|
South Park exploded on the pop culture landscape like a
dirty bomb in 1997, and the 13 episodes that comprise the groundbreaking first
season have lost none of their subversive impact. If Seinfeld was a show
about nothing, then South Park is a show about everything, from important
moral lessons in compassion and tolerance to good old-fashioned animated
character assassination (Kathie Lee Gifford in "Weight Gain 4000" and Barbra
Streisand in "Mecha-Streisand"). Like an After School Special gone quite mad,
profanity-spewing third-graders Stan, Kyle, Cartman and the ill-fated Kenny
navigate childhood in their mountain town. Nothing in South Park is
sacred and every episode has something to offend from "Big Gay Al's Big Gay
Boat Ride" (featuring George Clooney as the voice of Sparky, the homosexual
dog) to the Halloween episode "Pink Eye," in which Cartman dresses up as Adolph
Hitler. Best not to even get started on Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Pooh or the
season finale cliffhanger, "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut." South Park continues to be Comedy Central's highest rated and most recognized
original series ever.
|
