South Park continues to push boundaries. But is this art or desperation?
In the most recent episode of South Park, “The Snuke,” Eric Cartman suspects a new Muslim student is planning a terrorist attack. The real star of the episode, however, is Hillary Clinton, who has a bomb in her vagina. An agent’s head is eaten up and spit out after he tries to take a peek inside, but this scores nothing but orgasmic pleasure for Hillary. It’s as tasteless and offensive as television can get. South Park has always been tasteless and offensive, but also very intelligent. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore.…
Article comments
26 - daryl d
Well, I still didn't like the Hilary Clinton episode and it's not because I actually care a lot of her. I thought the lice episode was really bad. But I will admit: I have viewed the "Cartman Sucks" episode a couple more times and really take back my words on that. It has been the only really good episode so far this year. I'm a South Park fan, so please all you fanboys: I am one of you! I just have extremely high expectations from Matt and Trey.
27 - daryl d
ok, just saw the recent South Park which was the most brilliant one yet. I loved how they lampooned Bill Donahue of the catholic league. they did it in a very disgusting and intelligent way. Perhaps South Park hasn't jumped the shark.
28 - Anakin Ryan
dont know what your problem is i think so far the 5 episodes of season 11 have all been good, the lice one and the hillary clinton one were awesome especially for me as im a big 24 fan, it did'nt anger me to see the show i love mocked, i think if anything seeing something mocked on south park only serves to point out its cultural relevance. i think so far 3 of the episodes have been incredible good and the other 2 were just good, just compare it to a show like the simpsons and just how lame that is now.
29 - Jackers
I have to agree. I've loved 99% of episodes up to this last season. There's even been a couple where I haven't been able to watch though the entire 20 minutes because I just wasn't laughing.
I don't know whether it's just me growing up, or whether the writing team have had a hard time keeping the themes fresh (it is 11 seasons old, after all) but these recent episodes have left me cold. Whether the blatant 100% focus on nothing but shock value for humour is ironic or not, I think things will have to improve for the show to stay on much longer.
It would be a massive shame if such a legendary and influential show were to slowly die out in such a distasteful manner.
30 - Winston Churchill
I thought season 10 was possibly their best ever, but season 11 has been really disappointing. The episodes just haven't been very funny. Don't know if the writers are out of ideas or what. I remember thinking fairly early on in the shows existence that it had kind of played itself out, but then it got really good again and it's stayed that way up until this season.
31 - tenest
I've been a HUGE fan ever since the first episode. Even with Tivo, I have rarely missed an episode when it first airs... with the exception of this season. While each of the episodes this season have had some pretty funny moments, they all seem weak in comparison to past seasons.
I've also noticed a stark increase in the amount of gore/violence that doesnt really add to the story. The scene where the guy is trying to commit suicide but somehow fails over and over and over again. Is that really necessary? The "shock" was achieved after the first failed attempt. Why all the extra gore?
There also seems to be less story lines on the gang, and more on auxiliary characters. Thats ok for an episode or two, but what ever happened to the adventures of stan, kyle, kenny and cartmen?
32 - Bonnie
I've watched it since the beginning, and I've also noticed I'm more just tolerating all the gratuitous gore and poo because the non grossout stuff is still so good. I really think how we see South Park is 50% South Park and 50% our own perceptions, and maybe it's bothering us because we're getting older, or because it's not a shock anymore. When I first saw the first Mr. Hankey episode in 1997 (or whatever) I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen, poo smears and all. But when Cartman shat into that bowl in the World of Warcraft episode, it just grossed me out. What changed; South Park, the world, or me? But overall, I still think the show is great.
33 - daryl d
After I wrote this article, the Easter episode aired with a parody of William Donahue from the Catholic League. That episode was hilarious. I still think the show is great but I hope they know when to end it. I don't want the show to become a parody of itself like The Simpsons.
34 - Lisa
I used to be wild for South Park, so much so that I was part of a group of colleagues who would bribe the (initially) sole colleague who could receive the broadcast, plying her with homemade cupcakes and so forth just to be the first to be loaned the videotape of that week's ep. I remained a megafan for several years.
Then it all started to become about grossing people out, the same kind of vulgar joke done over and over. Worse, the societal humor became uninformed. It completely jumped the shark for me with the Virgin Mary statue ep (note: I am not and never have been Catholic), which was hostile nastiness without funniness, and was also the "AA" episode that showed clearly that the SP creators have never even been near a 12-Step meeting or the literature from one. It saddens and angers me to think of the people who need help who may not get it because they bought into a completely fictitious portrayal.
35 - aido101
i agree with the critic. i am such a large fan of southpark. i am one of those people he speaks of who watches every episode countless times. but, lately, the show has been letting me down. where the show appears to be stupid....it's actually a really intelligent show. but, same can't be said for the past few series. they seem to be relying more on..."shock" jokes then anything else....they just ramble on any random story, and then say the word "dick" and insult some random celebrity. i really hope they go back to the original form of writing, wich, was smart, and at the same time stupid. and now, it's just getting stupid. wich is really sad, because it truely is my favorite show on telly.
36 - aido101
i agree with the critic. i am such a large fan of southpark. i am one of those people he speaks of who watches every episode countless times. but, lately, the show has been letting me down. where the show appears to be stupid....it's actually a really intelligent show. but, same can't be said for the past few series. they seem to be relying more on..."shock" jokes then anything else....they just ramble on any random story, and then say the word "dick" and insult some random celebrity. i really hope they go back to the original form of writing, wich, was smart, and at the same time stupid. and now, it's just getting stupid. wich is really sad, because it truely is my favorite show on telly.
37 - Lol
Absolute crock. No one cares if YOU think it jumped the boat. True South Park fans will continue to watch it and your pathetic worthless opinion isn't going to change anyone's mind.
38 - Greg
I agree with you, the show has jumped the shark, in my opinion, when they killed off chef. I don't feel the show has had that intelligent spark to it anymore, it's just been pointless, idiotic, well... crap. It hasn't even been funny anymore in my opinion.
39 - Greg
As a side note, yes South Park is still doing what it's always done, but, and maybe it's just me growing up, but they're doing it in a more tasteless fashion than ever. Obviously the technology has gotten better, but that doesn't mean the show has to become more gory. I mean people always died on the show, but they way they're doing it now is very very graphic, to the point where it's really just not funny. You can really start to see it in "You Got F'd in the A". Don't get me wrong that's actually one of my favorite episodes, but the way the people died at the dance contest was overly and unnecessarily graphic.
40 - Steve
After seeing the "Biggest Turd" episode, I have to concur that it has jumped the shark. There were two jokes on that one--Bono is a turd, and you weight turd in "Courics." That seems to be all they can do lately. They make fun of a celebrity and toss in a reference to turds. What was there on that episode that made anyone laugh? The same tired old parody of film cliches in the barroom scene? That was funny two seasons ago, but it's worn out. As one South Park supporter pointed out, it's become a question of whether you're a "fan" in which case you support the show even when it sucks. I guess I'm not a fan anymore, because I haven't gotten a good laugh out of South Park in months. Well, the Mormons episode was funny. . .
41 - jason
thank you for saying something that needed to be said. just like the simpsons started to fade away around 2000, south park seems to follow suit.
the problem with the phase "jump the shark" is that it implies that there is nothing good left in the show. i think the show jumped when mr. garrison decided to become mrs. garrison. yet, afterwards there were some good ones like best friends forever.
still, you pretty much sum it up with "South Park has always been tasteless and offensive, but also very intelligent. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore."
the offensive humor used to be clever, but now it became a game of how often you can use the word rape in an episode. still, i'll pretty much watch south park until the end.
42 - Tolga
I am completely with you on this one! They stopped using their intelligence and just throw the jokes right on to your face. And I hate the fact that the boys grew up. I especially loved Cartman when he was so immature but was still an asshole. Now he's just like a complete loser. I think South Park stopped being funny after season 8.
43 - Shawn
Could not agree any more. I actually found this article by googling "south park not funny anymore".
I used to be one of the biggest south park fans. I have seen every single episode, many of them multiple times. However, after the second half of season 10, South Park just completely lost its charm.
Every episode of South Park from season 11 onwards feels like it was written by someone other than Matt and Trey. The humor is insipid, the stories are shallow, theres so much forced shock value.
I still watch every episode hoping this was a temporary phase. There are still a couple of mildly funny moments in each episode, but nothing even CLOSE to the genius of the older episodes. Yet, it boggles my mind how SP fans still celebrate each episode on various online forums. I'm glad to see that there are other fans like me who find that something really has changed about SP. I truly hope SP will regain its lost glory.
44 - Lisa
I also found this by googling "South Park not funny anymore", I just read they are going to devote an entire episode to Britney Spears tomorrow which I can already tell is going to be a complete disaster (isn't that what Perez Hiltion is for?)I have been a viewer of SP since the very beginning and can't help but wonder what the hell has happened here (I'm the same age age as Trey Parker so I don't believe it's a 'maturity' thing). I will keep watching though in hopes this is just a temporary lapse of genius-unless of course this Britney episode pushes me over the top.
And don't even bother going to the South Park fan site, I checked it out too and was amazed by how lame those people are.
45 - Lisa
I was right, the Britney episode was a complete disaster. Why on earth are they defending celebrities now? The message here was 'leave poor Britney alone or she's going to kill herself'. No such luck!
RIP South Park. You guys not only killed Kenny, you killed funny too.
46 - Alex
If you say anything bad about the newer episodes, then you have no sense of humor or you're just not smart enough to "get" it. Kind of like The Emperor's New Clothes. It's sad really, how the South Park audience has succumb to fanboyism.
47 - THANK YOU!!!
Finally, someone agrees that the show is not what it used to be. Stop attacking the author and accusing him of being a "Hillary Humper" because that was not the point of his article, he was not defending Hillary, he was saying that the show is stretching too far (jumping the shark) to get a laugh. Yes they are getting the laughs, but its just not really funny, someone please step up and try to defend the Cartman gets frozen bullshit episodes that nearly ruined the show for me. They are either trying too hard or not trying at all. Thanks for reading if anyone did.
48 - Tom
I agree with Alex. I have been watching South Park for years and I think the opposite of many people on here. The show has gotten infinitely funnier and more intelligent, without a doubt. Around season 10 and definitely season 11, the issues the show satirizes are profound and the effect of the show makes for hilarious television.
Perhaps if you think South Park has lost it's humor.. and definitely if you think it has lost it's intelligence... the newer episodes are over your heads?
49 - neptune
sp has,nt jumped the shark just look at breast cancer show ever.
50 - Anonymous
"Perhaps if you think South Park has lost it's humor.. and definitely if you think it has lost it's intelligence... the newer episodes are over your heads?"
Perhaps you enormous faggots should get your grammar correct before babbling on about intelligence? It's "its". Get it right, dumbass.
P.S. South Park can go choke on a bucket of cocks; it is not, nor ever was, funny in the slightest.
51 - Nick
OK. here it is, here it is everyone who commented...
ALL shows have there flaws. EVERYTHING on the planet does. South park over all is still great. i think that up until season 11 every episode was awesome and had every ingrediant a SP fan would want. Now, in season 12 you have to pick the good ones. i think this is largely based on the fact the trey & matt still run the show by themselves--which is awesome, i respect that, but it is amazing they can still squeeze out ideas. even though that ones like "britney's new look" and "major boobage" aren't spectacular, they're still ideas.
52 - Lady
I have to agree with this. I used to love South Park from like the first season, and then it started to get really corny and repetitive. They used the same jokes or even the corniest jokes like the Britney Spears "new look" where her head was shot off, the episode where fighting against the "Persians" like from 300, and the one with Oprah and her vagina and anus, etc. I stopped watching South Park after that "300" episode, I seriously thought the show got really stupid after.
I didn't laugh at a single episode at the time for the last years I've watched it. It amazes me because I loved South Park. I don't regret not watching it anymore and I know it doesn't matter to anyone. I really think Family Guy is funny and so is The Simpsons..South Park really.. isn't my taste anymore and I'm easily amused by funny shows.
53 - Kevin Gustafson
I don't care if they do variations of old jokes. It's funny. I never really got into Family Guy. The Simptsons looks funny when I switch to it. But I lost my real interest in it years, er, decades ago. South Park has been pretty consistent to me. They've gotten past being weird and offensive to attacking the left AND the right on pop culture and politics which is refreshing. As far as jumping the shark that's not big news since it only has a few years left before Matt and Trey want to stop making new episodes.
54 - kim lee
Let me tell you something pal.
South Park is greatest show on television history. It gets better every year. Do you see all the South Park merchandise out there. South Park has matriculated into oue entire society and it greatness will be timeless. College courses will devoted to this show.
Your article was a disgrace in competent journalism. Its author sounding like a *********** whale licking *******bottom************* Michael Jackson!
Never write!