28 Years Later, Paramount+’s Most Divisive Series Is Still the Most Controversial Show on TV

Sadly, in today’s television scene, sitcoms aren’t as popular as they once were. If you want a good laugh in under thirty minutes, many turn to shows from decades past, like Seinfeld, Friends, and The Office. However, there are a few comedy series from those eras still hanging on now because they exist in an animated form. The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park keep at it with characters who never age. Although those first two arguably aren’t as good as they once were, South Park remains as hilarious and important as ever. The topical storylines of 2025 proved that, but even before they took on the Trump administration, Trey Parker and Matt Stone‘s little show had been a pop culture phenomenon for over a quarter of a century due to its masterful ability to lampoon controversies with a bunch of crudely made, foul-mouthed kids.

‘South Park’ Created Unforgettable, Hilarious Characters

When South Park debuted in 1997, it had one big advantage that similar shows didn’t. Rather than having the constraints of network television, South Park aired on Comedy Central, where it could push boundaries and get away with so much. Could you imagine how different Parker and Stone’s series would be if it was on Fox?

South Park is explicit, with fourth graders dropping F-bombs and every kind of offensive joke you could think of. Cartman is the worst offender of all, an angry, chubby little kid who hates everyone and everything, with Jews seemingly at the top of the list. South Park gets away with it though, because of the message. It’s not offensive just because it can be. Cartman, for example, isn’t the hero most of the time. Often, he’s shown to be very much in the wrong and gets his comeuppance in the end. He’s a symbol of real life people, who feels exaggerated because he’s in the body of a nine-year-old. Being so over-the-top though makes him funny, like a character in Seinfeld or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia turned up to 11.

Fans love those early seasons of South Park because, despite the adult language, there is an air of innocence to it, with four kids named Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny (voiced by both Stone and Parker) going on adventures in their bizarre town and beyond. They look at a grown-up world through the eyes of kids, and they get themselves in trouble because they don’t understand it. Every episode could focus only on them and South Park would be great, but there’s also only so far that can go. South Park really took off when it expanded its scope.

‘South Park’ Evolved Beyond Its Early Formula

The South Park foursome works wonderfully together. Still, how many times can Kyle’s religion be mocked, Stan learns something, or Kenny dies? The series is timeless, with so many episodes feeling fresh and unpredictable, because it focuses on the whole town. Early seasons turned their attention to Chef (Isaac Hayes) or Officer Barbrady (Parker). However, as South Park kept chugging along, their teacher, Mr. Garrison (Parker), went through all sorts of wild changes. Later seasons gained criticism for focusing too much on Stan’s dad, Randy (Parker), a man so clueless that he gets such easy laughs, until whole arcs turned into subplots about Tegridy Farms.

South Park became the funniest show on TV when Butters Stotch (Stone) entered the picture. He’d been there since nearly the beginning, hanging around in the background, getting a few lines here and there. But as Kenny’s importance faded as he died and stayed dead for a while, Butters stepped in and grew into arguably the best character in all of South Park. He’s innocent, a good little kid who’s one of the few characters who feels really like he is a boy who just wants to play and have fun. With his mannerisms and voice, Butters is absolutely adorable. Putting him with the other kids, and especially Cartman, was a stroke of genius. Episodes like “Butters’ Bottom Bitch”, “Ungroundable”, and this writers’ all-time favorite, “Marjorine”, allowed South Park to elevate another character before we got sick of the other main ones.

‘South Park’ Episodes Can Be Made in Only Six Days

South Park has one technical aspect which gives them an unfair advantage over other similar shows. While The Simpsons and Family Guy take months for one episode to be produced, a South Park episode can be written, animated, voiced-over, and put to air in six days! This has allowed them to comment on everything as it happens, from pop culture to politics. Parker and Stone have their thumb on the pulse of America. They became just as important as what Jon Stewart was doing on The Daily Show.

Watching some South Park episodes now is like stepping into a time machine and witnessing a twisted history lesson on what people thought about a presidential election or the war in Iraq. We can see when everyone was obsessed with Paris Hilton or the relationship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. “Quintuplets” brought more attention to the Elian Gonzalez case. 2004’s “Douche and Turd” was a knowing wink about America’s options for President that year. And “Best Friends Forever” satirized the Terry Schiavo case with so much uncomfortable truth and humor that it won South Park an Emmy!

South Park is filled with dick jokes and enough crude language to make some viewers blush. It’s certainly not for everyone. From the 1997 debut episode of “Cartman Gets An Anal Probe” to its sharply critical recent seasons, South Park has been controversial and never afraid. It’ll make you laugh so hard that you’ll cry while also making you think about societal issues in a way no other media can. Almost three decades later, South Park hasn’t lost a step.