There was a time, far too recent for my liking, where I couldn't speak intelligently about South Park. I had seen about three or four episodes, usually denoting them as "The David Blane cult one", "The Mister Hanky Poo one", "The Passion of the Christ parody one", etc. I mean, christ, when I was about 13/14 I thought that all four of the main characters were the same person. I had liked what little I had seen, and wanted to see more... but I just didn't get around to it, mostly because they were (at that time) in the middle of their *eighth* season, which seemed to be an almost insurmountable level of episodes to get through. But then I figured you had to start somewhere, and the episodes were only 30 mins (well, 20 without god-forsaken commercials), and animated seasons are shorter than normal ones... so why not? And now here I am... Watching season 10 in real time, as they air. It just makes me feel so happy. South Park, hands down, is one of the smartest and funniest social satires ever created. Ever. I love this show. I adore this show. If it were anatomically possible, I would bear this show's babies. Yes, they would most likely be deformed, hideous creatures... but I would adore them with all my heart. I just love the show that much. The reason that I love South Park the way I do is that they always manage to hit the the heart of the issue they're tackling, right on. And because their animation style is not exactly the most high tech thing in the world, they can whip up an episode in less than a week, meaning that they can be painfully topical. Just days after the Terri Schiavo debacle suddenly became big news, South Park was right there to make fun of it, with Kenny being in a coma and the big debate being whether or not to cut *his* feeding tube. But not only do they manage to highlight something that's happening in the world today, they always manage to do it in a completely fresh and new way. To have the kids make a speech about how corporations are good and how they should let a starbucks into their town was just brilliant. Or how about the episode where the kids realized that the anti-smoking lobbyists are more evil than the tabacco companies themselves? We're all accustomed to looking at the tabacco companies very critically, but how about the people who oppose them? To me, this is the about as difficult as things come, and the ultimate in social satire. It's easy to comment on the world, and easier still to make fun of it. But to make people sit down and think, to make them see things in new ways, to potentially even change their opinion? Now THERE lies the beauty in this show! Somewhere between the potty-mouthed characters, the racist slurs and some of the most tasteless jokes I've ever heard resides a moral backing to the show, one that almost anybody can relate to. What the shows says are the things we want to say, but don't dare; what the show does are the things we want to do, but don't even realize it. There's a part deep down within me that wants to just tell hippies that if they want to change the world, do something more than just smoke up... Or (to go very recent) to yell at people in hybrid cars that just because they bought some fuel efficient car, it doesn't make them any better than us! In a 20 minute episode they can hit such a chord with people that they're thinking about it for days later. Not bad for a show that once boasted on how it could use the word sh*t 162 times in one episode. The show is just so friggin *intelligent*. I mean, just writing the episode "A woodland critter christmas" must have taken forever, what with the rhyming and all. And the frequent songs in the show (not to mention the movie musical) seem to compliment the show, not detract from it. I still can't believe that Trey Parker writes all the music for the show, on top of doing most of the voices, on top of coming up with these crazy ideas. Trey Parker is basically my god. (I would probably bear his children too, but I think I read somewhere that he's engaged; I think that's a job for the future Mrs.) And recently, with this whole Isaac Hayes/Scientology controversy... well, all I can tell Matt Stone and Trey Parker is: Bravo. Throughout all the press, the big name stars, and the attacks on the show, they stuck to their guns. I personally am a fan of the fateful episode "Trapped in the Closet", and I am infinitely grateful to the two of them for exposing certain truths about Scientology that the general public didn't know. I personally believe that people should be free to believe what they want, as long as they aren't forcing their views upon others... But a religion founded by a science fiction writer, in which they believe that the souls of dead aliens manifest themselves in our bodies, brought to this planet by an evil alien overlord - well, there are limits. As when the proverbial sh*t hit the fan, what did the writers do? They made an episode parodying not only Isaac Hayes' ridiculous departure from the show, but their own scientology episode! And in the end, they didn't blame Hayes for his leaving... they blamed his religion. As Kyle so eloquently put it (in a brilliant bit of self-referential comedy): "We shouldn't be mad at Chef for leaving us. We should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains." South Park just continues to get better and better... and next week, they're taking on (wait for it...): FAMILY GUY. Family guy, an show so fantastic that it came back from the grave by fan support alone, a show so great that I watch their episodes repeatedly, a show so brilliant that it deserves a seperate rant on this blog and so I should stop before I get going on that one too, lol. I CANNOT FREAKING WAIT.