Where did that book of mormon thing come from?
The Book of Mormon, as I said before, was supposedly in the works since 2002. Earlier I criticized how rushed the episode production is, meaning Matt and Trey often just pick some random thing from the news and run with it. It's my way of admitting that if they did take their time, maybe they actually could grind out something genuinely entertaining.
Sorry if that wasn't entirely clear; I only had 400 words to work with.
I re-skimmed the review, and the first mention of the Book of Mormon is just that little stub at the end. Maybe you cut out the first mention to fit the 400 words?
No, I just mentioned it at the end sorta as an aside. Sorry it was so misleading.
I forgive you.
Seriously disagree with this review, as would the 3 million people who watch South Park weekly. I thought the show sucked early on, and got better with age and is still very funny, but everyone has their own opinion I guess.
...
Hmm. You very casually dismiss the shows plotlines as "issue A + reference B + dead baby comedy = South Park episode". That's, uhh ... simplistic. While that is the very essence of their formula, such a view completely ignores the interactions of all the different characters that are actually the building blocks of every episode. The appeal of the show, at least to me, is how their chosen issue is handled by the characters that they have created. I like seeing an issue through the eyes of Cartmans sociopathy contrasted by Kyles idealism, or Butters naivete, or simply how idiotic adult themes become when shown from the perspective of children(well, Matt and Trey, basically), not to mention how they're handled by the idiots that pass for rational adults in the South Park universe. It's a satirical show that's doing it's job and doing it well.
I really thought that South Park was great in the middle of its run, perhaps leading up to Trapped In The Closet. Since Chef was Killed Off For Real, the later seasons have been Love It Or Hate It to me. City Sushi may have been a bright light in an otherwise disappointing season the show is in now, and the season before then? Aside from the "Coon and Friends" arc, it was a big letdown compared to Season 13 (don't get me started on the overhyped 200). All things considered, I still watch the show, but I'm quite disappointed in how the first part of season 15 ended...
I now go by Graf Von Tirol.
I have to agree with Steam. The show is good for cheap laughs like it belongs on Newgrounds as 5 minute shorts, not 30 minute episodes. I refuse to see this show as a satire because the issues handled were pretty damn hamfisted like the creators forgot what they were talking about mid episode.
I still like the show, although the later seasons are Love It Or Hate It on an episode-by-episode basis. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is sick of the topical humor. I miss the days when the episodes consisted of wacky hijinks and characterization that still managed to insert a bit of clever humor into the show.
Ah Mc Someguy so what you're suggesting is, South Park does not equal Issue A + Reference B + Dead Baby Comedy but in fact South Park = Issue A + Reference B + Dead Baby Comedy + One-dimensional stock characters :D
Mmmm formula
In fairness I don't disagree with you, it's just that, particularly as you put it, most characters have a word and that word is there thing in every episode, so you're really just added yet more formula. The only really >1 part of the charcters is working out if its Stan or Kyle is playing the straight man. But there is a charm somewhere that you rightly point out and it makes the difference. I think it's quite hard to pin down though.
For my own opinion, South Park was only ever cool in small doses. Dead baby comedy is always a little bit ...eh and sometimes I feel dead baby humour is coming from a place where, even though you're laughing it's not quite comfortable laughter and I found the 'point' of each episode was a bit predictable(even though the normal set up is to make it look like the view everyone holds and then switch it) and got rubbed in the faces a lot
This review sums up perfectly why I gave up on Southpark.
Well put.
Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.
When did comedy became so demanding? I keep reading this reviews and more and more people seem to be looking too much at these shows which's main points is to make the audience laugh. Some say it's preachy, others say that the satire is lost by how wacky and integrated by something else it is, some even complain about how the message had little impact because of this forgetting that foremost this is a show that is not shy of baby death comedy.
@marcellX It's the same reason people look down on the newer Simpsons; once upon a time, South Park could do MORE than just make you laugh. They could tell a story of have a deeper meaning outside of the toilet humor, something that set it apart from "Lazy Shock Value Cartoon #364" Now, it joins the giant glob of unfunny shows trying too hard to offend and/or be topical, skirting by on name alone because the writers know there will always bee some shmuck that watches it because "they'd be too sad" if there ONCE-great show was cancelled.
A better question would be; when did comedy standards sink so low, that actual substance and wit are now extras and not necessities?
^ But that's the point, when a perk is held as more important that the core, theme and defining aspect (comedy). A good news show is that's fair and informative one, not the one who makes the news funny, a good bed is a comfortable one not a pretty one. These complains are double fenced, if they use topical humor is bad, if they stay with the old toilet humor is also bad, you talk about when it had a deeper meaning but back then that was it's biggest complain, it's gotten to the point that no matter what they do, stick with the old that worked at some point or innovate there's gonna be complaints. Basically, a textbook example of the Unpleasable Fanbase.
^But they aren't held as more important; they are held as something that SERVED the comedy. Any show can throw in a swear word or sex joke, or make a reference to a real world situation; a good show will actually DO something with it.
Chalking it up as an Unpleasable Fanbase would be completely ignoring other aspects, such as writing, timing or even relevance. South Park isn't knocked for being topical or immature; its knocked because it these elements are no longer substantial and/or witty.
Your opinion is not universal.
should I go on?
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Should have ended a long time ago
I am going to be perfectly frank here. South Park is, and for a long time now, has been trite, unfunny shit that would have been shot down if it had come from anyone other than Matt and Trey. The early episodes were, for the most part, fairly infantile but at least they were funny in the sense of a group of foul-mouthed kids learning about the world. Not only that, at least, for the most part, the people around them had two working brain cells to rub together when push came to shove.
Nowadays, it's so predictable it's sad. They pick some random subject in the news or entertainment, make it seem like something else, and then do an episode in the space of a few days. Fuck, it's essentially taking their beef with Family Guy with the Manatee Balls and just taking it to a larger level. Brittney Spears + Harvest. The Recession + The Death and Rebirth of Jesus. It's just one joke stretched over a whole episode, with pretentious ramblings, Cartman screaming at Kyle, and Stan's father being a bigger and bigger idiot each episode filling in the numerous gaps. This also makes their episodes insanely dated. The issues they cover are often just fads everyone will forget about soon enough, making me roll my eyes when they decide to cover some random thing I stopped giving a fuck about over a year ago.
When Matt and Trey decide that isn't enough, sometimes they decide to just make jokes about their own formula too, calling attention to it and acting like that somehow makes it funny. And perhaps it would, if it wasn't beaten over our heads without even the slightest shadow of subtlety (Runs With Premise/Premise Running Thin being the saddest and most blatant example off the top of my head). And fuck, they couldn't even manage that for their Inception episode and just decided to steal lines wholesale from College Humor.
This kind of shit would not fly if a show was starting out today. The only thing keeping Matt and Trey employed is that, Islamic issues aside, Comedy Central's executives would pretty much kill their own firstborn children if Matt and Trey asked it of them. They've built up goodwill from their early seasons and rely entirely on that nowadays, expecting people to laugh because they laughed at them years ago, when their fanbase wasn't even in high school.
At least the Book of Mormon took years to write. Maybe it's better.