyone who hasn't seen it, but basically this episode is about Stan, and how through some strange circumstances he runs into his future self, or rather this future self runs into him, coming back from the past. The problem is that his future self is a complete homeless junkie who has succumbed to drugs and warns himself from the past to not go down that road. Of course, this being an episode of South Park, all is not as it seems, and since I can't really spoil anything for you, all I can say is that this episode comes up with every clever and funny way to mock just how terrible it is to flat-out lie to kids about drug use, and other such things in general, rather than talking to them seriously and getting them to understand that they need to make the choice for themselves, and realizing that in many cases if given the proper guidance, they can make the responsible choice. In this sense, a lot of the humor from this episode comes from how moronic Stan's parents act in this situation, and it just so turns out that Butters and Cartman have a lot of hilarious involvement in this plot as well. To me, this episode is just the most re-watchable, gets the most laughs out of me, and delivers its message stronger than any other episode in the show, and that's pretty much why its my favorite.

[close]

Looking back at this, my list would remain mostly the same, except if I were to do it now, I'd replace #10 with Cartmanland and #8 with the Black Friday trilogy.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Having re-watched the series over the summer, I found there were a lot of episodes of the series I really, really loved, some more than I once thought I did, so if I were to re-do my list now, I'd say it would probably look like:

Spoiler

10. Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers
9. I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining
8. The Black Friday Trilogy
7. Fishsticks
6. The Last of the Meheecans
5. Stanley's Cup
4. Toilet Paper
3. The Losing Edge
2. Asspen
1. Butters' Very Own Episode

[close]

...And it looks like only three episodes from my last list are still in this one. South Park just has too many good episodes, seriously. 

Oh, and I can't believe no one noticed this, but last night's episode was officially the 250th episode of the series! Yay for South Park! 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

And to think that they once made fun of The Simpsons for having over 300 episodes (and that was just at the time that they made that episode about it), but today they aren't that far off from that same milestone.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, the point of that joke was less about the fact The Simpsons had that many episodes and more about how The Simpsons has done everything and used up pretty much every idea out there because it has gone on so long. Personally, I think South Park has managed to stay consistently good season to season even now, whereas The Simpsons just nosedived hard after the tenth (and before it's 250th episode, I might add). So, I'd say even though it's almost near 300 eps itself, SP has The Simpsons pretty much beat in terms of consistent quality. 

Though, I have a feeling that they'll quit after the 20th season, so the series probably won't make it to 300 episodes, making this their last "milestone." I guess we'll just have to see, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've always said that South Park is a much more consistent show than The Simpsons, but everyone else on this board insists that The Simpsons is better just because you can "ignore" the later seasons, but the fact is that those are still part of the show and still shit, so it's only fair to take those into account while assessing the show's overall quality.

So basically, take your post and direct it at them.

[LumRanmaYasha]

My post wasn't directed at you. I know you aren't even a Simpsons fan in the first place. I was just stating my personal feelings on the two series' respective qualities using my comment on your comment as a branching off point. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I wasn't even being serious, dude.