When South Park returns to TV, it's like opening up the cabinet and realizing that your roommate bought you some on-sale Lucky Charms: a wonderful surprise that reminds you that there is good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.
I've never been a big cartoon person; I'll expand on this more when I start talking about kid's TV shows, but for now I'll just say that I've always tended to prefer live-action television. I mean, I looooove The Simpsons, but it took me a while to warm to South Park. I was only 11 when the show premiered and I really just didn't get it and the graphic stuff squicked me out. But when I was 15 and got high for the first time we watched the South Park movie and I really started to enjoy it. I wasn't a regular viewer until I began having weekly TV-watching get-togethers at my friends' house, and now I am a full-on fan.
Here's why: South Park is the most egalitarian and unbiased show on television. It doesn't have any agenda other than to make people laugh and think a little and then laugh some more. I mean, on last night's episode they managed to make fun of: Nascar, Nascar fans, people who think all Nascar fans are stupid rednecks, the fact that Vagisil exists, people who think Vagisil is necessary/useful in any way, men who believe that love is about control, and Butters. That is all just from one episode, but it's indicative of just about any of them. The writers manage to take opposing viewpoints and make both sides look wrong, and they do it in a clever, current, and unexpected way.
One of the reasons South Park is able to handle this kind of comedic commentary so well is because its main characters are children. Kids view the world differently; they don't come into every situation with an agenda and are allowed to make mistakes. I mean, obviously South Park's biggest concern isn't realism, but Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny (well, mostly Stan and Kyle) aren't afraid to speak uncomfortable truths and, excepting Cartman, they have a better moral compass than any of the adults in South Park. The characters on the show are both repulsive and lovable at the same time, making them, well, honest.
But, I'll admit, the real reason I love South Park is because it's fucking funny. It's awesome that since the production time is pretty short they can put out episodes that relate directly to what's going on in the real world (like the Somali pirates episode last year, or the Medicinal Fried Chicken one a few months ago), keeping the comedy fresh and relatable. And the social commentary never gets in the way of the humor, like it often does on Glee; if anything it enhances it. I mean, Towely on Intervention? Banned books? The recession episode? At this time when everything in the world is so fucked up, it's nice to be able to laugh at all the shit without feeling depressed or preached to.
For those of you who will argue in favor of Family Guy in the endless South Park vs. Family Guy debate, here's what I will say. Family Guy is a series of stunts. They are concerned with ratings, shock value, lame pop culture retreads, and ripping off everything The Simpsons did long enough ago that they've hoped people have forgotten. South Park lost any need for pure shock value years ago; now they're established and people know who they are and what they do and it's pretty dang awesome. Family Guy is crude for the sake of being crude and offensive for the sake of being offensive, painfully unoriginal, and, when it comes down to it, is simply not very funny. That, to me, is shitty television. !Viva South Park! Family Guy puede ir al diablo.
So man am I glad that now tis The Season Of South Park. Who knows how long it will last before the wind changes and it's once again gone, with no warning - leaving just the trailing notes of a banjo and laughter that lingers on the air.
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