If you’re smiling a little wider Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m., we think we’ll know why. South Park returns for its 15th season then, and the premier episode promises a send-up of both Steve Jobs/Apple and cult shock horror film The Human Centipede.
South Park has slowly but surely become the pre-eminent comedic force on television, and it doesn’t appear to have any real challengers — sorry Parks and Recreation and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Two things separate South Park from the rest of the pack.
First is its remarkable consistency. The misses are few and far between, and the longer the show goes on, the more impressive that consistency becomes. Simply put, it always makes you laugh.
Second is its constant freshness. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are 14 years older than they were when their show first aired on Comedy Central, and yet through all those years they’ve stayed perfectly in touch with pop culture and American society, striking the perfect chords at almost every turn.
But there is something about the structure of the show itself — the way its made — that further enhances that freshness.
Parker, Stone and their team can turn around an episode in a matter of days thanks to their high-powered computers, and that means there’s an element of newness to everything they do. Compare that to The Simpsons, for example, which has a nine-month production cycle for one episode.
Anyway, let’s appreciate the greatness of South Park before it descends into syndication. Who knows how much longer Parker and Stone will continue tickling our funny bone — they certainly have other irons in the fire at all times, what with their work on the musical Book of Mormon and unknown potential movie plans.
