South Park has changed.

TLDR: There is none. Read all of it or don't.


Due to the length of this document I will be organizing it in an odd format, please bare with me. This is a topic of great importance because I see it as the death of a beloved friend and entertainment means that no other can compare too. I apologize in advance for capitol letters and repetition of "South Park" etc.

After watching nearly every episode of South Park during my teen and adult life (more than once)- I have come to the realization that South Park has made a transformation that has resulted in a 360 degree downhill slide into a poor cliche' of itself and modern pop culture.

South Park is about South Park. Pre-Season 10 it was a quaint little hick mountain town that no one cared about.(Keep in mind this is part of the joke) I cannot stress this enough- we have lost sight of what this show is really about. South Park is about KYLE, CARTMAN, STAN, AND KENNY. The other children, and especially the ADULTS in the show are used as a funny driving force that leads the story along. Although often over the top, obscure, and very racy (filled with potty humor, and fart jokes) we can't forget that the small things were what made this show absolutely hilarious. The show is about KIDS. Kids doing dumb/crazy things. South Parks success and likability stems from a certain charm, and its venture into new waters and a level of comedy danger that many thought unfit for television. This was NOT a show based on SHOCK VALUE. (Keep the term SHOCK VALUE in your head when thinking about new episodes of South Park.)

This show is now about a few obvious things: What is happening NOW in the media and our culture,(Myspace, Dog the Bounty Hunter, 24) Kyles dad (Kyles dad was a quirky side character pre-season 10, and is now for some odd reason one of the main characters) and most notably Cartman.
This change has more than soured my appetite for such lovable characters. Here I will list the changes of some main characters worth noting:

Cartman: Cartman is a sensitive subject for me due to the fact that the core sensibility behind Cartman has been lost. Remember the dumb little insecure kid who had to be better than his friends? He did cute little odd things when no one was looking? He was manipulative in a childs manner, and subject to his friends wills and opinions. Every once and a while, Cartman would put on his funny suit and get all serious for a minute and it was side splitting funny... when it involved the 6th graders. (NOT WORLD DESTRUCTION AND THE FATE OF THE PLANET.) Once in a season, the "world destruction" topic i speak about was funny, because little kids from South Park thrown into such a serious situation is funny SOMETIMES.
EVERY EPISODE? Not at all...
Cartmans voice has changed. Why? WHY MAT STONE AND TREY PARKER? WHY? Why are you doing this? He speaks in his "Adult" voice nearly every episode... its getting really old and repetitive. He is a child. What happened to "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM, I want my cheezy poofs!" Every SINGLE EPISODE Cartman is in his "This is serious, we have a huge problem on our hands" mode. Has anyone else noticed this? For those of us who like South Park for what it was, cannot appreciate this so often.

Stans dad: Randy Marsh is an amazing character. Funny, odd, and truly unique. And I agree that he should be in the show more often. But REALLY? I mean, REALLY? Do we have to have this same humor EVERY WEEK? The show isn't the "Randy Marsh Show." Randy Marsh was Kyles dad. Kyle used to go to him for advice and It would be ridiculous...that was his part in this.
Pop culture: The bottom line is, I HATE MYSPACE, I am TIRED of "spoofs." South Park is NOT about spoofs. Its about Impersonating real life people in situations that make zero sense.(OCCATIONALY) Not literal translations of presidents and government conspiracys.(WHAT? IS THIS SOUTH PARK STILL?) This isn't "go check your Myspace" Do we not get enough of that in our every day lives? This show is about little kids playing "Angels" downstairs while the adults are upstairs getting drunk and jerking off in front of each other in the hot tub.
South Park is a show about the children. "The lunch line with Chef" element is GONE. (Not Chef literally because Isac Hayes is gone) but do you UNDERSTAND where I am coming from?
AM I ALONE? WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THIS SHOW STILL? RENAME IT "THE CARTMAN AND RANDY MARSH SHOW" because it is NOT South Park. It is NOT hip and cool to watch because its DIS-TASTEFUL trash that is a mere shadow of its former self. Its a mass produced piece of crap.
I respect Parker and Stone ,but WOW. After all the sensibly funny things you two have created, is it really coming to this? Is it just about the ratings? Because if you said it was id give you the benefit of the doubt. Do the idiot teens these days not understand the reasons why old South Park was funny? Do you need SHOCK VALUE to snag viewers? :assface:

I have not read that whole wall of text, but I agree, South Park has changed since the first season, it's quite obvious.

Has it changed for the better or worse? I guess that's really up for one's opinion to decide; for me, I love South Park how it is now.

South Park has been a consistently good show

Road Warrior mention FTW. Didnt like the episode as a whole, but those 5 or 6 moments more than made it worthwhile.

Yeah it has changed, but for the better i think.

I read the whole thing 8)

I kind of agree, I do like the older episodes better. Although I still do enjoy the new episodes, but some of them I don't find really funny.
I'll always be a South Park fan for life.

Yeah it has changed, but for the better i think.

TheFragcat

the newer seasons have been hit and miss.. the good ones are great, but the bad ones are very forgetable... but i love how they satirize whats going on in the world right now... it really shows how silly our fad's are and touch on some very deep things.. surprisingly deep sometimes. nimatoad2000

Agreed. South Park is still pretty good, but not as good as it was in its earlier seasons

Shows change for various reasons. Most often times, its just the natural evolution. If South Park had stayed the same, the same animation style, the same things happening, the same characters, it would have gotten stale and out of touch. Matt and Trey developed the show as time went on, became more involved in politics, pop culture, and celebrities, and started digging deeper into the characterizations of every person.

Yes the show has changed. I don't see it as a bad thing. It still makes me laugh just as much as I did as a kid.

All true... but it's still entertaining.

Of course the creators humor changes. I think the best seasons were 5-9. New ones aren't really that good anymore.

Not really. The first 2 seasons were different, but its pretty much been the same since the movie came out.

Since season 3 SP has always revolved around satire of religion, politics and society in general.

I am of the belief that if you thought it was different when you were younger than maybe you just didn't get it, but now you get it and realize you dont like it.

Well i think the show is only getting better... every single episode so far this season.. had me laughing... this last was really great......... the queef sisters i mean come on... genius stuff right there..... it will be a sad day when matt and trey stopmaking episodes

Watching the newest Southpark atm

Southparkstudios.com

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Everything changes....that's how life is.

Not really. The first 2 seasons were different, but its pretty much been the same since the movie came out.

Since season 3 SP has always revolved around satire of religion, politics and society in general.

I am of the belief that if you thought it was different when you were younger than maybe you just didn't get it, but now you get it and realize you dont like it.

DaBrainz

I still love the show regardless

While I like where's it's gone, mostly, I miss where it was. They should gradually try and go back to the "small town" feel of it, and keep the kids as innocent as possible (if possible). They can still do social commentary, they just don't need the kids to go across the world and meet world leaders and aliens.

i still love south park

The show had its share of weak episodes but I am loving the new season!

I agree South park has changed a lot over the apst couple of seasons, anf for the worse. This new season is easily the worst of them all, but I still get a couple of laughs in each episode.

I was never a South Park fanatic, but I used to watch it from time to time. I'm kind of sick of it for all the reasons you mentioned, particularly the shock value one. My friends were telling me that the last one involved Martha Stewart placing objects in her lady parts..... Come on.....

I think it's at its peak right now, truly a great show.aaronmullan

For me the biggest change is that they have lost their innocence.

I think South park has dramatically improved since the 9th or 10th season. Prior to the7th season, it's was a landfill of feces. From season 7 to 9 it was continually getting less full of feces until season 10 where the landfill was empty of feces for the most part, and it was semi-transformed into a majestic carnival.Lockedge

It was always an ok show...

Oh, and you're back!

There's a lot wrong with your post. South Park has always been about shock value, it's just that it has gotten stale by now. The first episode featured a UFO coming out of Cartman's butt, something that has never been seen on cable TV before. I think South Park is just poor right now and too full of their obvious messages and have lost touch with their humor.

For me the biggest change is that they have lost their innocence.

illegalimigrant

Hit and miss. Season 12 was mostly very good. Season 13 has thus far been disappointing. The Coon episode was good, but the Economy one and the Jonas Bros one were both mediocre. The latest one, The Queef Sisters, ranks up there with the worst of the worst. Painfully dull.