I’m going to warn you right now. I think South Park is the single greatest TV show of ALL-TIME. It is the only show that, with each passing year, actually improves. I attribute that to Trey Parker and Matt Stone having not only brilliant comedic minds, but that they have refined their method of production in such a way that they can include the most current of topics into the show. With this, they make each season seem just as, if not more, relevant than the last.
They always push the envelope creatively, and even if you think you’ve seen a shitty episode or two, you haven’t. I’ve made that mistake, too. I get my hopes and expectations up so high that sometimes an episode falls a little flat. But go back and watch it again. Even a mediocre episode of South Park is better than even the best episodes of some other good shows.
Never afraid to push the envelope, last night’s brand spanking new episode centered on paranormal activity, more specifically, dead celebrities. Ike, Kyle’s younger, more Canadian brother, has the burden of seeing the most recent dead celebrities. The first one we get to see is Billy Mays, and Parker does some great voice work and they create some pretty great faux products for him to push. We also get appearances from the rest of the recently dead celebrities; Patrick Swayze, DJ AM, Bea Arthur, Walter Cronkite, and, of course, the coup de gras` ( I don’t really speak French), MICHAEL JACKSON.
Anyone familiar with South Park knows that this isn’t the King of Pop’s first appearance on this show. Again, Parker’s voice work is impeccable. Anyone who doesn’t think so is “ignorant,” and fans of the show will get that joke.
So, the dead celebs end up in purgatory (an airplane that is being delayed because Jackson doesn’t think he is actually dead). So, he inhabits Ike’s body because he wants the world to see him as he truly wanted to be seen, as a little white girl. Trust me, watching Ike’s body channel MJ’s voice and mannerisms is classic.
Final Words:
The show seems back in top form, and I beg of you to find me a show in it’s 13th Season that continually and regularly puts out the quality that South Park has. Most TV shows get a 3-4 year window before actor’s egos get in the way, writers run out of fresh ideas, and the show begins to fade. South Park isn’t close to fading. It’s back, and better than ever.
Score: 9.5/10 (Outstanding)
The biggest problem I have with South Park now is the fact that 90% of their episodes deal with making fun of celebrities. I know this has been a focal point for the show for a very long time, but I feel they rely on it too much and it makes the show very Point A to Point B. Take a celebrity, make fun of him the same way everyone else already is making fun of him, except push a little harder and make it more mature. Some of my favorite South Park episodes have nothing to do with celebrity humor and place the story around the kids more or the other characters in the town like Randy.
I think on the surface, it might seem like most of what they do is to deride celebrities and make fun of them. But, each episode is a lot deeper than it might seem initially. Even this episode. Sure, they mention all the recent celebrity deaths, and use Michael Jackson, but they made some pretty astute observations as well. The line that the pilot of flight attendant (can’t remember which) mentions about him having a lot of baggage, but its such a subtle and throwaway line it’s easy to miss. But it’s one of the smarter lines of the episode. Because, the media won’t let him just go because of that baggage, but they were willing to let all the rest of the celebs who died just kind of fade away after a couple days of career retrospective.
And, I will agree that a lot of my favorite episodes don’t feature celebrity involvement, and focus on other characters like Randy and Mr. Garrison. But, most of the celebrity stuff is absolutely priceless, and its always topical. Rarely does a celeb themed episode seem to “miss”. That Kanye episode from earlier in the season. It’s makes them look prophetic considering what he’s done since.
They aren’t just throwaway jokes about a celebrity for shock value, Matt and Trey think out their material very concisely. Can you imagine when Family Guy starts making fun of these celebrities later this season? We will get a Patrick Swayze/Meg Dirty Dancing parody, an Ed McMahon/Giant Chicken fight, and Michael Jackson will adopt Stewie from the grave. (And I actually like Family Guy.)