Fergie's Tech Blog

13 August 1997: South Park Debuts on Comedy Central

South Park is an American animated television series created, written and voiced by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Distributed by and airing on Comedy Central since 1997, it follows the adventures of four grade school boys who live in the small town of South Park, Colorado. The show emulates stop motion cutout animation which was the original form of animation for the show but has since been replaced by computers. South Park satirizes (sometimes surreally) many aspects of American culture and current events, and challenges deep-seated convictions and taboos, usually employing parody and black comedy. The series is known for its characteristically blunt handling of current events and its pop-culture parody. The animated series has brought on angry critics, from religious conservatives to those who claim South Park is politically incorrect.

The first half of South Park's tenth season ended on May 3, 2006, and the second half will begin to air on October 4. Since Season 4, each season has aired in roughly two parts (the first in Spring and the second in Autumn). After the second half of Season 10, two more seasons of South Park are scheduled for production, allowing the series to run until at least 2009. This would make South Park the second longest-running animated series in US television history, after The Simpsons. In March 2005, South Park hit the number three spot in the 100 Greatest Cartoons, losing to Tom and Jerry at number two and The Simpsons at number one.

posted by Fergie @ 8/13/2006 12:01:00 AM