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South Park going downhill this season?
Posted: Mar 23, 2008 in TV and Celebrities
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Anyone watching South Park this season? I haven't been that impressed with the first couple episodes. Matt and Trey are getting to be more preachy every season, which is fine as long as the show is still funny.
This week's episode, with Britney Spears going around with half her head blown off for the entire episode, I thought was more gross and disturbing than funny.
Usually celebrity-bashing brings out the best in South Park (such as the Jennifer Lopez "Taco flavored kisses" episode), so this somewhat pro-Britney episode was a bit of a disappointment.
The Britney episode was kind of atypical for the "SP" guys, since at a couple of points they were trying to be poignant. And not in that wise-ass, Cartman-interrupts-with-some-disgusting-comment-to-lighten-the-mood method they usually go for.
Of course, they were defending a woman missing the top half of her head, as you say.
No show hits it out of the park every time at bat, but I'd still say "South Park" is consistently the funniest show on TV.
I'm going to have to say that while I was disappointed at this week's episode, the quality of South Park episodes over the last few years has really impressed me. They're in their 12th season and when you've made 160+ episodes it's hard to maintain a consistent level from week to week.
Trey and Matt have always been preachy in their work on SP but the fact that a lot of what they write in is true is what makes the episode all the more hilarious.
They can't all be gems, and this week's show proved that, but don't label a show to be on a downward trend just because you didn't wet your pants laughing at this weeks episode.
Actually, I wrote this in response to two episodes in a row being subpar, the only two episodes to come out so far this season. The Cartman has AIDS season opener was also fairly lame.
I'm a huge South Park fan and I list the show in my all-time top 5, and while I agree that all shows are hit and miss after so many years (The Simpsons being a good example), I'm a bit nervous about this season after watching the first two episodes.
Looking around at various forums, reactions are mixed so far. Here's a sample:
http://boards.ign.com/south_park/b7388/160857911/r160974547/ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=761507 http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=68172 http://www.philaflava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=90711&sid=1b65d4823dcde6e02f98e39bf04c72e4
Just as an update, I thought the 3rd episode was better, although still not quite up to the standards of previous seasons.
I think it's still the funniest show on TV. by far, and always topical, which I love. I don't love every episode as much as some, but I think it's still funny as hell.
Personally, I didn't like the Britney ep because her head was gross! I get their message and all... but still, it was a little over-the-top, even for me. Even having said that, I'm not too worried about it going downhill.
I have only seen 2 episodes this season, the "Heavy Metal" tribute, which I really enjoyed and last night's "Canada Ban" I have always liked their Canadian voices, but it wasn't enough to win me over, best SP season as of late was Season 10 with "World Of Warcraft."
Have to agree....my wife and I were discussing this after watching last nights ep.....going back even to last season, it seems like the only subject matter that they can produce anymore has something to do with pedofilia or poop...also with last nights ep, they went back to Canadian bashing. Although funny for a while, it kind of wears thin after so long. Then to top it all off, the eppiffany at the end seemed like someones platform to validate a message about digital downloads...just seems like they are reaching for storylines after 10+ years. Now I say this...however I did really dig last weeks 'Heavy Metal' omage. Classic.