When going down toSouth Park, one can be sure to have themselves a time. Famous for toilet humor and topical satire, it’s difficult to pigeonhole this game-changing animated series. Parking may be ample, but so too are irreverent jokes and absurd twists. The series has built a reputation for crossing every line. ButTrey ParkerandMatt Stonehave not only crossed the line, they have also done horrible things to the line, and now the line is crying - and audiences are loving it!
With over 300 episodes, it takes a lot to stand out in the canon – only time will tell if the ongoing 26th season ofSouth Parkwill be remembered alongside its highest points.The bestSouth Parkepisodes blend the crude and the clever, holding space for satire and silliness to coexist.The original songs hit all the right comedic notes, and the characters are so flawed that irreverence is an expectation. So come on down toSouth Park,and meet some of the show’s top-rated episodes onIMDb.
South Park
60"Professor Chaos" (Season 6, Episode 6)
IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
Having grown tired of Butters’ lame antics since he joined the group following Kenny’s death, Cartman, Stan, and Kyle evict him from their gang and run a contest to determine who will be their fourth friend. Setting up an elaborate range of challenges, the boys orchestrate a competition for the neighborhood kids. All the while, a rejected and disgruntled Butters becomes Professor Chaos, a nefarious villain seeking to destroy the atmosphere by spraying aerosol cans and flooding the world with a garden hose.
Lampooningreality TV shows likeThe Bachelorthrough Cartman, Kyle, and Stan’s story, while parodyingX-Menthrough the focus on Professor Chaos, the Season 6 episode isa delightful highlight ofSouth Park’s knack for mixing referential comedy with character-driven narrative. It is a defining highlight of the show’s sixth season, and has aged gracefully with its spoof gags and its origin story for the series’ most beloved supervillain.
59"You’re Getting Old" (Season 15, Episode 7)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Throughout its immense run,South Parkhas been everything from an irreverent and crude comedy to a sharp social satire, a profound and profanity-laden parody, and even an insightful political allegory. Even with such a range being considered, there isno episode quite like “You’re Getting Old.”Following his tenth birthday party, Stan develops a cynical outlook on life, leading him to ponder his existence as he begins seeing things in the world as literal feces.
It is a moody and dark episode, one that pushes past the ridiculousness of a child experiencing such feelings to present a rich and contemplative story of growing old and growing beyond things. Stan’s emotional melancholy is only accentuated by the subplot involving Randy and Sharon’s fighting, leading to divorce, and an alarmingly abrupt ending devoid of happiness and hope. Of course,South Parkstill injects the story with plenty of humor, but “You’re Getting Old” isone of the most striking and unique episodes the series has ever aired, and it is no surprise that viewers consider it to be among its better entries.
58"Go God Go XII" (Season 10, Episode 13)
A direct follow-on from the previous episode, “Go God Go XII” sees Cartman stranded in the distant future where religion has been eradicated and atheists are entrenched in a struggle against super-intelligent sea otters. In the present day, Mrs. Garrison’s love affair withRichard Dawkinsbecomes all the more intriguing as audiences discover the duo play a vital role in the expunging of religion.
The Season 10 episodeexemplifies the brand of efficient, large-scale storytellingSouth Parkhas always executed so well, with the episode juggling its interweaving plots with impressive grace and clarity while using the juxtaposition of the stories to conjure up laughs aplenty. Inan interview with Playboy in 2012, Dawkins himself revealed he wasn’t a fan of the episode. That’s okay, though, because its impressive IMDb rating implies that nearly everyone else was.
57"Something Wall-Mart This Comes Way" (Season 8, Episode 9)
Serving as a direct parody ofDisney’s 1983 movieSomething Wicked This Way Comes,the Season 8 episode sees the pitfalls and allure of commercialism stand as the villain rather than a wish-granting carnival owner. A “Wall-Mart” store is built in South Park, and businesses in the town begin to fail as the residents become completely addicted to the outlet’s bargains. The four boys go to the company’s headquarters hoping to bring an end to the hysteria before it overruns the entire town.
Like many of the series’ best episodes, “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes”excels by blending referential comedy and parody with a razor-sharp story targeting a contemporary flawin society. While it is perhaps overshadowed by some of the other great episodes Season 8 has to offer, “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes” still stands as a golden nugget ofSouth Park’s scathing comedy. It still stands as a razor-sharp critique of unvetted capitalism over 20 years since it first aired.
56"Die Hippie, Die" (Season 9, Episode 2)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
Another excellent parody episode, “Die Hippie, Die” mocksdisaster films likeThe Coreas South Park becomes overrun by a horde of hippies congregating for a music festival. Cartman, who has been working as a pest control expert specializing in the removal of hippies, stands as the town’s last chance for survival and begins working with political figures to enact a plan to rid the town of the anti-corporate invaders.
While it isn’t the most thematically pointed episode of the series, it still contains intriguing ideas about society’s attitudes towards hippies, and the questionable level of conviction many hippy-types have in their own espoused beliefs.It is a typically bold episode in this social commentary, but it is more famous for its disaster movie parodyand its violent ending that includes Slayer’s “Raining Blood.” The episode also stands as the last to contain new voice dialogue fromIsaac Hayes.
55"The Jeffersons" (Season 8, Episode 6)
As relentless a skewering of a celebrity personality asSouth Parkhas ever undertaken—with the possible exception ofKatelyn Jenner—“The Jeffersons” is remembered by many as the episode whereMichael Jacksonmoves to South Park. Another gem from Season 8, it sees the pop icon relocating to the Colorado town and changing his name to Michael Jefferson in order to escape the rigors of stardom. Jackson tries to grow disturbingly close to the boys. Local police, agitated at claims of there being a wealthy Black man in town, set out to frame him, but have a moral conniption when the target appears to be White.
The episode swings wildly in all directions, and the vast majority of the jokes they aim for land in emphatic fashion, offering non-stop hilarity from its opening moments. While its lens on racial prejudice in the police force may only be surface-level, it more than makes up for its thematic weaknesses with itsall-out assault on Michael Jackson that remains as gasp-inducing and hysterical todayas it was in 2004.
54"The Death Camp of Tolerance" (Season 6, Episode 14)
While offensive absurdity and controversy are something of a specialty ofSouth Park, the Season 6 episode “The Death Camp of Tolerance” stood out even by the show’s standards as it revolved around Mr. Garrison’s attempts to capitalize on discrimination lawsuits. His efforts to be fired for being gay lead the teacher to insert the class gerbil, Lemmiwinks, up his boyfriend’s rectum in class. With the children’s outrage being mistaken for homophobia, they are sent to a “toleration camp” while Lemmiwinks ventures through Mr. Slaves' body.
With the boys’ rigorous camp mimicking the Holocaust while Lemmiwinks’ journey parodied the songs from1977’s animatedThe Hobbitmovie; the episode was a masterstroke of referential comedy.“The Death Camp of Tolerance” also functioned as a pulverizing criticism of blind tolerance and people’s desperationto appear as accepting without properly understanding the nuances of the issues they are judging.
53"The Biggest Douche in the Universe" (Season 6, Episode 15)
While the serial, seasonal arcs wouldn’t become common practice onSouth Parkuntil many years later, Season 6 does offer a consistent subplot in the form of Kenny’s spirit living on within Cartman after he mistook his friend’s ashes for chocolate milk mix and drank them. That subplot yields hilarious rewards in “The Biggest Douche in the Universe,”while the episode also offers stern skewering of celebrity psychics.
With Kenny’s spirit beginning totake possession of Cartman’s body, Chef and the kids decide to appear on a television psychic’s program to attempt to help Cartman, but are disappointed when they only get vague responses that offer no benefit. While Chef takes Cartman to his parents in Scotland to perform an exorcism, Stan strives to disprove the psychic publicly. It’s a hilarious take-down episode that features the creators at their scorching best.
52"Proper Condom Use" (Season 5, Episode 7)
Shockingly crude, thematically pointed, and offering parody of a beloved film in the process, “Proper Condom Use” is an underrated episode from the sublime fifth season ofSouth Park. With their parents too uncomfortable to teach their children about sex, it falls to the school to conduct sexual education, though misguided and biased approaches from the teaching fraternity lead to conflict between the boys and girls that escalates into a battle.
It is made memorable by its more outlandish scenes, such as the boys trying to “milk” a dog and the violent spoofing ofMad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but the episode truly shines with its criticism of how sex ed is often mishandled. As brilliantly observant as it is hilariously disgusting, the Season 5 episode offers non-stop hysterics that resonate with many viewers whose sex ed classes at school and/or at home were both awkward and ineffective.
51"My Future Self ‘n’ Me" (Season 6, Episode 16)
The episoderelentlessly mocks the extremity of the anti-drug campaigns of the erathat, if anything, were so ridiculous that they had the opposite effect of what was intended. However, it still brings interesting insights to parents wanting the best for their children but not necessarily knowing what the best way is to communicate that. It’s a fun episode with a strong point to make.
