South Park

[Tarry]

Don't get me wrong, I think there's a lot of decent episodes from recent years. But in my opinion, there's always too many duds inbetween them.

[BigFaker]

Which reminds me, I cam across this link the other week:

www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20302134_20534077,00.html#21062809

Seems Trey wasn't overly keen on the early series either.

Was surprised at "Stanleys Cup" - That's one of my favourites.

[Burke]

I thought Stanley's Cup was hilarious. Especially the voiceover guy.

And I know it was an April fools joke and the fact that so many people were pissed off about it was hilarious...but that Terrence and Phillip episode really is one of the worst ever!

[Tarry]

Stanley's Cup is a classic.

Not Without My Anus was funny the first time I saw it, but everytime since I've hated it. Along with most other Canadian based episodes.

[Burke]

Season 15 of South Park just finished up and the show's recent renewal through 2016 means there are at least five more seasons to look forward to for Matt Stone and Trey Parker's distinctive animated series. At this point, South Park has given us a ridiculous amount of memorable characters, whether they be completely original or the South Park spin on real life people and religious icons. But which are the cream of the crop? Check out our list of The Top 25 South Park characters…

#25 - Sheila Broflovski


Kyle's uber-protective mother has been a constant source of overbearing parental influence and has become the epitome of family-oriented outrage. Her maternal extremism led to the creation of Mothers Against Canada, which in turn led to the American-Canadian war in South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. Whenever you think that your mom is a bit over the top, keep in mind that at least she didn't start a freaking war like Sheila did. Don't get on this woman's bad side. Sheila has been out of the spotlight recently, but who can forget her presence in "It's a Jersey Thing", where her New Jersey roots came to the forefront and led to an invasion of Jerseyites.

#24 - Officer Barbrady


The quintessential example of police ineptitude, Barbrady has been a fixture in the series since the first episode. For the first seven seasons he was the only cop in town, despite being a complete idiot and functionally illiterate. But dumb cops make for good comedy, so Barbrady kept showing up and generally making a mess of the crimes he was supposed to investigate. Still, somehow he manages to keep the peace in South Park - Because as we've seen in "Chickenlover", if he's not around, complete anarchy breaks out.

#23 - Ike Broflovski


Ah, sweet little Ike. He is without doubt the most adorable of the South Park characters. His Canadian heritage adds a little extra empathy for the boy, since South Park has never been kind to the good people of Canada. But the flappy head affliction that plagues the Canucks in South Park works for Ike, and makes him even cuter. But don't let that adorable baby voice fool you – this kid is far from innocent. He even had an affair with his teacher in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy". Ike was the first to claim the title of TV's most badass toddler, long before Stewie Griffin came around. Like Stewie, Ike is a certified genius with a number of impressive artistic talents, but Stewie lacks Ike's hilarious penchant for profanity.

#22 - Wendy Testaburger


Stan's longtime girlfriend is a perfect example of all the things that could go right and wrong with young love. Wendy is kind of like the Courtney Love of the series – if she wasn't the girlfriend of someone important, we probably wouldn't have initially paid any attention to her at all. Much of her screen time in early seasons was spent in extreme girlfriend jealousy/possessiveness, or getting vomited on by her boyfriend (hey, some people are into that).

But Wendy eventually established a personality of her own and became one of the more politically vocal characters in the show. She's joined many campaigns and causes and generally acted as a voice of reason in the show. Her liberal views are completely in conflict with Cartman's, which has provided us with some of the greatest verbal fights in the show's history, and one particularly bloody physical battle in "Breast Cancer Show Ever" that ended with Cartman getting a much-deserved ass whoopin'.

#21 - Jesus Christ


One of the great continuing ideas of the show is that Jesus Christ -- as in the real Jesus Christ -- lives in South Park. He's there, he's real, he's mostly ignored and used only when it's advantageous to people. And when he tries to make a point that people don't really like, it kind of pisses them off. It's a brilliant comment on the modern state of religion.

Jesus has shown up in a number of terrific episodes. There's "Super Best Friends," in which Jesus comes up short when he tries to out-magic David Blaine. The best he could do was tell the crowd "turn around..." so he could make bread and fish "appear."

Jesus has fought to get Santa out of Iraq in "Red Sleigh Down" and sacrificed himself so Kyle could save the Easter Bunny in "Fantastic Easter Special." Despite all of these great adventures, the most enduring image of Jesus is when he serves as host of his underwhelming public access show, "Jesus and Pals." Suggesting that even if the Second Coming did happen, people either wouldn't believe it, wouldn't care, or simply wouldn't notice.

#20 - Tuong Lu Kim, a.k.a. City Wok Guy


One of the most successful (and most stressed out) business owners in South Park, Lu Kim owns both City Wok and City Airlines, which are thriving business despite Lu Kim's hilariously exaggerated Chinese accent - which leads him to pronounce "city" as "sh**ty". He's provided loads of entertainment as a stereotypical Asian entrepreneur who just happens to be married to Chinese pop singer Wing.

In "City Sushi" he got his moment in the spotlight as nearly the entire episode focuses on him when a rival Japanese restaurant moves in on his territory. We also discover a shocker – Lu Kim's not even Asian! He's actually an alternate personality of Dr. William Janus, Butters' therapist. The saddest part of all is that it doesn't seem anyone has told Wing yet.

#19 – Mr. Slave


Trey and Matt have a knack for doing things no one else dared to try in a cartoon, and Mr. Slave is a perfect example of this. There aren't many shows, animated or otherwise, that would feature a Village People knock-off who's into S&M. His first appearance in "The Death Camp of Tolerance" showed him getting a gerbil up his butt. During the course of the series, we've learned a lot about his skillful ass, from his days as a small child when he'd pretend to be sick so that his mother would insert an anal thermometer, to the moment where his ass ate Paris Hilton alive.

We first saw Mr. Slave dating Mr. Garrison (who took that whole slave thing a little bit too far), but he found true happiness with Big Gay Al and the two got married and lived happily ever after.

#18 - Saddam Hussein


How do you emasculate and humiliate one of the world's most hated dictators? Give him a high-pitched voice and make him Satan's gay lover. It's ludicrous, and yet hilarious, as South Park humor often is. Saddam's biggest moment in the spotlight came in Bigger, Longer & Uncut as he provided an unending source of evil as the movie's main bad guy. Through the years, Saddam became Trey and Matt's default tool for all things diabolical, and even after his death he still provided comedy fodder as he returned to Hell and tries to get Satan to break up with his new boyfriend. Eventually Satan grows a pair and banishes Saddam to the one fate that would bring him the most suffering: a life in heaven with the Mormons.

#17 - Big Gay Al


Flamboyantly homosexual, and always upbeat and positive, Al brought a little extra diversity and color (rainbows) to the show and through the years has been South Park's advocate on gay political issues. He first appeared in the fourth episode of Season 1 in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", where he ran a shelter for gay animals and helped educate the people of South Park about homosexuality. Later, he served as a focal point for South Park's take on the controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts and their stance on gay scout leaders. Although Al is about as stereotypical as you can get, those cliches are overshadowed by his kindness, thoughtfulness, and high respect for other people's views. He's also endlessly cheery, which is remarkable in a town full of generally unhappy people, and if you're wondering how he's doing he'll always tell you, "I'm super! Thanks for asking!"

#16 - Jimmy


The wild popularity of Timmy proved that South Park was on to something, so they introduced another handi-capable character in Jimmy. Jimmy is much more aware of what's going on around him than Timmy is, and he's got an agile wit that makes up for what his legs lack. The wonderful thing about Jimmy is that, although the show does derive a number of sight gags from his "differences", most of Jimmy's popularity comes from the fact that he rises above his disability to become a smart, cool guy with plenty of optimism. And the kid's got moxie! His competitive spirit led him to take steroids to win the Special Olympics. He also has the distinct honor of creating the world's funniest joke in "Fishsticks", despite Kanye's inability to comprehend the humor.

#15 – Liane Cartman


Cartman's mom is a dirty slut. No really, she is. She's earned a reputation as one of South Park's biggest whores, leading to many questions about her son's paternity. Here's a little known factoid for you: She's named after Liane Adamo, who was once engaged to Trey Parker. The engagement apparently ended because she cheated on Trey during their engagement. And thus...Cartman's mom is a dirty slut.

A classic enabler, Liane Cartman spoiled her son rotten and bowed to his will often. But she's also one of the few adults in the show who's actually changed over the years. In recent episodes she's finally starting to get tired of his bulls**t and getting stern with him.

#14 – Mr. Hankey


Only South Park could make a success out of a character that is literally a big old piece of s**t. Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo is his full name, and every Christmas he's around to spread Christmas cheer and poo stains wherever he goes. Most of his humor comes from sight gags as Mr. Hankey spreads feces along everything he touches while being the most absurdly cheerful thing since Richard Simmons. The South Park citizens don't seem to mind the poop smears though, as their lives are pretty sh**ty already.

#13 – Mr. Mackey


"Mmmkay?" Say that around anyone under 40 in the U.S. and they'll most likely know who you're talking about instantly. Mr. Mackey managed to become a South Park icon despite being your average mild-mannered teacher. Actually, maybe that's exactly why he's so popular – he's that boring, non-threatening teacher that everyone remembers from their school years and liked to take advantage of.

The guy is the quintessential prude, and he says he hasn't had sex in 21 years (he doesn't remember that incident in India with his shotgun-wedding crack-whore wife because he was so drugged up at the time). But he's not afraid to cross the line sometimes, as seen when he literally threw Eric Cartman under a bus.

#12 - Satan


There's something great about the fact that South Park decided to make Satan a likable and relatable character. He just wants what we all want, to have fun, be loved and respected. It's an interesting choice - considering "Satan" is supposed to be the embodiment of evil. But you need the Big Bad over there in the shadows to keep everyone in line. In that way, he's not evil, he's just a dude doing his job.

Satan's greatest moments are probably in the South Park movie where he has to deal with his dysfunctional relationship with Saddam Hussein. He has a terrific musical number and is one of the movie's protagonists. This is what established him as a fully fleshed out character who would go on to some terrific appearances in other episodes.

Who didn't root for Satan to get his act together with his new boyfriend, Chris? We knew it wouldn't last, because Chris was "too nice," and Satan is - well - Satan. We haven't seen him much lately, but whenever Satan shows up, it's usually pretty great. Hopefully the show finds a reason to bring him back in the not too distant future.

#11 – Timmy


Timmy is a boy of limited vocabulary but endless appeal. He proves that a handicapped child can find fame, fortune, and glory in South Park. He's been the lead singer of the death metal band Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, a gang member, and even an armored superhero known as Iron Maiden. Throughout it all, Timmy never loses his plucky, cheerful personality, making him about as positive a role model as South Park has to offer.

#10 – Towelie


Towlie is a character that just shouldn't work. It's almost like Matt and Trey challenged themselves to create a character so absurd, so annoying and pointless - while still making it funny.

South Park's ludicrously tight schedule (they make an episode in about a week's time) is now famous. The fact is that many times, the creators struggle for an idea that's truly worthy of an episode. You can almost picture them pointing to something lying around the room and going "Okay, a towel! It's about a towel!" Perhaps not the most efficient way to create a show, but that's the kind of high wire act South Park's been doing for years now.

And this time, it worked. Towlie picks up where Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo left off and takes South Park's brand of surreal humor to another level. He's some kind of genetic experiment, a stoner, but basically just an all around laid back dude. His first episode was a tongue-in-cheek sendup of conspiracy stories, and then of course -- there's the Oprah episode; which was a way of saying, "You think Towlie is crazy, wait until you see this..."

#09 – Terrance and Phillip


It doesn't matter how old you are: Farts are always funny. Canada's most famous comedic duo have built a career out of exploiting fart humor to its fullest potential. Terrance and Phillip tend to be minor players in the series, amusing the gang with various TV episodes and movies. But sometimes the two become central players in the surreal world of South Park, most notably in South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut and in their war with the Queef Sisters in "Eat, Pray, Queef." These two comedians never run out of gas.

#08 – Mr. Garrison


Mr. Garrison is one of the more demented residents of South Park. Early on, his antics involved teaching his class with the aid of a puppet called Mr. Hat, often sprinkling tidbits of sexual wisdom in with his arithmetic lessons.

Mr. Garrison's bizarre sense of sexuality has been the focus for a number of years on the show. He went from being intensely homophobic to openly gay, then had gender reassignment surgery, then decided he was a lesbian, and finally went back to being a heterosexual man. We can't imagine how someone as unhinged as Mr. Garrison has been able to keep a teaching job all these years, but the school would be a far more dull place without him.

#07 – Chef


All kids need someone to turn to for advice. And for the first ten years of the show, Kyle, Stan, and the rest of the gang relied on Chef for sage-like wisdom and a little soulful music to accompany their salisbury steak. Too bad most of his advice turned into songs about making love to foxy ladies. Chef was every bit the cool, suave ladies man you'd expect from a character voiced by the late Isaac Hayes.

Sadly, Chef was written out of the show -- oddly, but humorously, using snippets of Chef's dialogue from previous episodes -- after Hayes quit to protest the anti-Scientology content of "Trapped in the Closet" - though Parker and Stone briefly resurrected him in the form of Darth Chef. But rather than hope for a return of Darth Chef, we'd rather remember the good times and the funky music.

#06 – Kenny McCormick


Few characters in the South Park collection are as iconic as Kenny. He's had one hell of a ride in 15 seasons of South Park, and of all the original cast he's the one who's had the most interesting adventures. Besides the fact that he has the gift/curse of being able to die and come back to life, he's been to both Heaven and Hell, and he also moonlights as the vigilante hero of South Park, Mysterion. And he saved the whole freakin' world in Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. Pretty impressive for a character whose face has only been seen a handful of times.

Kenny's also the naughtiest of the South Park boys. He is the most sexually knowledgeable amongst his friends and has a fascination with boobs. He's the most foul-mouthed kid in South Park, but he gets away with it because his characteristic orange hoodie muffles his profanity just enough to keep the censors from freaking out. South Park just wouldn't be South Park without him.

#05 – Butters Stotch


Unquestionably the Fifth Beatle, Butters has had a central role in several of the best episodes, with "Butters Very Own Episode" standing out as one of the best episodes of South Park ever. It came out of nowhere, shook off the typical formula of the show and was just hysterical.

Butters was just a background character until around the fifth season of South Park, and ever since it's hard to imagine the show without him. His relentless cheery optimism and bright-eyed innocence add an element to the series that helped things sort of click into place. And having him paired with Cartman is always funny.

Butters is one of the show's sweetest characters - and can be used only once in an episode and still get the biggest laugh. For a while, it seemed like Butters was much more of a main character, and then Matt and Trey decided to pull back on him a bit and use him more sparingly. It's interesting to see how they bring certain characters forward and elevate them from time to time. It's all part of the ongoing evolution of the series and why it seems possible the series could remain vital and fresh through 2016 (and maybe even beyond).

#04 – Kyle Broflovski


Along with his best friend Stan, Kyle Broflovski is the straight man of the core South Park gang. Despite sharing the same penchant for cursing as the rest, Kyle is generally an honest and thoughtful young boy who's always ready to deliver an "I learned something today..." speech for the town' benefit.

However, Kyle also has a mean temper that tends to get aggravated whenever Cartman is around. Kyle hates being made fun of for his bossy, overweight mother and his Jewish heritage, things Cartman is only too happy to poke fun at. Kyle also has some rotten luck when it comes to being caught up in bizarre situations, whether it's being stitched up in the world's first Human Cent-iPad or becoming infected with a life-threatening hemorrhoid because Cartman inherited a million dollars. Life isn't easy for the nice boys in South Park.

#03 – Stan Marsh


One of the original bad boys of South Park, Stan is most known for being...not so bad. He and his best buddy Kyle are fairly normal kids, or as normal as one could be in this crazy town. Stan often acts as the voice of reason in the midst of the show's insane events, and in many ways he's more mature than his father Randy.

Stan recently had a bout of depression as he turned the ripe old age of 10 and suffered an eighth-life crisis in "You're Getting Old". His cynicism and depression marked the most notable moment of Season 15, and his history as one of the more stable and thoughtful characters in the series made him the perfect choice for the voice of Trey and Matt's own creative/professional frustrations.

#02 – Randy Marsh


We pondered naming Randy as South Park's greatest character. If you wanted to take that position in a series of debates, you'd probably convince a fair number of people. Randy is the archetypal confused and unsatisfied American male. He's not as idiotic as Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin. However, he is just as susceptible to a mid-life crisis journey that could lead him down any number of insane roads.

Randy typically means well. Whether he's trying to bond with his son through World of Warcraft, leading his family West to find internet signal, or challenging other drunk fathers to fights in the stands at little league games - it's usually motivated by an attempt to do right by his family.

What's great about Randy is that he's always felt a bit more realistic (if that's a word that even applies to South Park) than some of his fellow cartoon fathers. He's more relatable -- perhaps too relatable -- and is often driven to "keep up with the Joneses" or simply stay relevant in a changing world or fighting off age in a culture obsessed with youth. It almost never works, and ultimately Randy's destructive escapades end with a level of acceptance of the inevitable.

#01 – Eric Cartman


Yep, it's the obvious choice. But come on... Sometimes the obvious choice is also the right one.

Cartman is one of the worst human beings in the history of fiction. He's a narcissist and a sociopath, for starters. He'll screw over his friends, his family, and anyone else that gets in the way of whatever petty and insignificant goal has grabbed hold of his attention at any given moment.

And yet, against all odds, he's the most loathsome character we've ever loved. Whether it's his horrible voice, his petulant whining, or his brilliant business ideas -- "Oh Randy, you're breaking my balls here. ...You're breaking my balls, Randy." -- there's stuff that ONLY Cartman can do. Only Cartman could feed Scott Tenorman his parents. Or get his mother arrested, or change the future of civilization so he can play the Nintendo Wii.

Cartman is that kid you hung out with - even though you hated him. Or he's that kid that you realize you hate when you're an adult and he's just a kid and man, you should cut him some slack. But some kids are already huge a-holes. At the same time, Cartman is our id. He's the guy who will say what we want to say but can't. Who will do what we fantasize about doing but thousands of years of civilization holds us back.

Cartman is the biggest contribution to the world of animated characters that South Park has made - and that's saying something. Even if you argued that he's one-note, you've got to admit... that's one awesome note.

---

Who are your favourites?

I’m not doing a top 25. My top 5 however, are:

1. Randy
2. Cartman
3. Butters
4. Chef
5. Kenny

Randy and Cartman are amazing.

[Tarry]

1. Cartman
2. Butters
3. Pip
4. Randy
5. Mr. Mackey

[Mutant Couch]

1. Butters
2. Randy
3. Jimmy
4. Al Gore
5. Satan

[Brandon]

Mr. Hankey all day.

[Tarry]

The last two episodes have been great.

The use of the Bane masks and voice in the latest one was hilarious.

[Burke]

I love South Park so much. 15 years in and it's still great to me.

I got the season 15 DVD a while back. I loved the documentary on the making of the show. It's crazy how they can make these episodes so quickly every week and not do them months in advance like other shows. It looks stressful as hell though. I'm surprised they didn't walk away years ago (so glad they didn't though).

[Tarry]

Three great episodes in a row.

I really hope this is the start of a return to form.

[jayzero42690]

I wasn't really into last weeks. I just liked the Titanic parody and "on the morrow"

[Tarry]

I love every Butters-centric episode, so maybe I'm just biased on this one.

[Burke]

Butters is the man. The show got so much better to me around season 5 or so when he became a regular character. Him, Randy or Cartman are usually the focus of my favourite episodes of each season.

[Tarry]

I seriously love every Halloween episode of South Park, and the latest one is no exception.