South Park has been one of the most widely influential television shows of the last two decades, and has surprisingly been able to maintain a consistent level of quality as it delves into new material. South Park may have initially made a lot of noise because of its controversial content, but it eventually developed into a surprisingly thoughtful analysis of politics, world events, the entertainment industry, and small town values.
While even some of the greatest comedy shows of all-time have a few missed opportunities, the best episodes of South Park are as good as television can get. While most fans would argue that the show’s best episodes are in its earlier days, several new installments from the show’s more recent seasons have also managed to win over new fans. Here are ten South Park episodes that are pretty much perfect.
10 “Scott Tenorman Must Die” (2001)
Season 5, Episode 5
While it has always been a fairly dark series, “Scott Tenorman Must Die” is arguably the most disturbing episode in the history of South Park, as it details a particularly cruel plot of revenge that Cartman enacts to get revenge on a school bully. What is most ironic is that even though Cartman is genuinely one of the most selfish and rude characters on the show, viewers may have some sympathy early on when he is relentlessly bullied and humiliated by the older student Scott.
“Scott Tenorman Must Die” showed just how dangerous Cartman could be when determined to take someone down, and proved that the show was not afraid to paint its characters in an unsympathetic light. It wouldn’t be a classic South Park episode if there weren’t more than a few moments that made viewers uncomfortable at what they were supposed to be laughing at.
9 “Casa Bonita” (2003)
Season 7, Episode 11
“Casa Bonita” is another great episode that shows just how selfish Cartman can be, as it examines his continued attempts to get invited to a fancy Mexican restaurant that he has determined is the best in the world. It’s particularly amusing to see any instance in which Cartman is forced to act kind-hearted in order to get something he wants, as it goes against all of his basic instincts as a character.
“Casa Bonita” may have the best quotes out of any South Park episode, as the various insults that Cartman spouts out when he gets mad are among the show’s best. It’s arguably the episode that best identifies why Cartman is such an unusual protagonist, but Stan and Kyle do get some funny moments as well as the voices of reason who try to rationalize what makes Casa Bonita so special.
8 “Woodland Critter Christmas” (2004)
Season 8, Episode 14
Considering that the show began as a series of holiday specials that were created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, it makes sense that some of the best South Park episodes were the Christmas-themed installments. “Woodland Critter Christmas” takes a dark turn on a typical holiday animated special when Stan ventures off into the woods to discover a group of magical talking animals; the twist is that they are actually involved in a ruthless evil ceremony.
South Park is often at its best when it is able to marry the absurd with the disturbing, and it’s frankly rather shocking that “Woodland Critter Christmas” was able to get away with as much graphic content as it did. South Park has never been a show for the faint of heart, but the graphic animal murders committed in “Woodland Critter Christmas” may be enough to get even the most strongly stomached viewers to turn away for a few moments.
7 “Trapped in the Closet” (2005)
Season 9, Episode 12
South Park always outdoes itself when it has the opportunity to make fun of celebrities, but few impressions incited quite as much controversy as the depiction of Tom Cruise in “Trapped in the Closet.” The episode takes Cruise to task for his involvement in the church of Scientology, and then goes on to imply that he is a closeted homosexual who is hiding his sexuality from his fans.
“Trapped In the Closet” was particularly effective as a piece of satire because South Park was not punching down; Cruise was arguably the biggest star in the world, and it’s possible that the episode significantly hurt his standing as a popular culture icon. The fact that the episode became the subject of such considerable backlash from Cruise himself only makes what Parker and Stone managed to pull off seem even more impressive.
6 “Cartoon Wars” (2006)
Season 10, Episodes 3-4
The two “Cartoon Wars” episodes of South Park are among the few episodes that aren’t available on streaming (you can still track them down for purchase though), as networks like Max and Paramount Plus found them to be way too dark, even by the show’s standards. In a particularly ruthless jab at the rival adult animated show Family Guy, the “Cartoon Wars” episodes explore the controversy surrounding a supposed episode of Seth MacFarlane’s animated sitcom that makes jokes at the expense of Muslims.
Although much of the episodes brings up classic South Park themes about censorship, the most hilarious moment in “Cartoon Wars” involves showing the writing process of an episode of Family Guy, which involves merging random cutaway gags with niche celebrity references. Although a majority of fans haven’t seen these episodes because of their inaccessibility, “Cartoon Wars” is so nasty that it would be almost impossible to view Family Guy the same way again.
5 “Make Love, Not Warcraft” (2006)
Season 10, Episode 8
South Park has often explored the world of video gaming, but “Make Love, Not Warcraft” served as the show’s best depiction of the obsessive communities that emerge on massive multiplayer online games. After a rival player keeps killing them, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny team up to dedicate their lives to perfecting their World of Warcraft characters, and become increasingly lazy and unhealthy as a result.
The incorporation of realistic World of Warcraft footage within “Make Love, Not Warcraft” was particularly effective, as the show had a strong sense of how the actual game mechanics work. The sight of the four boys transformed into obsessive slobs who can barely move away from their screens because they are so enticed by the game is one of the single greatest (albeit most disturbing) sight gags that South Park has ever managed to pull off.
4 “Imaginationland” (2007)
Season 11, Episodes 10-12
South Park has pulled off a number of brilliant multi-part storylines, but none have been quite as successful as the trilogy of “Imaginationland” episodes that aired as part of the eleventh season. The episodes broke from the traditional mythology of the series to take place in a fantastical dream vision in which the boys have to prevent their protective imaginations from being taken over by evil forces.
“Imaginationland” contains no shortage of popular culture references to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and various superheroes, but also gets to be rather surrealist and weird at times. The trilogy was so successful that Comedy Central briefly released the episodes as a combined direct-to-DVD movie that served as the closest things fans may ever get to a sequel to the 1999 theatrical release of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
3 “Fishsticks” (2009)
Season 13, Episode 5
Many fans may have forgotten that Bill Hader helped write a season of South Park that included one of the show’s most insightful examinations of the way comedy clips can go viral. The episode follows Jimmy and Cartman as they get into a feud over the ownership of a joke, and how it eventually involves Kanye West when he takes offense to its implications.
“Fishsticks” combines a genuinely compelling satire about the ease at which creative ingenuity can be subverted with some really funny insults, showing that South Park is often much more level-headed than it is often given credit for. The episode also ends with a terrific original song of the same name that certainly ranks among the greatest musical moments in the history of South Park, which is no small statement considering that Parker and Stone are also Tony award winning musicians.
2 “You’re Getting Old” (2011)
Season 15, Episode 7
“You’re Getting Old” broke with the traditional standards of a South Park episode by telling a more serious story about how Stan is forced to cope with growing older, which starts a feud amongst his friends. After his birthday comes along, Stan begins to feel very depressed about the state of the world, as everything literally “turns to shit” in his eyes.
“You’re Getting Old” was praised for its surprisingly tender depiction of mental health trauma, as it personified the feelings that many viewers may have had in a way that felt very authentic. Seeing a character who had earned as passionate of a fanbase as Stan face his fears directly in the eye was surprisingly moving, but “You’re Getting Old” still featured the same amount of shocking gross out humor that fans of the show would have come to expect.
1 “Member Berries” (2016)
Season 20, Episode 1
“Member Berries” has become such a popular episode of South Park that it has crossed over into the larger popular culture landscape of film criticism, as the term is often used when referring to the use of nostalgia in franchise legacy sequels. The episode explores the concept of how the use of nostalgia, while refreshing in the moment, can be an addictive means of generating enthusiasm for something that is no longer relevant.
“Member Berries” also helped to continue the season long storyline that revolved around the Presidential election, in which Mr. Garrison became a right-wing extremist candidate that was directly inspired by Donald Trump. Since the show was airing throughout the election cycle itself, Parker and Stone were able to continuously show Garrison’s surprising rise to success, leading up to the moment in which Trump was elected in November.
South Park is streaming on Max in the United States.
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