TV SERIES · 1997–present · USA
South Park
- Created by
- Trey Parker, Matt Stone
- Network
- Comedy Central
- Seasons
- 29
- Episodes
- 337
- Studio
- South Park Studios, Comedy Central, Braniff Productions
131 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Follow the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
131 Interesting Facts About South Park
Interesting Facts (52)
- #001
In the late 1990's a mother in Canada filed a complaint against the series with the CRTC (Canada's equivalent of the FCC). She stated that her young son, named Kenny, was being traumatized by the death of the character Kenny in each episode with the trauma being made worse by classmates teasing him about it. She requested the CRTC pressure Parker and Stone to change Kenny's name to something else. Her request was thrown out.
- #002
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- #008
Cartman has been arrested 6 times, despite having done countless other crimes. These include: Murder, Rape, Arson, Prostitution, Enforced Cannibalism, Attempted Genocide, Manslaughter, Animal Abuse, Hate crimes, Grave Robbery, War crimes, Child abuse, Vandalism, Theft, Piracy, Embezzlement, Shoplifting, Terrorism, Drug Possession, Smuggling, Armed Robbery, and many many more.
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- #026
In the late 1990s, a Canadian mother complained about the series to the CRTC (Canada's equivalent of the FCC). She said her son was traumatized by the character Kenny, who dies in every episode, and that the situation worsened when his classmates teased him about it. She asked Parker and Stone to change Kenny's name, but the request was denied.
- #027
- #028
Isaac Hayes (the voice of Chef) left the series in 2006, four months after the episode 'Trapped in the Closet' (2005), which satirized the Church of Scientology. Hayes issued a statement saying he could not support a series that mocks religion. The series addressed Hayes's departure in the episode 'The Return of Chef' (2006). Matt Stone said Hayes had raised concerns before the episode aired and asked that it not be broadcast, but that Hayes was forced to make this criticism. Hayes's son also confirmed that his father would not be that hypocritical and stated that while he could not speak after suffering a stroke, someone connected to Scientology made a statement on his behalf.
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- #033
To avoid copying The Simpsons' famous guest-star habit, Trey Parker and Matt Stone only allowed guest stars to voice animals (such as George Clooney voicing Stan's dog). They made exceptions for Jennifer Aniston (Miss Stevens in 'Rainforest Shmainforest') and Natasha Henstridge (Miss Ellen in 'Tom's Rhinoplasty'), because they had been in love with Henstridge ever since seeing her in Species (1995).
- #034
Kristen Schaal said she was fired from the series in 2007, a little over a month after being hired as a writer, for 'talking too much.' A big fan of the show, Schaal was in her first TV writing job and, unaccustomed to working in a writers' room, did not follow protocol and pitched too many ideas. After receiving warnings, she was let go.
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- #036
Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave every notable secondary character at least one episode. Bebe: 'Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society' (2002). Clyde: 'Lice Capades' (2007). Token: 'Raising the Bar' (2012). Wendy: 'Breast Cancer Show Ever' (2008). Tweek: 'Gnomes' (1998). Craig: 'Pandemic' (2008) and 'Pandemic 2: The Startling' (2008). Pip: 'Pip' (2000). Jimmy: 'Krazy Kripples' (2003).
- #037
- #038
Like Timmy, Jimmy was conceived as a one-off character, and his first appearance stated that he came from out of town. However, Trey Parker and Matt Stone liked him so much that they kept him on the show. A few episodes later, Jimmy joined the South Park gang's (Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny) class, meaning Jimmy moved to South Park.
- #039
Terrance and Phillip: Not Without My Anus (1998) is the first episode without Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Cartman appears briefly in the summary of the episode Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut (1998), in which the identity of Cartman's father was to be revealed but turned out to be an April Fools' joke. The rest of the episode focuses on Terrance and Phillip; Stan and Kyle appear briefly on Terrance and Phillip's television, and the faces of the four boys appear on a T-shirt.
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- #052
Cartman would say that they would "rendezvous" at the Country Kitchen Buffet. Rendezvous was the name of a Buick SUV model at the time the episode aired. Coincidentally, the Buick car that sets off for the Country Kitchen Buffet at the beginning of the episode and falls off the bridge was not a Rendezvous or an SUV, but a sedan similar to a LeSabre or Park Avenue.
Production Story (35)
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- #055
In the documentary "Taint of greatness, The Journey of Beavis and Butt-head", it was revealed that Trey Parker and Matt Stone got the inspiration for South Park because of Beavis and Butt-head. Since Beavis and Butt-head also has rougher animation and crude sense of humor, it inspired Trey and Matt to make a similar type of show. (Matt and Trey even had a meeting with Mike Judge after they told him about starting their own show).
- #056
In order to avoid imitating the celebrity cameos often heard in The Simpsons (1989), Trey Parker and Matt Stone only allowed guest stars on the show if they agreed to voice animals (such as George Clooney voicing Stan's dog). They made exceptions for Jennifer Aniston, who voiced Miss Stevens in Rainforest Shmainforest, and for Natasha Henstridge, who voiced Miss Ellen in Tom's Rhinoplasty (1998), since they had a crush on her since seeing her in Species (1995).
- #057
- #058
Stan's dog Sparky, despite not having any dialogue, is played by Oscar winner George Clooney, who is a big fan of the show. Clooney accepted the small role, which he recorded remotely. He was rewarded with a full voice role on South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).
- #059
- #060
The first twelve seasons were produced in 4:3 standard definition, with the show switching to 16:9 high definition in the thirteenth season. South Park Studios later remastered the first twelve seasons in high definition and reanimated every scene to fill a 16:9 aspect ratio. As the pilot, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe (1997), was produced on film using cutout animation it was rescanned in high definition but remains in its original 4:3 aspect ratio.
- #061
Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus (1998) is the first episode to not feature Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny instead Cartman makes a cameo in the recap of Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut (1998) where the identity of Cartman's father was to be revealed only for it to be an April Fools prank after which it focuses on Terrance and Phillip for the rest of the episode though Stan and Kyle make a cameo on Terrance and Phillip's TV and the faces of the four boys appear on a T-shirt.
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- #064
The episode Fatbeard (2009) was supposed to air a few weeks before it actually did. However, it was delayed due to the Maersk Alabama Highjacking in which Somali pirates boarded an American cargo ship of the same name and took the captain hostage on a lifeboat for five days. Stone and Parker delayed the episode because they didn't want to air an episode that appeared to mock the situation.
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Trey Parker and Matt Stone have given every noteworthy minor character at least one episode. Bebe: Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society (2002). Clyde: Lice Capades (2007). Token: Raising the Bar (2012). Wendy: Breast Cancer Show Ever (2008). Tweek: Gnomes (1998). Craig: Pandemic (2008) & Pandemic 2: The Startling (2008). Pip: Pip (2000). Jimmy: Krazy Kripples (2003).
- #071
In a 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Trey Parker said he wished he could delete the first three seasons, "It's just embarrassing to watch. OK, we were like, 26, 27, but it's like, 'Really?' We thought that was funny? We thought that was well-written? Oh my god, this is terrible."
- #072
The music usually played over the closing credits sounds like the original opening theme song by Primus, only instrumental and slowed down. It is however the opposite: the slow version was originally meant to be the opening theme song, but Comedy Central wanted something more up-tempo. The song was then sped up and someone had to track down lead singer Les Claypool while he was on tour so he could redo the vocals on a tape recorder to match the song's new speed.
- #073
Kristen Schaal said she was fired for "talking to much" a little over a month after being hired as a writer for the show in 2007. Schaal, who was a huge fan of the show, said it was her first TV writer job, but she admits she wasn't used to working in a writer's room and started pitching ideas way too much instead of following protocol. She was given warnings and then finally let go.
- #074
- #075
Traditionally, an animated series takes 8 to 12 months to be completed, making it almost impossible to address current events. In the case of "South Park", computer animating the show has afforded the creators lee-way to put certain episodes together quickly (such as -"Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" - 22 April 1998), sometimes resulting in identifiable changes between the episode and its promo. Most notable have been what are known as the "11th hour episodes", episodes put together mere days - and sometimes hours - before airtime. These include, but are not limited to: * "Quintuplets 2000" a.k.a "Janet Reno in a Bunny Suit" (airdate: 26 April 2000): This episode mirrored the U.S. government's removal of Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives, an event which occurred three days prior to air. * "Trapper Keeper" (airdate: 15 November 2000), which parodied the scandal of the 2000 presidential election, which happened a week earlier. * "It Hits the Fan" (airdate: 20 April 2001): Numerous story changes kept the episode in production all the way up to the airing. Upon its original airing, the show was notably lacking in numerous completed sound effects. Most obvious was the lack of sound during Kenny's death. * "Osama bin Laden has Farty Pants" (airdate: 7 November 2001): Airing weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA, this episode became one of the first fictional series to address the matter. * "It's Christmas in Canada" (airdate: 17 December 2003), which acknowledged the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere four days after it took place. * "Best Friends Forever" (airdate: 30 March 2005), which parodied the media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case. "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" (airdate: 19 October 2005). This episode was inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, noting that people blamed the government what happened and how long it took for aid to arrive. It was also stated in the season's commentary that it was a parody of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow (2004)".
- #076
Isaac Hayes, who voiced Chef, quit the show in 2006, four months after the airing of the episode Trapped in the Closet (2005) which had spoofed the Scientology church. Hayes, a Scientology member, released a statement saying that he could no longer in good conscience support a show that made fun of religion that way (even though he had supported the mockery of many other religions). The show dealt with Hayes' departure in The Return of Chef (2006). Matt Stone later said that prior to 'Trapped in the Closet', he had had a talk with Hayes in which the latter shared his concern about the episode's subject matter, and asked him not to broadcast it. Stone strongly felt at the time that Hayes had been pressured into voicing this criticism, which was later confirmed by Hayes' son, who stated that his father would never have been so hypocritical. He also explained that Hayes later suffered a stroke that had made him unable to speak, and an unknown person affiliated with Scientology subsequently released the statement of Hayes' departure from the show on his behalf.
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- #081
Similar to Timmy, Jimmy was meant to be a one time character, and is mentioned as being from out of town in his first appearance. However he was liked so much by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, that they kept him around. A few episodes later Jimmy is in the South Park gang's (Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny) class meaning that Jimmy moved to South Park.
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- #086
The first twelve seasons were produced in 4:3 standard definition, and the show switched to 16:9 high definition in its thirteenth season. South Park Studios later remastered the first twelve seasons in high definition and re-animated every scene to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Because the pilot episode 'Cartman Gets an Anal Probe' (1997) was made with cutout animation on film, it was scanned in high definition but remained in its original 4:3 aspect ratio.
- #087
Contains a major spoiler — show
The original plot of Kenny Dies (2001) was for Kyle to be permanently killed off as Matt Stone and Trey Parker felt Stan and Kyle's personalities were too similar, and Butters would make a good replacement. For unknown reasons though they ultimately changed their minds and killed off Kenny.
Behind the Scenes (4)
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In earlier episodes, the voices Matt and Trey provided for the boys were much more childlike and exaggerated. Matt and Trey cited that they did the voices of Cartman, Stan, and Kyle while they were in film class, and their high-pitched childish voices would often anger their film teachers and get them kicked out of class. The kids' voices gradually became more relaxed and began resembling their voice actors' real voices. This is the case as although they originally voiced child characters without the assistance of pitch shifting, their voices have become noticeably lower since the earlier seasons, as Matt and Trey began using Pro Tools plugins since they were able to financially afford it. Now, they do the voices while speaking in their normal vocal range while adding a childlike inflection, and then the recorded audio is edited with Pro Tools, and the waveform is pitched up exactly three semitones in conjunction with speed, and now the voices sound more like that of a fourth grader.
- #091
Characters & Cast (10)
Easter Eggs & References (22)
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- #105
The famous Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics episode (S3E05) features live-action footage after every commercial break of Trey Parker as a newsreader saying, "Frizzies at 11." This references a widely-circulated bootleg video of the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) which included "pause button delay" sound bites of a real newscaster saying just that.
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- #110
Cartman would say that he would "rendezvous" at the Country Kitchen Buffet. Rendezvous would also be the name of a model of a Buick SUV during the time the episode aired. Incidentally, the Buick car that fell off the bridge earlier in the episode which was intended to go to the Country Kitchen Buffet was not a Rendezvous or even a SUV, but a sedan similar to the LeSabre or Park Avenue.
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The character of "Dr. Alphonse Mephesto" spoofs Marlon Brando's character in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
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- #120
The episode Fatbeard (2009) was supposed to air a few weeks before it actually did. However, it was delayed due to the Maersk Alabama Highjacking in which Somali pirates boarded an American cargo ship of the same name and took the captain hostage on a lifeboat for five days. Stone and Parker delayed the episode because they didn't want to air an episode that appeared to mock the situation.
- #121
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- #123
In the famous episode Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (S3E05), after every commercial break there is live-action footage of Trey Parker as a news anchor saying "Frizzies at 11." This is a reference to the "pause button delay" audio recording of a real anchor that appears on a bootleg video of the notorious 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special.
Deeper Meaning (3)
Career & Awards (5)
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- #129
Trey Parker claimed in an interview on The Project 2 that his favorite celebrity reaction from his and Matt Stone's antics in their careers was from Jennifer Lopez, who walked by him at a party and just pushed him. He assumed it was because he wore her dress to an academy awards show years ago. They have also made fun of her in season seven, episode five when Cartman had a hand puppet of her.
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