South Park (South Park)

Member Name: carlmcq

Product:	South Park
Date:	30/10/09 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clever, funny animated comedy

Disadvantages: Still too crude for some

"Come on down to South Park and meet some friends of mine..." Thank you very much, I will.

Back when I was young, South Park always struck me as a childish show, which I loved of course, that was predominantly based on toilet humour and little else. However over recent weeks I've watched it regularly on Comedy Central and dare I suggest I love it!

Back in the earlier series the joke always ended up with Kenny being killed in a random way and not a lot else. Yet in these recent series it appears the show's creators have taken an approach of - if it's in the public eye, will satirise it. And with great success.

Nowadays the show does still evolve around the four boys; Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny who all live in the small town of South Park, Colorado, but naturally the other characters have grown, much like we've seen in the Simpsons or Family Guy. The boys tend to have more friends who appear more often such as Butters and Jimmy, and the parents appear regularly in storylines - any episode include Stan's dad Randy Marsh is always worth watching...

...and this conveniently takes me back to the storylines and the way they are very current and regard recent stories. For example, an episode regarding WalMart and it's monopolisation of the American market saw Randy become obsessed by the store and end up working for it while the boys aim to destroy it. Also included are stories regarding the Internet and our sheer dependence on it, immigrants (in the form of aliens) coming to South Park taking all the locals jobs, and perhaps most famously of all, the episode broadcast the evening after the results of the last American elections featuring Obama and McCain. Of course, when I say featuring, they don't actually appear - predominantly all the celebrities satirised just have voices which are put-on by the voice over artists. Often they sound nothing like their alias, but that helps add to the humour.

Yes, the toilet humour is still there from bygone series, but this tendancy to use current topics has opened it to a wider audience, and it my eyes improved the show many times over. It critically discusses and answers problems in todays society, often through hidden meanings, yet still has the rude jokes and potty mouth. For example, one episode based around the failing economy was parodied with Kyle declaring that our debts should not hold us back and we should go on spending while Randy led a council who attempted to seek out this young "Jew boy" (that's how they refer to him regularly!) who was spreading the word of debt, until ultimately he paid for everyone's debt... using a no-limit credit card...as I hope some of you have gathered this was cleverly depicted as a take on the story of the Bible.

The shows are churned out week after week - the quality of the drawings are part of its charm as they're hardly 'detailed' - which enables the shows to stay up-to-date as they can be produced extremely quickly for animated shows. And despite their regular output, the quality isn't waning. If anything, it's improving as they delve further into societies problems. Anyone who thinks it's still toilet humour should watch a couple of recent episodes. Aside from the strong language and tendency to verge on the boundaries of taste and decency when it comes to taboo subjects such as racism, the show delivers a message that the likes of the Simpsons and Family Guy have never done. And for that, I applaud it.

Summary: Probably a smarter show than you think