With nearly 30 years under its belt, South Park has kept fans laughing for a long time. But, given it’s been such a long run, not every episode (or Paramount+ special) is seen as equal. And this includes by its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, themselves.
It’s a show that’s made a name for itself by breaking all the rules, looking at anything and everything as a target ripe for parody. This has gotten it in some hot water, particularly when it comes to showing the Prophet Muhammad or eviscerating Scientology. But there are also episodes that, quite simply, missed the mark. And, as far as Trey Parker, Matt Stone, or both, are concerned, the following apply. That is, according to an interview they gave to Entertainment Weekly several years ago.
8 “Chef Goes Nanners”
Season 4, Episode 7
“Chef Goes Nanners” follows the title character’s fight to get the South Park flag changed. It’s a blatantly racist symbol from the past that should have been left there, but Jimbo believes in preserving history over all else. The debate escalates until even the children of South Park Elementary get involved, with Wendy and an uninterested Cartman on the side of changing the flag, which leads to a pretty horrifying moment for Stan.
Definitely Not A Poor Episode
Neither Parker nor Stone hold affinity for this episode, which is odd considering it’s all-around solid and even wraps up with a touching ending. In Stone’s words: “[that episode] was kind of half-baked. I remember we wanted to leave the office early. We were like, ‘It’s July 4.'” Parker responded with ‘Yeah, f*** it.”
7 “Pip”
Season 4, Episode 14
The undoubted nadir of Season 4, Pip is a bizarre take on Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Mostly, it’s bizarre that it often sticks pretty close to the text…and it’s an episode of South Park. There are also intermittent live-action scenes of Malcolm McDowell (playing “A British Person”) narrating the events.
It’s South Park trying to do something different, but the viewer questions why this was the something different. And, really, no episode should focus (especially entirely) on a character as one-note and disliked as Pip. It’s an episode that’s gotten very few re-runs, and for good reason, even die-hard South Park fans have a hard time sitting through it.
Curb Your Great Expectations
Parker was direct regarding this episode: “Everyone, including us, hates Pip.” Stone was a little kinder, but not exactly favorable. In his words:
“I don’t hate it. But it was like, ‘Why did you guys do that?'”
6 “South Park Is Gay”
Season 7, Episode 8
The Crab People ending may be Trey and Matt’s least favorite thing they’ve ever done, but it’s become a fan favorite. And for good reason, it’s so out-of-left-field that it works. And, for that matter, it might even be the best part of the all-around-solid “South Park Is Gay.”
Taste Like Crab, Talk Like People
Yet, neither of the show’s creators are fond of it. At all. Stone started by saying “Trey said ‘crab people,’ and we joked about how dumb it was. But we couldn’t figure out anything better.” Parker added, “[South Park executive producer] Anne Garefino was like, ‘Oh my God, don’t do crab people. It’s f***ing stupid.” Stone concluded their discussion of the episode with:
“But then we went and wrote the crab people song: ‘Tase like crab/Talk like people…’ I love the crab people song. But ‘crab people’ became this thing…It’s like, you just know there’s something better, but you can’t think of it, and now you’ve just got to go with crab people.”
5 “A Million Little Fibers”
Season 10, Episode 5
“A Million Little Fibers” is without a doubt one of South Park‘s weirdest episodes. The protagonist is Towelie, who writes his own A Million Little Pieces and faces a similar amount of controversy. And the B-plot follows, well, Oprah’s genitals. Both of the creators were able to pinpoint exactly why the episode doesn’t work.
Two Plots That Don’t Gel
As Parker said, “That did not turn out well. I had higher hopes for that. If we were going to have Oprah’s butthole and vagina and the gun and everything, it should have been in a show with the boys, not the towel.” Stone also thought it was a hat on a hat:
“It was weird on top of weird with weird in the middle. I’d erase that one. I think you could take that show and split it into two different shows. But putting it together, it just feels like, ‘What the f*** is this crap? Why am I watching this? I tuned in to watch
South Park
. I did not tune in to watch Oprah’s vagina talk to her butthole and a towel.”
4 “Stanley’s Cup”
Season 10, Episode 14
Season 10 is up there on many a South Park fan’s season rankings. But “Stanley’s Cup,” the season’s finale, irritated a lot of people. To be fair, it’s a super grim way to end a season of a comedy show. But, it’s an acquired taste, mostly because the very end of the episode ups its perverse ante to the max and then some, as the pee-wee hockey team Stan’s coaching to pay off his bicycle debt goes up against the Detroit Red Wings. And, unsurprisingly, the Red Wings win. But, surprisingly, they in no way shape or form take it easy on the five-or-so-year-old kids.
Such a Good Ending, Though
Both Parker and Stone were quick to praise the episode’s conclusion, but neither one went so far as to defend “Stanley’s Cup” as a whole. Parker said: “A lot of people didn’t get that one. We thought the ending was really sweet and weird, but nobody really got it.” To which Stone replied:
“The hockey one is like three-quarters of a show, but the ending is fu**ing sweet.”
3 Season 3
Season 3 is one of three full seasons of which Trey Parker is not proud. And, if anything, it’s surprising he didn’t lump Season 4 in along with it, because the humor is very similar. Seasons one and two are charmingly juvenile, while Season 3 and Season 4 are South Park close to finding its footing. It was absolutely Season 5 where that footing was found.
A Mixed Bag Isn’t the Worst Thing
But there’s a lot to like about Season 3. For one, the show continued to branch out in its structure, primarily via the unofficial trilogy of “Cat Orgy,” “Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub,” and “Jewbilee.”
Sure, there are episodes that don’t quite work, like “Jakovasaurs,” “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery,” and “Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics,” but there are also a few stone-cold classics: “Spontaneous Combustion,” “Succubus,” “Chinpokomon,” and “World Wide Recorder Concert.” Like the two seasons that preceded it, Season 3 is unworthy of hate.
2 Season 2
Season 2 is riddled with episodes that have gotten better with age, primarily because of their simplicity. They’re utterly rewatchable almost across the board. And, yet, it’s another season about which Trey Parker finds himself embarrassed.
Juvenile, But Often Iconic
That said, while Stone was the only one to champion “Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus,” it’s hard to imagine Parker not also liking the episode, since it irritated so many people. And, for the unofficial record, that was a pretty brilliant bait-and-switch to pull at such an early time in the series’ run.
But, the season’s best episodes would be the touching “Ike’s Wee Wee,” the Barbrady-focused “Chickenlover,” the purely enjoyable “Summer Sucks” and “Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls,” and the intermittently heavy “Clubhouses.”
1 Season 1
Is season 1 rough around the edges? Sure. But that’s all part of its charm by this point. But, if he had his way, Trey Parker would wipe it (and the two subsequent seasons) from the series’ history.
It Would Only Grow More Controversial
As Parker said:
“It’s just embarrassing to watch. Okay, we were, like, 26, 27. But it’s like, ‘Really? We thought that was funny? We thought that was well-written? Oh my God, this is terrible.'”
Regardless of Parker’s feelings toward it, each episode of Season 1 is important in its own right. And there are a handful of episodes that are genuinely funny to this day, including “An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig,” “Pinkeye,” and “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo.”
